Official pricing for the 2011 Hyundai Sonata was released today and none of it seems all that surprising. Base models start at $19,195 for a manual-equipped four-cylinder while the top-of-the-range Limited with navigation tops out at $27,395.
Don't forget, all 2011 Sonatas feature a roughly 200-horsepower four-cylinder engine. The turbocharged model will be added next year.
2009 L.A. Auto Show: 2011 Hyundai Sonata
That's the question GM has been asking itself for the past several months, and now we have what they think is the answer. Starting in the spring, the 2011 Buick Regal CXL will go on sale with a base price of $27,745.
The CXL is the only trim level that will be offered out of the gate and it will only come with the standard 182-horsepower, 2.4-liter Ecotec four-cylinder. Later this summer, a turbocharged CXL with 220-horsepower will go on sale for $30,245. Next year, Buick will add a base CX model to the lineup, but no pricing has been determined yet.
Hey remember the Volt dance? Sure you do. You might wish you didn't. But if you saw it, we're guessing it was seared onto your noodle. Remember the Solid-Gold style dancing-ladies and -- why not -- a break dancer? Remember its soundtrack -- that ear-worm of a jingle known as the Volt song (although known casually to us as "Oh For The Love Of God, Get The Hell Out My Head!").
The lameness of the presentation that Chevrolet marketing put on during the public days of the Los Angeles Auto Show now has General Motors PR trying to distance itself from the thing. In fact, the head GM PR his-ownself, Chris Preuss, has tweeted (yes, tweeted), "CIA now using Volt dance video to crack terrorists." That's funny. Not as funny as the dance, but funny.
The performance along with the song are no sneaky viral marketing ploy by GM. No, indeed, this silliness was commissioned by the earnest marketing staff within GM and written by folks at Chevrolet's long-time advertising firm, Campbell-Ewald. And, no, it was not apparently created with any sense of irony.
The whole fracas amounts to, well, not much and pales in comparison to some of the choicest PR oddities, such as the 2000 Detroit Auto Show Pontiac Aztek "mosh pit" (pictured below). Or the time at a Daewoo press conference where thousands of live lobsters released on stage began clawing at the journalists in the front row who were too infirm or drunk to escape. Oh no, wait: that was a dream. Sadly, the Aztek wasn't.
Updated
Hyundai announced today that the front-wheel-drive 2011 Hyundai Tucson GLS model will come in at $18,995 ($19,490 with the $795 destination charge included) with the standard 176-horsepower, 2.4-liter inline four-cylinder engine and six-speed manual transmission.
Add the new six-speed automatic and the price of the GLS goes up to $20,790 with destination. The redesigned Tucson goes on sale in GLS and Limited trim levels next month.
Adding all-wheel drive ($1,500) requires both the six-speed automatic and the $1,700 Popular Equiment package (17-inch wheels, telescoping wheel, leatherette upholstery, cruise control and Bluetooth) and, in all, takes your 2011 Tucson GLS up to $23,990. Splurge on a navigation system with rearview camera ($2,000) and you're up to $25,990.
Limited models have 18-inch wheels, the six-speed automatic and leather upholstery as standard, and start at $25,140. For another $2,850, you can have the Premium package with the nav system and a panoramic sunroof. So an AWD Tucson Limited Premium costs $29,490.
For now, the 2.4-liter engine will be the only power plant, but for the 2011 model year, a more efficient 2.0-liter engine will be added in the a fuel economy-minded Tucson Blue model. And later on in the model cycle, you can expect that engine to get the direct-injection technology that debuts on the 2011 Sonata.
The 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe debuted last week in Los Angeles, and you can get a look at if you go to the 2009 LA Auto Show this week. If that's not in the cards, Bryan Nesbitt, general manager of Cadillac, takes you through various interior and exterior design elements in this video.
Alas, we see no evidence of the coupe's "14-way power Recaro seats" in this video -- the interior might as well be that of a CTS sedan.
The CTS coupe goes on sale in Spring 2010.
If you go to the LA Auto Show, you'll find several Vipers holed up in a starkly lit area of the convention center that Ralph Gilles, Dodge brand president, has taken to calling the Snake Pit.
