Will it hit the sub-$20K mark?
You don’t exactly need to have your finger on the pulse of the automotive market to tell that the crossover utility vehicle craze is getting ready to kick into high gear. Tall-riding, inexpensive creations like the Kia Soul are already selling in droves, and other manufacturers have clearly taken notice. Nissan is out to prove that it hasn’t been asleep behind its tiny-SUV wheel by bringing the all-new Juke to market next year. The crossover is likely to arrive in the U.S. with either a 117 horsepower 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine or a more powerful 190-horsepower turbocharged 1.6-liter engine.
By Lindsay Chappell, Automotive News
Owners of Toyota Motor Corp.'s fuel-efficient Prius hybrid will succumb to the charms of the Nissan Leaf electric sedan, predicts Nissan Division Vice President Al Castignetti.
More than half of the 130,000 hand-raisers who have expressed an interest in the Leaf so far have been Prius owners, he said.
"That's a pretty significant signal to us," Castignetti said last week as Nissan North America Inc. broke ground for a Leaf assembly line and battery factory in Smyrna, Tenn. "It tells us that there is a segment of eco-friendly consumers who are interested in going to the next level. They own a hybrid vehicle. But if the next step is available, they want to take it."
We'll see you back here tomorrow
That's what we'll be doing, anyway, along with manning the grill and enjoying some cold beverages to ward off the heat.
We'll be up and running again tomorrow. See you then.
Los Angeles as you've never seen it before: Without traffic
The concept: What does Los Angeles look like, without all the cars?
The video is short at only 81 seconds, but it's real. L.A.-based filmmaker Ross Ching put together the time-lapse scenes of actual, empty L.A. roads and highways. (And, frankly, 81 seconds without traffic in this city would be a miracle, let alone empty roads.) It's very cool, it's set to Radiohead, and it reminds you how beautiful a city Los Angeles really is, if you could just stop pounding your steering wheel and cursing the other million people on I-5 North. Enjoy.
Ford considers offing its orphan brand.
Ask the man on the street about Mercury, and you’re bound to hear something along the lines of, “I didn’t know they were still making cars.” That’s even worse that hearing that your brand sucks. And Mercury’s inability to dent the consciousness of Americans, let alone their wallets, means Ford is quite able to consider killing the moribund Mercury brand. Indeed, the move is long overdue.
Citing unnamed company sources, Bloomberg News first reported that Ford executives are preparing a proposal to kill off the brand, which was created in 1939 by Edsel Ford. Up until 2002, Mercury was the pet project of Edsel’s great-granddaughter Elena Ford. And it wasn’t a stretch to suspect that the family connection -- and nostalgia for the brand Edsel created -- helped spare Mercury from the ax. But now Bloomberg’s sources suggest that an even more powerful Ford, Executive Chairman William Ford Jr., supports doing away with Mercury.
An AW List
Memorial Day is the first long weekend during which car fans can get out and hit the open road. Whether you want to take an “I just won the lottery” trip or a “Let's just get outta here” trip, AutoWeek has you covered. First, the dream road-trip cars and some dream trips, then some practical ideas.
Wherever you go, enjoy the ride.
The SheLL concept creates a new vehicle-driver paradigm.
Given that the SheLL concept car comes from from Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., based in one of the world's most booming cities, the overarching idea behind the vehicle -- that the SheLL exists in a tightly packed urban environment 20 years in the future where space is at a premium -- fits right in. Everything else about the concept -- not so much.
By Izzi Bendall
Most people spend Memorial Day Weekend in the backyard, at a local beach or stuck in traffic. That's all well and good, but you, AutoWeek reader, are not most people.
Where you should be this weekend:
1. Indianapolis
Like we even need to tell you about this one. Last year's Indy 500 may have been televised in more than 294 million households, but nothing beats seeing the winner take a swig of milk in person.
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Contributors
Clifford Atiyeh has spent his entire life driving cars he doesn't own. Raised in Volvos, he has grown to love fast, irresponsible vehicles of all kinds. He is the senior news editor at MSN Autos and also reports for Car and Driver, Road & Track, The Boston Globe and other publications.
In the garage: 21-speed Iron Horse, 2002 Jeep Wrangler X (not his)
Doug Newcomb has covered car technology for over 20 years for outlets ranging from Rolling Stone to Edmunds.com. In 2008, he published his first book, "Car Audio for Dummies" (Wiley). He lives and drives in Hood River, Ore., with his wife and two kids, who share his passion for cars and technology.
In the garage: 1996 Chevrolet Impala SS, two 1984 Chevrolet Blazers, 2008 Honda CR-V
James Tate learned to drive stick at age 13 in a 1988 Land Cruiser - in La Paz, Bolivia. He's since been a mechanic, on a pit crew and has wrenched on every car he's owned since his first 1989 Honda CRX Si (and won't stop until the car is a 1973 Porsche 911 RS). His work has appeared in Car and Driver, Popular Mechanics, Automobile and others.
In the garage: 1995 Porsche 911 Carrera, 1988 BMW M5
About Exhaust Notes
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