Here it is, folks – the highly anticipated Toyota FT-86 Open concept, a precursor to what could become a road-going Scion FR-S convertible. A full smattering of images and video have leaked onto the internet, and thanks to the folks at FT86Club.com, we can now see the new hotness that Toyota will be unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show next week.

These images confirm details that were first seen in spy shots captured a couple of weeks ago – namely, the larger wheel/tire package and the inclusion of the Toyobaru coupe's decidedly useless rear seats. These new photos, however, show a two-tone leather interior with goodies such as an iPod/iPhone mount on the dashboard. The concept car is also fitted with the coupe's six-speed automatic transmission (boo!) and FT86Club.com reports that the folding soft top is operated electronically.

We'll have the full details live from Geneva in just a few days. For now, click through our attached image gallery to see lots of pretty pictures of the topless wonder, and scroll down for a video to see the concept in motion.

The news has been officially released by Toyota UK. Scroll down below to see the newly added press release, and a bit more detail about the FT-86 Open.

Is It An Off-Road Adventure Or Just A Walk In The Park?

I remember having to get out and lock hubs and shift into neutral
to engage low range.

Coming off press previews of the 2013 Land Rover Range Rover and the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee that involved some heavy-duty off-road rock climbing, I'm simply amazed at the capabilities that these vehicles possess. But even more impressive (or troubling depending on your perspective) is the relative ease with which you can operate these vehicles in seemingly impossible terrain.

Not that I'm a hardcore off-roader, but I've been in my share of 4x4's over the years and remember having to get out and lock hubs, shift into neutral to engage low range and learning that the accelerator and brake pedals can be your best friends or worst enemies in either moving along or getting hopelessly stuck.

Thanks to the wonders of electronics, advanced transfer cases and electric limited slip differentials, instead of manipulating levers or locking hubs, one merely has to punch a button or turn a knob to engage the right strategy to deal with whatever conditions encountered on the trail.

---

---

When it debuted last year, the Toyota Camry came in for some criticism over its interior, most centered on material choices – both in quality (not enough) and variety (too much). Thus, Toyota has responded after just one model year, updating both materials and features on its gas-powered and hybrid family sedans for 2013.

The LE version appeared to get the lion's share of the improvements. Specifically, the LE is getting "soft-touch" door materials as well as armrests that match the rest of the interior colour (instead of being black). The LE model also gets Toyota's six-inch display screen that helps folks get a better gander at the car's energy usage and fuel economy, among other things. Other changes include adding cross-traffic alert for models equipped with blind spot monitoring

Toyota introduced its latest version of the Camry and Camry Hybrid in the fall of 2011 as a 2012 model. Looking for more details? Toyota happily goes into a ton of detail on the interior improvements in the press release below.

It turns out that Mercedes-Benz North America has legitimate claim to being the top selling luxury nameplate in America for 2012. While sources such as Autodata had put BMW in the top spot, registration data from R.L. Polk shows that Mercedes customers registering new vehicles topped the Bavarian automaker in the most recent calendar year. Polk says Benz posted 274,123 registrations, compared with BMW's 268,498.

In terms of sales posted, BMW had bested Benz 281,460 to 274,134. But sales are recorded somewhat inconsistently from automaker to automaker. Some book the sales as soon as they are shipped from factory to dealer. There is perennial gamesmanship between the two German rivals, and the sales numbers suggest that BMW pushed out some extra sheetmetal to dealers in the last four weeks of the year.

Polk officials have not released their numbers to the public, but Autoblog obtained them from Mercedes-Benz.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the International Motor Press Association in New York City, Mercedes-Benz North America chief Steve Cannon said, "Cars sold to people in the calendar year who then register their vehicles seems to be a more accurate measure of real sales than just the raw sales numbers."

Cannon claims that BMW used "various methods" to beef up its sales in December, as Mercedes had been watching month-to-month registrations all year, and had been leading BMW for 11 months. Cannon said, "When you look at the difference between our sales and registrations, there is a discrepancy of 11. When you look at BMW's, there is a discrepancy of 13,000."

A BMW spokesman said the company stands by its sales figures.

Let's Face It, We're Just Plain Lazy



Recent news about the price cuts on the Ford Focus EV and Nissan Leaf are proof positive that despite all their eco-goodness, pure electrics as well as plug-in hybrids remain a tough sell to the North American mass market.

