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Driving the Toyota Supra, Honda Passport and BMW 3 Series | Autoblog Podcast #582

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Green Editor John Beltz Snyder and West Coast Editor James Riswick. First, they talk about the cars they've been driving, including the Honda Passport, BMW 330i and Audi RS5. They follow up with notes about driving the Toyota Supra and 86, and whether Toyota's new sports car strategy makes sense. Then they discuss the news, including the Ferrari SF90 Stradale plug-in hybrid, a possible Renault-FCA merger, death rumors for the Jaguar XJ and thoughts on the upcoming Chevy Trailblazer. Autoblog Podcast #582 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving: 2019 Honda Passport 2019 BMW 330i 2019 Audi RS5 Sportback Toyota Supra, 86 and the company's sports car strategy In the news: Ferrari SF90 Stradale FCA and Renault Jaguar XJ going away? Chevy Trailblazer Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

KBB 2013 Brand Image Awards has some obvious and oddball winners

The sixth edition of the Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards have crowned a wide range of winners - in a couple of cases the recipient of the laurels might say more about KBB users than they do about the actual winner. Compiled from the responses of more than 12,000 shoppers on KBB.com over the past year, there are 13 categories broken into non-luxury, luxury and truck segments "representing the combined wisdom of the American car-buying public."
The award categories have been revamped this year, with some dropping off, some new ones appearing and at least one other given a new term. What isn't surprising is that Honda won Most Trusted Brand for the second year running, Best Value Brand for the third year in a row and took Best Overall Brand, which wasn't on last year's list of awards.
On our own shores, in the non-luxury categories Chrysler got Most Refined Brand and Buick took Best Value Luxury Brand. Neither one of those marques won anything in last year's Brand Image Awards, while Cadillac, which won Best Interior Design Brand and Best Comfort Brand last year - those awards disappeared this year - went home without a single accolade.

Minivans could be key to Google-FCA self-driving partnership

Executives from Google and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles have held discussions about creating a technical partnership, the purpose of which would be to further development of self-driving vehicles, according to multiple reports. The two companies might make ideal partners. Google has been at the forefront of developing autonomous technology, and has publicly stated it'd seek partners to build vehicles. FCA, meanwhile, has not invested in self-driving research, and its CEO has been publicly offering the company up for acquisition for the last several years. Combined, they could make both the brains and the bodies of self-driving cars. "Public transit executives could be buying autonomous minivans rather than expensive buses." – Chris Urmson "A Google-FCA tie-up could simultaneously put both companies in the lead in this critical race," said Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Karl Brauer. "... FCA's efforts to merge with another automaker have failed, but if the automaker can join forces with Google, it could immediately change the dynamic. Every car company is trying to get into the tech space right now, because they all know their future depends on it." A Google spokesperson declined comment on the reports Thursday, and FCA did not return a request for comment. But Chris Urmson, director of Google's self-driving car project, may have inadvertently hinted at the partnership Wednesday when he detailed an interest in building autonomous minivans for public-transportation use. "Public transit executives could be buying autonomous minivans rather than expensive buses," Urmson said during a public meeting on autonomous regulations held by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Palo Alto, California. "Federal standards determine what kinds of vehicles cities can use for transit. This needs attention." Minivans are different than the Lexus 450h and pod-like prototypes Google has used for autonomous testing so far. If Urmson is indeed interested in self-driving minivans that provide on-demand services for public transportation users, as he elaborated upon, there may be no more perfect partner than Chrysler, which pioneered the minivan segment three decades ago and recently reasserted its presence the minivan market with the new Pacifica, a completely redesigned vehicle. Ridding the urban environment of traffic-clogging buses might be one small slice of Google's broader plan for transforming cities and the imprint cars make upon them.