By Kurt Gensheimer

Blings:

• Top-shelf interior with cooled seats
• Sync system is easy to use, even for a Luddite
• Trick “Easy Fuel” capless fuel filler
• Moderately athletic while still being a terrific highway cruiser

Dings:

• Good thing Sync is easy to use, because the Nav system is rage-inducing
• Ford spec interior components remind you that you’re in a $45K Ford
• If you think you can squeeze into that parking space…you can’t

Ruling: The MKS is bigger than you think, more refined than you think and more pleasing than you think - assuming that you think.

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The Cube, Nissan’s answer to Toyota’s Scion xB, has finally gotten some pricing information. The imaginatively named Cube will start at just under 15 grand, which is plenty cheap, and seems like a direct financial bull’s-eye for the target market.

The Cube, which is expected to reach US showrooms by early May, and come in an assortment of trim levels.

They will all be front-wheel drive, and share the same 1.8 liter, 122hp engine. The base model, using a 1.8 liter mill, starts at $13,990, a 6-speed manual is its only tranny option. The 1.8S comes in at $14,690, also with the 6-speed, but a CVT transmission is an option. The 1.8SL, at $16,790, and Krom, at $19,360, are only available with the CVT. The Krom, by the way is pronounced like the word “chrome”

Available niceties on the Cube include Nissan’s Intelligent Key system with push button ignition, Bluetooth, audio from Rockford Fosgate, XM Radio and an iPod interface. There will be 40 individual accessories to personalize your Cube, similar to what Scion puts forward to its buyers.

Source: The Garage Blog

A carmaker in India will be launching the “world’s cheapest car” on March 23, with a price tag of just around $2,000. It’s called the Nano (although some are calling it the “People’s Car” and the “One-Lakh Car”) and you obviously won’t have to be a Slumdog Millionaire to afford one.

Tata Motors, Ltd. announced almost six years ago that the Nano would be ready in 2008, but a land conflict delayed production.

The response from other major auto manufacturers like GM and Toyota is that the Nano will not be profitable–though, of course, Tata disagrees. They also claim that the car will not be able to meet safety and emissions standards. India’s doesn’t have safety and emissions laws that are anywhere as stringent as the ones here in the U.S., so the Nano is just fine for now.

The ultra-cheap 100,000 rupee ($2,082) car will be launched at an event in Mumbai and will be displayed at Tata Motors’ dealerships across the country from the first week of April, the statement said. The company will start taking orders for the car from the second week of April.

Violent farmer protests had forced Tata Motors to shut down its factory in West Bengal state and relocate to the western state of Gujarat last year, delaying its planned launch at the end of 2008. The farmers felt they had been unfairly compensated when the government had acquired 1,000 acres from them and handed it over to Tata Motors for the Nano factory. Such land conflicts have become increasingly common as India struggles to industrialize without leaving millions of subsistence farmers behind.

Tata Motors is a part of the Tata Group, one of India’s oldest and largest conglomerates.

Instead of constructing a whole new factory to make engines for its new Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle, General Motors has decided to build them in an existing facility located in Flint, Michigan.

The Chevy Volt is one of the most anticipated American-made vehicles that has come along in quite some time. You might even say that it’s a make-or-break car for GM. The carmaker is going all out to make the Volt a success and a household name.

People like the general idea of this car, because it’s economical, sporty and green. The Volt will rely on a lithium-ion battery pack that will let commuters travel up to 40 miles on electric power alone. The Volt’s engine kicks in after its battery is drained by about 70 percent to sustain the battery’s remaining charge to keep the car running for several hundred miles.

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Saab, acquired by GM a while back, and pretty much steadily underperforming since has been hanging by a thread for at least 9 months, and now things have gotten even worse. The Swedish automaker was forced to halt all production on Wednesday (the 25th), reportedly due to owing the Swedish Customs Agency a “considerable” sum of money for back duties. The upshot being the Swedish Customs Agency is blocking all Saab shipments originating from outside the European Union. If Saab wants to resume production, they must either come up with the money or receive financing from another source. “Saab is not getting a penny of credit from us,” a Customs agent added

Saab production manager Gunnar Brunius, had this to say, “The Customs Agency is holding onto our goods. I have received no indications about us being unable to pay.”

News of the production shut down follows closely on the heels of the bankruptcy filing by Saab. No dollar figure was mentioned in news from Scandinavia, but most likely it is far more than Saab has in cash reserves.

Source: LeftLaneNews

A-ha! So the rumors are true. Fiat’s answer to the BMW’s Mini, the Fiat 500 IS getting the drop top treatment, sort of. Although it doesn’t look like it is going to be a full convertible, more like a huge sun roof that drops all the way from the windshield header to the back deck, at least there will be a way to enjoy drop top motoring when the new little ride makes it here.