There's no doubt automakers are committed to electrifying an increasing portion of their product offerings. The problem is that no one needs to buy an EV or plug-in hybrid. But with American CAFE standards doubling to 54.5 miles per gallon (4.3 L/100km) by 2025 and California's mandate that major manufacturers sell zero-emission vehicles as a percentage of their overall fleets (a measure also adopted by 13 other US states), carmakers have to sell EVs and plug-in hybrids to avoid costly penalties or face caps on the number of vehicles they are allowed to sell.

---

---

As a reporter covering an auto show, the one opportunity you never want to miss is going to the Sergio Marchionne press briefing.

"This undertaking to bring Alfa back is a one-shot deal...
We are not going to do this twice."

There just aren't that many real characters left in the auto industry. Marchionne, who sits atop both Chrysler and Fiat, is not only one of the smartest execs in the business, but also the most frank. Herein, a sample of the quotable always-sweatered executive:

A controversial remark on the return of Alfa Romeo to the United States:

"This undertaking to bring Alfa back is a one-shot deal... We are not going to do this twice... Alfas must have 'wop' engines... and we don't have the powertrains worked out just yet.. we won't put any Chrysler engines in Alfas, or Maseratis."

The production Alfa Romeo 4C sports car, which may be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March, is not ready for a US launch, Marchionne said earlier this week at the Detroit Auto Show. But then, on January 18 at the INforum breakfast in Detroit, Marchionne reportedly reversed course and said the 4C will be ready for US dealers by the end of this year. Given how many delays have been suffered in Alfa's return plans, we'll file this under "wait and see."

"It took us 25 years to bring Audi back in the US. This kind of thing takes a long time."

When Johan De Nysschen left his post at Audi of America last year to take the seemingly thankless job of leading Infiniti's global operations, it seemed like a familiar scenario. Like Michael Dukakis going from one of two men that could have won the White House to teaching political science at an obscure Florida college.

De Nysschen was a key architect in re-building Audi in North America, from a punchline about "sudden acceleration" in the 1980s, to being a truly hot brand and legitimately vying with BMW and Mercedes-Benz for one-per centers' German car bucks. In talking about his task at Infiniti with me, he repeated a line that I wonder if he mentioned to Nissan-Renault honcho Carlos Ghosn at the hiring meeting: "It took us 25 years to bring Audi back in the US. This kind of thing takes a long time."

We see all sorts of publicity stunt road trips, but few seem as cool as spending 11 days driving almost 6,500 kilometres (4,000 miles) in a 2013 Range Rover Autobiography and sleeping each night in an equally plush Airstream trailer. This is exactly what Ben Samuelson, formerly of TVR, and his PR team did to show off the new Range Rover while driving it from England to Morocco and back.

Towing the 2,404 kilogram (5,300-pound) Airstream was as much to show off the towing abilities of the Range Rover as it was to provide luxurious sleeping accommodations, which Samuelson compared to a boutique hotel. One of the more interesting aspects of this story is Land Rover's claim that the most popular tow vehicle of choice by European Airstream owners is a Land Rover product.

Scroll down for Land Rover's press release about this opulent road trip.

While we will just be catching our breath after obsessively covering the Detroit Auto Show, Aston Martin will be kicking off a yearlong celebration commemorating 100 years since the automaker's creation. Incorporated back in 1913, Aston Martin will be spending the year hosting numerous events in Europe and the US to celebrate. The company even created a special centenary logo aimed at commemorating the past and looking ahead to the future.

The festivities begin on January 15 when Aston Martin will present a plaque at the company's original headquarters at Chelsea's Henniker Mews in London, England followed by a reenactment of Lionel Martin at a separate event in London; both will feature a new Aston Martin Vanquish alongside the third car the automaker ever produced – a prototype named A3. In July, from the 15th through the 21st, Aston Martin will have more celebrations at its current headquarters in Gaydon, and this will include a car show with as many as 1,000 cars in attendance making it the largest gathering of Aston Martins in the automaker's history. Other events include a James Bond-inspired drive through England and Wales making site stops for past 007 movies, and there will be a driving event in California preceding this year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

Scroll down for a brief video and an official press release detailing Aston Martin's centennial celebrations.

Just Fade Away

Designers prefer the loftier sounding "heritage design."

A cursory look at the latest offerings from auto manufacturers in both production and showcar guise reveals that retro design themes may be on their way out. It's ironic that the hottest design trend opening the 21st century was less about heralding some space-age future than celebrating the middle part of the century that just closed.

This pop culture phenomenon arguably started with the launch of the Volkswagen New Beetle in 1997 and saw its influence in a wide range of vehicles, from the entry-level Chrysler PT Cruiser up through high-dollar roadsters like the exotic BMW Z8, a car that paid homage to the BMW 507.

