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Subdude

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The pickup will be the first light duty diesel powered pickup we've had here in the US in a while. I hope it does well. It'll appeal to folks who want a truck for basic hauling needs and don't need a bunch of extra bells and whistles.

Boy, I don't know. I think it's going to be hard to pry people out of their mega-trucks.

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I love that retro 70s Toyota look. I looked up Mahindra last night. They only export about 10,000 trucks a year. They are not looking to dethrone the F-150, so I think they have their sights set pretty low. And 30 mpg and 2600 pound payload is hard to sneeze at.

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I'm still waiting for the next generation Nissan Titan and the return of the Q45. Anyone have renderings of either?

You will be waiting for awhile on the Titan renderings. Nissan doesnt even know what they are doing yet.

They had a deal with Dodge to offer a re-badged Ram, but that fell through when they merged with Fiat.

Now Nissan is scrambling to come up with a backup plan. Chances are, the "next generation" Titan will simply be a sheetmetal refresh of the current product.

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Looking at the Sonata, it has so many current day styling cliches - the rising beltline, deep-cut swage line (see Taurus above), headlights stretched back on the fenders, semi-fastback roof. Looks like a CC from some angles.

I saw that about the Renault Fluence being sold as a Saturn. My understanding is that Saturn is talking to Renault as a supplier but nothing has been finalized. And really, if it is imported they should change the name. "Fluence" sounds like an over the counter nasal decongestant. Wouldn't it be more likely that Renault would want to import some of their larger sedans?

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Boy, I don't know. I think it's going to be hard to pry people out of their mega-trucks.

The Mahindra seems to be geared more toward the buyer of trucks such as the Ford Ranger and Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon. This is a no-frills truck, something you can scratch up and beat up without worry. The guys who like their Cummins, Powerstrokes and Durmax engined powered mega-trucks that have never been offroad will stay in them.

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The Mahindra seems to be geared more toward the buyer of trucks such as the Ford Ranger and Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon. This is a no-frills truck, something you can scratch up and beat up without worry. The guys who like their Cummins, Powerstrokes and Durmax engined powered mega-trucks that have never been offroad will stay in them.

Yeah, but even with a small target audience people might be dubious about Indian truck construction quality. I wish them luck though.

New Honda Crosstour:

honda_accord_crosstour_010.jpg

Honda used to be known for relatively clean and elegant designs, but in the past few years with models like this, the current version Accord and the entire Acura line they've transmogrified into a kind of latter day Oldsmobile.

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Yeah, but even with a small target audience people might be dubious about Indian truck construction quality. I wish them luck though.

New Honda Crosstour:

Honda used to be known for relatively clean and elegant designs, but in the past few years with models like this, the current version Accord and the entire Acura line they've transmogrified into a kind of latter day Oldsmobile.

Hondas don't usually photograph well, but that and the Acura ZDX were not hit, they were beat senseless with the ugly stick. I feel bad for the Honda fanboys out there...need to head to VTEC.net to see how they are excusing this one.

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What are your thoughts on the interior? It looks cheap to me.

2010-volvo-c70.jpg

I like the seats and the door panel, but the dash styling reminds me of my 2005 Altima, nothing fancy, but it does have a few more buttons. I'd have to get in one to give a proper opinion though. Not a big fan of the minimalistic gauges, I like to see more stuff in there.

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I don't much like the exterior of the Volvo - the A pillar is much too thick - but the interior is nice. In my opinion Volvos consistently have nice interiors, very clean without the slathering on of fake wood that you see in some competitors. A nice touch is the little guy illustrating the vent controls (in the photo most of him is behind the gearshift).

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Looks to me like they're copying the unfortunate looking BMW X6...or an early 80's era AMC Eagle.

Yeah you're right. The problem is that even with a dog like the X6, other manufacturers feel compelled to rush out with something comparable. I'm sure the idea for the X6 was cribbed off of the Ssangyong Actyon.

SsangYong%20Actyon%20(2).JPG

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^That is unfortunate. Looks kind of like a Caliber that was rear ended at a high speed.

