Toyota’s difficulties related to the unintended acceleration issue appear to be worsening, as the automaker has announced suspended sales of eight models in the U.S. market. As of January 27, the Toyota recall list has been updated to include suspended sales of Camry (excluding hybrid versions), Avalon, Tundra, Sequoia, RAV4, Corolla, Highlander (excluding hybrid versions) and Matrix models. The move has also forced a temporary production halt at plants in Indiana, Texas, Kentucky and Canada.

As the Toyota Camry remains the best selling car in America, the sales suspension is expected to have a noticeable impact on Toyota’s dealer network, already reeling from a sluggish economy and tightening credit requirements. Prior to this latest setback, Toyota had announced aggressive leasing options and cash back programs in an effort to get customers into showrooms.

Honda is planning on giving the Toyota Prius a challenge…..again. Although the consumers have spoken and proved that they prefer the Prius rather than the Honda Insight, Honda is not willing to wave the white flag.

These numbers do not lie……

2009 Honda Insight Sales: 20,572

2009 Toyota Prius Sales: 139,682

Honda Insight MPG City/Highway: 40/43

Toyota Prius MPG City/Highway: 51/48

Can you blame drivers for choosing the Prius over the Insight? Let’s just say the average American drives 12,000 miles a year, and the average gallon of gas costs $2.75. We could save ourselves a decent chunk of change with the Prius. Even though the Prius is slightly more expensive, with the amount of complaints we have seen about the Insight, it makes the price worth it. Honda needs to step their game up. They have already worked up a new advertisement campaign for the Insight, and they are also looking farther into the future in hopes of eclipsing the famed Prius. Honda CEO Takanobu Ito alledgedly has told his researchers to develop a hybrid that has a better miles per gallon rating than the world’s most beloved hybrid(Prius). If the the next hybrid is going to be an improvement to the already establish Insight or a brand new design is unknown right now but its going to have to be something quite impressive to knock off the reigning champ.

As a bittersweet farewell to one of the most tumultuous years in automotive history, RideLust presents to you a re-cap of all the biggest industry events in 2009…and a few that slipped in under editorial bias.

Rick Wagoner, Bob Nardelli, and Alan Mulally spent weeks feigning humility and destitution in three piece Brooks Brothers suits in an attempt to wrangle a billion-dollar loan from an apparently benevolent Uncle Sam. Eventually, the government acquiesced and agreed to bail out both General Motors and Chrysler so as not to interrupt their steady production of poorly built, aesthetically unappealing vehicles.

Stunt double Ben Collins outed himself as Top Gear’s infamous masked driver, The Stig, potentially blowing the sweetest gig on planet Earth. Rather than kill him off, Top Gear attempted to counter the rumors by fingering (::snicker::) legendary racer Michael Schumacher as The Stig. Gearheads in America with an Internet connection that’s too slow to cope with downloading the weekly BBC broadcast still don’t give a rat’s ass.

There was some sort of F1 scandal involving Renault intentionally throwing the Singapore Gran Prix, but we were too immersed in our rally obsession to care. Just Google it or something.

As per their plan to cut costs and pretend to pay back taxpayers, GM made the logical decision to axe one of the only remaining brands that consumers still cared about, Pontiac. Shortly after the announcement, rumors began to circulate that the late John DeLorean’s company was interested in purchasing the rights to produce the Pontiac Solstice. The idea, much like the DMC-12, was short lived.

Drawing heavily from the blatantly phallic styling of the Ambiguously Gay Duo’s car, Porsche released it’s first 4-door sedan, the Panamera.

For what feels like the 10th year in a row, GM failed to launch the all-electric Chevy Volt. Reports indicate all 3 enthusiastic fans are coping well.

In an attempt to steal the allegedly sizable fan base the ever-elusive Volt has garnered, Nissan unveiled their equally unready-for-production EV, the Nissan LEAF. As quickly became the case with the Volt, no one really cares.

After muscling a disgraced Rick Wagoner from his position, GM CEO Fritz Henderson found himself on the receiving end of a nasty blow from karma when he was unexpectedly forced to resign after less than a year of service. Immediately following the announcement, his 20-something daughter Sarah Henderson took to Facebook, providing days of gossip fodder with her caps-locked, obscenity-filled defense of her father’s unremarkable stint with The General.

Although arguably destined to be a success in the long run, Cash For Clunkers proved treacherous to September car sales and dealer temperaments everywhere. In truly bureaucratic fashion, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of dealer rebates were caught up in red tape for much longer than expected and, thanks to a gross ignorance of performance and quality, at least one 300ZX was clunked in favor of a 2010 Chrysler Sebring. It was a very dark time for the automotive community.

Citing the worsening global economy and the need for budget cutbacks, Toyota withdrew participation from F1, cruelly crushing the vain hope of fanboys everywhere that Toyota’s race-bred technology would eventually find its way into their excruciatingly boring production vehicles.

