Smiles abound in Ingolstadt right about now, as that German city’s four-ringed pride and joy leads the blue and white roundel Audi is ahead of BMW in the global luxury segment sales race, and models…

Audi jumps ahead of BMW in worldwide luxury brand sales

Smiles abound in Ingolstadt right about now, as that German city's four-ringed pride and joy leads the blue and white roundel bunch from Bayerische, 80 km down the A9, in the global premium brand sales race. It's true. Audi is ahead of BMW on the worldwide sales charts, albeit by only 383 vehicles over the first two months of 2014.

Audi says that it's sold 242,400 units from January 1 through February 28, a 9.3-percent gain over the same period last year, whereas BMW is only up 8.9 percent with 242,017 units sold over the same period.

"Competition in the premium segment is more intense than ever," stated Audi CEO Rupert Stadler in a Bloomberg report. According to Bloomberg, Audi was 429 units behind BMW during the same two months last year, which when added to the 383-unit lead it has now represents an 812-unit gain over January and February last year.

BMW has been the leader of luxury vehicle sales for the past nine years, having taken over the reigns from Read Full Story
Do you have any idea how good the Honda CR-V is? I mean, don’t go about comparing it to an Acura MDX, but for what it is, Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press a compact crossover SUV from…

2014 Honda CR-V Touring Road Test Review

Do you have any idea how good the Honda CR-V is? I mean, don't go about comparing it to an Acura MDX, but for what it is, a compact crossover SUV from a mainstream brand, this little runabout is about as good as it gets.

First off, if you're looking for a ute that epitomizes the "S" in SUV, sport isn't what the CR-V is all about. Rather, it's comfortable, relaxed and totally, completely accommodating, not to mention quite fuel-efficient and ultimately reliable. Certainly its 185-horsepower 16-valve, DOHC, i-VTEC-enhanced 2.4-litre four-cylinder with 163 lb-ft of torque gets up and goes fast enough to stop all but the most annoyingly intense speed-demons from honking on highway merges, can keep up with the Lewis's and the Clarks on any Montana freeway let alone our yawn-inducing Canadian limits, and its fully independent Macpherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension with stabilizer bars at each end and easy turning motion-adaptive electric power-assisted rack-and-pinion Read Full Story
If you didn’t previously know that Ferrari was in the theme park business, you’re probably not alone. First, the current theme The "Accelerator" is a new ride planned for the upcoming…

Ferrari to build second theme park in Spain

If you didn't previously know that Ferrari was in the theme park business, you're probably not alone. First, the current theme park is in Abu Dhabi, and secondly most of us aren't exactly getting individual invitations from the prancing horse brand to visit it. Formula 1 fans will know about the enticing hot spot, but even for those Canadians in the know, most will choose Disneyland or Universal Studios before hopping on a flight destined for halfway around the world just to have a little fun at Ferrari World. What's Ferrari's answer? Make more theme parks, of course.

The second Ferrari World, dubbed Ferrari Land (a slightly obvious copy of Walt's legendary theme park dynasty) is already in the planning stages, and like the Abu Dhabi facility will allow families to enjoy Ferrari-themed rides, buy up a storm at Ferrari branded shops, eat Ferrari food in branded restaurants, and watch Ferrari shows. While Ferrari's homeland of Italy makes sense as a possible location (or somewhere Read Full Story
Never mess with success? That’s a mantra oft spoken, but Cadillac isn’t listening. Only after a single year of robust sales, the Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press American premium…

2014 Cadillac ATS 3.6L Luxury AWD Road Test Review

Never mess with success? That's a mantra oft spoken, but Cadillac isn't listening. Only after a single year of robust sales, the American premium brand has been tweaking its highly touted new ATS. No, they haven't changed its creased and folded styling one iota, thank goodness, but they've been adding features such as a cool new frameless rearview mirror, a new larger-diameter leather-wrapped steering wheel on cars with paddle-shifters, a 110-volt power outlet on the rear of the centre console of models with the CUE infotainment system and the Navigation package, and Intellibeam automatic high-beam control to the Driver Awareness and Driver Assist packages. Of course, new exterior paint hues have been added to the colour palette too, including Phantom Grey Metallic, Mocha Steel Metallic, Majestic Plum Metallic and Red Obsession Tintcoat.

