Fiat, Ferrari & Alfa’s Future All Laid Out For Us

Italian giant Fiat is going to be  hard at work for the next five years.

They have released a very detailed business plan for Ferrari, Fiat and Alfa Romeo. Why do we care? Well, aside from the fact that all three brands make ridiculously great cars, the business plan lays out what we’ve known for a while: Fiat and Alfa Romeo will be coming to Canada.

We’re extremely excited about that, but obviously, since Ferrari is Ferrari, they get first dibs on our coverage of their business plan.

And here it is. Ferrari will have six new models in the next few years. The 612 Scaglietti will get a replacement late next year with an expected addition of a hybrid set up. The V12 will stick around though, and it will likely be more powerful. The ridiculously good looking 458 Italia will spawn a Spyder version for those who prefer drop top thrills, and there is going to be a 599 GTB replacement as well. The California will be updated.

The biggest news is that the discontinued Enzo hypercar will indeed have a successor! No word of an expected release yet.

Check out Fiat and Alfa’s business plan for the North American market after the jump.

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The Kinky Side of Mini

There is a billboard up in Germany that showcases the Mini Cooper’s naughtier side.

The billboard says “A good Mini takes you to heaven. A bad Mini takes you everywhere”. That is sure to ruffle a few feathers amongst religious groups, but the next part of the campaign will likely have them fuming.

Pictured on the billboard is a Mini Cooper with an S&M whip dangling behind the rear. There is also a code. If you text in the code word, the Mini will actually get disciplined via said whip. There is actually whipping sounds to go along with it and the Mini actually honks in pain/appreciation.

Get off  to Checkout the video after the jump.

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Shocker: Lexus GX Recalled

Obviously it was going to happen, it was just a question of when. We predicted very soon and we were right. Just five days after Consumer Reports declared the Lexus GX as being unsafe and recommending not buying it, Toyota has officially made the call. The re-call that is.

Seriously though, 9,400 GX 460′s have been recalled and we’re shocked that Toyota even sold that many. This is a relief for current GX owners who will now have a brand new stability control system installed to ensure no over steer or rollovers.

WTF? A Talking Mini?!

This has got to be one of the weirdest options available right now.

New for the 2010 Mini Cooper is the 50th Anniversary Camden package. It costs $5,000 and gives you metallic paint, interior trim, hood graphics, 17 inch wheels and Camden badging. Oh, and it gives your Mini the ability to literally talk to you. I wish I was joking.

This new option is called ‘Mission Control’ and it “evaluates a vast range of vehicle, driving situation and vehicle environment-related signals and supplies the driver with relevant information and instructions in customary MINI style.” This means that your Mini essentially has a conversation with itself using two voices, both male and female, both with British accents.

Why the hell would anyone want this feature? Is it meant for loners? Is it meant to keep you awake? Is it meant to make you go so insane that you eventually beat your Mini to a pulp so you’ll have an excuse to buy a new one?

It is undoubtedly one of the most irritating options I’ve ever heard and it came very close to making our ‘FAILS’ category. Check out the video above to see it in action.

Four Door Fiat 500 On the Way For North America?

As we all know and are extremely excited about, the Fiat 500 will indeed be coming to Canadian soil sometime in 2011. The 500 will be sold through Chrysler dealerships as a part of the new Fiat-Chrysler deal.

Chrysler is actually banking on Canada specifically for the 500′s success and to help ensure its Canadian popularity, there are now reports that Fiat is developing a four door variant. This will help Chrysler take on the likes of established players like the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Mazda2 and Ford Fiesta.

Expect the 2 door version of the 500 to debut first, followed by the four door down the road.

Toyota Will Pay Fines, Claim They Did Nothing Wrong

Toyota is getting the first honours of the biggest civil fine ever to be issued to any automaker.

They will be fined $16.4 million for all the jazz going on with recalls, and that’s a steal of a deal for Toyota. Why? Because there is a cap on civil fines. $16.4 million is the absolute maximum civil fine allowed. The Detroit News is reporting that if that cap did not exist, Toyota would have been fined $6,000 per vehicle. That would have resulted in $13 billion in fines!

The kicker is, Toyota isn’t even accepting any responsibility for all the hoopla they’ve caused. The deal was that they pay the fine, but officially  they wouldn’t accept any responsibility of wrongdoing even though there have been reports that Toyota knew of sticking gas pedals since 2005. Toyota does admit that they could have done a better job in communicating relevant new information, however. Um, yeah probably.

All we have to say is we doubt that a $16.4 million fine is of much comfort to the families of those killed in faulty Toyotas, and saying you did nothing wrong is almost like slapping them in the face.

Toyota still isn’t off the hook as the U.S House of Representatives plan on holding another hearing on May 6th. With all everything surrounding the Lexus GX 460 and still lingering issues of faulty gas pedals, Toyota could still face more fines in the near future.

And Then There Were Three…

Alright let’s take an updated look at all the Toyotas (and Lexuses) that have been recalled by Toyota this year:

• Corolla
• Camry
• Matrix
• Avalon
• Highlander
• RAV4
• Tundra
• Sequoia
• Prius
• Tacoma
• Sienna
• Lexus HS 250

The only three Toyotas that have not been recalled are the Yaris, FJ Cruiser and 4Runner. The GX 460 has just received a “don’t buy” designation from Consumer Reports, so the 4Runner on which it is based could see a similar fate.

The Sienna, Tundra and Highlander have been recalled by Toyota Canada over the weekend. The timing is a bit suspect, no? Wait until the weekend when seemingly no one is paying attention.