LOL - that's exactly what I thought when I saw the picture!!

Re: Crosstour - that thing is ugly -- is it just the angle of the picture, or is the snout really that big, it looks way out of scale with the rest of the car/truck/suv/coupe..

Edited by u080570
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GM Released info on its future vehicle lineup and here is the list of vehicles.

Cadillac

2012 ATS - Coupe and Sedan

2012 XTS - Large Sedan

2013 CTS - Sedan

Chevy

2012 Spark - Hatchback

2012 Aveo - Small Sedan and Hatchback

2011 Cruze - Sedan

2011 Volt - Hatchback

2012 Malibu - Sedan

2012 Orlando - Crossover

2012 Camaro Convertible - Convertible

201? Impala - Large Sedan

2013 or 2014 Corvette - Sports Car

GMC

2011 or 2012 Soul/xB/Cube Fighter - Hatchback

2011 Acadia Denali - Crossover

Buick

2012 Compact - Sedan

2012 "Baby Enclave" - Crossover

2011 Regal - Sedan

201? Regal Hybrid - Sedan

2013(?) Enclave - Crossover

This is what the ATS could look like.

Coupe

cadillac-ATS-rear-three-quarters-illustration.jpg

Sedan

cadillac-ATS-front-three-quarters-illustration.jpg

More info here.

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That golf is looking blander and blander.

VW has designs to become a larger presence in the US (have some very lofty sales goals--the Toyota of Germany?). I sincerely hope that doesn't mean becoming bland and soulless like Toyota, though maybe if they can keep some interest and increase reliability, then it is a fair trade-off.

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Here's something you don't see every day. Mercedes-Benz did a one-off and put a brand new OM651 diesel BlueEfficiency drivetrain into a classic 190D. A vintage diesel hybrid with more torque than the 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II. :o

http://www.leftlanenews.com/mercedes-benz-190d-blueefficiency.html

Edited by JLWM8609
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^Funny, I think it looks "normal."

But in reality, this is what I drive:

x1bxau.jpg

LOL!

You know that's a photoshop, right?

Well, here's something else of interest. The Audi of America president says the Chevy Volt is "a car for idiots".

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/03/report-audi-of-america-president-de-nysschen-calls-chevy-volt/?icid=webmail|wbml-aol|dl4|link6|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.autoblog.com%2F2009%2F09%2F03%2Freport-audi-of-america-president-de-nysschen-calls-chevy-volt%2F

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^Photoshopped or not, it's my dream car. I ride to impress!

And re: the volt. Was that translated or did he actually use "idiot" several times? Nice. Although I agree that $40k is pretty steep, though it is a much delayed "revolution" in cars available.

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I saw that. Perhaps it's a bit arrogant and counter-productive for the president of an auto company to call a competitor's future customers "idiots"?

The initial Chevy Volt will have a price premium, as most first generation bleeding-edge technologies do. In time, GM and competitors (evidently excluding VW/Audi) will increase production and drive down costs.

It always amazes me how some in the automotive industry are so in love with the past. I guess every new technology has it's detractors. The internal combustion engine has had a long and successful run, but it's days are numbered, and diesel is not a long term solution just because of better highway mileage.

As a technology geek, I'm looking forward to seeing the Volt and other new technologies come to market, allowing people to choose energy independence the next time gas prices jump. I'll happily dump the ICE for a high-torque alternative when it becomes financially feasible and when the products are as good or better than ICE-based vehicles (no offense to those working in the oil industry).

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VW has designs to become a larger presence in the US (have some very lofty sales goals--the Toyota of Germany?). I sincerely hope that doesn't mean becoming bland and soulless like Toyota, though maybe if they can keep some interest and increase reliability, then it is a fair trade-off.

I think Toyota realized that soulless and bland sells. Volkswagen has never had terribly flash designs, and that may be one thing that people like about them.

