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Wednesday, February 24, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for February 24, 2021

Feb 24, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

IIHS gives 90 models its Top Safety Pick award in one fell swoop

Although the Audi A7 and the Toyota Sienna are positioned on completely different ends of the automotive spectrum, they overlap in one important area: both earned a Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). They'r…

Hyundai to replace battery packs in all Kona EVs in $900 million recall

SEOUL — Hyundai Motor Co will replace battery systems in some 82,000 electric vehicles globally due to fire risks — a costly $900 million recall that lays bare the thorny issue of how car and battery makers split the bill when problems arise. The re…

2021 Chevy Corvette Interior Driveway Test | Selling the supercar feel

The Chevy Corvette C8 is just an awesome machine. It's a rocket with its rippling, nearly 500-horsepower V8. The chassis is beautifully balanced and communicative. Its mid-engine wouldn't look out of place next to a Ferrari or Lamborghini. And of cou…

2022 Kia Carnival makes American debut with VIP seating, loads of tech

There aren't many secrets left to be told about the 2022 Kia Carnival. It debuted for the South Korean market in August last year , and additional details have continued to trickle out since then . Nevertheless, Kia is giving the minivan its American d…

2022 Kia Carnival vs the other minivans | How they compare on paper

The 2022 Kia Carnival has finally made its American debut , officially displacing the Sedona. Even though Kia won't call it a minivan (you won't find a single reference to it being a "van" or "minivan" in the press release) the Carnival is totally and…

2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 spied in classy black paint

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric hatchback was only just unveiled last night , and already Hyundai is driving around test cars completely undisguised. And while our spy photographer's shots don't reveal any special details, they do give us a look at the c…

How the Ioniq 5 compares to the Mustang Mach-E, Nissan Ariya and VW ID.4

There has been a gigantic gap , in both size and price, between electric cars in this country. Choices like the Chevy Bolt EV and Hyundai Kona Electric are reasonably affordable, but they're small and their interior sparse for the money. Above them — …

2021 Buick Envision First Drive | A successful sequel

The 2021 Buick Envision inaugurates the second generation of what GM's premium division hopes will become the staple of its all-crossover lineup. The original Envision, while reasonably competent, suffered from ungainly styling and struggled to separ…

2021 Ford Explorer gets the upscale King Ranch treatment

Ford is bringing the Western-themed King Ranch treatment to the hot-selling Explorer for the first time. Created by popular demand, the Explorer King Ranch gains numerous trim-specific upscale accents inside and out. As has typically been the case, …

Minnesota nICE meets Lord Coldemort in epic battle of snowplow names

You surely haven't been enjoying this winter's weather, but a lot of you liked our feature awhile back about Scotland's delightful tradition of letting schoolchildren name its snowplows and "gritters" (sanding trucks). State officials in Minnesota mu…

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for February 23, 2021

Feb 23, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class revealed with four-cylinder power and S-Class-inspired interior

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class is here, and it certainly shouldn't surprise anyone on the outside with looks closely based on its bigger siblings. But the familiar body hides a bigger car with a new four-cylinder-only engine range and S-Class inspire…

Hyundai Ioniq 5 revealed with long range, strong performance, concept car looks

When the Hyundai 45 concept car was revealed two years ago, we were impressed by the sleek, creased sheetmetal and airy interior. But we figured that whatever production car came of the design would receive major styling changes to make it work. We w…

Rolls-Royce Phantom Tempus Collection is inspired by the infinite universe

Rolls-Royce, like NASA , is exploring what's far beyond the stratosphere. It introduced a limited-edition version of the Phantom , its flagship, called the Tempus Collection and inspired by time, astronomical phenomena, and the infinite reaches of the …

Cherokee Nation calls on Jeep to stop using its name

In a written statement responding to an inquiry by Car and Driver , the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation is calling on Jeep to stop using the name Cherokee on vehicles. "I'm sure this comes from a place that is well-intended, but it does not h…

Forbidden fruit: Cupra Formentor VZ5 borrows Audi's turbo 5-cylinder engine

The standard forbidden fruit-style post you'll see here is typically about some gorgeous wagon or sports car that's limited to European consumption only. It's the rare day that a crossover or SUV makes the cut as being interesting enough to want it i…

2021 Polestar 2 Luggage Test | Bringing the notchback back

The Polestar 2 has an unusual body style: a notchback sedan that's been slightly lifted. Someone probably calls it a crossover because marketing, but whatever the body style in total is, Polestar Part Deux has a trunk covered by a liftback that encom…

Nissan Patrol Nismo spotted during commercial filming

A Nismo edition of the Nissan Patrol, what we in the U.S. know as the Armada, has been spotted. The SUV was captured without any camouflage during what looked to be an official commercial shoot in the Middle East, just as the production was wrapping …

Ford previews the next addition to its Western-themed King Ranch lineup

Ford buyers will soon have another Western-themed King Ranch-branded model to choose from. The company released a short preview video to announce the next addition to the range will make its debut on February 24. Posted on Twitter, the six-second te…

Gordon Murray unveils the 725-horsepower track-built T.50s Niki Lauda

Formula One legend Niki Lauda would have been 72 years old if he were alive today. Though he died in 2019, we think he would have heartily approved of the new Gordon Murray T.50s, which will also be called the Niki Lauda as an homage. That's because…

Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 ventures well off the beaten path

Harley-Davidson is known for lots of things — big V-twin engines dripping in chrome, heavyweight touring motorcycles, leather — but they definitely aren't known for diving into completely new market segments. The brand-new Pan America 1250 challenges…

