Just as Lexus is to Toyota and Infiniti is to Nissan, Japanese carmaker Honda has a luxury brand in the United States called Acura, churning out unique cars since the early 90s. Their latest creation is the incredible 2009 Acura TL, and it is unfortunate that Honda does not intend to bring the Acura brand here.
American research firm J.D. Power and Associates has just released its 2008 Vehicle Dependability Study that measures vehicle quality in the first three years of owning a vehicle brand. The study also says that long-term vehicle quality has also improved 5% across the industry in 2008, with the industry average dropping 10 PP100 (problems per 100 vehicles) down to 206 this year. Their full list is rather interesting.
The current-generation Toyota RAV-4 has been mildly facelifted for the 2009 model year, as seen in these photos for the American version. Also new is an upgraded 4-cylinder engine.
While dealer-owned service centres here get away with crappy service, dealer garages in other countries usually give you a free replacement car to drive around in while your own car is being serviced or fixed. In Europe, Ferrari has chosen the Fiat 500 as its courtesy car for local customers. About 200 special Fiat 500 units have been manufactured exclusively for the Ferrari sales network all over Europe.
Early photos of the next-generation 2009 Volkswagen Golf has surfaced on the internet, ahead of its official launch this week. So far, things are not looking good for the icon.
Our main product partner, Yellow Hat, provided us with a choice of 3M tints to be installed on our benchmark BMW M Roadster. We’ve had the tint on our car for about two months now, and the summer has been getting hotter.
The current Mazda 3 is a class-leading car. But while it is winning awards elsewhere for performance and handling, only the most basic versions come here in GCC-spec form, effectively crippling it against the likes of Honda and Toyota. The all-new 2009 Mazda 3 is just around the corner. To be unveiled at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show in November, the new car is set to revolutionise compact cars again.