In a stark break with the Detroit Three’s storied business philosophy, Ford began producing cars that people actually enjoy driving. In one of the biggest upsets of the year, the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid all but completely usurped the Prius as the public’s favorite hybrid.

After failing to resolve some sort of vague disagreement with Penske, GM opted to wind down the Saturn brand, finally putting an end to what was basically a 19-year identity crisis.

Unseating Ford as the reigning king of the recall, Toyota found itself in hot water in the latter half of the year when a grisly accident exposed serious engineering flaws. After feebly attempting to pin the problem of sudden, accidental acceleration on loose floor mats and receiving a class action lawsuit by way of response, Toyota demonstrated a rare act of responsibility for their subpar product by recalling 3.8 million vehicles for faulty accelerators. Of course, although this was certainly a serious problem in urgent need of an immediate resolution, some might reasonably argue that anyone who purchased a Toyota sort of deserved it anyway.

Ford went to great lengths to keep its month-long negotiations with Geely a secret, ultimately culminating in the quiet sale of Volvo in mid-December. Fortunately, traditional Volvo enthusiasts renounced their brand loyalty when the company was purchased by Ford in 1999, so few tears were shed.

Finally, just a few days before Christmas GM delivered a heartfelt gift to Sweden, announcing that purchase negotiations with Koenigsegg had fallen through and Saab would be killed off. The failure trifecta is now complete.

In conclusion, on behalf of the staff that I no longer employ, I’d like to wish the RideLust readership a very Happy New Year. Thank you sincerely for reading and please keep up the snarling hate mail, my therapist loves the business.

For those of you filthy Westerners who thought the agony wrought by your unrequited love for the gray market RS.4 was the most painful experience you were likely to endure at the feet of a Euro-spec hoon, rest assured that you were wrong. The new Renault Mégane R.S. is the latest sport hatch to roll out of Renault’s paddock, and it’s just as drool-inducing as you would imagine.

Flawless exterior design aside, the biggest selling point on the new Mégane R.S. is the revised turbocharged 2.0 16V (F4Rt) under the hood. Thanks to standard evolution changes and a corresponding livelier response at lower revs, continuously variable intake valve timing, and revised fuel-injection mapping, the powerplant now delivers 250hp at 5,500rpm and 340Nm of torque at 3,000 rpm. When mated to Renault’s new six-speed manual gearbox (PK4), the new engine propels the Mégane R.S. past the 0-100kph mark in 6.1 seconds and flying past 1,000-meters in 25.7 seconds.

For those of you who are already frothing at the mouth with anticipation and have the good fortune of living in Europe, the Mégane R.S. will hit dealer lots shortly after the new year. For the rest of you, the Mégane R.S has already dropped in Need for Speed: Shift, which we highly advise you to procure given it’s the closest you’re likely to get to owning one.

Source: Renault

Who knew a lifestyle that necessitates surviving almost exclusively on a diet of Ramen noodles and Natural Ice could prove so beneficial to the environment? According to Zipcar, their rideshare programs that currently dot an estimated 140 university campuses across the U.S. and Great Britian are succeeding in astronomically reducing emissions, and all thanks to the overwhelming response from college kids too broke to spring for their own set of wheels. By the numbers, Zipcar estimates they’ve cut CO2 emissions by 56 million pounds annually, which is roughly equivalent to the amount of CO2 that would be emitted by 4,800 dilapidated Honda Accords with Greek and/or obscure band bumper stickers affixed atop the more noticeable dents.

In addition to the significant environmental benefits, Zipcar’s service has also done wonders for solving many of the congestion problems plaguing certain campuses and university officials laud the program with praise. “I cannot say enough about our partnership with Zipcar; their commitment to innovation, marketing, and customer service has allowed us to create the type of brand awareness and customer loyalty that students identify with and respect,” said Tony Mazza, Director of Transportation for the University of Southern California (USC). “With over 20 cars and approximately 1000 members on campus – we are dedicated to continue growing our car-sharing program until our parking demand and environmental goals have been realized.”

With several major colleges, including 7 of the Pac 10, nearly half of the Big 10, half the Ivy Leagues, and the majority of NESCAC schools, now partnering with Zipcar, the company is confident interest will continue to grow and eventually launch Zipcar’s membership total into the millions.

“The demand for Zipcar at universities is being driven by a unique combination of university initiative and student demand. Increasingly, universities are under pressure to address parking and congestion issues, while also controlling costs and delivering on sustainability initiatives,” said Scott Griffith, Chairman and CEO of Zipcar. “Universities acknowledge Zipcar as a convenient cost savings and carbon reduction solution. Zipcar provides students the freedom of car ownership – enhancing campus life by offering the ability to get off campus for errands, entertainment or road trips – without the associated cost and hassle of owning a car. More and more student assemblies and student governments are demanding that their campuses offer Zipcar.”

