Wheelies: The R.I.P. Wankel Edition
Wheelies: The Gallardo Gone Edition
The final Lamborghini Gallardo.
A roundup of motoring news from the web:
¦ After a 10-year run, the last Lamborghini Gallardo rolled off the automaker’s assembly line in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy. Lamborghini says the angular Gallardo was its most prolific model. (Motor Authority) ¦ A Mazda CX-5 crossover crashed Nov. 10 at a dealership in Japan when its automatic braking feature failed. The police said both the driver and passenger in the car were injured in the crash. (Bloomberg) ¦ George Blankenship, the executive responsible for marketing and retail expansion for Tesla Motors, has left the company. He told The San Jose Mercury News that he wanted to spend more time with his family. (San Jose Mercury News) ¦ According to the Humphrey Bogart Estate, Bonhams sold the 1940 Buick convertible used in the final scene of “Casablanca” for $380,000. The auction also included memorabilia, posters, screenplay manuscripts and promotional photographs; a statuette from “The Maltese Falcon” sold for $3.5 million, the estate said. (Twitter) ¦ A Toyota dealership in Houston plans to lift its Black Friday sales by marking down the price of three of its cars to $1. Since the promotion – known locally as the “Slicer Sale” – began in 2008, it has attracted a crowd at the dealer’s gate as early as 5 a.m. (Automotive News, subscription required) ¦ As they turn 25 and attain classic status, the original 1990 Mazda Miatas are still affordable. Often dismissed as cutesy roadsters, the Miata has, over the last quarter century, attracted a large following among enthusiasts. (Hagerty)
Wheelies: The R.I.P. Wankel Edition
Wheelies: The Turbo Honda Edition
Wheels Blog: Wheelies: The Holy Roller Edition
Associated Press The Mercedes-Benz E200 convertible belonging to the Rev. Hernando Fayid, a Catholic priest, was parked in Santa Marta, Colombia, Wednesday, bearing a for-sale sign. Father Fayid said he was selling the car after Pope Francis’s recent statement that it wounded his heart to see a priest in a luxury car.In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:
• Pope Francis has made his position on clerical wheels quite clear: Drive if you must, but keep a low profile. The new pope, who was elected in March, told his clergy that their personal consumption choices should be more austere. “A car is necessary to do a lot of work, but please, choose a more humble one. If you like the fancy one, just think about how many children are dying of hunger in the world,” he said last week, according to Reuters. (Reuters)
• In other papal news, Pope Francis met with Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz. The pontiff was presented with the newest Mercedes-Benz M Class popemobile. But the pope, who has been an outspoken proponent of more environmentally friendly motor vehicles, also received a Smart electric-assist bicycle. (E.V. World)
• Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to deliver the keynote speech at the annual National Automobile Dealers Association convention in New Orleans at the end of January. Ms. Clinton was serving as secretary of state when the Obama administration bailed out General Motors and Chrysler in 2009. Other convention speakers include Steve Forbes, editor in chief of Forbes Media, and David Westcott, chairman of N.A.D.A. (Automotive News)
• The revival of Indian Motorcycles by Polaris Industries has been made up of a series of information releases. This week Polaris released a professionally produced film featuring its recreation of Burt Munro’s land-speed record-holding motorcycle. The bike Munro of New Zealand rode into history was a highly modified 1920 Indian Scout, but the tribute motorcycle has Indian’s new Thunder Stroke 111 engine inside a high-speed fairing similar to the one Munro used at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967. (Popular Mechanics)
• In an effort to sell more Focus EVs, Ford has decided to reduce its price by $4,000, to $35,200, for 2014. But the competition in the slow-selling E.V. market is tough. Nissan’s Leaf still has a starting price less than $30,000, and General Motors has reduced the price of its plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt by $4,000, to $35,145. Monthly lease rates for most E.V.’s, from the Honda Fit EV to the Leaf, are in many cases being lowered well below $300. (The Detroit News)
• Remember when Toyota Camrys and Honda Civics sold briskly? Although still strong sellers, the perennial econocar favorites are beginning to slip in favor of cars from Detroit, like the Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Cruze, among others. One result has been that Toyota and Honda inventories are rising as supply eclipses demand. (The Detroit News)
• In a test using a Honda Accord, a Toyota RAV4 and three different varieties of the Ford Fusion, Consumer Reports found that reducing highway speed from 75 miles per hour to 55 m.p.h. increases fuel economy by an average of 14 miles per gallon. The magazine calculated that driving 75 m.p.h. instead of 55 m.p.h. yields a cumulative fuel loss of seven to 10 gallons over 1,000 miles. (Consumer Reports)
Wheels: Wheelies: The Connecticut Coverage Edition
Tesla Motors Tesla Motors added one of its Supercharger stations (not pictured) in Darien, Conn.In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:
• Tesla Motors has added a Supercharger station in Darien, Conn., between the existing East Coast Superchargers in Newark, Del., and Milford, Conn. The distance between charging stations became a matter of considerable controversy in February when John M. Broder wrote in The Times about his experience in a Model S that barely reached Milford, on a trip from suburban Washington, in range-sapping freezing temperatures. (The car ended up on a flatbed truck the next day, after an overnight stop left the battery nearly depleted and an interim low-power charge failed to provide enough range to return to Milford.)
