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Foreign Cars

Car Trends: Small SUVs and Well-Equipped Compacts


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Ford received a small bit of good news recently – sales of its Focus compact car (pictured above) were up 24 percent for the month of March 2008. Honda saw sales of its Fit subcompact increase as well, by more than 73 percent. Sales of the Nissan Altima and Honda Civic also were up, by 14 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Those were among the few bright spots in auto sales over the past few months. Sales of trucks and SUVs tanked, as car buyers continued to migrate away from larger vehicles to smaller, more fuel-efficient sedans and coupes. It’s easy to understand why, with gas prices soaring into the stratosphere. And it naturally leaves some automakers (such as Honda and Toyota) in better positions than others.

This shift in car-buying patterns has automakers scrambling to rejigger their fleets, and some are doing that more successfully than others. Ford, for instance, actually posted a profit for the first quarter of 2008 (due in part to the fact that the company has trimmed its workforce substantially and has plans to shut down some shifts at truck plants). And all automakers are eyeing smaller, more efficient cars.

Ford, for instance, has plans to expand its fleet of small cars in 2009 with the addition of the new Fiesta, which Ford calls its first “global” small car. Recently unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show, the Fiesta will be powered by a range of fuel-efficient engines and bring “big car features to the small car segment,” according to Ford.

That’s a trend we’ll be seeing more of in the years to come, as automakers add luxury-oriented features like innovative sound systems to their smaller cars in an effort to attract new buyers. For instance, Ford has added its new Sync feature to some Focus trims, and upcoming trims of the Chevy Cobalt are expected to come equipped with audio systems that include USB ports, so drivers can plug portable thumb drives into their car stereos, adding a new functionality that will make it easier for drivers to take their favorite songs with them wherever they go.

Don’t expect automakers to completely abandon SUVs, but you can expect SUVs to become smaller and more efficient. Audi, for instance, just unveiled its new Q5 SUV at the Beijing Auto Show (although to us it looks more like a crossover vehicle or a hunky wagon than an SUV). Powered by a range of fuel-efficient engines and featuring permanent all-wheel-drive, the Q5 will measure about 15 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 5.4 feet high, giving it a smaller overall footprint than many other SUVs. Audi calls it “an SUV of all-new proportions,” and notes that it will be “sportier than any of its competitors.” Whether it will prove a hit with buyers seeking smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

Two New MINI Coopers Debut In U.S.


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Although they made their official world debut at the Geneva International Motor Show earlier in March, the MINI John Cooper Works Hardtop and MINI John Cooper Works Clubman took their U.S. bows on Thursday, March 20th at the New York International Auto Show. The two new performance-oriented trims, which will be available this summer, feature upgraded powerplants as well as suspensions, exhaust systems, manual transmissions, electrically power-assisted steering, and high-performance brakes developed by British-based John Cooper Works and inspired by the shop’s fifty-year racing history.

In the 1940s, John Cooper, who was trained as a toolmaker, teamed up with his father Charles to create the Cooper 500 Formula 3 race car and form the Cooper Car Company. As a result of his success on the racing circuit, Cooper was tapped to create race-oriented versions of the British-made Mini, starting in the early 1960s. Mini Coopers, as they were dubbed back then, proved popular for decades. Today, the relationship continues, as John Cooper Works, now under the direction of John’s son Mike Cooper, has recently merged with MINI and will create high-performance versions of the popular sub-compact car. The two new MINIs just announced are the first to appear under this relationship.

The John Cooper Works Hardtop and Clubman both pack a 208-horsepower, 1.6-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine under their hoods. The engine can drive the Hardtop from 0 to 60 in just 6.2 seconds, while the larger, cargo-oriented Clubman takes 6.5 seconds to reach 60 mph. Both trims top out at 147 mph.


The engine in both trims links to a specially modified six-speed manual transmission, and both the John Cooper Works Hardtop and Clubman ride on a sport-tuned suspension and exclusive 17-inch light alloy rims with high-performance tires. In addition, both come equipped with a Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) system that incorporates Dynamic Traction Control, the first for a MINI. When the driver deactivates the DSC system, Electronic Differential Lock Control kicks in, providing enhanced stability and cornering ability during aggressive driving. This latter feature is exclusive to the John Cooper Works trims.

Both trims will be created at the factory rather than at the dealer using kits. Of course, the enhancements will boost pricing for both trims by a few thousand dollars, when compared to the standard trims on which they’re based.

Toyota Debuts First Crossover Sedan With the 2009 Venza


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With the introduction of the 2009 Venza, Toyota has set out to establish a whole new auto segment, which it calls the “crossover sedan,” according to Bob Carter, Toyota’s vice president and general manager, who introduced the new five-passenger vehicle at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Monday.

Carter notes that many of today’s car buyers are moving away from SUVs to sedans, for a number of reasons – better fuel economy, sleeker styling, and a smoother driving experience, for instance. But in doing so, buyers miss many of the benefits offered by SUVs, including better visibility, roominess, and a large cargo capacity. The Venza “crossover sedan” has been designed exclusively for the North American market to bridge that gap.

