How do you value a brand — not a company, not a world-renowned CEO, but a brand? Marketing research firm Millward Brown knows, and its recent rankings of international brands puts BMW, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz at the top of the automotive sector. Millward Brown starts with quantitative data, looking at how much money brands have made and how… View post: BMW, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz Are The Most Valuable Auto Brands

Driving an awesome car may be a good way to get people hot and bothered up in cold Canada. A study by Autotrader.ca showed that more than a third of the Canadian population feels more attractive driving a sexy car. More » Originally posted here: Canadians Feel More Attractive In A Sexy Car [LOLCars] Read more: Canadians Feel More Attractive In A Sexy Car [LOLCars]

If you asked enthusiasts to name the world’s best sport sedan, chances are good the BMW M5 would be at or near the top of most lists. Since its launch in 1985, the BMW M5 has blended understated good looks, impressive power, surprising handling and supreme comfort into a single package, and the latest example is no exception to that rule. The latest variant gets its power from a TwinPower Turbo 4.4-liter V-8, good for some 560 horsepower and 501 pound-feet of torque. It’s over 30-percent more fuel efficient than the previous model, which got its power from a normally aspirated V-10, and its said to be even more comfortable as a daily driver. If you’re serious about buying one, or if you just want to spend your imaginary lottery winnings, BMW has launched a configurator site for the new M5. Pricing will start at just under $91,000 for a car with no options, but you’re not likely to find a stripper M5 on a dealer’s lot. Get crazy with the “BMW Individual” options, and the price can quickly climb past the $110,000 mark. A “reasonably well equipped” version would sticker in the mid-$90k range, which puts the M5 beyond the reach of most of us. Until we hit the Powerball, that is. In which case we’ll print out our pre-configured, Monte Carlo Blue Metallic M5 specs and head on down to our local BMW dealer. Want to spec out an M5 of your own? You’ll find the configurator site here .   Read more from the original source: 2013 BMW M5 Configurator Site: Kiss Productivity Goodbye Read the original here: 2013 BMW M5 Configurator Site: Kiss Productivity Goodbye

“I’m not dead yet!” It’s the favored sound bite of legions of Monty Python fans, and it also could be the battle cry for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, now returning to the U.S. lineup again for the 2013 model year after a second close call with death. The G-Class is “the founding father of the Mercedes-Benz SUV family,” says model line director Axel… See more here: Mercedes-Benz G-Class To Live Through 2015–And Beyond?

President Abraham Lincoln famously warned, “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.” Two leaked documents about Fisker Automotive’s upcoming Atlantic electric car are currently touring the automotive press after being published first by InsideEVs.com . Primarily, the docs show projected specifications for the Atlantic, Fisker’s mainstream-intended EV sedan, as well as timing. Fisker’s PR representatives have confirmed that the documents—which appear to be PowerPoint slides—are real. Beyond that, however, the PR reps offered no further comment. Without any context for these slides—such as who wrote them, for what audience they were intended, and when they were last updated—it’s difficult to take everything they say as stone-set gospel. Here’s a breakdown of what the slides seem to reveal, and what information was already publicly known: Read full story » See the original post: Fisker Documents Leak, Say Little New About Atlantic Pricing and Timing Read the original post:  Fisker Documents Leak, Say Little New About Atlantic Pricing and Timing

There is a massive amount of engineering involved in creating a groundbreaking car like the Nissan DeltaWing , set to either revolutionize auto racing, or fail spectacularly at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There is remarkably less investment in Top Gear ’s homegrown DeltaWing, but we love it anyway. More » Excerpt from: Top Gear Builds A DeltaWing And It’s Kind Of Brilliant [Top Gear] See the rest here: Top Gear Builds A DeltaWing And It’s Kind Of Brilliant [Top Gear]

If someone were to ask us what’s going on with GM’s marketing and advertising these days, our honest answer would have to be, “we have no idea.” A few years back the automaker played musical chairs with its ad agencies for Chevrolet, kicking long term partner Campbell Ewald to the curb. Next came Publicis, who lasted about a month, before the Chevy account was handed off to Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, who still (more or less) has the business under the new name Commonwealth. We’d argue that Goodby’s advertising tagline, “Chevy Runs Deep,” may be the worst pitch line in the history of the automobile, and we’re far from alone in our belief. Despite public criticism, GM’s chief marketing officer Joel Ewanick seems happy with the slogan, which doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. A few weeks back, GM announced it would pull its advertising from Facebook, which it deemed as “ineffective.” Ford was quick to point out that Facebook advertising worked fine for them, as part of a multi-layered campaign to attract the all-important Millennial buyer. Now comes word that GM is pulling out of Super Bowl advertising, too, which it deems as “not cost effective” because of rising air time costs. A single 30-second ad can sell for as much as $3.8 million for airtime alone, and that cost isn’t expected to drop for future games. The Wall Street Journal quotes Joel Ewanick as saying, “It’s just getting too expensive and we’re not just going to do the same thing every year.” We doubt that Volkswagen feels the same way, and we’re pretty sure that Kia is happy with the results of its Super Bowl advertising. It helps if you create ads that don’t suck, and both the VW and Kia ads were far more upbeat than Chevy’s end-of-the-world Silverado ad seen here. When many American families are still struggling to find jobs and keep houses, perhaps the collapse of society isn’t as funny as it first seems. We’ll offer up some free advice to GM, although we doubt very much the automaker will listen: Super Bowl advertising may be expensive, but it’s less costly than shedding customers thanks to ineffective ad campaigns.   More here: GM Pulls Out Of Super Bowl Advertising See the original post here: GM Pulls Out Of Super...