At the time, Elon Musk, the chairman of Tesla, said the company was building out its charging network and that additional stations would alleviate range issues. The Darien Supercharger is about 175 miles from the one in Delaware and about 26 miles from Milford. (Tesla Motors)
• In other Tesla-related news, the company will join the Nasdaq 100 index on Monday, filling the spot of the Oracle Corporation, which is moving to the New York Stock Exchange. Tesla’s ticker sympol is TSLA. The stock was trading at about $124 on Tuesday morning, up more than $2 a share.
Also, there’s another app for the Model S. Sahas Katta, a San Jose-based developer, has created an app for Google Glass that can help Model S owners control some functions remotely, as they can do with Apple and Android apps. With the new app, Glass Tesla, owners can use a smartphone to start and stop charging while keeping an eye on how much the car has been charged, lock and unlock the doors, open and close windows and sunroofs, start the car, control its lights, operate the climate control system and find the car’s location on a map, among other things. (Bloomberg Businessweek and Fast Company)
• Moving another step closer to the complete acquisition of the Chrysler Corporation, Fiat bought another 3.3 percent of the company, raising its total share to nearly 70 percent. Fiat is still negotiating with the current owner of the remaining shares – the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association, a medical benefits trust for retired U.A.W. workers – and hopes to buy the rest of Chrysler. Fiat and the association are in court over the possible merger; the medical trust wants $10.3 billion, but Fiat wants to pay $4.2 billion. (Automotive News)
• Nissan says it plans to build 100 direct current quick chargers at dealerships in 21 markets. In an effort to bolster Leaf sales by alleviating range anxiety, Nissan has invested in the fast charger network, following what it said was its success with a pilot program that tested the technology. Nissan says its DC quick chargers can recharge a depleted E.V. to 80 percent charge in about 30 minutes. (Nissan)
Bentley Motors The state limousine used by Queen Elizabeth II was presented in 2002, for the 50th anniversary of her coronation.• Bentley will use Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation festival, from July 11-14, to show off the state limousine it presented to her in 2002, at the 50th anniversary of her coronation. The state limo will be the crown jewel, so to speak, in a collection of Bentleys that will be on display, along with demonstrations of how Bentley hand crafts its most luxurious vehicles. (Bentley)
Wheels: Wheelies: The Back in British Hands Edition
TVR TVR used to build cars like the Sagaris, pictured here. The company’s new owner hopes to guide the company back to producing sports cars, although he hasn’t announced when that will happen.In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:
• The British sports car maker TVR appears to have been resurrected, according to a report from BBC’s “Top Gear.” Les Edgar, the English entrepreneur who bought the marque from its previous Russian owner, promised that TVR – which had come close to lending its name to wind turbines after not producing new cars – will remain a car company. Mr. Edgar didn’t say when the company would begin producing cars, but a slogan on the company’s Web site is suggestive: Roaring Back. (Top Gear)
• Chrysler announced Monday that the starting price for the all-new Jeep Cherokee will be $23,990 – $300 less than that of the 2012 Jeep Liberty. The top-of-the-line Cherokee, the Limited 4×4, will start at $30,990, which, like the price of its lesser sibling, includes shipping. The original Cherokee, which sold in the United States from its 1984 introduction until Chrysler pulled the plug in 2001, is entirely different from the new model. The 2014 Cherokee features a bold new look and is a first-ever collaboration between Jeep and its Italian parent company, Fiat. (Automotive News)