And oh yes, the Fiat 500 will be making it to these shores, courtesy of Fiat forking over many millions to partner with/help bail out the ailing Chrysler concern. And the 500 has already been mentioned as one of the cars Fiat will bring over. Ergo, they should also bring over the convertible version as well.

The new drop top will officially bow at the Geneva Motor Show, but we can report that the 500 looks back to Fiat’s Cinquecento of years past with a canvas top slides back to open up, yet leaves the outer portion of the roof intact helping maintain body rigidity. This design also means that the trunk maintains its top-up storage capacity.

We’re pleased at this move, and although there’s been no official word that this little guy is coming this way, Fiat would be stupid not to bring it.

Source: AutoBlogGreen

What this? Lamborghini is considering a Murcielago LP650-4 Roadster? Oh please-please-please-please-please-please. Any good car is even better as a convertible, and Lamborghini’s Murcielago LP650-4 is a pretty good car to begin with.

Sure, the Murcielago, in LP650-4 or any other form, is about as subtle as anything every produced in Sant’Agata Bolognese, but why quibble at this point in time?

As reported by Left Lane News, “Lamborghini is readying a limited edition Murcielago drop top, believed to be called the Murcielago LP650-4 Roadster.” Well OK then. Supposedly the new, limited run model will use the same 650 horsepower V12 found in the Reventon, and the power will go to all four wheels. Which should translate is a 0 - 62 mph sprint in a brief 3.4 seconds.

To make the special Murcielago distinctive, the LP650-4 Roadster will get a matte gray with orange accents paint job on the outside, and a matching color scheme on the inside. Yeah, that sounds distinctive all right. The Roadster’s interior will also feature the extensive use of Alcantara and leather, and an asymmetric dashboard.

The car might just show up at the Geneva Motor Show, but since Lambo’s other special, the Murcielago LP670-4 SV is already schedule to make an appearance, the roadsters debut might be at another auto show. Oh, and in case you’re interested the price will be at least $380,000.

Source: LeftLaneNews

Tough economic times require new innovative forms of marketing, and that’s exactly what Ford Motor Company is doing by shipping 100 European Ford Fiestas to young Americans throughout the country and soliciting their feedback about the vehicle.

That’s right—FREE cars! Why didn’t they do things like this when I was young? (about 25 years ago!)

The promotion is part of Ford’s mission to appeal to “Millennials”–people ages 14-30, who represent the future buying power of not just the United States, but the world.

The 14-year-olds in this group won’t be able to drive for a couple of years, but when they do, Ford wants to be there with the Fiesta in the forefront of their growing minds. It’s a smart move—getting into this age group early on helps build brand awareness that the carmaker hopes will last a lifetime.

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BMW is the ultimate driving machine. And I know this because it’s firmly stated on their press release. Still, it’s a darn fine ride. At the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, (my second favorite thing about Geneva; don’t ask me about my first) once again it was BMW Debutante Season, as the company unveiled to society its latest vehicle cultivated for the upper crust. In this case, their little-baby-daughter-ready-for-womanhood is the Concept 5 Series Gran Turismo.

The plot thickens. Here’s a twist in this sorted BMW Concept 5 Series Gran Turismo tale: is the vehicle a sporty BMW Sedan or a modern SUV? To answer your question,……………IT’S BOTH!!!!! (Note all the exclamation points.)

Photographs and more details after the jump.

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Who would have dreamed a year ago that the big names at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show would be Acura, Hyundai, Kia, and Mazda? Who would have ever imagined that a U.S. auto show would be dominated by companies from Japan and Korea?

Everyone thought the Chicago Auto Show would be a great opportunity for the Big 3 to pull out the stops and put a positive spin on a bad situation. But, instead of a much-needed infusion of confidence, all the Big 3 got was an old-school whuppin’ at the hands of the Foreign 4.

While the Big 3 was busy taking private jets to Washington D.C., closing production facilities and laying off workers at an alarming rate, it seems that the Foreign 4 has been hard at work.

Sure, the Big 3 did unveil some great new cars. But, questions still remain. How quickly can they get these vehicles to market? Are they earmarking bailout money for these projects? (They must be.) But, while the Big 3 wonders, the Foreign 4 plunders, and that’s the name of that tune.

4 new cars from the Foreign 4: The 2010 Acura TSX V-6, the 2010 Hyundai Genesis coupe R-Spec, the 2010 Kia Forte, and the 2009 Mazda MX-5 were displayed at the Chicago Auto Show.

