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Updated J.D. Power APEAL study shines on VW Group, Chevy

J.D. Power has just revealed the results of its 2013 APEAL Study, which looks at which brands have the most appealing cars based on sales figures, dealer inventory, brand loyalty, transaction and trade-in prices. The study was revamped for 2013, and places a larger focus on the new tech and infotainment options available to customers. All told, study participants gauged their vehicles on 77 different attributes, delivering a score out of a 1,000 points.
The Volkswagen Group had the greatest success of any corporation, topping the APEAL rankings with the Audi Allroad, Porsche Boxster, Porsche Cayenne, VW GTI and Passat. Chevrolet had the highest number of awards for a single brand, though, with the Avalanche, Sonic and Volt all taking home a prize.
The best brand overall was Porsche, which scored 884 out of a possible 1,000 points. The top Japanese brand was Lexus with a score of 847, while the top American brand was Cadillac, at 841. The best mainstream brand was Ram, which received a very respectable 817. The industry average for this year's study was 795, with 16 brands, all of which were mainstream, falling below the average.

Volkswagen scores dominant 1-2-3 finish at Monte Carlo Rally

Racing calendars change from year to year, but most series have that one race they just couldn't do without: the Monaco Grand Prix for F1, Le Mans for endurance racing, Dakar for rally raid, the Indianapolis 500 for Indy, the Daytona 500 for NASCAR... and for the World Rally Championship, it's the Monte Carlo Rally. Winning the Monte brings with it its own measure of bragging rights, but locking out the podium is another story altogether. And that's just what Volkswagen did this weekend on the Cote d'Azur. The hard-fought season-opener saw nine-time world champion (and seven-time Monte Carlo Rally winner) Sebastien Loeb return with Citroen, but ultimately it was the VW team that won – and won big, taking a commanding 1-2-3 finish. Sebastien Ogier (with Julien Ingrassia) finished first, followed by Jari-Matti Latvala (with Miika Anttila) in second and Andreas Mikkelsen (with Ola Floene) in third, all of them in the Volkswagen Polo R WRC that was just updated in time for the start of the season. The rally passed right through the Forest Saint Julien where Ogier was born, and at the end of it all, Mikkelsen walked little more than 50 steps from the Volkswagen garage to his condo at Quai Antoine 1er in Monte Carlo. It was only the second time VW has locked out the podium since hitting the scene two years ago, following the German team's 1-2-3 finish in Australia last season en route to its second consecutive world championship. This also marked the second year in a row that Ogier and VW have won the Monte, after narrowly losing out to Loeb in '03. The achievement in Monaco this weekend made VW only the fifth manufacturer to take the top three spots in the Monegasque capital: Renault-Alpine became the first in 1973, followed by Lancia (with the Stratos) in '76 and then again (with the Delta Integrale) in '89, Audi sandwiched between in '84 and Citroen with the "dream team" of Loeb, Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz in 2003. (Peugeot achieved the same in 2009, but that was when the Monte Carlo Rally had left the WRC and was run as part of the less prominent and lower-spec Intercontinental Rally Challenge.) Not even Subaru, Mitsubishi, Toyota or Ford - all dominant forces in their time - can claim that feat. The victory secures the Polo R WRC's place as the most dominant car in the championship, winning over 85 percent of the rallies in which it has been entered since its debut in 2003. FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), Rally Monte Carlo One-two-three!

Canada expands cooperation with EPA over VW scandal

It doesn't take much more than a stiff breeze to send some US pollution northward across the 49th parallel. Perhaps that's why the Canadian government says it is standing strong with the US in its continuing investigation of Volkswagen and the allegations and self-reporting that the automaker installed software to try to game emissions regulations. In fact, the Canadian government is going to do its own slate of on-road testing to see how VW diesel engines perform in real-world conditions. Last year, about 1.8 million new light-duty vehicles were sold in Canada, which is about equal to how many were sold in Maryland. That compares to about 17 million new-vehicle sales for the US. But every bit counts when it comes to an increase in potentially harmful emissions, and the Canadian government says it wants to make sure VW's diesel engines are being properly monitored, whether they're sold in Detroit, MI, or across the river in Windsor, Ontario. And that means following up – together – on allegations that Europe's biggest automaker is using so-called "defeat devices" in what it has long called its "clean diesel" engines. The automotive industry continues to be roiled by the VW scandal, in which the automaker said that as many as 11 million of its vehicles may contain software programmed to manipulate emissions-testing procedures. Volkswagen has set aside $7.3 billion to deal with the scandal, while VW CEO Martin Winterkorn was forced to step down after the issue became public. Take a look at Environment Canada's press release below. Statement - Government of Canada expands its on-going collaborative work with the U.S. EPA to assess other diesel vehicles for defeat devices OTTAWA, Sept. 26, 2015 /CNW/ - On September 22, 2015, the Government of Canada opened an investigation into Volkswagen's alleged use of defeat devices to circumvent emissions regulations. Environment Canada issued the following update on the issue: "The Government of Canada has a long history of collaborating closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to align emission standards, as well as to provide oversight and verify compliance with applicable emission regulations "Today, the Government of Canada is announcing that it has expanded its ongoing collaborative work with the U.S. EPA to assess other diesel vehicles for defeat devices and compliance issues. "Vehicles will be subject to a variety of tests including on-road testing using portable emission measurement systems.