Though the 33-unit run of the Viper ACR 1:33 model, commemorating the Viper ACR's "record" lap of Laguna Seca last week, was the major Viper-related announcement of the show, this Toxic Orange Pearl Coat Viper shows off one of the new paint options for 2010. (Bright Silver Metallic is the other.) Also on display is the red/black Viper ACR that reportedly ran a 7:22 lap on the Nurburgring Nordschleife last year.
The pit also houses an all-black Viper like the one Gilles owns (and has named "Voodoo"). If you like it, perhaps you can be one of 10 people to get it on the 2010 Dodge Viper ACR Voodoo Edition. Yes, apparently, Dodge will only build 10. They'll be black with a graphite stripe outlined in red.
Probably the most provocative thing that Gilles says in the newsy video after the jump is that Dodge isn't exactly sure what else to do with the last 500 Vipers it has committed to building. So if you have zany ideas for a special-edition Viper, look Dodge up on Twitter. You just may have what it takes to do some pro bono product planning for the company currently known as Chrysler. -- Erin Riches, Senior Editor
2009 LA Auto Show: 2010 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR 1:33 Edition
Continue reading 2010 Dodge Viper at the LA Auto Show.
There were a bunch of us swarming around the 2011 Mazda 2 after the curtain had dropped down around it just moments before at its reveal during the Los Angeles auto show during press day. Mazda's new entry into a B-car segment pool already crowded with Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa was making its much-anticipated debut and I was among 22 people hand-selected by Mazda to check it out.
We moved awkwardly around the car unsteadily holding aloft our new freebie FlipVideo cams provided by Mazda and trying to capture the stationary car on its stand. "It's so cute!" "I like the wheels!" "Looks very fun to drive" -- we each spoke into the camera microphones trying to document this moment per the carmaker's request.
You see, I was invited by Mazda to come check out the reveal of the Mazda 2 not as an automotive blogger but as an everyday schmo. They had initially reached out to me because of my L.A.-centric lifestyle blog which does not have nearly the amount of traffic that Straightline does let alone have anything to do with cars. But they wanted me to take part in their new Mazda 22 Program, which is made up of 22 "influential bloggers" who would serve as a "blog advisory group" and help introduce the Mazda 2 to the North American market. We didn't need to be knowledgeable about cars or even interested in them. Mazda was just looking for bloggers of all different genres who would participate and share their opinions with their readers.
Continue reading Mazda Reaches Out to Bloggers for the Mazda 2.
The Germans have been telling us for oh, decades now, that diesel is the answer to all our problems. And now it looks like the green movement has fallen under their spell as the Audi A3 TDI took home the Green Car of the Year award here at the L.A. Auto Show this morning.
If you're the sort of person who tracks these things, you might remember that the Volkswagen Jetta TDI took home the same award last year. So clearly, Green Car Journal, the publication responsible for this award, really, really likes the 2.0-liter TDI engine. Strong sales of the TDI-equipped Jettas would seem to indicate that the public finds the engine quite nice too.
We'll see if the Audi A3 can replicate the Jetta's popularity given the Audi's base price of just over $30K. Up until now, not many buyers have shown much interesting in the A3 at any price.
Green Car Advisor: Diesel Trumps Hybrid in Annual Green Car Contest
We saw Steve Saleen's nasty (i.e., either wicked or tacky, depending on your perspective) SMS 570X at the 2009 L.A. Auto Show yesterday -- surrounded by the displays of Fisker, Spyker, and Aston!
The 570X debuted at this year's New York Show and uses a 6.0-liter Hemi coupled to a Saleen supercharger, resulting in a claimed 700 hp.
The 570X starts at around $85K.
The display said SMS will only make 500. Does that mean this car is number 17 of the bunch?
-- Albert Austria, Senior Vehicle Evaluation Engineer
The 2010 4Runner didn't win the Stock Mini class in last month's Baja 1000, but it definitely got dirty. And Toyota didn't bother running it through a car wash before parking it on its stand at the 2009 L.A. Auto Show. And although some of the dirt clods look like they've been specially treated (so they won't fall off), this lack of spit and polish makes the Baja 4Runner a must-see. A duffel bag and Camelbak hydration system were even left in the truck to give it that just-occupied feel.
