Tokyo - TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announces it will display 45 concept and production vehicles, in separate Toyota and Lexus brand booths, at the 7th China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition (also known as Auto Guangzhou 2009), to be held at the Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center from November 23 to 30. The theme for the two booths is “The Environment, Safety, and the Future”.

The Lexus “GX 460”, a midsize SUV, will make its world premiere at a press briefing scheduled for November 23. Also on display for Lexus will be the “ES 240” and other models. The Toyota display will include the new “Crown”, which will go into production and go on sale in China in December this year, the third-generation “Prius” and the “Camry Hybrid”.

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Here are a few terms that our reviewers used to describe the Volvo XC60 earlier this year: “safe,” “sexy,” “usable combination of horsepower and torque,” but apparently they forgot to say, “might protect you from getting your face ripped off.”

Like with its release of a Volvo-themed video game, the company is skewing to buyers of wine coolers and Axe with its Twilight Saga: New Moon “What Drives Edward” contest. However, the message is as confused as Edward Cullen at a blood drive.

For those of you just returning from solitary: Edward Cullen is…; wait, let’s start with: Twilight is; nevermind, if you don’t know, maybe you should commit another crime and get sent back to the hole because you are too far behind to catch up.

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It wouldn’t be SEMA without the gratuitous hotness showing off the latest products in the booths by some of Las Vegas’ very puurrrty girls. We managed to capture many of them in their most sultry poses and thanking the electronic genius for auto-focus and steady-shot. Otherwise our shaking hands would have produced a lot of barely-in-focus, fuzzy pictures. But I have a feeling that you would look at them anyway.

Below are a few of my favorites. I apologize for not getting their measurements, interests, and favorite past time. Our complete collection can be found in the photo gallery.

Click on any image for the full size version

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Hey Everyone at CarReview.com - It’s Thomas, founder of Microcarmag.com, here with my Day 1 report from the 2009 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

Day 1 started with such fury as we witnessed the unveiling of some killer rides and heard announcements from some of the major automakers in our industry! The very first unveiling had Peter Klut from Dream Car Garage, a SPEED Channel show following the work of Peter’s crew at Legendary Motorcar, showing us an awesome 1970 Super Cuda that combined classic design with carbon fiber and Chip Foose green paint at the BASF paint booth.  Klut’s special guest at the unveiling was none other than the famous designer Chip Foose!  This unveiling was just the tip of the iceberg for our Day 1.

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The 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour is schizo. On the one hand, it is glomming onto the trend that Europe has known forever – 5 door hatches are the most efficient layout, but at the same time, I think the intention was to semi-obscure its hatchiness because looking too much like a wagon is a big Brady Bunch no, no these days—unless you’re a weird sta-wag fetishist. However, isn’t this just the emperor’s new Accord Wagon, with better handling?

I also think Honda was excited by the Crosstour’s hauling capabilities, at least compared to the sedan, but with just 51 cubic feet of cargo space versus the Venza’s 70 cubic feet, it means 1.5 fewer sorority girls will fit back there and that alone might make the Venza more attractive to some, not to mention the fact that the Crosstour goes from 0-60 in just 7.5 seconds, a whopping half-second lower than the Venza. Plus, girls don’t like schizos. Ok, Jennifer Connelly did in “A Beautiful Mind”, but I don’t think she’d be riding in the back of a Honda Crosstour. Or the front for that matter, but I digress. Let’s talk about the basics.

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Look, it’s even more good news out of Detroit. What with Ford actually making a profit, it looks like all the doom and gloom about the number of dealers set to be shuttered might have been estimated on the high side.

At least that’s the case if you believe David Cole, who is Chairman of the nonprofit Center for Automotive Research. Cole told federal investigators that he thought General Motor’s and Chrysler’s projected dealership cuts will reduce market share in small to mid-sized markets. Cole summed it up by saying, “These cuts didn’t make any sense to me.”

David Cole cautioned the investigators that he has no research expertise or experience working directly with dealerships, and that he was asked to come speak only after he sent a letter to the Obama administration’s auto task force earlier this month stating his case for fewer dealership terminations. Although Chairman Cole did agree that terminations in larger metropolitan areas were in fact justified, he made the case that the automakers would be harming their historical stronghold in rural areas as well as modest-sized markets with many of the planned dealership terminations.

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The 2009 SEMA show started off with a lot of energy and optimism for the new year that is almost at our door. New ideas, renewed enthusiasm, and the penchant for going bigger while being eco-conscious all in the same breath. Below are a few photos that our friends from Microcarmag.com sent us. The full set can be found in the CarReview photo gallery.

More interesting tidbits and a lot more exciting stuff to follow in the next few days. Click on the thumbnail  below to view the fullsize image.

Ken Block Monster Subaru

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Interesting news from Mercedes-Benz when they announced that they are planning to open a new alternative powertrain technology center. Based on the campus of Mercedes’ Redford Township, Michigan facility, the German company made the announcement shortly after the township approved a tax exemption.

The Detroit Free Press said that Redford Township’s tax exemption would allow Mercedes-Benz to purchase $2.3 million worth of equipment for use at the Redford site. Located just 15 miles outside of the Detroit city limits, the move announced by Mercedes can only be seen as positive for an area struggling during the recent economic downturn.