Read the article from Kirk Bell, contributing author to CarReview and Search Chicago, after the jump:

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Uh-oh, this is bad, and looks like terminal news for what once was General Motor’s supposed harbinger of the way it world work in the future. GM product kingpin Bob Lutz intimates that Saturn is on its way to meet up with Ford’s Edsel and Kaiser’s Henry J in the great auto graveyard in the sky.

Says Maximum Bob, “We spent a huge bundle of money in giving Saturn an absolutely no-excuses product lineup, top to bottom. They had a better and fresher lineup than any GM division, and the sales just never materialized. So we have to act on that. It’s our duty.”

Which is another way to say, “it’s over”.

Which is sad, because initially, Saturn DID look like a good way to future success for GM. Everyone, it seemed, had great things to say about Saturn dealerships, and the whole experience of buying one of their cars, but in between there and now, something happened. For whatever reason, Saturn sales dropped, and dropped more than other GM divisions. And what was called “the Saturn dealer experience” turned sour for some. A lot of people went in to Saturn expecting not only the car-buying event to be different, but the car to work better than it actually did. It wasn’t, and so, we find ourselves where we are: looking at another funeral invite.

Source: Edmunds

The Yugo was Soviet Bloc Yugoslavia’s greatest automotive export. It was soooooo bad that it was good! The Yugo was a car where “carpet” was listed as a standard feature. Boasting a rear-window defroster was reportedly to keep your hands warm while you pushed it. The official name for the Yugo was Zastava Koral, because the cheap, subcompact was built by the Zastava corporation. Unlike many Eastern European cars at the time, the Zastava factory had major ambitions to sell to Western markets, especially to the imperialist Yankee pig-dog oppressors in America. Created with the help of Fiat designers and marketed for young people, only 45 original Yugos were handmade on that legendary date in crappy automotive production, October 2^nd 1978.

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According to Malaysian auto guy Paul Tan, GM has decided against production of the right hand drive version of its highly anticipated new Camaro. (Yes, here at Car Review, we literally go to the ends of the Earth to get you news.) First, this isn’t all that surprising, given the financial straights that GM is currently in. making an RHD version of a car is not that simple. Lots of things like wiring looms, hydraulic lines and the like have to be re-routed, if not wholly re-designed and that makes the cost go WAY up. Just ask the British. And another thing to note: Why do you think the instrument cluster is centrally located in cars like the Mini Cooper and the Scion xB? Because that way, all you have to swap in the steering column, and you can make either a U.S. or a Japanese version much easier.

The other thing about GM ditching the RHD Camaro is: Really?! Was GM really going export Camaros to RHD markets? That’s strangely fascinating. It seems like a whole lot of work to be able to sell that kind of car in England, India, Japan and Malaysia (who else is RHD out there? You ever notice that those who are, used to be part of the British Empire?).

As Paul Tan himself put it, “If you’ve got loads of cash and really want to drive a Chevrolet Camaro in Malaysia with the help of your friendly neighborhood parallel importer, you’ll have to sit on the left side of the car … “I bet.

Of course this does bring up the interesting possibility that there are gearheads out there in the jungles of Malaysia that are really into American pony cars, and doesn’t THAT sound like a interesting car club?

Source: Paul Tan

Bar Refaeli may be smokin’ hot, but can she drive a 650 hp open-wheel Indy car at 200 mph? I think not. I wonder if Milka Duno or Sarah Fisher were invited to be photographed for the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. No matter,  we have Danica to fulfill our fantasies. If the photos below aren’t enough to satisfy your thirst, you can spend your entire lunch break visiting the Sports Illustrated website.

Danica Sue Patrick (born March 25, 1982 in Beloit, Wisconsin) first raced go-karts when her parents decided the family needed a fun way to spend time together. Patrick left home at the age of 16 and raced open-wheel cars in England. The highlight was a runner-up finish in the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, the highest finish by an American in the event’s history. That result drew the attention of Indianapolis 500 champion Bobby Rahal, who signed her to a contract and began shepherding Patrick up the racing ladder. Patrick’s racing career continued to pick up speed and was named the Rookie of the Year for both the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 IndyCar Series season. In May 2006, she published her autobiography, Danica: Crossing the Line. With her win in the 2008 Indy Japan 300, Patrick became the first woman to win an Indy car race. Patrick is making her second Swimsuit appearance.

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Chevrolet is bringing back all the old favorites. First, it was the Camaro and now it’s the Corvette Stingray, which they recently unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show.

When Chevrolet started their pitch to get both post-gen and young drivers interested in what they touted as the “Return of the Camaro” the marketers at GM decided to place the car in the first Transformers movie. It turned out to be a very smart move. As Bumblebee, the new Camaro was a big star in the highly successful film and definitely generated some major buzz.

(Photos after the jump)
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