Toyota announced that they will be showing off their latest in green technology at the Frnakfurt Auto Show with the Plug-In Prius hybrid.  The all new Prius is known as the 2010 PHV or plug-in hybrid vehicle will be released later this year, with Toyota promising 500 sold to fleets world wide.

Unlike other traditional Plug-In style electric cars, the 2010 Prius PHV will only have a limited distance of 12 miles to run on battery alone.  After reaching a distance of 12 miles the plug-in battery is depleted and the Prius returns to standard hybrid mode.  The hybrid mode of this PHV is similar to that of what's found in existing model Toyota Prius's.

It's time to start talking about Subaru, especially posting figures that sound like a 34% increase in sales for 2009.  One of the key models in the Subaru lineup responsible for such gains is the Forester.  Unlike other competing brands, the Subaru Forester sales have increased over 32% compared to figures in 2008.  But why?

The closest comparable competitors to the Subaru Forester would be the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, and Toyota Rav4.  Looking at these comparables the Forester is the least expensive to offer all wheel drive, starting at just over $20,000.  Other experts believe the success of the Subaru Forester lies in the fact that it is just the right size, not overwhelming large, and not so small as to put it in another class.

Subaru hopes to continue to the success of the Forester in the 2010 model year.  Pricing has already been set and for a baseline automatic expect to pay around $22,000, compared with $23,000 and up for the other competing manufacturers.

Another driving force behind the success of the Subaru Forester is it's ability to offer utility and still provide adequate gas mileage in this competitive and green conscious market.  The 2010 Forester checks in at 24mpg with the 2.5l Turbo Charged 4 cylinder engine.  Pretty impressive, especially considering the 2010 Forester produces over 220 horsepower.

2010 Subaru Forester

Save on previous year model Subaru Foresters.

Subaru Forester L 2001 SUBARU FORESTER5 SPD MANUALAWDCLEAN    US $4,000.00

Subaru Forester S NO RESERVE LEATHER S VERY CLEAN ALL WHEEL DRIVE AWD    US $1,035.00

Subaru Forester 1999 Subaru Forester S Runs for parts or repair    US $1,099.00

Hard to believe, but on average Jaguar only sold about 65,000 vehicles per year.  This makes Jaguar a small company, but one dedicated to creating a unique vehicle, elite, with keys being hold by only an elite few.  However, some industry experts believe that Jaguar got away from it's roots in recent years, perhaps a reason why Ford sold them off last year.  Now, the company you used to love is now being run by an Indian company known as Tata. (not see you later. -ed)

There are some automobile journalists that have recently driven the all new 2010 Jaguar XFR and believe despite it's new ownership, this is Jaguar's return to it's roots.  The 2010 XFR is the answer to start selling more than 65,000 vehicles per year.

Without question the 2010 Jaguar XFR is a sexy beast.  It's an orgy of over 500 horsepower, 460 ft lbs of torque, mounted to a 6-speed automatic transmission.  Basically owners will be the fastest to their 8 o'clock Tee Time or basically fastest to wherever.  Enjoy the fine lines of the 2010 Jaguar XFR below and be sure to chime in on what your first impressions are.

If the idea of strapping a 4 cylinder motor between your legs sounds exciting, then keep your eyes on this all new Honda VFR1200 motorcycle.  Reportedly in production and expected to be released in 2010, the Honda VFR1200 plans on revolutionizing the sport bike industry.  According to Motorcycle News in the UK the photos below are reportedly of the finished production model.

Although the specifications are still under wraps, reportedly the 4 cylinder motorcycle engine will produce around 200 horsepower.  To remain friends with green drivers 2 of the 4 cylinders will reportedly operate under normal load.  The only time all 4 cylinders will kick in is when you are ready to launch.  Sounds thrilling.

Looking to gain more of the marketshare Mercedes and BMW currently owns, Audi will be releasing the Audi A5 Sportback, amongst other models.  Specifically Audi has announced that they intend to sell an additional 1.5 million cars before 2015, mainly in new models and versions like the A5 Sportback.

So far there haven't been any good pictures of the A5 Sportback released, except for a few teasers.  You can see the teaser image along with a picture of the basic A5 below.

Audi A5 Sportback Comparison

The new version of the Audi A5 will be a 2010 model year.  Although a small cosmetic change, 09 going into 2010 will be a big year for Audi.