• There’s nothing quite like horror movie shock to get one’s attention, or so goes the reasoning behind a new anti-drunken driving public service announcement in Britain. As of Monday evening, the YouTube version of England’s Department for Transport-sponsored ad, called #PublicLooShocker, had garnered more than 4.2 million views. Its message is simple: drinking and driving can kill people. The point is driven home by pub patrons being scared half to death in a bathroom when a bloody face smashes through the mirror, much as one would through a windshield in a severe collision. The video was filmed with actors, but the effect is chilling. (Huffington Post)
• According to a report from The Los Angeles Times, tire rental is a burgeoning business that has many motorists paying a lot more for tires than they would by buying rubber up front. For some, the bite of the recession still stings, leading them to make hard choices. With average annual incomes down and the price of tires up, some families say they have no choice but to rent tires to keep vehicles they use to get to work on the road. The problem is, reports The Times, that renting tires as opposed to buying them can make their cost double or even triple. But with many consumers unable to qualify for traditional lines of credit, the rent-to-own industry is on the rise. (Jalopnik)
• Mercedes-Benz has challenged the Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time of the Audi R8 e-tron with its all-electric Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Coupé Electric Drive. Completing the loop in 7:56.234, Mercedes has taken away Audi’s production E.V. record, and, as far as electric cars go, is second only to the Radical-based Toyota Motorsport EV P002, which is not a production car. Mercedes’s electric supercar will be available to very wealthy customers – Autoblog says it costs more than $550,000 – this summer. (Autoblog)
Wheels Blog: Wheelies: The Fabled Ferrari Edition
Newspress USA Luca di Montezemolo, president of Ferrari S.p.A., announces the opening of an expanded Museo Ferrari in Maranello, Italy.In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:
• Ferrari is immortalizing more of its storied cars in an 11,000-square-foot expansion of the Museo Ferrari in Maranello, Italy, Luca di Montezemolo, president of Ferrari, announced on Wednesday. Among the permanent displays will be single seat racecars from throughout the company’s history. A temporary exhibit, “From Cinecittà to Hollywood, All Ferraris in the Cinema,” will feature Steve McQueen’s 275 GTB4, the Mondial T Cabrio that Al Pacino drove in “Scent of a Woman” and the 330 LM-inspired one-off that appeared in Federico Fellini’s “Spirits of the Dead.” (Museo Ferrari)
• For the first time since I. J. Cooper created the Cooper Corporation in Findlay, Ohio, in 1919, the company is leaving American ownership. Apollo Tyres, an Indian company, just paid $2.5 billion in cash to take over the tire manufacturer. Crain News Service reports that Apollo’s acquisition creates a company with about $6.6 billion in sales annually and puts it at the helm of 12 factories spread across India, the United States, China, Mexico, the Netherlands, England, Serbia and South Africa. (Automotive News)
• Spyker’s lawsuit against General Motors for blocking the sale of Saab to a Chinese-backed investor was thrown out by a federal judge. Spyker, the Dutch sportscar manufacturer that had bought Saab from G.M. for $400 million in January 2010, had accused G.M. of intentionally bankrupting Saab to keep it from generating competition in the lucrative Chinese market. Saab went bankrupt in December 2011, but a federal judge determined that G.M. was well within its rights to block the sale of Saab. G.M. said it was satisfied with the court’s finding, and Spyker has not indicated if it will appeal the decision. (Reuters)
Fiat Fiat’s Gucci edition 500 will feature fancy leather, chrome accents and, like the last one, a limited run.• If you want a Gucci-inspired hatchback, now’s your chance. Fiat just announced that it will be offering a Gucci edition Fiat 500, starting at $23,750. The cloth-top 500C will start at $27,750, almost $10,000 more than the 500 Lounge hardtop. As a matter of fact, the fancy trim puts it in the same price range as the more powerful Turbo and Abarth models. But despite its fashion-over-function spirit, which includes fancy leather, chrome accents and Gucci badging, the last Gucci 500 to be offered sold briskly. (Autoblog)