Design practitioners, who also eschew the word "styling," are loathe to call these throwbacks "retro," preferring the loftier sounding "heritage design." Retro, however, is convenient shorthand to describe cars that recall an earlier time. The strong tug of nostalgia is further proof that there is more to a car's appeal than its ability to transport someone to and fro – it can be, in some ways, a time machine.

---

---

Honda Builds The Crossover Of Bikes



Here in the land of Harleys and highways that stretch to infinity, we don't care much for sensible motorcycles. Unlike the majority of global bike buyers, North Americans tend to choose escape over utility, performance over practicality – that's simply how it's been done in the land of the free, at least until a funny thing happened on the way to the global recession.

As bank balances thinned and fuel prices crept skyward, sales of puffed up sportbikes and cartoonishly endowed cruisers plummeted. We've rediscovered that motorcycles could be used for tasks like workaday commutes and trips to the grocery store, not just for riding into a Marlboro Man-approved sunset, fringe in tow. As consumers matured, manufacturers slowly responded with bikes better suited for purposeful priorities.

The American Honda Motor Company rode the wave of frivolity while it lasted, experimenting with stunts like stuffing a mammoth 1,795cc v-twin into their VTX series of cruisers, until the humbler (but still hulking) 1,312cc mill took over. But Honda eventually got sensible and beefed up its scooter lineup, launched the beginner-friendly CBR250R, and – lo and behold – took a cue from the European market by introducing the NC700X in North American consumers. But here's the rub: As much as the alphanumerically cumbersome model visually resembles a rugged BMW at a glance, the NC packs enough practical equipment to suggest there's a sea change in the way motorcycles are being marketed and sold in Canada and the US.

New Cars Continue To Amaze And Dismay

The Ford Fusion's sleek shape proves midsize cars need not be boring.

Automakers face a huge challenge in creating cars that have to meet a dizzying array of emission, safety and fuel economy regulations and at the same time meet or exceed the expectations of potential customers. Usually the makers who succeed are the ones who are able to surprise and delight drivers with unique designs, technology and features.

It's a hard job since some of these great ideas can simply amaze or, if poorly done, merely annoy. As cars become more uniform in performance and function, manufacturers will look even harder for that special something to stand out from the crowd.

So click here to learn a few things in the current crop of new cars that have surprised, delighted, and yes, annoyed us all during 2012.

We haven't seen a Ken Block Gymkhana since the infamous Ford Fiesta assaulted the streets of San Francisco over the summer, but Ford of Europe wanted to make sure we weren't going through withdrawals. For our viewing pleasure, Ford's team from across the pond created the stop-motion Snowkhana One using a scaled-down version of Block's car, someone's garage and a lot of free time.

In the video, the rally car proves that the Abominable Snowman, a Stormtrooper and even the local constabulary are no match for the No. 43 Fiesta; even Santa makes a cameo in this video. The sights and sounds of this video are exactly what we'd expect from a Gymkhana, and if it doesn't bring a smile (or at least a smirk) to your face, you're watching it wrong.

Hit the jump to watch the tiniest rally adventure video yet.

Consumer Reports is calling out Ford, saying the new C-Max and Fusion hybrids don't get anywhere near the 47 miles per gallon EPA (5 L/100km) the automaker claims.

Several automakers have faced backlash after consumers discovered their cars don't quite hit the lofty fuel economy figures promised by the companies, and Ford may be the newest casualty of all this pesky fact-checking by critics and watchdogs.

The magazine drove the cars 2,000 miles (3,200 km) and consistently got around 39 mpg (6.2 L/100km) for the Fusion and 37 mpg (6.4 L/100km) for the C-Max. Jake Fisher, director of auto testing for Consumer Reports, said this is the largest discrepancy between what automakers MPG claims and the actual real-world driving results.

"It's not to say these are bad cars at all; they still get excellent fuel economy," Fisher said. "But we've been doing this for a long time, and we've never seen such a difference between the EPA estimates and our numbers."

Ford said its figures were certified by the EPA, but the EPA only tests about 10 to 15 per cent of the cars on the road. Ford said some early reports from customers showed the cars getting even better fuel economy than 47 mpg (5.0 L/100km).

"This reinforces the fact that driving styles, driving conditions, and other factors can cause mileage to vary," said Wes Sherwood, a spokesman for Ford. For customers who want to optimize their fuel economy, the cars come with different driving coach software to help drivers get better fuel economy, he said.

Scroll down to watch the video report from Consumer Reports.