Nik J Miles

Posts Tagged ‘2012’

“Jaguar’s 2012 XKR-S Duo: The pinnacle of British exclusivity”

I would be willing to bet the Queen’s castle that Sir William Lyons never imagined that his automotive creation would reach the level of exclusivity and performance capability that is represented by the extremely limited production 2012 Jaguar XKR-S Coupe and Convertible. Only 25 XKR-S Convertibles were scheduled to come to market on our shores, but all sold out within one week of the debut at the Los Angeles International Auto Show, and the Coupe version, which was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show, and had an allocation of only 100 vehicles slated for the U.S. has already sold out as well. Fortunately, even though all of the 2012 examples have been sold, this special iconic sports car is a halo vehicle for Jaguar, and is scheduled for a three year production run at this point, so if you missed out this year, 2013 models will total 200 vehicles, with an even split between coupes and convertibles, and the 2014 production run is currently calling for 75 convertibles and 100 coupes to be built.

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“Toyota Prius c brings Hybrid Synergy Drive to subcompact market”

Since the first generation Prius made its appearance just over fourteen years ago, more than two million Prius vehicles have been sold globally,986 percent of which are still on the road, and Toyota has continued to evolve the iconic hybrid by introducing significant new model variants, while ever improving and enhancing existing models.

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“BMW’s Sixth Gen 3-Series: All new – but pleasingly so”

Familiarity Breeds content

                                                            328i

Monterey, CA.- As usual, BMW has gone and improved an existing series to the point where it seems to surpass, or at the very least, to equal, the Series lineup above it. If that’s confusing, simply stated, the 6^th generation 3-Series is all-new, yet is on a par with, if not better than earlier 5-Series models. Technically, the 2012 stable of 3-Series vehicles might well be termed the 61/2 or seventh generation, if one were to include the iconic 1600 and 2002 models.

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Los Angeles –  There’s a good reason the black Chevy Tahoe, GMC Denali and Cadillac Escalade are the cars of choice of so many of the good guys and bad guys on television and we would presume in real life, or at least in Washington D.C. …they are spacious comfortable and remarkably utilitarian.  Tint the windows dark, and these vehicles take on a look that ranges from prominence to sinister, stirring the imagination of anyone on the outside.

For a recent getaway on the Southern California coast, we borrowed a Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum edition to see what it’s like to tool around in one of these colossal SUVs.  Ours was the new radiant silver metallic paint instead of the attention compelling black so we lacked the aura of being sinister or important, but we still experienced all the luxurious room and power. Read the rest of this entry »

Fuel Efficiency Without Hybridization.

For 2012, customers have more variations of the Civic to choose from than ever before. There are five in fact: The Civic, Civic Natural Gas, Civic Hybrid, Civic Si, and the Civic HF or “high efficiency.” Read the rest of this entry »

Anyone who hasn’t been keeping up with auto industry news, or is under 40 years old, might not know that Fiat is back, and it’s a part of Chrysler, or vice versa.

When the Iranian oil crisis ended in the 1980s and people started buying SUVs the small fuel-efficient Fiats fell out of favor and sales of the small Italian cars nearly stopped.  In 1984, Fiat pulled the plug in the U.S.  Then nearly three decades later the U.S. auto industry fell into an economic sinkhole and Chrysler went bankrupt.  Along came Fiat and took over.  As of January 2012, Fiat owns 58.5 percent of Chrysler — in a year or two, Fiat will own it all.  With that beachhead in place Fiat reasoned, America needs small cars again, why not bring back the Fiat, and so they did. Read the rest of this entry »

“Toyota’s Camry lineup undergoes reinvention”

Toyota’s Camry is all new for the 2012 model year. The Camry has been America’s best-selling car for nine years running, and for 13 of the past 14 years. This latest iteration Camry represents the seventh generation of the iconic Toyota model, which was first introduced in 1983 and has since sold over 15 million Camry models globally.

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“BMW intros their first inline six-cylinder motorcycle application”

BMW has long powered many of their 4-wheeled vehicles with an inline six-cylinder engine, particularly roadsters, so it seemed only prudent that the smoothness provided by such an engine configuration would be a natural application for a luxury touring motorcycle, since both share open air motoring experiences.

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“Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG: Most powerful production SUV”

Exclusivity with a bi-turbo V8

The true luxury SUV market segment was actually created by Mercedes-Benz, when the German automaker debuted the first generation M-Class in the fall of 1997, breaking new ground. Now, 14 years later, the new 2012  M-Class rolls into dealer showrooms adding new standard features and options loaded with state-of-the-art safety technology. Starring at the top of the model lineup is the ML63 AMG which is scheduled to go on sale in early March.

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“Honda’s 2012 Accord serves up style, performance and value”

Every 2012 Honda Accord benefits from updates and improvements with increased fuel economy, enhanced exterior and interior styling, as well as the addition of a new Special Edition (SE) trim level implemented for last year’s model lineup. There are a variety of models available either the form of a two-door coupe or four-door sedan, with either an inline 4-cylinder, or a V-6 engine as a power source. Each of the Accord models provide a pleasing blend of style, performance, efficiency and value.

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