• Competing against all-electric vehicles including the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt and Tesla Model S, the Ford Focus Electric has languished. Ford announced that it would not update the car for the 2014 model year, which has left analysts thinking that Ford may have given up on the car. Michelle Krebs, senior analyst at Edmunds.com, told The Detroit News that Ford’s heart does not seem to be in the Focus Electric, and that it might be offered just to aid the company’s overall fuel economy numbers and image. (The Detroit News)
• The electric carmaker Coda has gotten the green light from a bankruptcy court to sell its assets to lenders for $25 million. Fortress Investment Group agreed to a cash payment of $1.7 million, with the rest coming from a credit bid allowing lenders to use debt owed to them in lieu of cash. Although Coda announced in May that it was stepping away from the car game, the company said it would be developing and selling energy storage technology through a subsidiary. (The New York Times)
Wheels Blog: Wheelies: The Gasoline Getaway Edition
Enviroguard Technologies, via PR Newswire This Louisiana service station had locking fuel tank covers put on their equipment to protect against gasoline theft.In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:
• The Detroit police nabbed two men in the act of stealing hundreds of gallons of gasoline from a service station Wednesday. The would-be thieves had rigged up a siphon and pump and were filling a container in the back of their van. The police said they were as concerned about the theft as they were about someone driving on public streets in a fuel-laden vehicle that was not designed to carry flammable liquids. According to a report by The Detroit News, although fuel theft was rare, another Detroit-area service station was robbed of $45,000 of gasoline in 2011. (The Detroit News)
• The racecar driver, Jason Leffler, 37, was killed in a crash Wednesday at Bridgeport Speedway in Swedesboro, N.J. His car flipped several times after leaving the ground in a turn on the dirt oval during the 25-lap Night of Wings sprint car event. Leffler has been racing since he was 12, driving in Nascar races and the Indianapolis 500, in which he finished 17th in 2000. (CNN)
• According to data released this week by Edmunds.com, this year’s car sales boom has been spurred largely by incentives. Edmunds’ analysis says that automaker subsidies reached $2,500 per vehicle in May – the highest it’s been in two years – and that Detroit’s Big Three have been the most willing to pinch profit margins in favor of higher sales volumes. Jeremy Acevedo, an Edmunds analyst, said an industrywide focus on American truck sales drove incentives higher, as trucks were typically more expensive than cars. (Bloomberg)
• Apple’s move to make iOS available in more cars and trucks seems to have raised the dander of auto industry executives. The conflict stems over who will control automotive electronics in the future: if Apple’s products become more prevalent in connected vehicle technology, automakers will lose control of the infotainment systems that have become defining features of their product lineups. Thilo Koslowski, an analyst at Gartner, a research firm, told Automotive News that vehicle manufacturers wanted to maintain that control as automobiles moved deeper into the realm of connected vehicle technology. (Automotive News)
• It’s been a while since any groundbreaking innovations have been made in windshield design. When the Ford Motor Company began requiring laminated safety glass in all of its cars in 1919, the rest of the industry followed over the years, and it has been standard practice for many decades. But Corning has a new type of glass: Gorilla Glass. Already in use in billions of electronic devices, Corning said its lightweight glass could help fuel economy by reducing a car’s weight. (M.I.T. Technology Review)
• If you have all the money in the world (relatively speaking), then you can decorate expensive cars as you see fit, right? That is apparently Justin Bieber’s mantra where cars are concerned. Already known for his chrome-wrapped Fisker Karma, the pop star has been seen cruising around Los Angeles in a Leopard print-wrapped Audi R8. Seeing how the more than $100,000 R8 is a very fast car, perhaps Mr. Bieber should have considered having it clad in a Cheetah pattern.
