The Crank: This year’s most important auto show won’t happen in Detroit or Frankfurt

By John LeBlanc The highlights on my annual business calendar are the “big” car shows. Call me a geek. But for me at least, there’s nothing more exciting than to dive into these auto orgies, whether its Detroit in the winter, Geneva, New York, or China in the spring or, Paris, Tokyo, Frankfurt or Los […]

The Crank: Is Saab Chairman’s optimism surreal or substantiated?

By John LeBlanc As the cofounder of the perennially money-losing Dutch supercar operation Spyker, Saab Chairman Victor Muller fundamentally has to be an optimistic guy. Yet as he makes the rounds in the next few weeks drumming up customer interest in the new 9-4X crossover, left, and evaluating investor intentions to see whether or not […]

The Crank: Changing Aveo to Sonic could cost GM up to $100 M

By John LeBlanc Two thousand and eleven is shaping up to be a big year for little cars. New car buyers will not only get a fresh Ford Fiesta, Mazda2, and Fiat 500 , Nissan Versa, and Hyundai Accent to choose from, debuting next week at the Detroit auto show, General Motors’ Chevrolet will be […]

The Crank: After its annus horribilis, Toyota Canada perseveres

By John LeBlanc Making lemonade from lemons. That seems to be the mantra around Toyota Canada these days. After what is admittedly a less than successful 2010, I recently had the chance to sit down with Toyota Canada’s head man, managing director Stephen Beatty, to get his straight reactions to some of the issues brewing […]

The Crank: Can an all-wheel-drive 911 be a real Porsche?

By John LeBlanc Welcome to winter. Like the rest of Ontario, you probably woke up to the inevitable First Big Dump this week. But what if you had a Porsche in your laneway. Specifically, a new-for-2011 911 Turbo S, which, to the layman’s eyes, seems like the most ridiculous winter vehicle you could drive. But […]

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