Wired Autopia’s Damon Lavrinc got the chance to drive the Volkswagen XL1 in Germany. Lavrinc, who has a wealth of experience writing about automotive technology and alternative powertrains, gives us a good picture of what it’s like to drive the XL1, from the awkward entry/egress, to the seemingly underpowered air-conditioning system to the lack of a simple iPod connector (because that adds weight, natch). Check it out over at Autopia.

In three weeks, Bertel will return to the scene of his crimes at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, and will drive the XL1 on the same Wolfsburg-to-Berlin trip as Wired, maybe even the same XL1 as Wired. Check it out when he returns. If he does.

A report from Just-Auto suggests that the next Mazda2 will “use [a] downsized CX-5 platform”. While this is technically true, the headline is a bit misleading.

The platform used by the Mazda CX-5 is the same platform that underpins the Mazda6 as well as the upcoming Mazda3. Not only will Mazda be using it to underpin the Mazda2, but it looks like all of their future transverse, front-drive cars will adopt it. This is great news for anyone who likes to drive, as every vehicle so far that uses it is a superb car to drive.

This is also good news for Toyota. The next iteration of their Yaris is supposed to be built by Mazda using the Mazda2 platform at the company’s new Mexican factory. The Yaris is a bit of a dull drive to say the least, but if it really is sharing Mazda’s new scalable architecture, that should change things quite dramatically. The ability to amortize the costs of one architecture across multiple product lines should also be a huge help to Mazda. As Japan’s last “independent” auto maker, keeping its costs under control is crucial in an era of consolidation and shaky economic fundamentals.

Even as Canada’s manufacturing sector continues to dwindle, Ford is set to invest even further in its Canadian operations, putting together a new investment package for its Oakville assembly plant – provided the federal and Ontario governments can come up with the scratch.

Ford of Canada CEO Dianne Craig expressed optimism for Canada’s auto manufacturing sector, but within her remarks were subtle calls for enhanced government investment in the auto industry. Speaking at the Bloomberg Canada Economic Summit, Craig remarked

“We are optimistic despite the Canadian dollar where it is…So it’s between the business partners that we have, certainly the government, that will enable us to at least keep the footprint that we have today.“

Ford’s Oakville plant is expected to built the next generation Ford Edge, which will ride on the global CD4 platform used by the Ford Fusion. Ford and the Canadian government are said to be ironing out the details, but timing is tight for any deal, as production is scheduled to begin next June. Ford is said to be looking for $400 million from the Canadian government, which is notoriously reluctant to invest in the auto manufacturing sector compared to American and Mexican governments.

During the launch of the Ford Fiesta 1.0L Ecoboost, multiple outlets ran articles parroting Ford’s PR line about the lack of an automatic transmission. Apparently, Ford declined to offer an automatic or Powershift dual-clutch gearbox on the 3-cylinder Fiesta since a two-pedal option would run counter to the 1.0L’s stated mission of being both fun to drive and good on gas.

Not so, says a supplier source. According to them, there were plans to offer such a combination, but the combo was axed due to “customer expectations” not being met. What does that mean? The performance, ride and NVH characteristics were far below what was considered acceptable, and therefore the decision was made to offer the 3-cylinder with 3-pedals, and no fewer.

Mitsubishi has taken the wraps of the sedan version of the new Mirage, dubbed the Attrage. Just-Auto reports that the Thai-based sedan will launch in July, and will be exported shortly thereafter. Powertrains will carry over from the Mirage, but hopefully the name will change when it comes to our shores.

With 4-cylinder engines increasing their market share from 40 percent to 53 market share in just 5 years, Ford is forecasting even more growth for these engines in the years to come. The Blue Oval is betting that by 2020, 66 percent of cars will come with a 4-banger.

If Ford’s numbers sound on the high side, that’s because they are.  Four-cylinders have become more prevalent in recent years, making their way from compact cars to vehicles as large as the BMW 528i and the Ford Taurus. But for the forseeable future, they won’t be making their way into full-size trucks, which still account for 13 percent of all auto sales, will be sticking with V6 and V8 engines. Larger crossovers and body-on frame SUVs have also retained their V6 and V8 engines, as well as minivans.

