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Report: Mazda looking to double U.S. volume and go upscale

Filed under: Car Buying, Mazda

Mazda CEO Takashi Yamanouchi

Mazda has its eye on moving on up. According to Automotive News, the company will look to double its sales figures in just five years. At the heart of that effort is the company’s new line of super-efficient gasoline engines and lightweight platforms sailing under the SkyActiv banner. Mazda CEO Takashi Yamanouchi says that most of the company’s products will benefit from the fuel-saving technologies by 2015, and that those changes may actually help Mazda command higher prices in the U.S. market.

Part of Mazda’s growth banks on the assumption that car sales in our neck of the woods will continue to slowly improve until they reach the same levels as what was seen in 2000. The company believes that small cars and crossovers are going to be essential to the automotive market’s growth in the coming years. Since its portfolio is already packed with fuel-savvy options, Mazda should be poised to do well if and when buyers start pouring into showrooms again.

Even so, things are hardly right as rain for the Japanese company. Ford has been making waves about finally cutting the last of its ties with Mazda, which could lead to an uncertain future, and the brand’s growth hasn’t quite kept pace with the rest of the industry.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req. | Image: Itsuo Inouye/AP]

Report: Mazda looking to double U.S. volume and go upscale originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2010 Woodward: Vanity plates that make you double-take

Filed under: Etc., Misc. Auto Shows

Viper vanity plate

Custom license plates of the Woodward Dream Cruise – Click above for high-res image gallery

We aren’t the biggest fans of most vanity plates. At the Woodward Dream Cruise, however, there are plenty of witty, snappy and mildly inappropriate plates to be seen, and we can’t help but laugh (or at least chuckle quietly) at some of these creative tags. After all, it’s one thing to cruise Woodward Avenue in a PT Cruiser with wood paneling and flame decals, but having a vanity plate that reads “HOTWOOD” really completes the package.

We found all sorts of interesting letter combinations at this year’s cruise, which you can see for yourselves in the high-res gallery below.

Gallery: Vanity License Plates: 2010 Woodward

2010 Woodward: Vanity plates that make you double-take originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 22 Aug 2010 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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X Games 16 Rally offers up plenty of high, lows, and double gold

Filed under: Motorsports

X Games 16 SuperRally – Click above for high-res image gallery

Race day for the X Games rally car action started out much like the practice sessions had begun the day before – with plenty of frustration. The drivers finally figured out how to deal with the steep drop-off in the dirt portion of the track that led back into the L.A. Coliseum, but a new challenge presented itself. The course layout for the rally racing portion of the event was designed with some very tight turns. So tight, in fact, that after a few practice laps only a handful of drivers could actually make it around the course without having to execute a three-point turn.

Much of the morning saw drivers working with course officials to create a course that the cars could actually drive on. After a few different configurations were tried, one was found, but at that point there wasn’t any time left for practice. Essentially, the drivers would be competing on a course that they had never driven on. Would that result in excitement, chaos or both? Follow the jump to find out.

Gallery: X Games 16 Rally Car Racing

Gallery: X Games 16 SuperRally

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X Games 16 Rally offers up plenty of high, lows, and double gold originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double-clutch transmissions graduate to the world of commercial trucks

Filed under: Technology

Fuso Duonic DCT

Fuso Duonic dual-clutch-transmission – Click above to enlarge

Dual-clutch transmissions have become increasingly popular in small cars and have even appeared in high-performance machines like the Porsche 911 and Bugatti Veyron. Now, Mitsubishi Fuso has become the first commercial truck maker to offer one of these fancy new gearboxes in a hauler.

The new six-speed M038S6 “Duonic transmission” features wet clutches and incorporates the ability to creep in traffic for smoother operation. Although Duonic-equipped trucks will probably be driven mostly in fully-automatic mode, the transmission can also be manually shifted. Mitsubishi Fuso is 85-percent owned by Daimler, with the remainder being held by Mitsubishi.

[Source: Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation]

Continue reading Double-clutch transmissions graduate to the world of commercial trucks

Double-clutch transmissions graduate to the world of commercial trucks originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 01 Aug 2010 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Double Bill – C/D and MT pit Cadillac CTS-V Coupe vs. Audi RS5 vs. BMW M3

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Videos, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Luxury

Click above to watch the video after the jump

The Cadillac CTS-V Coupe has some serious performance chops. The potent angular coupe is loaded with a blown 6.2-liter V8 capable of 556-horsepower, 15-inch front and 14.7-inch rear Brembo brakes and a Magnetic Ride Control suspension setup. Impressive stats to be sure, but does Cadillac’s sleek two-seater have the goods to take on the BMW M3 coupe and Audi RS5?

Both Motor Trend and Car and Driver have obviously been pondering the same question, as the competing buff mags dusted off their camcorders and cut up a pair of comparison videos featuring the three super coupes doing a ménage à trois of the automotive kind.

Make the jump to experience both videos. In the first video, MT goes all-out with its comparison, bringing both Editor-in-Chief Angus McKenzie and the spanking new CTS-V Coupe to Germany to take on the pair of well-established Bavarian competitors. The second video shows the unique C/D approach, with no first, second or third place finishers and not a single word is uttered. C/D just let the hot coupes speak for themselves with beautiful pictures and heavenly exhaust notes.

[Sources: Car and Driver, Motor Trend]

Continue reading Video: Double Bill – C/D and MT pit Cadillac CTS-V Coupe vs. Audi RS5 vs. BMW M3

Video: Double Bill – C/D and MT pit Cadillac CTS-V Coupe vs. Audi RS5 vs. BMW M3 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Subaru’s new ads and their double-entendres

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Hatchback, Subaru

Subaru take the public for a ride in the 2011 WRX STI sedan – Click above to watch video after the jump

Call us sadistic, but there’s something undeniably hilarious about yanking random people off of the street and plopping them into the passenger seat of a sports car. Throw a talented race driver behind the tiller, and you’ve got an unmatched recipe for entertainment. Subaru has decided to take a stroll down that path with a slew of new ads designed to introduce the new 2011 WRX STI sedan to the public. The company asked rally driver Dave Mirra to shuffle a few folk around under an overpass in the 305 horsepower turbo four-door, filmed the whole thing and called it a day.

Subaru has unveiled a total of five 30-second spots with a variety of regular Joes (and Janes) riding shotgun in the winged machine. The company is calling the campaign Get More Gs, and Subaru is quick to point out that the phrase is meant to equally focus on g forces as much as that “oh geez” feeling you get from slinging the car through a slalom. We see what you did there, Subaru. Hit the jump to enjoy the videos. Now… where can we get a skull antenna topper?

Gallery: 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI: First Drive

[Source: Subaru]

Continue reading Video: Subaru’s new ads and their double-entendres

Video: Subaru’s new ads and their double-entendres originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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