Ford took a bit of a gamble, putting in a fuel efficient V6 into their full-size F-150 pickup but now that the EcoBoost-powered truck has sold 100,000 this year, we’re pretty sure Ford execs are content with their decision.

It’s been over 25 years since Ford has sold that many V6-powered pickups in one year, with 40-percent of the buyers opting to pay the extra $895 for the turbocharged EcoBoost 3.5L V6 rather than the conventional 3.7L V6. More than half of all the trucks sold by Ford have been an F-150 V6.

The EcoBoost V6 sports 365-hp and 420 lb-ft of torque, while the non-turbocharged 3.7L has 302-hp.  The V8 offerings have 360-hp and 411-hp from a 5.0L and 6.2L respectively.

[Source: Detroit News]

Click here to read AutoGuide’s Ford F-150 EcoBoost Review

2011 has been the year of the recall for General Motors. Hardly a week goes by when a new vehicle recall from GM is not making news. The latest addition to this list is the Cadillac SRX.

In particular, SRX models built in Mexico between 2010 and 2011. Roughly 20,000 vehicles are said to be affected, with the majority of these vehicles being in China and America. A smaller number of defected vehicles can be found in 20 other countries.

The problem is with the transmission shift cable causing unintended movement. Upon examination, GM has sourced the problem to an incorrect routing of the transmission shift cable through the engine bay.

The problem was triggered by a person who wrote to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration) about unintended vehicle motion when he shifted from park to drive to park again.

GM has notified the NHTSA that it will sort out this issue. No accidents or injuries have been reported due to this defect.

Kia has formally introduced Korea’s first electric production vehicle, the Ray EV, with a range of 86-miles and an impressive fast-charging in just 25 minutes. Only 2,500 units will be produced initially, all of which will be used by government agencies.

The Ray EV is a close relative to the Ray CUV, which was a 1.0L gasoline-powered vehicle introduced last month in Korea. The Ray EV is also a global first, sharing a production line with a conventional combustion-engine vehicle.

Powering the front-wheel-drive Ray EV will be a 50 kW electric motor paired to a high-capacity 16.4 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery pack. The battery pack is safely located under the rear seat and cabin floor and has been engineered for a 10-year life cycle.

The electric motor pumps out 67-hp and an impressive 123 lb-ft of torque while standard recharge time is six hours utilizing a household 220V. As mentioned before, there is a 25-minute fast-charge mode.

Inside, the Ray EV features a unique navigation system that will locate one of the 500 closest recharge stations in Korea. The government currently has plans to increase that number to 3,100 by the end of 2012.

GALLERY: Kia Ray EV

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Chevy is turning to independent film makers in 32 different countries for one of their five Super Bowl XLVI commercials. Chevrolet is hoping to go global – 60-percent of their vehicles are sold outside the United States – by asking fans to also vote for their favorite commercial to influence the judges.

The contest named “Chevrolet Route 66″ and contestants are asked to create an ad which captures the spirit of the everyday hero and the global experience of life’s journey. The Chevrolet advertising team will get together to check out the consumer-generated ads with the best one being aired during the Super Bowl.

Chevrolet will be posting their favorite submissions on specially created website with Microsoft (ChevroletRoute66.MSN.com) in order for fans to view, rate and share the videos. And to entice viewers to vote from December 22nd 2011 to January 26th 2012, a prize of up to $10,000 can be won by whoever shares most often. The countries eligible include Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, the United Kingdom and of course the United States.

Check out a sneak preview of the commercial competition after the break.

Continue Reading…

Just as Honda announced it’ll be refreshing the Civic for next year, hoping everyone will quickly forget about the 2012 model, Consumer Reports goes and gives the 2012 Honda Civic Si a “Recommended” rating in its latest report.

Now let’s keep in mind that Consumer Reports were one of the first outlets to give the 2012 Civic such low ratings. In fact, they reiterated their thoughts on the base model Civic by saying “while other models like the Hyundai Elantra have gotten better after being redesigned, the Honda Civic has dropped so much that now it ranks near the bottom of its category.”

But the base model Civic isn’t the one that sports the 2.4L, 201-hp powerplant. In fact, our review of the Si was favorable – read the review here – and Consumer Reports agrees that the Si offers “terrific acceleration” more low-end torque and a slick-shifting six-speed manual gearbox. As a result, the Si model scored much better than the base model awarding it the Recommended title from Consumer Reports.

Funny enough, the publication still believes that while “the Civic Si has a great powertrain, it needs a better car wrapped around it.”

GALLERY: 2012 Honda Civic Si

Click here to read AutoGuide’s 2012 Civic Si vs. MazdaSpeed3 Shootout

Chevrolet is planning a more performance-oriented version of the Cruze compact sedan AutoGuide has learned. Sources inside the company have let slip that GM does intend to offer a more sporting version of its best-selling model, though as past reports have indicated, it won’t be badged as an SS.

“The SS badge will be reserved only for ultra-high performance machines,” said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.

What isn’t yet clear is if GM intends to offer a rival to the Focus Focus ST, or if the performance-packaged Cruze will be along the lines of the new Sonic RS model. Current Chevy does offer a Cruze RS styling package, though it isn’t an actual model designation like on the Sonic. If GM does deliver something along the lines of that car, look for custom aerodynamics, plenty of interior upgrades and a retuned suspension. What the Sonic RS doesn’t offer, however, is added power, with the 1.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder remaining stock with 138 hp and 148 lb-ft of torque.

Click here to read AutoGuide’s 2011 Chevy Cruze Review

Toyota has announced new sales and production targets for 2012, which, if met, could place it back on top as the world’s largest automaker by volume. According to a just-released sales and production plan outline, the Japanese auto giant aims to manufacture 8.48 million Toyota, Lexus and Scion models in 2012, a significant 20 percent increase over this year’s projected 7.9 million unit sales figure.

In 2008 Toyota stole the title of world’s largest automaker from General Motors, which had held it for the previous 76 years and has continued to stay firm in the number one spot ever since. However, that three-year run is expected to conclude at year’s end, with GM taking over the top spot once again. In fact, with Toyota’s supply issues in 2011, due to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the automaker is likely to slip to third in the overall sales race with Volkswagen placing second.

Beyond 2012 Toyota continues to forecast growth, though of the less dramatic sort, with projected production of 8.98 million units in 2013 and sales of 8.95 million units.

Vocal critic of former leader Silvio Berlusconi, Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo has announced his intention to run for the position of Prime Minister of Italy.

Montezemolo has quite the background to make a legitimate run for office too, being a member of Italy’s hereditary aristocracy and a lawyer by profession. He currently presides over Ferrari and Fiat and has even coordinated the World Cup while it was in Italy. Now obviously those are trivial tasks compared to running a country, but Montezemolo looks poised to take on the task now.

Back in 2009, he formed Italia Futura, a center-left think tank which could rapidly become a political party placing Montezemolo as a candidate for prime minister. Elections are scheduled for 2013 and it’ll be interesting how big of a role Montezemolo will play.

[Source: Business Insider]

To the race fans and cinema buffs that missed Senna‘s limited release this summer, Christmas came early.

Officially available as a digital download, the award-winning documentary of the most celebrated modern Formula 1 Driver can now be watched on Netflix Instant Streaming and on iTunes.

Unfortunately, Ayrton Senna fans that would like to have a copy on their shelf will have to wait. While the European region 2 release of the Senna DVD and BluRay have been available on amazon.com for months, the North America Region-1 NTSC DVD won’t be available until March 6, 2012 while no official release date has been announced for BluRay yet.

Check out the Senna trailer after the jump: Continue Reading…