Spy Photo

A picture has surfaced on the internet of a Japanese magazine with a concept picture of the 2011 Honda Civic.  Although at this point it may just be a rumor, you can be the judge.  For starters, I'm not sure sporty is the first word I think of when I see this tall squished Civic.  The tuner boys and girls may feel differently.

2011 Honda Civic Spy Pic

2011 Honda Civic

At any rate, looks like Honda has plans to completely redesign the Civic.  Whether or not the all new model will be a 2010 or 2011 Civic has yet to be officially announced.  Please feel free to discuss your predictions in the automotive forum.

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Honda Civic Chrome Key Ring

Honda Hoody's Starting at $40.99

Fuel Efficient Sports Cars

Chevrolet is showing the world that big power can also translate into big fuel efficiency.  The 2010 Camaro comes in several different trim packages, each sporting it's own miles per gallon ratings and some of these numbers will really surprise you.  Let's start with the smallest of the engines, the 3.9 V6 which is available in the base model 2010 Camaro.

3.9 V6 2010 Camaro LS

According to Chevy the 2010 base model V6 Camaro is capable of a whopping 29 miles per gallon.  Impressive on it's own, but this motor is also producing over 300 horsepower.  This technological advancement is a far cry from the 67 Camaro outfitted with the inline 6 cylinder.

6.2 V8 2010 Camaro SS

The beefiest version of the 2010 Camaro sports a huge 6.2 liter V8, which produces over 420 horsepower.  It's a bulging muscle machine, that's also capable of producing some respectable miles per gallon.  Consider that the SS Camaro gets 24 mpg highway, an efficiency never conceived in this size engine package before.

What the fuel economy in the 2010 Camaro means?

The numbers don't lie and if the 2010 Camaro proves to be dependable, then we will have a true leap in efficiency for usable sport vehicles.  This type of fuel efficient technology will slowly find it's way into SUV's, Trucks, and hopefully even more sports cars.  Perhaps the fear of single digit gas mileage in sports cars will permanently be a thing of the past.  Of course, depending on how heavy your foot is, mileage may vary.

Just happened to be logging into MySpace yesterday and was greeted with a full scale huge ad for the 2010 Mustang.  The advertisement itself was a video of the new Ford Mustang in action, but not in the typical sense I would associate it with.  The 2010 Mustang Advertisement highlighted the cars drifting potential and seemed to be targeting the tuner crowd.

Is this what the Mustang has come to, targeting drifters on MySpace?  Nothing about the ad screamed muscle, but only seemed to try and squeeze the Mustang into the mindset of the small group of kids that think the Fast and Furious movies are real.

The next question that comes to mind is at what cost was this ad created and then cost to be displayed on MySpace?  Surely there are better target markets that yield a larger return on investment for such an expensive marketing campaign.

What are your thoughts?

Looks like I was correct, the 2010 Camaro recall list has began.  The only Camaro's affected by the recall will be the SS V8 models and ultimately pissing off only about 300 new 2010 Camaro owners.  The rest of the Camaro recalls can be performed in house before being delivered to their owners.

The 2010 Camaro recall is for a manufacturing defective battery cable.  Essentially this makes the Camaro completely die or in worst case scenarios catch fire.  As of this posting no fires have been reported due to the battery cable rubbing up agains the Camaro starter.

GM has agreed to not only fix the issue listed in the recall but also provide a free loaner vehicle and a free oil change for the new Camaro owners troubles.

2010 Camaro Recall

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The 2010 Kia Soul gives a first impression of a Toyota Scion rip off.  It's small, boxy, and looks like it would drive like my buddies gokart.  Now, depending on your taste for cars, this could be a good or bad thing.  For me, it's a bad thing, kind of like a coffin on wheels.

Now, for those looking to buy a cargo box that you can drive around the nighborhood, there is finally some competition in the market.  The Kia Soul is one such competitor and like the Nissan Cube, is much more of the same.  There is only so many lights, bells, and whistles you can cram on a card board box to make it look appealing.  Eventually you have to take a step back and say, 'Hey' this is still a cardboard box, why are we putting all these ugly interior lights in here?

2010 Kia Soul Interior Lights

Then there is the whole issue of actually being able to use such a vehicle.  I'm sure for those that don't have to actually haul more than their purse this would be  aperfect car, but for those of us with friends, golf clubs, or hell...even 2 bags of groceries this car isn't going to cut it.  Which then begs the question, who is the target audience for such a flashy tin can?  Is this audience willing to drop $15,000 plus for something that is not functional beyond it's driver looking like a cunt?

2010 Kia Soul