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Now that hybrids and fuel-efficient cars are in vogue with the public eye, the shift towards reducing our carbon footprint is gaining momentum with the carmakers and the associated industries. Yokohama has made great strides in this green direction by producing an orange-oil infused tire that replaces 80 percent of its content with non-petroleum based products, has significantly lower rolling resistance, and has a new technology tire liner that holds air much better than the old-fashioned butyl tire liners without sacrificing performance. Read our article explaining the virtues of the dB Super E-Spec tire HERE.

If you desire more concrete evidence, Tire Rack published the results of their low-rolling resistance tire test that centered used a Toyota Prius as their test vehicle and subjected the new generation of low-resistance tires to a battery of tests (braking, cornering, mpg performance, etc.). Yokohama’s formal press release and link to the Tire Rack test follows after the jump.

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Ford made a profit. Yes, you read that right, a car company, and not just that, but an American car company, actually made money in the past quarter. After all the doom, gloom, buy-outs, shotgun marriages, bankruptcies and the like, this is the last thing you’d expect to read, but it sure looks like it’s true.

And add to that that this is Ford Motor Company that we’re talking about. The only car company of “The Big Three” that walked away from the government bailout cash. They took a look at the terms of the deal, and said, ‘No thanks, we think we can make it on our own.’ And damn if they weren’t right.

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Hyundai’s Genesis Coupe garnered a lot of good press and gearhead interest from the get go. And it seems to be fully justified and also understandable. The Hyundai Genesis is well styled (enough), rear wheel drive, and above all, reasonably priced. It’s a car that a young tuner-oriented kid can sink their teeth into, and there’s already a pretty decent aftermarket for the car.

And Hyundai just added a new wrinkle to the mix with its announcement that it will be making a Genesis Coupe 2.0T R-Spec for 2010. With a starting price of just $23,750 and hitting the dealer showrooms fairly stripped down, that way being all the better for future customization by the end user, the R-Spec promises to be even more of what the aftermarket tuner wants.

Photo gallery of R-Spec after the jump
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Following on the heels of the Cube Krom, Nissan has decided to release a Rogue SUV Krom Special Edition version of its 2010 Rogue SUV. The factory-prepped Cube Krom, that came out earlier this year, was enough of a hit for Nissan to justify the presentation of a similar special edition version of its Rogue crossover. Going on sale at Nissan’s U.S. dealers in December 2009, the upcoming Rogue Krom will feature a host of cosmetic upgrades such as a unique grille treatment and a new front bumper with fancy side air-inlets. It will also get 17-inch brilliant finish alloy wheels with P225/60R Continental 4×4 Contact tires and a new rear bumper that has been restyled with integrated center-exit twin tail pipes.

Other goodies include a body-colored rear spoiler and exterior mirrors. Nissan has tinted windows and added Krom emblems as well as installing steering wheel-mounted audio controls to complete the equipment modifications. The Krom Special Edition Rogue which is based on the ‘S’ trim model.

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Son, you’re gonna drive me to drinkin’, if ya don’t stop drivin’ that hot rod Lincoln. Yeah, way back when, Lincolns were not cars to be trifled with. They had big enough plants and there was enough go fast goodies out there that you wouldn’t treat them the way … well, the way you’d look at a Lincoln today.

Sure, for the past however long, they’ve been very nice and luxurious Fords, but performance cars? Not so much. Lincoln is looking to change that with three customized rides rolling out at this years SEMA show.

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Tomorrow is the Bob Lutz Cadillac V-Series Challenge. For those of you who don’t know, Bob Lutz, an auto industry icon and currently a Vice Chairman at GM, first invited writers and then any and all owners of cars comparable to the Cadillac CTS-V to apply to get all Speed Racer with him on October 29 at the Monticello Motor Club in Monticello, N.Y.

Of the 120 people who gave a crap, Lutz chose seven. Of the seven, three are auto journalists: Jalopnik’s Wes Silver and his Jaguar XFR; The Truth About Cars’ Jack Baruth; and Lawrence Ulrich of the fancy NY Times. The journalist invites are clearly a tactical move on Lutz’ part. The other four are joe-blows. Michael from New Jersey and Michael from New York are bringing a BMW M5 and M3 respectively. (Perhaps Lutz was feeling nostalgic for his days as a BMW exec.) Tom of Philly will race his Audi RS4 and Chris from Michigan will bring his Cadillac CTS-V.

It’s clear who Lutz thinks Speed Racer is, but then who is Racer X? And what about Trixie? And that weird monkey? Let’s leave those questions in the obtuse pile, and focus on the race itself.

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You can call this a good news/bad news sort of thing. The bad news is that Chrysler’s two-mode hybrid joint development program has been disbanded, and the good news is that the hybrid Ram pickup is coming in 2010.

The joint development program, which was a very big deal for a while, was created several years ago between Chrysler, General Motors, Daimler, and BMW to work out a two-mode hybrid system for light duty vehicles, is now effectively over. The four automakers involved have either launched or are about to introduce versions of the two-mode hybrid system, so the program is being wound down and the engineering office will be closed by the end of this year.

But the Ram pickup hybrid should be in dealerships by 2010.

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