Shameless Self-promotion - Toronto Star Content Update (part 2)

2016 Mazda CX-3. Spoiler Alert - This one won Category, Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year, and Canadian Green Utility Vehicle of the Year

November 6, 2015

You can read my Wheels synopsis on the entrants in the Best New SUV/CUV (under $35k) category here.

Every time that I cover AJAC's Canadian Car of the Year for the Star, I'm asked to guess which vehicles will win their categories. You'd think that being part of the program's organizing committee would give me some insight. All that I can say is that it's a good thing that I don't have a gambling habit, because I'd have dug myself a pretty big hole by now with the accuracy of my predictions.

2016 Honda Civic. Spoiler Alert - This one won both its Category and Canadian Car of the Year. Deservedly.

November 21, 2015

You can read my take on the best small cars in Canada for the Toronto Star here. A heads up: you'll also be treated to a video advert, followed by a short video of yours truly explaining why we track test mainstream cars.


For several years now, the Wheels section at the Star has done a "Best of" guide that loosely follows the category structure of AJAC's Canadian Car of the Year program, but that opens up eligibility to any models on sale for the year in question (Canadian Car of the Year only permits new or substantially updated models for a variety of reasons).

These choices are just that - choices - based on no criteria beyond fitting in the assigned segment. Totally personal opinion based on experience.

As it turned out, my top pick this year also happened to win its category and, eventually, overall Canadian Car of the Year honours. That vehicle is the redesigned Honda Civic.

2017 Chrysler Pacifica and Pacifica Plug-in Hybrid.

January 14, 2016

You can read my coverage of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' North American International Auto Show (Detroit) news for the Toronto Star here.

FCA's biggest news in Detroit was the unveiling of the firm's next generation minivan. Arguably the creator of what we recognize today as a minivan - as distinct from earlier, typically commercial-based small passenger vans - the company clearly remains committed to what is now a shrinking segment with fewer players. For our market at least, the new Pacifica will be available alongside the existing Dodge Grand Caravan, though possibly only briefly. It is effectively the replacement for the previous Chrysler Town & Country, lone holdout of the ampersand in a model name, and the far better selling of the company's vans in the US market.

In spite of the unfortunate name - "Pacifica" was previously worn by a poor-selling, oddly configured large-ish crossover - this new model does have great promise. It will also offer a minivan first - a plug-in hybrid version.

Volkswagen Tiguan GTE Active Concept - Our next Tiguan, sort of.

January 15, 2016

You can read my Toronto Star coverage of Volkswagen's news from the North American International Auto Show in Detroit here.

With Volkswagen's Diesel Scandal still fresh, Volkswagen's Detroit presentation was heavy on apology, light on news. The Tiguan GTE Active Concept ticks most of the current auto show concept boxes - a hybridized drivetrain, electric-only capability, lots of connectivity. It also happens to be a lightly gussied-up version of the ROW's (Rest Of World's) next-generation Tiguan. The North American model, just like the current Passat, will be slightly larger, and probably have styling differences to suit our tastes. It is also likely to be manufactured on this side of the Atlantic.

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1903 Ford Model A - The oldest known Ford in existence

During the Detroit Auto Show itself, Wheels' Blog was second ranked in Google searches of the show only to the show's official site itself. Now that the buzz has died down and the media days are over, it's a little harder to find: you can find it here.

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2013 Toyota Tundra CrewMax

You can read about what I and my fellow Wheels journalists found interesting and impressive at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit here.

As you may have guessed, Toyota's Space Shuttle-towing Tundra truck was among the more interesting things (beyond the obvious choices of cool concepts and new sports cars) to be found on the show floor. Toyota has set up a mini site elaborating on the whole story that can be found here.

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Honda Urban SUV Concept - 2013 North American International Auto Show, Detroit

You can read my Wheels coverage of the new crossovers and production-ready concept crossovers introduced at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit here.

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Audi Q3 Vail

You can read my Wheels coverage of the latest crossovers to be introduced in Detroit at the 2012 North American International Auto Show here.

Credit Where Credit is Due Department

...thanks, Janis.

A tip of the hat must go to Mercedes-Benz, or at least their advertising department, for coming up with this impossible-to-miss, skyscraper-sized poster advert, located immediately across the street from Cobo Hall, site of the 2011 Detroit Auto Show.


It's a clear thumb of the nose to Porsche, who returned to Detroit after a several year hiatus. This has shades of the Audi vs. BMW PR war that's been going on for several years (my favourite - a wall-sized ad for BMWs on a billboard above a Hong Kong Audi dealership). Who say the Germans lack passion?

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2012 Ford C-MAX

You can find my Wheels coverage of the "people-movers" (vans, larger crossovers, and SUVs) at this year's Detroit Auto Show here.