Having invested so heavily in 4-cylinder engines, it’s natural that Ford would be so bullish on their future. But the engine downsizing trend also looks here to stay, and with so many boosted 4-cylinder engines replacing V6s in various products, their numbers may not be so unreasonable.

As the 1-Series prepares to move to a front-drive platform, BMW is also working on something to keep rear-drive fans happy.

The 2-Series will replace what we all know as the 1-Series, and the model you see here is the M235i, which will use the familiar twin-turbo 3.0L Inline six.

According to Car and Driver, there will also be a four-cylinder 228i and an M2, to compete with the upcoming Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG and the Audi RS3. All-wheel drive has been confirmed by a BMW source as well, while a 6-speed stick will be standard equipment (what a novelty these days).

Youth is apparently wasted on the young, but there are some days where I do feel old. Flat feet and many attempts at athletic endeavors have left me with the knees of someone twice my age, while genetics has caused my hairline to retreat like Philippe Pétain in the face of the German onslaught. I would be more easily at peace with this if I had some of the context and erudition that came along with age and maturity, but not even erudition can act as a substitute for the kind of knowledge that can only be earned through experience and acquired over time.

For someone like Thomas Kreutzer, the Chrysler 300C will represent the latest iteration in a long line of powerful, opulent ”letter series” cars that were responsible for the muscle car era. For me, the 300C represents the product that made Chrysler relevant again (at least in my eyes). No longer were they the purveyor of cheerio-and-snot splattered Town & Country minivans or the legions of severely geometric 1980′s sedans favored by my grandparents friend who refused to buy a German car.

Prior to this, the last time I was in a 300C was when I went for breakfast with an old neighbor of mine. Mr Lynett was 91 years old when he bought his 300C SRT8, and at that age, his C5 Corvette 50th Anniversary Edition was difficult to get in and out of, and the manual transmission was tiring on his bi-annual cross-country drives to California to visit his grandchildren. Having worked on the Manhattan Project, buying a foreign car was out of the question, but the SRT8 offered similar performance, an extra set of doors and was made in the right country – sort of. I’m not sure if Mr Lynett realized that the last great American sedan is actually made at Chrysler’s Brampton Assembly Plant, about 25 miles outside of Toronto.

I was hoping to get an SRT8 as an homage to Mr Lynett, but a 300C Luxury Series AWD was the sole V8 powered version available. I didn’t mind. As much of a speed freak as I am, I also have a strong pragmatic streak, and I would be hard pressed to justify jumping up to the current generation SRT8 on any grounds beyond feeling insecure about not buying the SRT version. The 363 horsepower and 394 lb-ft on tap was beyond adequate for any situation one might encounter, and let’s face it, these are never ever going to see a racetrack. The 5-speed automatic is starting to show its age; shifts are slow and labored, and it starts to seem like the weak link in the entire powertrain package. It seems a little late for Chrysler to start using the ZF 8-speed gearbox on the 300C, but it would only serve to improve one of the car’s few dull spots.

From an aesthetic standpoint too, I much prefer the 300C over the SRT; the 6.4L car looks like it’s trying hard to be a Made In Canada America version of an M car. The 300C looks like the kind of car I’d drive if I made my living by billing for my time; understated enough that your clients won’t think they’re bring ripped off, but still something that feels special when you get behind the wheel.

The best American full-size cars were designed to eat up the highway miles with minimal fuss, and the 300C keeps that tradition alive. At 75 mph, the ride is smooth and silent, the Hemi V8 hums along below 2000 rpm. Chrysler’s Adaptive Cruise Control system, which can automatically adjust your speed based on the distance between you and the car ahead of you via radar, means even less work for the driver. The automatic slowing of the car was a bit spooky at first, it’s easy to get into a rhythm using the system. Set yourself up for a reasonable speed and keep your hands on the wheel. You can even avoid the automatic braking phenomenon by setting yourself up to pass people before the distance threshold is met.

With crossovers becoming the bodystyle of choice for family cars and long-distance crusiers, the full-size sedan is in danger of extinction. Sales have been in a freefall for the last few years, with fleet sales making up a heavy percentage of the segment’s overall volume. The latest rumors suggest that the Taurus will get the axe after this generation, thanks to slowing sales and a series of disastrous consumer clinics. Meanwhile, cars like the Maxima, Avalon and Azera continue to linger in obscurity, as the Pathfinders, Highlanders and Santa Fes of the world cannibalize their market share.

