La Carrera Panamericana: The deadliest road race ever

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By John LeBlanc

OAXACA, Mexico – Driving the 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG on the same route as the historic La Carrera Panamericana road race is no marketing gimmick. The modern Mercedes sports car’s ancestral inspiration, the 1952 300 SL Gullwing racecar and the legendary Mexican road race are intrinsically linked. Read more

Does Volvo’s turning Chinese ensure its survival?

By John LeBlanc

Here we go again. For the second time this year, a beloved Swedish auto brand has been sold off. But given the initial news that after a long courtship China’s Geely has finally put pen to paper on acquiring Volvo from Ford, the Swedish brand’s survival looks more promising than sister Swedish brand, Saab. Read more

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, Mercedes-Benz and General Motors have all been showing off examples of production (or soon-to-be-produced) vehicles powered exclusively by electricity. Read more

2010 New York Preview: Are GM’s EN-V concepts the future or folly?

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By John LeBlanc

As a follow up to last year’s two-seat Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility concept developed with Segway, Government Motors brought to last year’s New York auto show, the U.S. automaker has released details of a trio of new Electric Networked-Vehicles (EN-V) concepts for this year’s Big Apple show media days, scheduled for next week. This time around, GM teamed with its Chinese manufacturing partner, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. Group (SAIC), for its trio of show cars. Read more

Can Chrysler count on Canadians buying Fiats?

By John LeBlanc

Can Chrysler count on Canadians buying Fiats?Canadians love small cars. And Chrysler Canada knows this. While compact cars made up for more than half of all vehicles sold here last year, outside of our borders, the majority of the automaker’s sales are generated from minivans and pickups. Which is why Chrysler Canada CEO Reid Bigland thinks the forthcoming subcompact and compacts from Fiat will only solidify the automaker’s small-car stronghold in Canada. Read more

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