Wheels: Wheelies: The Joint-Venture Edition
Toyota/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Akio Toyoda, left, the president of Toyota, shaking hands with Norbert Reithofer, the BMW chairman, after they announced a partnership in January.In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:
• Something is brewing between Toyota and BMW, in the form of a four-part joint venture aimed at using lightweight materials, fuel-cell technology and batteries to bolster vehicle efficiency. The companies announced their intentions to collaborate in January, but had apparently come closer to agreeing upon what they would like to do with their pooled resources. Motor Trend reported that a joint concept vehicle might be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show this year. At this point, what that vehicle will be is pure speculation, but Motor Trend surmises that it may be a hybrid sports car. Whatever it is, Toyota and BMW have already engaged in feasibility studies, all very hush hush. (Motor Trend)
• Three former Saab executives have been arrested by Swedish authorities for fraud and tax evasion. Although Olof Sahlgren, a Swedish prosecutor, would not name the executives, he said that they had been accused of falsifying the company’s financial records from 2010 to 2011. Skypker, the automaker, had bought Saab from General Motors in 2010, filing for bankruptcy in December 2011. It is now owned by a consortium of Chinese and Japanese investors who plan to build electric cars under the Saab brand. The three Spyker-era executives face four years behind bars if convicted. (The Boston Globe)
• Don’t expect to see too many Renaults for sale in America soon, but if there were a dealership in the neighborhood, the driving enthusiast might consider taking the new Renault Mégane RB8 for a spin. Production of the hot hatch, the styling of which was inspired by Renault’s Formula One partnership with Red Bull Racing, will be limited. Mechanically, the RB8 is the same as the Mégane 265 Cup, sporting a 265-horsepower, 2-liter 4-cylinder engine. But it will have 19-inch wheels, Recaro seats and a few other goodies the other car does not have. But again, we will have to watch the fun unfold from afar on this side of the Atlantic. (Piston Heads)
• Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler and Fiat’s Italian chief executive, came under fire from an Italian-American anti-bias advocacy group in New Jersey for comments he made at the Detroit auto show in January. He had told reporters there that if a new Alfa Romeo model was sold in the United States, it needed to have a “wop” engine. Although putting an Italian-designed engine in an Italian car may sound fine to most, using the word “wop,” a pejorative for Italian-American, attracted the attention of the the Italian-American One Voice Coalition, which pursued Mr. Marchionne until he issued a public apology for the slur. (The Detroit Free Press)
• A 20-year-old woman was killed Saturday when a Jeep demonstration in Edmonton, Alberta, went awry. Two Jeeps were parked in such a way that one Jeep had its front tire on top of the front tire of the other Jeep, ostensibly to show off the S.U.V.’s climbing prowess. When the top Jeep’s driver got out to pose for pictures, his vehicle moved forward, rolling to its side. A young woman standing nearby was knocked down by the tumbling Jeep and later pronounced dead at the hospital. (CTV News)
• Audi is now India’s top luxury brand, having outstripped BMW of the title. Sales of BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars in India fell by 9.5 and 5.4 percent, respectively, while Audi sales there rose by 43 percent over the last year – a total of 9,350 vehicles. Audi said it owed its success to focusing outside of the city centers typically aimed at by top carmakers in India. The automaker expanded its sales outside urban areas. S.U.V.’s are the company’s primary focus in the country, particularly in smaller cities that tend to have more rough roads. (Automotive News Europe)
Wheels Blog: Wheelies: The Inexpensive E.V.’s Edition
General Motors Chevrolet announced Thursday that the Spark EV will be available for lease for $199 per month at some dealerships. In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:
• As of Thursday morning, General Motors jumped into the heart of the electric car fray with an announcement from Chevrolet that it would offer a $199-a-month lease for the Spark EV. That puts the tiny all-electric model in direct competition with the Nissan Leaf and Fiat 500e, both offered with $199 leases. General Motors said it expected to have the Spark EV available at some California and Oregon dealers by mid-June. Lower lease prices for battery-electric cars could help automakers meet tightening air quality regulations in California by increasing sales, which have been stymied by customer perceptions that electric models are too costly. (The Los Angeles Times)
• Two Denso executives, Yuji Suzuki and Hiroshi Watanabe, will be spending more than a year in American prison and each pay $20,000 fines after pleading guilty to charges of conspiring to fix prices of electronic auto parts. According to the United States Justice Department, the parts in question were heater control panels Denso sold to Toyota. Denso, which pleaded guilty to conspiracy last year, paid $78,000 in fines. (Reuters)