Ironically, the LX cars, with their iconoclastic rear-drive packaging and high-power engines have a pretty good chance of surviving. The global rear-drive platform being used in the Maserati Ghibli will likely underpin the next-generation of full-size Chrysler sedans and (hopefully) an Alfa Romeo product. Since Chrysler doesn’t have to worry so much about selling their cars in Europe or Asia, they can design the next Charger and 300 with American consumers in mind. Until these cars are CAFE’d out of existence, replaced by CUVs with small, turbocharged engines, Americans will be able to enjoy Canada’s best big rear-drive sedan for a while longer. And we’re richer for it.

The Ford Fiesta looks to be picking up and moving from its current assembly locations in India and Mexico to a central location in Thailand when the next generation rolls around in 2016.

While other outlets are reporting the story as a rumor, TTAC has confirmed this news via an independent source. Since Fiesta’s main markets are Europe and Asia (as well as South America, which loves the ungainly 4-door sedan version), Thai sourcing is seen as the smart move to help bring costs down.

Moving the Fiesta from Mexico will also free up production capacity in a NAFTA country. Thailand does not have a free trade agreement with the United States or Canada.

Beleaguered EV start-up Better Place faced yet another blow this week, as Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn declared that rapid-charging, not swappable batteries, will be the predominant charging technology for EVs.

Israeli business outlet Globes quotes Ghosn as saying

“When you look at the overall trends, we must conclude that replaceable batteries are no longer the main track for electric vehicles…The main trail is flat batteries in cars with charging. We believe that people want flexibility in the technology, and we can see that the demand is for rechargeable standard batteries.”

Ghosn stopped short of completely writing off Better Place and their battery-swap technology, but Ghosn made it clear that the focus would be elsewhere. Commercial fleets were one area where Ghosn identified potential demand for swappable batteries, due to a lack of downtime with charging the vehicles.

“There may be cases where people prefer replaceable batteries – as we have tried to include Israel and Denmark. Here we will continue to offer the Fluence with replaceable batteries. There may also be large companies, where they have a huge fleet of cars, and do not want to wait for charging. But it will not be the majority of the market, and going forward, our focus is on the charging technology, among other things look at our new Nissan Leaf.”

Increasingly efficient rapid-charging technology and a lack of demand for EVs has led to a downward spiral for Better Place’s fortunes. The company recently shuttered their American and Australian operations and gave founder Shai Agassi the boot.

Pop quiz:

1. What segment sells in strong volumes in America?
2. What segment is considered poison by American consumers?
3. Why is Mitsubishi neglecting a popular segment while focusing on an unpopular one?

The answers are, in order: Compact cars, subcompact cars and “we have no idea whatsoever”. Despite letting their Lancer ripen so long its turned into vinegar, Mitsubishi is apparently intent on introducing a subcompact sedan to the American market.

While subcompact hatches have gotten some traction here, nobody likes subcompact sedans. Not only do they scream poverty, but they look like rubber erasers that have been melted in the microwave. And yet Mitsubishi looks set to bring over a product based on the G4 sedan, according to Automotive News.

Why not a replacement for the Lancer? Why not a decent mid-size sedan? If there’s one thing we don’t need, its a competitor for the Nissan Versa S “Credit Criminal special”.

Starting in late 2014, you’ll be able to buy a Nissan NV with a Chevrolet badge.

The Mexican-built NV will compete against the Ford Transit Connect, as consumers migrate from full-size, V8 vans to more fuel efficient, compact models. Technical specs were not announced, but the vehicle will be dubbed the Chevrolet City Express.

Fresh from displaying the Venereal at the Geneva show and announcing that it, would, in fact, be building the Anus SUV, Lamborghini has now released a very special car that is likely targeted at a very, ahem, special person.

The Lamborghini Egoista concept takes one of the uncomfortable truths of supercars — the passenger seat is usually either empty or occupied by a prostitute — and makes that truth something awesome! By eliminating that inconvenient extra bucket entirely, the Egoista makes solitude pleasantly mandatory. “Oh,” the Egoista owner could say, “a lot of people want to ride around with me in this ridiculous contraption. But, of course, there’s only the one seat!” This car could do wonders for our current trading deficit with Estonia.

