15 Passengers Van Ford E-350 Xlt; Immaculate, Ideal For Excursions And Shuttles. on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Volkswagen could outsell GM in China for the first time in nine years

As of the end of November, Volkswagen had sold 70,000 more cars than General Motors in China in 2013, making it appear inevitable that VW will outsell GM there. The feat would return the German brand to the top of chart in China for the first time in nine years, but even the second-place getter won't be complaining too loudly: both automakers sold more than three million vehicles in a market pegged to hit 16 million sales this year.
Volkswagen said it could have sold more cars if it had had more production capacity in China. The arrival of a new-to-China Audi A4, a China-built A3 sedan, the VW Bora and Skoda Octavia, as well as an $18.2-billion-euro investment in the country to construct new factories, means VW should see its numbers grow in 2014. GM's lineup is expanding next year, too, adding four Chevrolet nameplates and two vehicles to its Baojun brand as it tries to get to five million in sales by 2015.
Among other automakers, Ford benefited from good product and woes for Japanese automakers over a territorial dispute with China, outselling Toyota by almost 32,000 units through the end of November. The Ford Focus is China's best-selling vehicle so far this year.

Bronco Scout, Ford and Rivian, and next-gen Land Cruiser | Autoblog Podcast #578

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Road Test Editor Reese Counts and Assistant Editor Zac Palmer. First, they dicuss recent news, including the upcoming next-gen Toyota Land Cruiser, Ford's trademarking of "Scout" and "Bronco Scout," and Ford's $500 million investment in EV startup Rivian. After that, they talk about the cars they've been driving, including the Jeep Wrangler, Cadillac XT4 and Buick Regal GS. Last but not least, they help a listener choose a new car in our "Spend My Money" segment. Autoblog Podcast #578 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 Toyota promises a next-generation Land Cruiser Ford trademarks "Scout" and "Bronco Scout" Ford invests $500 million in Rivian Cars we're driving: 2019 Jeep Wrangler 2019 Cadillac XT4 2019 Buick Regal GS Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

Four Wheeler crowns Ultimate Factory 4x4... who wins?

Nearly every automaker doing business in the SUV or pickup truck segments offers a package designed to improve the off-road capabilities of its wares. But, of course, not all such factory kits are created equal. How, then, to separate the wheat from the chaff? Gather each of them up and put them through their paces, naturally.
The folks from Four Wheeler and PickupTrucks.com joined forces to run just such a comparison test, with the winner named the Ultimate Factory 4x4. A total of seven vehicles showed up to the fight: the 2012 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor, 2013 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2012 Nissan Frontier PRO-4X and Xterra PRO-4X, 2012 Ram Power Wagon, and 2012 Toyota 4Runner Trail and Tacoma TRD T|X Baja Series.
With the contestants in place, the whole crew put each vehicle through a battery of tests that included skidpad and acceleration measurements, a hillclimb, a rocky stairstep course and a rock garden. Considering the nature of the beasts, on-road ride and comfort were not part of the routine.