C’mon, Volkswagen, drop the charade. You're never going to sell 800,000 cars in America, not by 2018, probably not when our cars drive themselves, "Minority Report"-style. That’s especially true if your plans call for more warmed-over Chrysler minivans, Accord-sized family sedans and Jettas designed to compete with econoboxes from Detroit and Japan.

 

Volkswagen sold fewer than 220,000 cars here last year. It’s been left in the dust by Hyundai, which sold 435,000 and isn't looking back. And there’s a reason that goes beyond Hyundai’s ability to undercut Volkswagen’s prices: Hyundai understands what Americans want from a Hyundai. And Volkswagen, after all these decades, still doesn’t get what Americans want from a Volkswagen.

 

On paper, a quarter-mile race between the 2011 Porsche 911 Turbo and the 2011 Corvette ZR1 seems like a foregone conclusion in favor of the American muscle; after all, while the all-wheel-drive Porsche is widely accepted to be superior in the turns, the ZR1 is lighter (at 3,329 pounds versus the Porsche's 3,500 pounds) and boasts superior horsepower and torque numbers (638 horses for the ZR1 versus 500 for the Porsche, with 604 lb-ft of torque against the German's 480 lb-ft) -- meaning it should take the cake in Motor Trend's straight-line drag race.

Not so: The Porsche bests the 'Vette by about three car lengths. The Porsche's traction makes all the difference in the shorter race. Check out the video after the jump. 

 

Red Bull race car. Downtown Chicago. Scott Speed will be your livery driver.

In other words: NASCAR taxi. Enjoy.

 

 

It’s curtains for the Ford Ranger. Ford has announced that production of the truck will end sometime next year and that the United States won’t see a replacement. Instead, buyers will be herded toward the F-150, with its new, lower price, its range of fuel-efficient engines and its smart 6-speed automatic transmission.

 

The reasoning is pretty simple. The new global Ranger is too close in size to the F-150 to be an effective replacement for the small truck that buyers love here in the U.S. Throw in the fact that the small-truck segment has been shrinking significantly over the past few years and you have a recipe for one dead Ranger.

Or at least you do from the corporate point of view. For people who buy and love their compact trucks, there’s no replacement for a small, utilitarian vehicle -- and the void in the Ford lineup left by the Ranger can’t be filled by the likes of the F-150 or the work-oriented Transit Connect. Our guess is that the buyers who have been snapping up new Ranger models will take their business elsewhere rather than pony up the extra cash for a brand-new full-size pickup.

 

Saab is working on its first all-electric vehicle: a wagon based on the current 9-3 SportCombi with a projected range of 124 miles powered by a 184-horsepower electric motor. The vehicle is expected to top out at 93 mph, with a zero-to-60 time of about 8.5 seconds. The ePower wagon will be unveiled at the 2010 Paris Motor Show in advance of next year's fleet trials in Sweden.

Initial reports say that Saab's first electric can recharge fully in three to six hours from a plug-in wall outlet; that time reportedly can be cut significantly with a higher-voltage power source. Saab says that the battery pack can operate at full capacity even at temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit -- 10 degrees lower than the operating level of other battery packs on the market, according to the Swedish manufacturer. 

As we reported a couple of weeks ago, the high cost of most hybrid vehicles may negate the fuel savings for which many buyers prize them, meaning that hybrids may not offer much value -- if they offer value at all. A new study by Kelley Blue Book, however, says that a used hybrid may be the way to go when it comes to bang for the "green" driver's buck.

According to Kelley, hybrid vehicles are not retaining their value the way they once did, and are not keeping pace with the appreciation of most other vehicles segments. Combine this with the significant decrease in sales of new hybrids compared with last year -- no doubt due in part to last year's boosted sales from the Cash for Clunkers program -- and it means that purchasing a used hybrid today will be significantly easier on the wallet than in the past.