The balance of trade with Italy, on the other hand, is likely to be significantly tilted in the other direction. Pricing for the Egoista, should they actually build the thing, could reach four million dollars. That’s a lot of cash for something that looks suspiciously like a rejected design for one of those Hot Wheels that nobody ever buys because it isn’t based on a real car. Power will come from an engine of some sort and the Egoista is expected to easily match the average Vortech-blown Fox Mustang notchback on drag slicks in the quarter-mile while delivering slightly worse fuel economy.

Who’s going to buy it? Well, does anybody know a fellow who is worth a few billion dollars but who is extremely uncomfortable around women and/or male friends? Hell, there are a few people like that. Lamborghini might not be able to keep this thing in stock.

TTAC’s favorite beige appliance, the Toyota Corolla, is due for a redesign this year, and powertrain details are starting to leak out. For TTAC readers, there’s nothing but bad news.

It looks like buyers will have their choice of either a 4-speed automatic or a CVT. A 6-speed manual is technically available, but anyone who ever encounters a Corolla on the rental lot will most likely be stuck with one of these two transmissions.

The question for you, my darling readers, is which one would you prefer? The 4-speed seems like old hat in this day and age of 8,9 and even 10-speed transmissions, but it gets the job done with minimal fuss. Many of us also have a philosophical opposition to CVTs, but as Alex Dykes reports, some of them are actually quite good.

What would you rather take? Me? I’d demand an upgrade at the rental counter. But you don’t have that choice.

BRIC nation plutocrats, start saving your rubles and rupees. Lamborghini’s vulgar Urus SUV is set to bow in 2017, according to a report by Car and Driver, giving the new global elite a successor to the iconic LM002.

C/D reports that the Urus will bow after the upcoming Bentley SUV, with a sticker price between $150,000 and $2000,000. Power will come from Audi’s 4.0L twin-turbo V8. While the LM002 provides Lambo with some precedent to offer an SUV, Jack Baruth has brilliantly argued that the introduction of the Urus heralds the end of the brand’s reputation as the last word in unchecked hypermasculine antisocial motoring. Or perhaps, the start of it, depending on your tastes.

A little light reading for the weekend? Someone went and scanned a German language version of the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class brochure. Bertel’s preoccupied at Nissan right now, so other folks with knowledge of German will have to help with the translation.

“Self-driving sounds like it’s going to do something you don’t want it to do. Autopilot is a good thing to have in planes, and we should have it in cars.”

According to Elon Musk, what we have here is… failure to market effectively.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg News, the man whose divorce rated a story on Jalopnik offered his opinions on the future of self-driving cars. The most notable talking points? First, Musk likes the idea of camera-based systems more than he likes a Google-style LIDAR scanning system. In a world where camera lenses never get dirty, this should work perfectly. In the real world, one suspects that the owner of said car will have to intervene fairly often. Better not turn away from the road while you’re reading the tenth book in the “50 Shades” series, ladies.

But that’s okay, because Musk doesn’t like the idea of a “self-driving” car. Better to call it “autopilot”, as noted in the above quote. Here, he has a genuine point. The early self-driving cars will almost certainly be incapable of operating effectively in mixed conditions without frequent and occasionally immediate assistance from the tool behind the wheel. If you look at these systems as “autopilots” — that is, something you use like cruise control in limited situations while remaining at least partially aware of what’s happening — rather than “self-driving” — which implies you can take a nap on the way to work — it makes more sense.

The problem comes when autopilot-level cars have to co-exist with an ever more ridiculous set of rules on distracted driving. What will the owner of the “autopiloted” car be permitted to do? Will he be forced by law to look forward and simply watch the wheels go round and round, just in case something happens that the car can’t handle? Can you imagine being forced to watch a car drive itself from Indianapolis to St. Louis? We’ll need the Clockwork Orange eyelid-grabbers for that, methinks. Or maybe you should just stop thinking about it and participate in mass transit. The government would prefer that, and if there’s no mass transit where you live, that’s a clue that you should leave, right?

Yet another bit of bleak data from Europe relating to new car sales. A popular school of thought holds that young people’s aversion to cars is largely rooted in economic factors. When everyone under 30 is broke, living at home and wallowing in student debt, the last thing on their mind is a car. But the hope is that once things turn around, it will be time for Generation Y to get motoring again. At least in North America. Over in Europe (or certain parts of it, at least) things are much more bleak.