• A developer in Michigan is in the process of buying property once owned by General Motors for a car-themed condominium park. The 80-acre Pontiac, Mich., property was once the site G.M.’s validation center, but the automaker lost it during bankruptcy proceedings. Brad Oleshansky said he was trying to raise $40 million to buy the property, where he would build a park for car enthusiasts to meet and to drive their cars on an on-site test track. Plans call for a garage where owners of classic car could store their vehicles. (The Detroit Free Press)
• The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has begun releasing a series of videos offering a “behind the scenes” look at the crash testing it conducts at its plant in Virginia. The first two explain how crash test dummies work and the mechanics of frontal offset crash tests. In all, I.I.H.S., which is financed by the insurance industry, will release eight videos, each six minutes long. The informative videos provide a clear picture of tests that are often described in confusing proprietary terms. (Autoblog)
• At 7 years old, Scarlett Gurr may be the youngest classic-car owner alive. But her “classics” are pint-sized, just like she is. Scarlett’s father, Stuart Gurr, built the cars for his car-loving daughter. Her collection now includes a mini red Ferrari GTO (the pair’s favorite), a blue Cobra, a Blower Bentley and a diminutive replica of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, among others. Mr. Gurr, who owns a London-area car restoration shop, also takes his daughter to shows and races, where Scarlett drives the cars. As the youngest member of the British Women Racing Drivers Club, she has caught the bug early and will undoubtedly transition into bigger, more expensive cars before father knows what happened. (Huffington Post)
Wheels Blog: Wheelies: The Luxo-Fisker Lutz Edition
Larry W. Smith/European Pressphoto Agency VL Automotive – headed by former G.M. executive and vocal car guy Bob Lutz – made a bid with a Chinese parts manufacturer to buy ailing Fisker Automotive.In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:
• What do Bob Lutz and a Chinese auto parts manufacturer have in common? If they have their way, they’ll be the new owners of Fisker Automotive, the struggling hybrid-electric carmaker that laid off most of its workforce earlier this year. Mr. Lutz, a former General Motors executive, runs VL Automotive. The boutique car company teamed up with the parts maker Wanxiang and offered $20 million to buy Fisker, which still owes $171 million in loans to the Department of Energy. Although VL Automotive’s Destino uses a gasoline V-8 in a Fisker Karma, Mr. Lutz has been a vocal advocate of electric and hybrid cars as the way of the future. (Reuters)
• George Michael – the singer, not the character from “Arrested Development” – was injured last week after he apparently fell out of a Range Rover traveling at 70 miles per hour. Top Speed reports that Mr. Michael fell out of his vehicle on a busy highway just north of London, having tried to open and close his door quickly because it wasn’t properly shut. He was admitted to the hospital, but his publicist said the injuries were minor. (Top Speed)
• Facing annual summer production scale-backs, at least two of the Big Three indicated that they would try to minimize this year’s slowdown. Although General Motors hasn’t commented on its summertime production expectations, Ford and Chrysler said they planned to boost production of certain models over the summer. Ford’s typical two-week summer shutdown will be reduced to a week, which the automaker estimates will boost production by about 40,000 vehicles. Chrysler plans to keep three of its factories open through the summer, stepping up Jeep Grand Cherokee and Cherokee, Dodge Durango and Viper production. The automaker’s engine and transmission plants will also operate without a summer break. (Automotive News)
• Automobile Magazine has named its all-star vehicles for 2013. In alphabetical order, they are: the Audi A7; the BMW 3-Series; the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1; the Ford Focus; the Honda Accord; the Mazda CX-5; the Porsche Boxster; the Ram 1500 pickup; the Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S; and the Volkswagen GTI. The publication called the current era “the golden age of sports cars,” highlighting driver-oriented models like the Toyobaru twins and the snarling Camaro ZL1. And the V-6 Honda Accord coupe? Automobile’s staff swears the soul of an NSX lives in there somewhere. (Automobile Magazine)
• In other awards-related news, Toyota has been named by BrandZ as the world’s most valuable automotive brand for 2013, edging out BMW. The list’s top three spots were claimed by Apple, Google and IBM; McDonald’s and Marlboro also made the top 10. The closest marques behind 23rd and 24th-ranked Toyota and BMW were Mercedes, in 43rd place, and Honda, in 71st. Volkswagen took the 100th spot in the annual survey. (The Green Car Website)