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2009 Ford Focus SES Coupe

It's been just over a year since we reviewed our last Focus, a 2008 SES Coupe, and we were willing to bet the farm back then that its new design wouldn't go over well with buyers. But $4/gallon gas and the unexpected popularity of Ford's SYNC system have contributed to Focus sales rising 15.7% year-over-year through November. So what the Hell do we know? Apparently something, as Ford has tweaked the Focus Coupe for 2009 despite its sales success. While the Focus sedan remains largely the same except for a new, top-level SEL model and the availability of electronic stability control, the '09 Coupe both looks and drives different than its predecessor. Ford recently dropped off a 2009 Focus SES Coupe for us to play with, so follow the jump to see if this year's version is any better than the last.
posted : 1/5/2009 @10:21:43 PM
2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD

Infiniti's FX first arrived on the scene in 2003. At the time, it looked like something transported into the showroom directly from the auto show concept car turntable. While other manufacturers were delivering boxy SUVs, Infiniti presented the world a futuristic four-door crossover that was available in vibrant "Liquid Copper" paint. Even in bland white, the FX turned every head on the road – and rightfully so. Now in its second-generation, the all-new 2009 FX arrives with a more powerful 5.0-liter V8, a new 7-speed automatic and a mouthful of electronic driving aids that are sure to stump even the team at Engadget. Is the all-new FX a worthy replacement to its predecessor? Has it turned soft to please the luxury crowd? What's up with all of that gadgetry?
posted : 1/5/2009 @9:32:45 PM
China tallies 1.84 million recalls over last four yearsIn 2004, China set up an official government body to regulate the business of automobile recalls. Previous to that, some car companies simply wouldn't recall faulty vehicles due to the lack of regulation. The head of that official body recently announced that in the four years it has been tracking recalls, there have been 1.84 million vehicles that needed a little more work done. If that number is accurate, it's astoundingly low. China is the world's second largest auto market - in 2006, it was reported to have sold 7.22 million vehicles. By contrast, there were something like 15 million car sales in the US that year, and 10.6 million vehicles recalled. We have a feeling that China is still learning the ins-and-outs of this whole recall business. China's most recalled nameplate over the past four years has been Mercedes-Benz, with 19. Their biggest single recall? 420,000 Honda Accords in 2007.
posted : 1/1/2009 @9:41:18 PM

Chinese government to reward scrapping your car and buying a new oneChina, just like the U.S. of A., is worried about its auto industry. Last year Chinese auto production topped 8.8 million vehicles, and this year the country was on track to reach 10 million sales. Then everything went all pear-shaped, and now Chinese automakers are asking their government for help. Beijing hasn't said exactly what it will do yet, but one plan is to offer incentives for folks to scrap the cars they own and go buy new ones.

The key word in this plan is "scrap." The way it's been presented, the government doesn't want folks to just trade in their cars - that would simply add more cars with much smaller margins to dealer lots. They want car owners to send their cars to the crusher. If that's what is actually being considered, we'd be interested to find out how close the "incentive" will be to the value of the car being junked. If the difference is considerable, that plan sounds like a non-starter. Thankfully, other tacks are being considered: lowering the vehicle purchase tax, making auto loans easier to get, and relaxing the quotas on how many loans banks can make. China's auto sales haven't yet slid into the crevasse -- November sales were down 14.6% -- but with many other sectors of the economy weak, the government is trying to get ahead of a fall before it actually happens.

posted : 12/30/2008 @8:48:40 PM
Brouhaha over embargoes leads to reveal of Chrysler's auto show lineup

This week we attended media events put on by Ford and General Motors called "backgrounders" that give select journalists a preview of what will be shown at the upcoming 2009 Detroit Auto Show. We signed non-disclosure agreements and agreed to embargoes, so we can't tell you what we learned or saw. Assuming the embargoes aren't broken, these events give us the ability to produce thorough, thoughtful posts on the previewed vehicles when they finally debut in early January. Chrysler held a backgrounder for journalists this week too, today in fact. Despite being invited by Ford and GM to their backgrounders, our request for an invite to the Chrysler event was repeatedly denied by Rick Deneau, the automaker's Director of Product and Brand PR/Communications. Autoblog, Jalopnik and a number of other blogs were blocked from the event, and the reasons given are varied but seem to revolve around a misnomer that blogs can't be trusted. Well, Mr. Deneau got his wish and banned blogs from today's proceedings, but that didn't stop all the pertinent information from getting out anyway. Jalopnik cites four journalists who attended today's Chrysler backgrounder as saying that the Chrysler vehicles and concepts scheduled to debut during the remainder of this year's auto show season (Detroit, Chicago and New York) are nothing more than "smoke and mirrors" and putting "lipstick on a foam pig."
posted : 12/22/2008 @8:01:18 PM
2009 MINI Clubman John Cooper Works