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GMC Sierra All-Terrain HD Concept

You can find my Wheels coverage of the "conventional" (non-hybrid, EV, or alternative fuel) concept vehicles at this year's Detroit Auto Show here.

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My coverage of this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit for Wheels can be found here and here. (2011 Lincoln MKX and Hyundai Blue Will Concept pictured)

2010 Detroit Auto Show - Day Two

The light at the end of this tunnel is Winsdor, Ontario, Canada.

Day Two of the Detroit Auto Show was previously not the last day of the show. With less to say and fewer manufacturers saying it, this year there were only two days.

The final day is basically the wrap-up, with a few important presentations in the morning from the big players, and then press conferences from the secondary players, like the tire, electronics, and component producers that are really important only to those in production.

Day Two this year started typically, but also had presentations from the two Chinese manufacturers and a group of small, privately-owned electric-vehicle makers. BYD's promised the world - US availability of an electric crossover with previously unheard-of range and recharging capability. CT&T introduced an electric roadster and two other electric vehicles, while promising to revolutionize transportation, with costs of ownership that changed at least once during the span of their glitch-laden presentation.

While overall more optimistic than the few years before, it is clear that Detroit's glory days are in the past - both as a hub of the automotive world, and as an auto show - and it remains to be seen whether or not it will ever reclaim all or any of its former importance.

Despite the positive spin given to this year's North American Internaional Auto Show, "better" still doesn't mean "good". Let's see what happens in the next 12 months...

2010 Detroit Auto Show - Day One

As far as I'm concerned, the big news this year is the relative lack of actual news. Many of the reveals were either anticipated, leaked, or simply rehashes of vehicles that we've already seen in some form or another; even the massively cool Buick Regal GS Concept, which is simply a powerful turbocharged four-cylinder version of the existing (turbo V6) Opel Insignia OPC that it is heavily based upon.

Chrysler in particular had primarily content and trim changes to announce - the Chrysler-badged Lancia Delta "Concept" seen above is pretty much the single most substantial item, an Italian model apparently hoping to "reignite the American Dream". The other noteworthy vehicle on the Chrysler show floor is a battery-electric version of the will-it-be-a-Fiat-or-will-it-be-a-Chrysler 500. The company's display area did provide such unusual sights as a ceiling-mounted Ram pickup and a Grand Caravan parked next to a Maserati.

Unlike the past couple of years, there were no bag inspections, sniffer dogs, or twenty-question security officers to gain access to the display halls. Getting in to the Ford presentations in the attached Cobo Arena still required a process just short of body cavity searches.

The expected proliferation of hybrid and electric vehicle concepts continued unabated. I'm waiting for the industry to finally realize/recognize that hydrogen internal combustion is the best mid-term solution in terms of maturity and cost of the technology and its implementation, and the use of exotic and costly materials (like lithium for batteries and the rare earth magnets used in high-efficiency electric motors). In my mind, hybrids and electrics are an answer, not the answer.

Lots of otherwise vacant floor space in the Cobo Hall basement is being used for a further expansion of last year's indoor hybrid/electric test track. I wonder how green the eventual composting of most of the plants and (massively smelly) mulch that is used in the several thousand square feet of fancy landscaping really is.

The Chinese once again have a presence, though Geely is conspicuously absent. BYD seems the only serious Chinese attendee (with three vehicles on their stand today - two of which were identical F3 DM plug-in hybrid models, the third a concept all-electric E6 crossover). Tomorrow's press conference may flesh that lineup out a bit. It will be interesting to see if the eventual production vehicles that result come anywhere close to BYD's present range claims.

The C T & T (China) booth next door has plenty of vehicles, many of which are comical-looking versions of their two low-speed electric models, the C Zone (a fancy golf cart) and the E Zone (intended for places like gated communities or parks). A sports car and a concept amphibious 4 seater are to be shown tomorrow. In a throwback to times not so long past, C T & T also had three rather provocatively-attired representatives on stage with their vehicles - a policewoman for their E Zone patrol car, a postal worker (who I promise you looked like no postal worker I've ever encountered) for their E Zone delivery van, and a black PVC-clad dominatrix (for lack of a better description) whose role was decidedly less clear. Ironically, however un-PC, it's "mission accomplished" for C T & T - look at how much print they got here! I'm just waiting for some automaker to have the guts to put male models around one of their female-oriented models (like a V6 Mustang Convertible, for instance).

Speaking of Ford, it won both Car and Truck of the Year awards for the Fusion and Transit Connect respectively. I'd have expected the Chevy Equinox to take T.o.t.Y., even if I do really like the T.C.

Stay tuned for more North American International Auto Show to come...