2011 Frankfurt: Conceptually Speaking

By John LeBlanc

FRANKFURT—Alternating bi-annually with Paris, Frankfurt is the major fall season event on the global auto show circuit. Unlike in 2009, when the auto industry struggled in the midst of the global economic recession, all the major automakers are back in Germany at this year’s show. And as the “home” show for the German industry, there were plenty of debuts of new production cars heading to Canadian new car showrooms in the next few years from the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and the Volkswagen Group. But Frankfurt this year also produced several creative and innovative concepts that indicate an industry in flux, forced to make changes rapidly due to environmental, demographic and economic shifts in society. Read more

The Crank: 6 things I learned at this year’s Frankfurt auto show

FRANKFURT – Did you know that the traditional “frankfurter” fast food involves two sausages on a hamburger bun? Me neither. But that’s only one of the things I learned at this year’s bi-annual Frankfurt auto show…

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Comparo: 2011 Honda Odyssey vs. Nissan Quest vs. Toyota Sienna

Van Wars

All three Japanese minivan makers trot out their new offerings for 2011

By John LeBlanc

According to the Chinese calendar, 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. But with every minivan-maker having either launched all-new or thoroughly redesigned models in the past 12 months, we’re already ready to dub 2011 the Year of the Minivan.

This may seem like a turnaround. The recent departure of General Motors and Ford from the segment had everyone writing off minivans. Yet, in addition to Chrysler, the three major Japanese brands — Honda, Nissan and Toyota — continue on. So to find out which one is the best of this year’s new crop, we gathered the latest minivans from the Japanese brands: Read more

The Crank: Why a Kia will be the “hit” of this year’s Frankfurt show

By John LeBlanc

If you’ve been following the teasers, leaks and previews of the auto show season’s kick-off event planned for Frankfurt next week, you know there’ll be a fleet of new and exciting concepts and coming-to-a-showroom-near-you production cars ready to be unvieled. Read more

Road Test: 2012 Mazda5

Maxivan

The only true “mini” van gets a major redo

By John LeBlanc

Since its introduction in 2005, the front-wheel-drive Mazda3-based Mazda5 has been popular with young families who need more room than a compact car offers, but don’t want to pay the higher price or deal with the bigger size of a standard minivan. Read more

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