The names MINI and John Cooper have been intertwined for more than 40 years and now they are closer than ever. When British race car and engine builder Cooper prepped the original MINIs for the Monte Carlo rally back in the 1960s, he helped cement the iconic status of the little car. When the MINI was reborn as a product of BMW earlier this decade, the Cooper model was a standard element of the lineup. A semi-official tuned John Cooper works edition was also available for the hard-core addicts. Earlier this year, BMW announced that the John Cooper Works MINI would become an official factory product analogous to M models from its parent company BMW.
posted : 12/22/2008 @2:49:17 PM
2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8

Back in September we reviewed the V6-powered Dodge Challenger SE, and our conclusion was that an uninspiring engine and benign handling was trumped by terrific curb appeal and an affordable price tag. The R/T model we reviewed yesterday fared even better, with a near perfect combination of brawn and beauty. It was fun spending time behind the wheel of both the SE and R/T models, but we knew we had to get our hands on a fire-breathing, 425-hp 6.1L HEMI V8 to see how capable the Challenger could be at full tilt. After all, there are few things in life better than classic muscle car looks combined with a brute-force V8. And if there are two available V8 engines, it just makes sense that we'd prefer the Challenger with the most powerful powerplant. Did Dodge hit the mark with its top Challenger? We welcomed the Challenger SRT8 into the Autoblog Garage to find out for ourselves.
posted : 12/3/2008 @10:04:00 PM
2009 Dodge Challenger R-T

For all the problems it faces, Chrysler has to be happy with this: the Dodge Challenger rollout has gone about as well as anyone could have hoped. Everyone wanted this car to happen from the moment it appeared as a concept back in 2006. Back then, the S197 Mustang was still new and demonstrating that retro done right can be a very good thing. Flash forward to today and following a brief, SRT8-only 2008 model year run, the Dodge Challenger is now available in three distinct trim levels. We've already reviewed the stylish and value-priced, six-cylinder SE model, and we'll soon give you our take on the top-tier knuckle-dragger, the SRT8. That leaves the mainstream muscle – the R/T. We recently welcomed a silver example equipped with the hotly-anticipated six-speed manual gearbox into the Autoblog Garage. But is it something you'll want to welcome into your garage?
posted : 12/3/2008 @9:31:13 PM

BMW X6 XDrive 35i

You know things have gone awry when BMW now offers three different flavors of non-cars, all of them antithetical to the Bavarian brand's classical claim to fame. The X6 is the latest addition to the range, joining the X3 and X5, and BMW is calling it a Sports Activity Coupe, creating an acronym that's oddly prescient for a vehicle that's essentially a post-bris X5. Beyond the looks that are an acquired taste, we wanted to know if there's BMW goodness baked into the X6, so we swiped the keys to an X6 XDrive 35i for a week with the SAC to find out.

Recent BMW styling has been a study in how much ugly consumers will accept if it's wearing a Roundel. The X6 looks like two different vehicles, each individually cool, yet when merged add up to a pile of automotive offal. The fastback roofline would befit a coupey looking sedan; married as it is to an extra chunky lower body, it recalls the unloved Pontiac Aztek, a comparison we heard more than once during the X6's visit.
more ...

posted : 12/3/2008 @8:49:32 PM
Moving on up! Chinese automakers move out of Cobo basement thanks to Detroit no-shows

With the pull out of Porsche, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, Land Rover and Rolls-Royce, Nissan and Infiniti from this year's Detroit Auto Show in January, there's a lot of empty space on the show floor of Cobo Hall that needs to be filled. Chinese automakers will be the direct beneficiary of everyone's lack of interest in Detroit, as both BYD Auto and Brilliance will be moved out of the basement, otherwise known as Michigan Hall, and onto the main floor of Cobo for the first time. They'll be occupying the space formerly reserved for Mitsubishi and be positioned elbow-to-elbow with mainstream manufacturers that actually do sell cars in the U.S. While Chinese automakers have displayed at the Detroit Auto Show for the past few years, the closest they ever got to the main floor was the lobby when Geely was the first Chinese automaker to exhibit there back in 2006. At this rate, we expect Cobo Hall to be fully owned by the Chinese by the end of next year.
posted : 11/28/2008 @5:22:25 PM
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