Will going electric ever make automotive sense?

By John LeBlanc We’re hearing — and seeing — a lot this year about the electrification of the car. And not just from boutique, low volume companies like California’s Tesla, which has only sold about 1,000 copies of its $125,000 Roadster since going on sale two years ago. Huge, mainstream global automakers like Toyota, Mitsubishi, […]

First Drive: 2011 Toyota Sienna

[svgallery name=”2011_Toyota_Sienna_hirez”] Story and photos by John LeBlanc VICTORIA–As the first new vehicle launched in Canada since the Toyota recall crisis started in January, let’s deal right away with the elephant in the room. Of the several 2011 Sienna minivans I drove during the course of a one-day media event this week, none accelerated unintentionally, […]

The Trouble with Toyotas: Should brake override systems be mandatory?

You’ve probably already read the story, or watched the chase video of the runaway Toyota Prius that had to be stopped by a police car Monday in California after the car’s accelerator became stuck. Now whether you can blame the car or the driver, it does bring up the question: If the gentleman’s Prius had […]

The Trouble with Toyotas: Are Canadians just suckers?

Story and photo by John LeBlanc When February’s new car sales figures rolled out last week, the story on how new car buyers reacted to the Toyota recall crisis couldn’t have been more black and white on either sides of the 49th parallel.

The Trouble with Toyotas: $100M saved applying “cheap” floor mat fix

By John LeBlanc Toyota President Akio Toyoda ’s appearance this week in Washington to defend his company’s actions on the unintended acceleration crisis isn’t getting off to a great start. A newly released internal Toyota document claims the Japanese automaker saved more than $100 million (U.S.) by convincing U.S. safety officials to end a 2007 investigation […]

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