My ATS 3.6L Luxury AWD tester was finished with none of the above, but rather a very elegant White Diamond Tricoat. Then again it did include Read Full Story
If the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safeway) has it’s way, all new vehicles sold in the U.S. – and likely by extension   in Canada as well – will be required to have backup…

IIHS study pushes for mandatory reverse cameras

If the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safeway) has it's way, all new vehicles sold in the U.S. - and likely by extension in Canada as well - will be required to have backup cameras by 2017. The institute recently completed a study showing that backup cameras reduced collisions with a stationary child-size dummy by more than 40 percent.

The study used volunteers who were told they were evaluating a vehicle's infotainment system. After completing some parking manoeuvres and infotainment-related tasks, they were asked to back out of the parking spot and return to the start point of the test. In the meantime, researchers placed a stationary child-sized dummy behind the vehicle. One hundred percent of the drivers in vehicles equipped only with mirrors hit the dummy, compared to 56 percent of drivers in identical vehicles equipped with a backup camera, and 84 percent of drivers in vehicles equipped with parking sensors but no camera.

When a mobile child-sized dummy Read Full Story
Just one drive and you’ll realize what all the fuss is about. When the Chevrolet Cruze first came on the scene in 2010 as a 2011 Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press model, we journalists…

2014 Chevrolet Cruze 2LT RS Road Test Review

Just one drive and you'll realize what all the fuss is about. When the Chevrolet Cruze first came on the scene in 2010 as a 2011 model, we journalists were all impressed. Folks, that was only four years ago. I've driven at least one new Cruze every year since, and each time I get inside, poke around and then go for a drive I'm reminded just how good this little car is within compact market that's getting ever more competitive.

Last year I tested one in LT Turbo trim, with a two-tone interior, leather seats, a great sounding stereo and loads of other top-tier features. This time around I received a near identical test car, the only difference being a slightly different shade of gray paint dubbed Tungsten Metallic, a new colour for 2014. Additional new colours include Red Hot, Rainforest Green Metallic and Blue Ray Metallic, with the only other change being the addition of a new 2.0-litre Clean Turbo Diesel engine option.

That latter item is extremely bold for a domestic Read Full Story
"This is a Corolla?" my teenage son asked. "Wow!" Indeed, Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press there’s much about the new 2014 Corolla to wow compact car buyers who’ve…

2014 Toyota Corolla S Road Test Review

"This is a Corolla?" my teenage son asked. "Wow!"

Indeed, there's much about the new 2014 Corolla to wow compact car buyers who've grown up thinking of Corollas as reliable but entirely bland automotive conveyances.

The changes start on the outside, where Toyota has given the 11th-generation Corolla a slightly more angular, forward-raked look, with some new character lines and a big trapezoidal maw of a lower air inlet, as is all the rage these days. My test car's S trim and Technology package amplified the stylistic statement with sharp-looking 17-inch alloy wheels, a rear lip spoiler, and fog lights set in a more aggressive front fascia with a chrome-outlined hexagonally-shaped lower intake (the specs list a unique rear fascia for the S too, but I couldn't really tell the difference at the back). In my test car's Blue Crush Metallic paint (a colour unique to the S trim, as is Barcelona Red Metallic) the overall effect was really quite pleasing.

If the Corolla's Read Full Story
If there were such a concept as frugal indulgence, then perhaps the best embodiment of that concept in the automotive marketplace Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press would be the Lexus ES 300h, which…

2014 Lexus ES 300h Road Test Review

If there were such a concept as frugal indulgence, then perhaps the best embodiment of that concept in the automotive marketplace would be the Lexus ES 300h, which is based on the full-size Lexus ES 350 entry-level luxury sedan. Lexus has been building the ES series since the marque's inception back in 1989, and has refined it over the years to provide ever-greater levels of space and luxury while keeping the cost of entry surprisingly attainable.

The current sixth-generation ES series was introduced in 2012 for the 2013 model year, and is based on the full-size Toyota Avalon, which is itself based on the mid-size Toyota Camry. This sensible family heritage gives the ES a big head start in the frugality department, leaving the designers at Lexus with the comparatively simple task of imbuing the car with appropriate levels of Lexus luxury. With that mission suitably accomplished, all the engineers needed to do to create the ES 300h was replace the ES 350's V6 engine with a hybrid Read Full Story