Youth unemployment in countries like Greece and Spain are at staggering levels. 54.2 percent of Greek youth are unemployed according to the above chart from The Atlantic. Spain is a little behind – or slightly exceeding Spain, depending on your sources. The situation is less severe in other Eurozone countries, but still bad, as evidence by the figures for France, Ireland and the Eurozone as a whole. Germany remains a standout, as its youth unemployment rate of 8.2 percent is half of the United States’ rate and a third of the Eurozone’s.

As the Atlantic article states, the unemployment crisis has been dragging on for years now, and there appears to be little end in sight. A “lost generation” of workers will of course mean a lost generation of car buyers for Europe’s auto makers. If anyone is buying anything, it’s low cost cars, as evidenced by the astonishing success of brands like Dacia, which have cannibalized sales of Renault in France.

God bless the blogosphere. All it takes is one throwaway remark for something to become a widely reported rumor heard ’round the world.

Autocar, a UK magazine that is fond of publishing sketches, conjecture and other wild-ass rumors in the best tradition of Fleet Street, published another piece on the upcoming Mazda MX-5 that included this paragraph

A diesel option is being considered, but the lightweight and high-revving capabilities of a petrol engine are more desirable to Mazda. There are also concerns over the market viability of a small diesel roadster, which might prove difficult to sell.

And that should be it, right? Autocar themselves basically debunked this ridiculous notion. Nope! Not wanting to be left behind in the race to the bottom to “get it first” the blogs picked it up en masse and reported it as fact. A Google search for “MX-5 Diesel” returns 2,200 results, which is 2,200 too many.

It should be obvious that this rumor is absolute bovine manure. A diesel engine is heavier than a gasoline engines, does not rev as freely and has a completely different character. It is everything that Mazda does not want in a lightweight sports car. Aside from the characteristics of the engine itself, the car would have to be engineered to carry a much heavier engine from the get-go, something that would have a negative impact on weight and handling targets.

A diesel may have been briefly considered at some point in the development process, but believe me, it is not happening. If it does, we won’t see it in North America. We’re more likely to see an army of automotive bloggers who aren’t ruled by the all-mighty click before we see an oil-burning MX-5.

TTAC’s forays into areas like law, politics and economics are not everyone’s cup of tea, but they do matter. The dry, dense topics like regulation and financial topics have real implications for car enthusiasts, not to mention society as a whole. One subset of that is urban planning, a discipline which can have an enormous impact on our favorite hobby.

Witness the remarks made at the Energy Tomorrow Conference. Sponsored by the New York Times, the theme of this gather is “Building Sustainable Cities”. The IEEE Spectrum quotes Lerner as stating that in the future, the private automobile will become a socially unacceptable vice

Jaime Lerner, a former mayor of Brazil’s Curtiba, known for the work he did there introducing an integrated mass transportation system that has been copied the world over, expressed the belief that cars some day soon will be seen as noxious as tobacco is today. “The car is going to be the cigarette of the future,” Lerner said.

For Lerner, who is best known for pioneering innovative public transportation programs in Brazil, the private automobile is an issue of social justice itself. It is not just a matter of carbon emissions or energy conservation, but the automobile’s mere existence offends him. His sentiments were echoed by Enrique Penalosa, the former mayor of Bogota, who said that

 ”If we are all equal before the law, a bus carrying 100 people should be entitled to 100 times as much road space as a private car.”

If you think that these are just the senile ravings of aging Latin populist politicians, then you might be a bit surprised to find that these kinds of opinions will wind up on your doorstep sooner rather than later. To these types, the private automobile represents a mobility solution based on top-down hierarchical structures (as my least favorite sociology professor would say) that empowers the individual. They would like to see it replaced with collective forms of mobility, like car sharing, public transportation and cycling. I got my first taste of it a number of years ago when a prominent local politician hit a cyclist, resulting in his death.

It didn’t matter that the cyclist was found to be intoxicated and the aggressor in the situation, while the motorist was later absolved of any wrongdoing. The mere fact that he was a wealthy white male driving a Saab convertible while the other party was an Indigenous Canadian of a lower socioeconomic background with a history of mental illness and substance abuse provided the perfect catalyst for these sorts of theories to be floated among the more radical newspapers in my town.