The starting point for the Baja conversion was a 2010 Toyota 4Runner Trail Grade with the 270-horsepower 4.0-liter V6, five-speed automatic transmission, part-time four-wheel-drive system, locking rear differential, A-Trac off-road traction control system and KDSS adaptive suspension.
Aftermarket bits include 365-by-12.50-by-17 General Grabber tires mounted on 17-by-8-inch Fuel forged alloy wheels. Bilstein racing dampers have been fitted along with Eibach coil-overs in front and Old Man Emu coil springs in back. Auxiliary coolers for the transmission and power steering were added, and no racy Toyota would be complete without a TRD exhaust and cold air intake.
The extensive roll cage is a custom piece. There's also a two-way radio, a fresh air system to keep driver and passenger from accidentally eating dirt, and a set of handlebars for the passenger -- thoughtful. -- Erin Riches, Senior Editor
Photo gallery after the jump.
Continue reading Baja 1000 Toyota 4Runner Stops by L.A. Auto Show Before Bath.
This the 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX Limited. It has the same 265-horsepower, turbocharged 2.5-liter boxer-four engine and five-speed manual tranmission as the current WRX Premium, but gains a leather interior, sunroof and satellite radio.
You can have the WRX Limited as a sedan for $29,190 or as a five-door hatchback for $29,690. It goes on sale February 1, 2010.
According to Takashi Yamanouchi, President and CEO, Mazda Motor Corporation, the on-sale date of the Mazda 2 hatchback has been moved up in anticipation of strong demand.
He wouldn't be any more specific, so it could be a week or maybe a couple of months earlier than the original July 2010 launch.
Either way, it's a sign that Mazda feels pretty confident about the emergence of the ultra-compact hatchback market. Or maybe, like us, Mazda is sick of hearing all about the Ford Fiesta.
Ed Hellwig, Lead Senior Editor, Inside Line
Subaru announced pricing for the 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Special Edition this morning a couple hours ahead of its official debut here at the LA Auto Show. Priced at $33,690 with destination, it undercuts the standard STI by exactly $2 grand. It goes on sale in March and, since Subaru will only build 125 of these cheaper STIs, we expect demand to be fairly high.
We've already published equipment details on the STI Special Edition, which has the wheels and suspension parts from the Japanese-market STI Spec C but retains the U.S.-spec drivetrain bits.
Apart from the wheels, there isn't anything to distinguish the Special Edition from other STIs, but if design is what you're into, go take a look at Hybrid Tourer concept shipped over from the Tokyo show, as it apparently heralds the future direction of Subaru design. --Erin Riches, Senior Editor
Continue reading 2010 Subaru WRX STI Special Edition Undercuts Regular STI by $2,000.
The Lexus LF-Ch hatchback is just a concept, but Lexus executives keep hinting that it could be added to the lineup if consumer feedback is positive. In executive speak, that usually means "we've already approved it, and are now just waiting to officially announce it."
This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Lexus has to bring its fleet fuel mileage average up just like every other manufacturer and building GX 460s isn't exactly helping.
The LF-Ch is being touted as a compact hybrid hatchback for young, hip urbanites. Of course, that's the description pretty much every manufacturer slaps on small hatchbacks and it never seems to help attract the rich, young things the marketing department was hoping for, at least in America.
Think this hybrid hatchback would be any different?
Ed Hellwig, Lead Senior Editor, Inside Line
Hyundai's head of product planning, Scott Margason, wore a genuine smile as he launched into the specifics of the Korean automaker's new 2010 Tucson crossover.
And with good reason. As Margason points out, the Tucson has "packed up its original boxy shape," and replaced it with a "longer, lower silhouette." Its new "fluidic sculpture" follows the same look of the 2011 Sonata that debuted yesterday at the L.A. auto show, and that's good news all around.
Add in the 2010 Tucson's 23/31 mpg rating, raft of standard equipment (both safety and comfort features) and the Tucson should find some serious buyers, pretty quickly.
On sale this month, Hyundai says the Tucson will be priced "well under $20,000."
Merry Christmas, indeed.
-- Kelly Toepke, News Editor
Continue reading 2010 Hyundai Tucson Debuts at 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show.
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