Monday, February 22, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for February 22, 2021

Feb 22, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance brings back the V8

The 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance revives the dormant IS F formula, bringing V8 power back to the compact luxury Japanese sport sedan for the first time since 2014 and confirming rumors of a new series of V8-powered performance (small p) cars…

2021 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Road Test | The best version on pavement, too

In the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport range, the Badlands is marketed as the off-road specialist. To back that up, it includes an array of off-road-oriented features. As it turns out, though, some of those features also make it the most entertaining version …

2021 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD Carhartt Edition Road Test | The upmarket outdoorsman

While GM is working on broader updates to its full-size pickups, the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado Carhartt Edition is being offered to help move 2500 HDs in the meantime. Joining the ranks of some other national and more localized packages (looking at yo…

2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer Review | It's cute, distinctive and we like it

Kia unveils Humvee-like military vehicle concept in the Middle East

After appearing on dozens of front-end designs for over a decade, Kia's signature Tiger Nose grille is preparing to enlist in the army. The South Korean company introduced a close-to-production concept called Light Tactical Cargo Truck (LTCT) that pr…

Porsche highlights what makes the Cross Turismo different from the Taycan

Porsche is putting the final test miles on the Taycan Cross Turismo, an electric wagon due out in early 2021. As we wait for the official unveiling, the company highlighted some of the key differences between its two EVs. Although it's fully covered…

Mercedes-Benz explains why next C-Class will get only four-cylinder engines

Mercedes-Benz ruffled more than a few feathers when it confirmed the next-generation C-Class (called W206 internally) will downsize to a four-cylinder-only range . That means the fire-breathing, V8-powered C63 will lose half of its cylinders, and the …

Ford issues recalls for F-Series truck windshields, Super Duty payload labels

Ford has issued two safety recalls involving its trucks. The first recall involves a select number of 2021-21 F-Series trucks for an issue with windshields that were inadequately bonded to the vehicle. The recall affects a specific number of trucks…

Junkyard Gem: 1955 Studebaker Commander Deluxe Conestoga Ultra Vista Station Wagon

Most of the vehicle graveyards I visit during my pursuit of discarded automotive history are owned by big regional or national chains , which means I see a lot of new inventory with every visit but perhaps not as many really old cars as I'd like to fi…

VW close to decision on selling Bugatti to Rimac

FRANKFURT — Electric hypercar maker Rimac Automobili and Volkswagen's supercar brand Bugatti are a good technological fit, Porsche's CEO told German weekly Automobilwoche, fueling hopes that a deal between the two could happen soon. British automoti…

Friday, February 19, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for February 19, 2021

Feb 19, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

Texas Ford F-150 hybrid owners using generator functions to weather the storm

With Texas, the biggest truck market in the country , currently in the middle of a nasty winter storm and subsequent widespread power outages, we've been wondering if anyone has put the generator capabilities of the 2021 Ford F-150 PowerBoost hybrid t…

2021 Porsche Taycan First Drive | Mmm, electric snow donuts

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The all-electric Taycan is a fantastic first step for Porsche into an electric future. Now in its second model year, it has seen both acclaim and sales success, and for good reason. The Taycan 4S on up to the very hottest Turbo S a…

2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon EcoDiesel Road Test | Torque it don't bork it

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — "Hey, you got it all dirty!" The guy in the UTV had spotted the 2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon parked nearby as he crawled over rocks to exit a 4x4 trail called the Timber Tamer. "Yeah!" I replied with false bravado, knowing the Gl…

Dakar Yellow! Mint Green! Behold the glory that is the BMW Individual Visualizer

It's very much a good thing that no major automotive news broke yesterday afternoon, because it's virtually certain that the Autoblog staff wouldn't have noticed. Ford could've sold the rights to produce the Bronco to Stellantis and we all would've b…

Lexus leads J.D. Power's Vehicle Dependability Study for 2021

J.D. Power's latest Vehicle Dependability Study is out, and, not surprisingly, Lexus sits at the top for the ninth time in the last 10 years. Right behind Lexus is Porsche, followed by Kia, which is the highest-ranked mass-market brand in the study. …

Marc Philipp Gemballa's 959-inspired supercar will have an engine tuned by RUF

Last year, Marc Philipp Gemballa, the eponymous supercar company started by Uwe Gemballa's son, said it would build a heavily modified 911 Turbo S inspired by the Porsche 959 Dakar Rally cars . Based on the official render and past announcement, it wi…

Michigan-based Buell Motorcycles resumes production after 12-year hiatus

Once celebrated as America's entry into the superbike segment, Michigan-based Buell Motorcycles has awakened from a 12-year slumber with plans to launch at least 10 models by 2024. It was formed in 1983, gradually became part of Harley-Davidson in th…

Ford recalls 2021 Bronco Sport over loose rear suspension

Ford has issued a recall that applies to 1,666 examples of the 2021 Bronco Sport. It explained that an internal investigation revealed the affected crossovers were shipped with loose or missing rear suspension bolts. Released in 2020, the Bronco Spo…

Ford loses track of dangerous airbags, forcing recalls of 154,000 vehicles

DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford has lost track of some older Takata airbags that can explode and hurl shrapnel, so it's recalling more than 154,000 vehicles in North America to check for them. The company on Thursday issued two recalls, with the largest comi…

Kia denies ransomware attack 'speculation' as it recovers from days-long outages

BOSTON — Kia Motors America says it's restoring services crippled by a computer network outage that began Saturday and which apparently affected dealers' ability to order vehicles and parts and knocked offline a smartphone app that owners use to remo…