As a resident of a dense, urban neighborhood, it would be disingenuous of me to dismiss cycling, public transit and even walking as real alternatives to our mobility needs. Practicality is another matter. On a balmy 70 degree day like today, walking or biking to the grocery store to buy a carton of eggs is not a big deal. When the forecast calls for freezing rain, getting a whole load of groceries on foot is unpleasant, to say the least. And not all public transit systems are created equally either, as one of our writers discussed last year.

Congestion is a major issue in urban centers, and something will have to be done about it. Cities are experimenting with congestion charges, road tolls and expanded public transit, but nobody has a definitive solution. I wish I knew what the answer was, and if I did, I would be racking up appearance fees rather than writing at TTAC. But heavy-handed, top down solutions are not the answer. The next generation of urban planners are being educated in universities by liberal arts faculty members hold views that are largely not representative of the opinions and needs of the general public. Combine that with a growing apathy for the automobile among young people and you create a situation where anti-car sentiment is easily bred. Look no further than the move to ban EV charging stations from urban areas as a perfect example of their utter refusal to meet reality on reality’s terms.

Even as gas prices rise higher and higher and the cost of new cars increase, people still opt for their own private transportation in record numbers. For some it is a matter of convenience, while for others who must commute from the suburbs, it is one of necessity. While top-down directives for public transportation may fly in parts of the globe where no previous infrastructure existed and cars remain unaffordable, I can only imagine that it would be poorly received in countries which emphasize individual choice and the free market as pillars of society. But still, don’t be surprised if this line of thought becomes part of the discourse at some point in the near future.

Subaru is set to expand capacity at its Indiana plant by 100,000 units, adding the Impreza alongside the Legacy, Outback and Tribeca to help fill demand for its vehicles in the United States. Automotive News is reporting that Impreza’s built at the plant will be sold domestically.

The Japanese-built Impreza will be a welcome addition to the plant, which will serve to further isolate Subaru from things like currency fluctuations and parts shortages. The long rumored expansion will not affect production of TTAC’s favorite punching bag, the Toyota Camry.

Almost exactly one month after TTAC first broached news of a possible compact rear-drive Chevrolet, TTAC commenter and GM North America vice-president Mark Reuss is still dropping hints about such a product.

Speaking to Automotive News on the prospect of a possible competitor to the Scion FR-S

“A really nice, light, rear-drive car that’s inexpensive — we know that rings a bell, that’d be a huge win for us if we had that.”

While reaction to the Code 130R was reportedly strong, Reuss said that the Code’s styling would not be put into production. Apparently, the Alpha platform would not be used either, echoing earlier comments by Reuss. That would necessitate another compact, rear-drive platform like GM’s former Kappa architecture, and of course, further variants to help make that venture profitable. Bring it on, GM.

Honda is making a big bet on CVT transmissions, with a $470 million assembly plant that will crank out as many as 750,000 CVTs and employ 1,500 people.

Automotive News reports that the plant, located in Celaya, will be located alongside a factory that will produce the next-generation Honda Fit. Currently, the 4-cylinder Accord, Insight and Civic Hybrid all use CVTs, and the next generation Fit is expected to get that transmission as well. But more models will have to employ those gearboxes to help meet capacity requirements, and Honda is being tight-lipped on future product plans (as per usual).

In exchange for the loss of the third pedal, we now get two variants of the Porsche 911 Turbo. A standard car with a 3.8L 520 horsepower flat-six and a Turbo S with 560 horsepower. Rear-wheel steering is also in place, much like the GT3, while active front and rear spoilers will give d-bags twice the aerodynamics to manually deploy while stuck in traffic.

The revived Datsun may be aimed strictly at developing world customers, but that hasn’t stopped them from releasing a very web-savvy teaser as part of some obnoxious slow reveal campaign.

The next Datsun is expected to be revealed on July 15th in India. The new Datsun will be about as far as one could get from the 240Z and the 510; a 1.2L four-cylinder powered compact car, built to a price of about $5,500. Some would say that such a car is “pure” or elemental. It will probably make a Nissan Versa S look like an Infiniti.