2012 Hyundai Elantra
The next generation Hyundai Elantra will record astounding fuel economy numbers, registered 42 mpg in the city and 58 mpg on the highway, according to testing data recorded by Transport Canada.
Timothy Cain of sales and fuel economy blog Good Car Bad Car unearthed the data and posted it to his Twitter feed. We’re not entirely sure how this will match up with an EPA rating, but the future looks bright for Hyundai’s compact sedan.
[Source: Good Car Bad Car]
Chevrolet debuted three new compact cars, as part of its new Z-Spec factory upgrades lineup, with the new Cruze and Volt, as well as the upcoming Spark subcompact rounding out the lineup.
While the concepts modifications are cosmetic in nature, the upgrades really elevate the conservative lines of the Cruze, with an orange paint job, Recaro seats and big wheels featuring prominently. The Spark could be considered a throwback to the days of “The Fast and the Furious”, with its creamsicle orange paintjob, white BBS wheels and Altezza taillights. Of the three, our favorite was the Volt, whose sharp angles, white paintwork and big wheels complimented the car in a way that the stock styling just doesn’t do.
Hit the jump to see all three galleries of the Chevrolet Volt, Cruze and Spark Z-Spec
The early days of the Afghanistan conflict allowed the Toyota pickup entered public consciousness as the vehicle of choice for the Taliban. The images got Toyota some bad press, but it turns out that the Japanese auto maker is pretty much the only game in town.
Afghani car dealers estimate that up to 90% of vehicles on the road are Toyota Corollas. While Afghanistan’s sole Toyota distributor says business is up by 626% (selling 401 cars this year compared to 64 before that), the majority of customers flock to used Corollas from across the globe, with the “German” ( European) Corolla at the top of the pecking order.
While the dominance may be good for Toyota, the homogeneous nature of Afghani cars must be hell for intelligence officers trying to guard against suicide bombers. Broadcasting an alert for a “White Corolla” is pretty meaningless when everybody is driving one.
[Source: The Washington Post]
Before small car fans get their hopes up, we’re sorry to tell you that this 2011 Nissan Micra has no chance of coming to North America. Not for the foreseeable future at least.
It turns out that Nissan was filming a commercial for the UK Market Micra in Toronto, but had the unfortunate coincidence of parking the car right near the offices Sympatico Autos, a Canadian automotive publication. Sympatico head Michael Banovsky ran out and grabbed a couple photos so you can see what we’re missing out on.
Canada will occasionally get prototype small cars for evaluation purposes (vehicles like the Mitsubishi i have been known to spend time in both government and Mitsubishi press fleets) thanks to the country’s love of small cars. However Banovsky recieved an emphatic “no” when he inquired about the Micra’s North American prospects.
Call it sour grapes if you will, but it won’t be missed, and the looks have something to do with that sentiment.
[Source: Sympatico Autos]
