2014 Fiat 500 Pop Hatchback on 2040-cars

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Maserati and Lamborghini pull out of Iran

Daimler is out, Toyota is out, Porsche is out, Hyundai, PSA Peugeot-Citroën are out and when it comes to selling cars in Iran, now Maserati and Lamborghini are out, too. The definitive pullouts of those last two automakers are said to be reactions to a press conference held by a group called United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI). The group highlights businesses that sell in both the US market and Iran, and works to get those businesses to choose one market or the other.
UANI said it had sent letters to Maserati and Lamborghini about their dealings in Iran, but that the letters went unanswered. Mark Wallace, head of UANI and a former US ambassador to the United Nations, held a press conference in October of last year that referenced the two companies. Apparently Lamborghini contacted Wallace just after the press conference and told him "they were out, they weren't doing any business in Iran anymore."
Discussions with Maserati then took place, and the Italian automaker said it had been out of Iran ever since Fiat announced it was leaving the country in May 2011. UANI said Maserati had been in talks with an Iranian distributor, however, and that distributor was continuing to use the Maserati name. The carmaker has since cut all ties with Iranian interests and has prevented its name from being used, adding that its new models will not be able to be sold there because they won't pass regulations the country's regulations.

6 cars that are eligible for import to the U.S. in 2023

For car enthusiasts, the most exciting part of ringing in a new year is watching the list of import-eligible cars grow. Federal regulations make bringing a late-model car from Europe or Asia mind-bogglingly difficult, but these barriers fall as soon as a vehicle turns 25. There's no need to slash through a jungle of red tape; simply ship your dream forbidden fruit over, pay import duties, and in most states you're good to park a fresh import car in your garage. Of course, you need to locate any car you're considering importing, whether it's on this list of cars you can import in 2023 or not. A quick search of the internet will show that there are a lot of places that specialize in sourcing cars to import into the United States, and while we don't have any firsthand experience with any of them, we can point out a few well-known import car dealers, including some at auction. Duncan Imports and Classics bills itself as "America's Largest JDM Dealer" and keeps a large inventory of vehicles that have already been brought into the States. The Import Guys boast options to ship and finance worldwide, Davey Japan claims to have exported over 50,000 vehicles from Japan, and Goonet Exchange says it's operated by "Japan's largest used car information site." Japanese site Be Forward lists a staggering 10,949 online reviews at the time of writing with an average score of around 4.5 out of 5 stars. If your new year's resolution is to buy a car from overseas, here are some of the highlights from 2023's crop of importable cars. Keep in mind that some of these import cars were introduced in 1997 but didn't enter production until 1998, while others made their debut late in the year. And without further ado, here is a list of six cars that are eligible for import to the U.S. in 2023 that are worth noting. Cars that are eligible to import into the U.S. in 2023 Alfa Romeo 166 Developed to replace the 164, the 166 stands out as Alfa Romeo's last true flagship sedan; it wasn't directly replaced. It shares its front-wheel-drive platform with the Lancia Kappa but the two cars look nothing alike. Alfa Romeo gave the big sedan a smooth, relatively elegant design that borrows several styling cues from the smaller 156.

In the Fiat 500X, the little things leave big impressions

When it comes to evaluating cars, we at Autoblog strive to tell you about the important things like how well they handle, how fast they are, and how comfortably they ride. These are all key pieces in the good car puzzle. The thing is, some cars also have small, but endearing details that are glossed over because they won't make or break our opinions of the vehicles. But they're features that make us smile anyway, and our long-term 2016 Fiat 500X happens to have a couple of them. The other week I had the Italian crossover for a day, and when I took off for lunch, I found the first surprise between the front seats. Unlike some other automatic transmissions with manual shift gates, this one actually uses the proper, racing-style sequential layout: pull back to shift up, and push forward to shift down. Some car companies flip that pattern, which I can only assume makes more sense to people that don't think about shifting. The 500X's other little surprise came that night as I drove home, but to properly explain why I loved it, I have to first talk about a different car. I own a 1999 Mazda MX-5 Miata, and one of my favorite things about it is that I can cruise around with one hand on the steering wheel and my elbow resting on the window sill. It's the most chill driving position imaginable. Unfortunately, as beltlines have crept higher and higher, and doors have migrated farther from the edges of the seats, the opportunity to drive this way has effectively vanished. To my delight as I drove home in the 500X, I discovered the little crossover bucked the trend. I'm not sure how, but it has window sills that are prime elbow perches. Neither of these features change my overall opinion of the vehicle, but they're worth noting because Fiat didn't have to include either of them. It's just a mass-market crossover, so a racing-style shifter and a comfy window sill would probably go unnoticed by most buyers. Yet, despite those facts, some designers decided the car would be better with these details. For that reason, I'm happy to draw attention to these designers' extra effort, and I will appreciate it every time I'm behind the wheel of our 500X. Related Video: