The Crank: Canadian and U.S. new car buying habits starting to blur

By John LeBlanc

Hockey, poutine, strict gun controls, and universal healthcare—these are just four of the defining stereotypes of being Canadian, eh. And when it comes to buying new vehicles, we really like small cars, especially when compared to our football-obsessed, hot-dog eating, gun-toting, private-healthcare-paying, pickup truck-driving friends south of the border. Read more

Top 10s: Cars That Need Resurrection

By John LeBlanc

Recently, BMW of North America CEO Jim O’Donnell said he wished the automaker had never replaced its 5 Series Touring wagon with the 5 Gran Turismo hatchback model in North America. With expected annual sales of 4,000 to 8,000 units in the U.S., BMW sold just 2,848 GTs in 2010 and only 720 in the first four months of 2011. Oops. Read more

First Drive: 2012 Hyundai Genesis

Genesis Next

The second chapter in Hyundai’s book of Genesis is all about refinement

By John LeBlanc

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — It’s difficult to label as “significant” a car that will only sell about 1,000 copies in Canada this year. Especially from a brand that moved more than 120,000 in this country last year and is on track to beat that number handily this year. Yet four model years after its debut as a 2009, the thoroughly refreshed 2012 Hyundai Genesis Sedan — as well as the larger and pricier Equus full-size sedan that arrived this year and the 2+2 Genesis Coupe — continues to carry the extra burden of not only adding incremental numbers to Hyundai Canada’s sales charts, but of moving the image of the brand up the food chain. Read more

2011 Michelin Challenge Bibendum: The world’s only “green” auto show

By John LeBlanc

BERLIN, Germany — Michelin’s Challenge Bibendum might be the ‘greenest’ auto event of the year. This year’s event, held for the first time in Berlin, marks the eleventh time Michelin has put on its “green” — or what it calls its “sustainable mobility” — auto show. Back in the late-1990s, the higher-ups at France’s Michelin tire company decided to sponsor and host an event to showcase technological research into “clean vehicles.” The first Challenge Bibendum — named after “the Michelin Man,” the tire company’s mascot — was held in France in 1998, and has been held most years around the world in Germany, the U.S., China, Japan and Brazil. Read more

Comparo: 2011 Kia Sportage SX vs. Volkswagen Tiguan Highline 4MOTION

Sports Crossovers

Is the Kia Sportage or the VW Tiguan the best mix of small, fun-to-drive utility?

By John LeBlanc

Listen up. Today’s subject is the evolution of the car. A self-propelled vehicle that originated 125 years ago in Germany, popularized by American Henry Ford during the beginning of the 20th century, and arguably as one of the most significant (for good or for worse) human inventions of all time. Read more

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