We, on the other hand, would just like to be able to travel 20 yards in any direction in Center City Philadelphia without encountering a Zipcar that has been illegally or otherwise incorrectly parked outside of health food/record/thrift store.

Source: PR Newswire

Thanks to our dutiful following of VolvoXC60 on Twitter, we learned today that Rolling Strength’s revolutionary new crossover has made the list of finalists for Motor Trend’s 2010 SUV of the Year award. Of course to be fair, the XC60 was neither engineered or marketed as an SUV, but the majority of Motor Trend’s other finalists weren’t either. Given the current market and auto maker’s eagerness to distance themselves from the often negative stigma attached to SUVs, however, MT would be hard pressed to assemble a similarly lengthy list if limiting the criteria to only those vehicles explicitly billed as SUVs. Thus, the one aspect all the candidates have in common is ride height, multi-function capability, and an all wheel drive train.

In addition to the XC60, the other contenders vying for the coveted award include the Toyota 4Runner, Acura ZDX, Audi Q5, Cadillac SRX, Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain, Lexus RX, Lincoln MKT, Mercedes-Benz GLK, and the Subaru Outback – none of which can hold a candle to the XC60’s dazzling debut and bevy of innovative technology.

If we were betting people, we’d put our money on Volvo.

In Sweden, a virgin with a 1973 Lincoln Continental and a cool $1 million spent about 5 years crafting a full scale replica of the Batmobile. Now, perhaps we’ve been spoiled by years of high-resolution studio photographs of some of the most beautifully engineered cars in the business, but to our discerning eyes the Swedish Batmobile looks a little, uh, shop class. It took the guy 20,000 hours to build though, so despite our penchant for going for the jugular we’re going to stymie the snarky criticism before it starts and simply give credit where credit’s due. Nice job, Sven.

Full gallery after the jump

Source

In a few years, willingly setting foot inside a Chrysler dealership will no longer mean that you’ve given up on your dreams.

Chrysler’s new Italian overlords have apparently judged the market ripe for a pocket rocket invasion and news broke earlier this afternoon that the Fiat 500 will be hitting Chrysler dealerships in the West within the next two years. If things go according to the preliminary schedule, the first wave of about 30,000 Fiat 500 sedans will be shipped to the Chrysler plant in Toluca, Mexico and kickoff production in late 2010 or early 2011. Despite Chrysler’s hand in assembly and distribution, however, there’s no need to fear a “500 inspired” Chrysler. Despite their abundance of questionable business decisions Chrysler (or, more likely, Fiat) demonstrated the sagacity to leave the Fiat badge intact, effectively averting the massive market disaster that would inevitably follow a Chrysler 500.

If all goes well with the first troop surge, Fiat eventually plans to bring the entire 500 lineup to America, including the 500 hatchback, drop top, wagon, and, the real object of our affection, the STI-fighting Abarth.

Source: AutoWeek via AutoBlog

What could be more American than stuffing your face with mass-produced chocolate bars and then entering to win a modern-day musclecar, the 2010 Chevy Camaro? They’re both full of empty calories but a lot of fun, so why not indulge? After all, the Camaro didn’t exactly come in as a featherweight, what, with all of the brake balancing weights haphazardly glued all over the rotors like some sort of cracked-out kindergarden art project. But hey, the car is unabashadly badass, and who the hell doesn’t like chocolate? As long as you can keep your diabetes in control it’s a combination made in heaven. And seeing as how it’s built to fit our good ol’ cornfed bodies, you shouldn’t have to go on a vitamin-water-and-glue-huffing diet to fit in the damn thing. Hop on over to Hershey’s to enter, and of course, no purchase is required.

Really, what car doesn’t look better with a hood blister full of Cibies? The Fiat 500’s rally-prepped Abarth R3T version certainly does, and would look even more appropriate blasting down a snowy mountain road with all of them blazing. That being said, it’s unfortunately not street legal and destined to take part in a “promotional rally series” – essentially a one-make affair entirely on Fiat’s tab, as a sort of exhibition publicity stunt. I’m not really complaining, ‘cuz if Abarth can do it then anyone with access to the various bits and pieces can as well.

That being said, it’s fully kitted-out with all of the honest rally bits. There’s the standard 1.3 L motor, breathing through a Garret GT1446 turbocharger and making 180 HP (on what I’m assuming is not street-legal emissions equipment), and backed up by a 6-speed sequential gearbox for all the proper rally-shift goodness. I’m slightly disappointed that there’s no mention of a fire-spewing anti-lag system, but the turbo’s probably so damn small that’s not really an issue. Anyways, this should give some momentum to the Fiat 500 aftermarket …

[Source]