Speaking of which, the new Scirocco. It looks like a Golf that was left in the microwave a few minutes.

volkswagen-scirocco.jpg

Volkswagen_Scirocco_Iroc-6.jpg

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Wow. Thats is fugly. The rear looks like a Porsche Panammmara from that view. Also that is one huge grill. blah.

It seems John Q Facebook agrees with you.

Apparently trying to be "cool" and "with it" Honda introduced the Crosstour on a Facebook page, and the comments were on par with yours. Then Honda got caught removing a number of negative comments, including one defending the Crosstour by a Honda product planner. So they added some corporate PR-speak and changed the photos posted to a red car. Here is what they have to say:

Hi, Facebook fans. We're listening, and we want to address a few things you've been talking about over the past few days.

The photos: Arguably, the two studio photos we posted didn't give you enough detail, nor were they the best to showcase the vehicle. There are more photos on the way. Maybe it's like a bad yearbook photo or something, and we think the new photos will clear things up.

It's not the European wagon: We've seen a lot of comments about the desire for a wagon, but this is neither a wagon nor designed for wagon buyers. We think the Euro wagon is a cool vehicle, too, and we appreciate the feedback... but a version of that wasn't our intention here. That's another segment worthy of our consideration, but the Accord Crosstour, built on the larger, Accord platform, is meant to give you the best of two worlds – the versatility of an SUV with the sportiness of a car.

Many of you don't like the styling: It may not be for everyone. Our research suggests that the styling does test well among people shopping for a crossover.

You want further details about the Accord Crosstour: We typically can't give you details so far out from when the vehicle goes on sale for a number of reasons, including competitive intelligence and pure availability. However... we hear your frustrations, and while specs on the vehicle aren't finalized, we're trying to get some stuff together that we hope will satiate some of your curiosity and give you more to think about.

Honda associates participating in the wall comments: We didn't remove comments out of embarrassment. We removed comments that were posted contrary to American Honda's consumer-generated media policy for associates: We must first clearly state that we are Honda employees and that a posting is a personal - not Honda's - opinion. Eddie forgot to add that, so his comments were removed.

So you see, it isn't that the car is ugly. Perish the thought! The problem was that the photographs didn't do justice to its true magnificence. :lol:

Here is what they consider a more flattering shot (they're wrong on that):

crosstourred.jpg

This is the Accord 'Tourer' that the rest of the world gets instead.

ami-leipzig-2008-gallery-45.jpg

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I think Toyota realized that soulless and bland sells. Volkswagen has never had terribly flash designs, and that may be one thing that people like about them.

Speaking of which, the new Scirocco. It looks like a Golf that was left in the microwave a few minutes.

volkswagen-scirocco.jpg

volvo C30 much?

volvo-c30-front-quarter-cosmic-white.jpg

flipper

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I think Toyota realized that soulless and bland sells. Volkswagen has never had terribly flash designs, and that may be one thing that people like about them.

Speaking of which, the new Scirocco. It looks like a Golf that was left in the microwave a few minutes.

volkswagen-scirocco.jpg

Volkswagen_Scirocco_Iroc-6.jpg

Thats not the interior for the Scirocco, I like it though.smile.gif

It seems John Q Facebook agrees with you.

Apparently trying to be "cool" and "with it" Honda introduced the Crosstour on a Facebook page, and the comments were on par with yours. Then Honda got caught removing a number of negative comments, including one defending the Crosstour by a Honda product planner. So they added some corporate PR-speak and changed the photos posted to a red car. Here is what they have to say:

So you see, it isn't that the car is ugly. Perish the thought! The problem was that the photographs didn't do justice to its true magnificence. laugh.gif

Here is what they consider a more flattering shot (they're wrong on that):

crosstourred.jpg

This is the Accord 'Tourer' that the rest of the world gets instead.

ami-leipzig-2008-gallery-45.jpg

Hey, almost everyone agrees with me. Have you seen those post by people on facebook? Lol. The Tourer looks waay better than the Crosstour.

Edited by Urbannizer
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  • The title was changed to Car Talk → 2022

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