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Prius AWD-e, Subaru Forester and car museums | Autoblog Podcast #565

On the latest Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Green Editor John Snyder. They talk about driving the 2019 Toyota Prius AWD-e and the 2019 Subaru Forester. Then they discuss the weeks new, including conspiracy theories about Nissan and Carlos Ghosn, GM's EV plans and classic Ford Broncos for sale. The editors reminisce about their favorite automotive museums. They also help a reader choose a replacement for his Audi S4 in the "Spend My Money" segment.Autoblog Podcast #565 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 2019 Toyota Prius AWD-e 2019 Subaru Forester Was Carlos Ghosn set up? Should General Motors be required to build EVs domestically? Al Oppenheiser to work on GM EVs Gateway Broncos Our favorite car museums Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

China fines Toyota $12.5 million over Lexus price-fixing

BEIJING — China's market regulator on Friday has fined Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor 87.6 million yuan ($12.5 million) for price-fixing on its premium Lexus cars in eastern Jiangsu province, according to a document on its website. The decision comes as China steps up regulation over auto sales in the world's biggest vehicle market, where more than 28 million cars were sold last year. The anti-monopoly bureau of State Administration for Market Regulation said that between 2015 and 2018, the Japanese carmaker set a minimum sales and resale price for its cars in coastal Jiangsu province, which deprived dealers of pricing autonomy and harmed customers' rights. Lexus also fixed sales strategies in the region over the period, including offering customers discounts while asking them to purchase accessories at fixed prices, a sales tactic usual among individual auto dealers in China but frowned upon for carmakers. A spokesman at Toyota, Lexus' parent firm, told Reuters the firm acknowledged the penalty and respects the decision. He did not comment further. China's auto sales are declining, but Lexus' sales keep growing. It sold 180,200 vehicles in the first 11 months this year, a 21% jump from a year earlier. In June, China's market regulator imposed an 162.8 million yuan fine on Ford Motor Co's joint venture with Changan Automobile Group for violating anti-monopoly law. ($1 = 6.9927 Chinese yuan renminbi) Reporting by Yilei Sun and Norihiko Shirouzu. Related Video:

This Japanese ad for the Toyota Prius Plug In is beyond confusing

We'll admit we don't understand all of this strange little ad for the Toyota Prius Plug In (our Japanese skills are not what they once were) but that just makes it all the more fascinating. The takeaway point is that a world full of PHEV Priuses will be astonishingly colorful at time and exciting, with food being delivered by a neck plug. Or something like that. We recommend clicking below and just watching the 60-second spot (and the short making-of video) but if you'd rather read here's what we have figured out: There's some airline-pilot type guy who is visited by who he calls his sister. The voiceover says she's some kind of saleswoman, and she begins to talk up the plug-in Prius alongside the J-Pop group AKB48 Team 8, telling the crowd – including a man in a big, round bird mask – how easy it is to plug in. The old man watching the J-Pop girls tells the woman next to him, "I have their CD." Then we see the original duo back home and the guy says he's hungry before plugging in a blue energy wire. The same wire that then starts charging a Prius. That may not really clarify anything, but there you have it. Watch for yourself below. At the very least, we won't confuse this ad for one from another automaker. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.