Despite our tendency to make far more questionable car related decisions than the average person, sometimes we are actually able to translate automotive obsession into making excellent choices when it comes to cars and trucks. More » Here is the original post: What Is The Best Automotive Decision You’ve Ever Made? [Question Of The Weekend] Read the original: What Is The Best Automotive Decision You’ve Ever Made? [Question Of The Weekend]

Putting aside the obvious fire risk that comes along with owning an Italian exotic, as this video illustrates there’s another less obvious downside of owning a Lamborghini. More » See original here: This Is The Downside Of Owning A Lamborghini [Video] See more here: This Is The Downside Of Owning A Lamborghini [Video]

Catching sight of a 1940 Ford Convertible in any form is a rare occurrence, but chances are the last one you saw wasn’t sitting on the ground and powered by a modern Chevy small block—unless this was the car you were looking at. More » The rest is here: Slammed 1940 Ford Convertible With Modern V8 Power Is Sure To Turn Some Heads [Found On EBay] Read the original: Slammed 1940 Ford Convertible With Modern V8 Power Is Sure To Turn Some Heads [Found On EBay]

Back in 1979 when he was just a rich guy rather than the rich guy, Bill Gates purchased the Porsche Turbo seen here. 33 years later, the car is scheduled to sell at an Austrian auction next month . More » Read more: Turbo Porsche Purchased New By Bill Gates To Cross The Auction Block [Car Auctions] Here is the original post: Turbo Porsche Purchased New By Bill Gates To Cross The Auction Block [Car Auctions]

While it would seem more automotive knowledge would lead to better automotive decisions, from our own experience far too often the opposite is true. Misery loves company, so this weekend we want to know about the worst of your inevitable automotive blunders. More » Read more: What Is The Worst Automotive Decision You’ve Ever Made? [Question Of The Weekend] See the rest here:  What Is The Worst Automotive Decision You’ve Ever Made? [Question Of The Weekend]

The 2012 Lexus HS 250h. Image: Lexus Lexus launched the HS 250h hybrid in the U.S. in the summer of 2009, as a 2010 model. Meant as a fuel-efficient bookend to Lexus’ other entry-level offering, the rear-drive IS sedan, the HS 250h never really took off in the U.S. market. As Inside Line reports, sales in the 2010 model year were acceptable, hitting 10,663 units, but plummeted to just 2,864 units for 2011. The introduction of the less-expensive and more functional Lexus CT 200h had erased any market for the HS 250h, and the CT 200h has now become the fourth-best-selling vehicle in Lexus’ current product mix. Sadly, the death of the HS 250h came with no announcement, but Toyota did admit to Inside Line that “Production of the HS 250h ceased in January, 2012. Lexus continues to monitor sales for each product and we make adjustments to make sure we meet market demand, and the discontinuation of the HS was part of that adjustment.” If you’re looking for a hybrid sedan offering from Lexus in the coming months, you’re still in luck: Lexus will soon launch the ES 300h sedan, which is expected to be both more powerful and more fuel efficient than the discontinued HS 250h. We’ll bet that there are deals to be had on leftover HS models, though.   Continued here: Dismal Sales Kill The Lexus HS 250h Hybrid Go here to read the rest:  Dismal Sales Kill The Lexus HS 250h Hybrid

The only thing truly constant, it’s said, is change. With the possible exceptions of the Porsche 911 and every model built by the Morgan Motor Company, nowhere is this adage more true than in the automotive industry. We said goodbye to a fair number of cars in 2012, including some that were one-time favorites and others that, frankly… See the rest here: The Death List: What Cars Aren’t Coming Back For 2013?

Even in base form, the Nissan GT-R is almost unbelievably quick, and blessed with the kind of handling limits that few owners will test, even on track days. While we get the “Black Edition” in the United States, with extras like lighter Rays Wheels and a carbon-fiber rear spoiler, we don’t get the “Track Pack,” which is reserved for the right-hand-drive markets of Japan and Great Britain. In Britain, the Track Pack adds nearly $16,000 to the cost of a GT-R, and on the surface it’s easy to question where that money was spent. The car gets lighter wheels (same as the Black Edition cars, as far as we can tell), a stiffer suspension, brake cooling ducts, sticky seat fabric and a rear-seat delete to save weight. Customers can even have the suspension set to road (less negative camber) or track (more negative camber) by their dealer. It may not seem logical to benchmark the Nissan GT-R against Porsche’s uber-grand-tourer, the 911 Turbo S, but Harris makes a pretty good argument for the comparison. Cost difference aside (in Britain, the Turbo S costs some $71,000 more than the GT-R Track Pack), both cars have force-fed engines that produce over 500 horsepower and both feature all-wheel-drive. Both cars shift via flappy-paddle gearboxes, and both feature adjustable suspensions and variable stability control. In the end, Harris gives a fair assessment of both cars, and we have to agree with his summation. Which is the winner? Watch Harris flog both cars on a wet Brands Hatch racetrack to find out.   Original post: Chris Harris Pits The Nissan GT-R Track Pack Against The Porsche 911 Turbo S: Video Read the original post:  Chris Harris Pits The Nissan GT-R Track Pack Against The Porsche 911 Turbo S: Video