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Super Bowl commercials: Steven Tyler, Emerson Fittipaldi, Keanu Reeves and more

Sunday is Super Bowl LII, which means America will immerse itself in high-calorie potluck fare, garish halftime-show entertainment (Justin Timberlake, bringing sexy back, but not that kind), the most expensive and over-the-top TV ads of the year, and — oh yeah — a football game between two teams connected by Amtrak's Northeast Corridor line. What else you gonna do on the first Sunday of February? As usual, automakers plan big, splashy TV spots to reach all those gajillions of eyeballs glued to the teevee, though the list may be shorter than in previous years. Here's a roundup of what we know is coming. Hyundai Hyundai will test the football/futbol divide with a 60-second spot starring a youth-soccer ref who arrives for the game dramatically and just in time in his 2018 Kona. Only it's Super Bowl Sunday, so he — along with the two coaches, and apparently most of the parents — are eager to get on with their game-day plans. Advantage: football, being the message, we guess. The ad does make a quick plug for Hyundai's BlueLink nav system, but this is only nominally about the car. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Hyundai also plans a 60-second ad that recognizes people fighting pediatric cancers and highlights its own nonprofit organization that focuses on the cause, according to Reuters. Kia This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The Korean automaker will put Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler behind the wheel of its new Stinger on an abandoned racetrack. The former " American Idol" host promptly puts it into reverse, going back to his '70s heyday, courtesy of some CGI, to the strains of "Dream On" played backwards. Trotting out an almost-70-year-old to relive some classic rock glory fits the Super Bowl template to a T. Two-time Formula One and Indianapolis 500 champ Emerson Fittipaldi also makes a cameo. It airs in the third quarter. Lexus This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Lexus teams with Marvel Studios to preview its forthcoming movie "Black Panther," which arrives in theaters Feb. 16. In "Long Live The King," the Black Panther, a.k.a. King T'Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman, dispatches some bad guys to recover stolen Vibranium after clinging to the roof of a speeding 2018 LS 500 F Sport, driven by co-star Danai Gurira.

Lexus teases F version of LC luxury coupe

We at Autoblog adore the Lexus LC. It's a truly spectacular grand tourer with concept car looks and your choice of either one of the best modern V8s or a sophisticated hybrid. But it seems Lexus thinks it can do even more with the LC, as indicated by this Instagram teaser of what seems to be an LC in front of the F logo of the Lexus performance brand. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. We're pretty confident it's the LC. It's definitely a coupe, and the only other Lexus coupe, the RC, already has a full-blown F variant. And while there's not much that we can make out, there do appear to be some styling tweaks, such as a big center bulge in the hood like on the RC F and IS 500. The question of course is whether this will be another maximum-performance F model, or if it will be something more focused on some style and mild upgrades such as an F-Sport trim. If it's a full LC F, expect significant suspension and brake upgrades, as well as some kind of power improvement. The thing is, the LC 500 already features effectively the most powerful V8 Lexus has on offer, the 471-horsepower 5.0-liter V8. Rumors have said Lexus may have a high-output version of the twin-turbo V6 from the LS in development, with potentially more than 600 horsepower, which would also be used for an LS F. Certainly the caption, "Highest expression of performance," suggests it could be something pretty serious. If it's an LC F-Sport, it will likely be a suspension and styling package, leaving the 5.0-liter V8 unchanged. Expect front and rear spoilers, stiffer springs and such. It might even be offered with the hybrid. Whether any of this is ideal for the LC is of course up for debate. Many of us on staff feel that the LC 500 is about perfect as a grand tourer, and something unique in a market full of ever-more extreme luxury sports cars. But we're also not the ones buying LCs, and luxury buyers like to be able to say they got the version of a car with the most or the best, whether or not that necessarily suits the car. But hey, we've loved other F models in the past, like the RC F and GS F, so an LC F could be pretty awesome, too. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible Walkaround

Toyota profits up 23% on high US sales, despite mounting legal costs

Toyota earned $9.3 billion in net income in the financial year that ends next month. The number beats earlier forecasts and marks a five-year high for the automaker, with both operating income and revenue up by 9.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Toyota saw quarterly profit enjoy a year-on-year jump of 23.4 percent, with the manufacturer earning more than $1 billion between October and December 2012. The good news comes in spite of the fact that the Japanese automaker actually endured an operating loss in North America, due in part to legal fees.
Toyota is set to pay more than $1 billion to owners who claim their vehicles decreased in value as a result of the company's recent spate of recalls. Even so, all three of the automaker's brands enjoyed a 13.5 percent sales increase in the US in the last quarter, beating the industry average. Toyota faltered in Europe, however, where it earned $99 million in operating profit last year, compared to $111 million in 2011. You can take a closer look at the company's full press release below for more information.