Find out what they have been recalled for after the jump

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Toyota Admits Worrying Problem With The Lexus GX 460

We reported a few posts down that the slow selling Lexus GX 460 will be doing even more poorly in sales, as in no sales at all, due to an immediate stop sale from Toyota. This was because Consumer Reports found an extremely dangerous problem with the GX’s traction control system.

In aggressive or emergency driving situations, it seems the traction control doesn’t really kick in when it’s supposed to and as a result the GX suffers from tremendous over steer. In fact, due to this issue, if the GX over steered into a curb, or a gavel shoulder, it’s very likely that the GX would roll over. Consumer Reports gave the GX 460 a very rare “Don’t Buy” rating for this very reason.

Three days later, Toyota has admitted that there is a problem with the GX 460.

Lexus Spokesman Bill Kwong told the New York Times that “they duplicated Consumer Reports’ results on the GX 460 and they are currently evaluating potential remedies, but at this point there are no details of what the remedy is”.

Obviously a complete overhaul of the stability control is what the remedy is. Get to it Toyota, you’ve already endangered too many lives with your screw ups.

Still no official recall on the GX 460 from the recall-proned automaker, but expect that to happen soon.

Oh Hi: 2011 Hyundai Accent

The new Accent has been caught completely naked by a sneaky photog.

So it looks like Hyundai really wants to have a recognizable look for the entire line up. This is what the new Hyundai Accent will look like and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the new Sonata at first. The rear end is very Toyota Yaris sedan to us. A little too much. The badge says ‘Verna’ which is what it’s called in other markets, so it’s pretty sure that this is indeed the new Accent that we’re seeing. Hit the jump for the rear snap.

No mention of engines or any other specs, but as is the new trend from Hyundai lately, expect a very competitive package.

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Good Karma: Fisker Announces North American Tour

Fisker has announced that they will be taking their highly anticipated Karma on a tour of North America in the hopes of generating more buzz. Tke Fisker Karma is dubbed as being a premium plug-in sports hybrid. Fisker is claiming that the Karma can run up to 480 kms on the electric battery alone before the gas engine kicks in. Pretty impressive. If it can hold its own on the track, colour us very impressed!

The Karma has made limited appearances at car shows and at private parties where one has to pay to just take a look at it. Kind of snobby, Fisker, but this new tour should help shake that image.

The Karma’s Canadian stops will be in Toronto on June 6th, Calgary June 18th, and Vancouver June 24th.

The Chevy Volt’s Real World Efficiency Will Be…

About eight months ago, GM claimed they had a huge announcement. They were pretty secretive about what it would be. The only hint they gave us was the number 230.

It turned out that 230 meant the Volt’s mileage rating, i.e the Volt supposedly gets 230 mpg. Got an eyebrow raised due to scepticism? Don’t blame ya. 230 mpg is a marketing ploy that didn’t work. While GM technically isn’t lying about 230 mpg, it’s not based on real world driving. It’s just “expected to achieve city fuel economy of at least 230 miles per gallon, based on development testing using a draft EPA federal fuel economy methodology for labeling for plug-in electric vehicles.”

Right.

Well, now the next logical thing to do is give information that is actually relevant to consumers, GM. After a long time of making us wait with lots of speculation, GM announced that the Volt’s real world efficiency will be 50 mpg (4.7 L/100 kms).

Obviously this rating is for the gas engine only when those 60 kms that the electric motor will give you run out.

Not too bad, but we honestly expected a bit better considering the hype surrounding this car. In any event, can’t wait to experience the Volt for ourselves!

FAIL: Texas Police Lock Keys Inside Car

While all the serving and protecting that most police forces provide is greatly appreciated, there’s that little bit of satisfaction in deep down inside when you see the police in embarrassing situations sometimes.

In this case, a Texas State Police Trooper locked his keys inside his car. There’s nothing left to say except, FAIL.

FML: Lexus GX 460 Edition

Toyota can’t seem to keep out of the headlines. The number one automaker in the world is in some serious dog doo as they have experienced a stop sale of most of their lineup, millions of models recalled, lawsuits galore, investigations by American, Canadian and Japanese governments, and loss of accolades. The latter is biting at Toyota’s heals yet again.

Consumer reports has branded the Lexus GX 460 with a very unflattering “Don’t Buy” designation. The reason is due to the GX’s apparent inability to stay sure footed in aggressive or emergency driving situations.  The GX can be prone to rolling over a little too easily as the traction control doesn’t quite do an decent job.

Check out CR’s explanation in the video above.

Interestingly enough, the Toyota 4Runner on which the Lexus GX 460 is based, is not a part of the ‘Don’t Buy’ recommendation. A bit of good news for Toyota then? Nope. As a result of Consumer Reports, Toyota has issued at ‘stop sale’ on the GX, temporarily.

BMW 135is Spotted at the Nurburgring

BMW M135i? from MrBTG on Vimeo.

We’ve seen the spy shots, now we’ve got some video of the 135is in action. Check out that wide rear axle and wide tires! Even though the name of this new 1 is still up in the air, it definitely means business.

BMW’s Destined For New York Auto Show Stolen!

BMW’s section at this year’s New York Auto Show was a bit, um, underwhelming. They didn’t have much to show off and now we know why.

Apparently a 550i Sophisto (probably a new colour) a 535i XDrive, a 650i and a 750 Li X Drive were all stolen before they were able to make it to the show. The incident happened while the cars were being processed at a New Jersey port, which begs the question: how bad is security in New Jersey?

While BMW hasn’t released an official statement about the incident, they did say that they have “provided all the information to the authorities”.

This, along with an outbreak of violence, has left the New York Auto Show with a bit of a tainted reputation, unfortunately.