In many ways, the Venza resembles many of the crossover vehicles currently rolling off the assembly lines of automakers worldwide, including the RX, the luxury SUV crossover vehicle sold by Lexus, Toyota’s upscale partner. However, the Venza is a tad sleeker and slightly more sedan-like, with a bold grille, a fairly sedan-like front end, and a sweptback roof line and a darkened B-pillar that give the Venza a clean side profile. The back end, however, is distinctly SUV-like.

The Venza offers a roomy, uncluttered interior, according to Toyota, with the shift lever on the center console below the dashboard instead of between the front seats. This frees up the floor console to be used solely for storage. The driver and passenger also sit higher than they would in a typical sedan, providing better visibility, while the rear has a lower cargo floor and split rear seats. In addition, the Venza comes with seven airbags, and is the first Toyota car to come equipped with the Star Safety System, a stability control system found in Toyota’s SUVs and in the Tundra pickup truck.

A 268-horsepower V6 engine will power the Verza when it arrives in showrooms later this year. The V6 will link to a six-speed automatic transmission with sequential shift. A few months after the V6 version appears, Toyota will roll out a more fuel-efficient trim with a 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine.

In another day and age, the Venza might have been called a beefy station wagon, but such terminology has gone the way of cassette tapes and 99-cent gasoline. Whether the Venza really does establish a new automotive segment remains to be seen, but it’s obvious that today’s automakers are continuing to design vehicles that appeal to a wide range of finicky buyers.

2008 Nissan Cube: Thinking Inside the Box


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I’ll ‘fess up – I’m not sure I get the whole automobile-in-a-box concept. Over the past dozen years or so, I’ve driven just about every car that’s on the road, from supercars like the Lamborghini Diablo to American muscle cars like the old Trans Am (I drove a mid-’90s model, which was a rattle trap) to cool little roadsters like the Mazda Miata. I love the sleek, glasslike lines of the new BMWs (which many die-hard fans are finding hard to like), and I love spotting some elusive, sporty beastie on the highway and tailing it for awhile, checking out its design, its stance, its uniqueness, until inevitably the driver guns it and I’m left in its dust.

So whenever I have the chance I try to drive something I haven’t driven before. A few months ago, on a trip to Florida, I had a chance to rent a PT Cruiser. Sounded like fun, I thought, as I jumped behind the wheel. And in a sense it was. I know the PT Cruiser (and the similar Chevy HHR) has a big following, and their owners love them. But to be honest, I thought it was an odd driving experience. It took me awhile just to figure out how to open the windows (the buttons are on the center console, not the doors). You sit high in the vehicle, which was okay. It drove well enough. But my biggest gripe was the view out the back and sides, as the rear pillars tended to limit visibility. Sure made lane-changing tricky, and often a little dicey.

In recent years, the PT Cruiser, which is an undeniable hit, has yielded even more boxy cars, like the Scion xB and the Honda Element (neither of which, I confess, I’ve driven). And now comes another boxy car to join the square-shaped parade — the 2008 Nissan Cube.

Ya gotta admit, it’s certainly a descriptive name. No misunderstanding here when you see it on the lot, although a cube (or a square) is not a totally accurate name. It is, in a sense, a box (though I’ll grant you that the Nissan Box is not a particularly colorful name).

Which brings me to my point — why are these cars so popular? They’re certainly not sleek-looking. They’re not aerodynamic (which has been the general trend in automotive design for the past couple of decades). There can be only one answer — they’re different, and perhaps even (dare I say the word?) cute. And it’s that difference (and cuteness) that appeals to a certain segment of the automotive-buying public (i.e. young drivers).

Even more mysterious — early reports have the Nissan Cube as being woefully underpowered, with a mere 1.5-liter engine. That would certainly be fuel-efficient, but also seriously lacking in power. However, reports are still very sketchy, and everything is subject to change, including the design — supposedly the Cube that will show up in the U.S. later this year will be an updated version of the Japanese model, shown above. We’ll have to wait until more info emerges to determine if Nissan is really thinking inside (or outside) the box with its new Cube.

Infiniti Crosses Over with the 2008 EX35


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These days, it feels like automakers inundate the marketplace with more crossovers than Allen Iverson and Tim Hardaway combined. The latest vehicle to defy conventional classification comes from Nissan’s Infiniti luxury line in the form of the EX35, a mix between an SUV and a coupe. While you may have seen the Infiniti EX concept that debuted at the New York Auto Show last month, don’t expect the same vehicle in the showroom. Infiniti built the EX concept for the sole purpose of showcasing some of the EX35’s innovative features in the body of a taller G35 sedan.

One of the most intriguing features involves a lane departure prevention system. Simply put, peripheral cameras work together with the stability control to paint a picture of your surroundings. When you park, the system relays the data to the screen on your dashboard so you can see everything around you and avoid doling out an unintended love tap to another vehicle. On the road, the system notices if you stray too far out of your lane without signalling and lets off a warning noise to keep you on track. This feature should make driving a little less stressful and a lot safer.

With a capable 3.5 L V6 powertrain, 5 speed automatic transmission, and room for 5 passengers, the EX35 presents an interesting new addition to the Infiniti lineup. Expect this killer crossover to hit your local showroom sometime this fall.

– posted by Taeho Lim