Jonathan McGrew, Contributing Writer
Articles
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40 miles per gallon seems to be the new magic number in the automotive industry and Ford could be considered heavy weight in the category. With the official 40-mpg rating of the 2012 Ford Focus by...
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VW Introduces New Cabriolet For the 2011 Geneva Motor Show
The automotive industry hasn’t seen a Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet since 2002 when it was discontinued. That is until now. For the 2011 Geneva Auto Show VW revives the Golf Cabriolet, but it might not be as straightforward as it sounds. The car is targeted to go on sale this summer, but where is...
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MINI Rocketman Inspires Dreams of 94 MPG
94 miles per gallon sounds pretty good doesn’t it? What about a glass roof etched with the Union Jacket and an overall length of 11 feet 3 inches? If that sounds interesting to you, then the MINI Rocketman is going to be right up your alley. It even has a feature that they call “complex...
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Ford Focus Uses the 1-14-50 Approach To Promoting Vehicle Features
If you were used to the Ford Motor Company ten years ago and how they marketed to the public and what they offered, then you have probably noticed the pendulum swing in a very different direction. It is hard to say what really started it, but a lot of people credit Alan Mulally, President and CEO...
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MINI Launches the MINI Motorsports Fan Page on Facebook
Earlier this week MINI announced via their Facebook fan page their newest addition to the social media community—MINI Motorsports. The point of the fan page is to promote the brand’s participation in motorsports around the world and not just from corporate sponsored...
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BMW Introduces New BMWi Brand For the Eco-Conscious
The automotive world has been waiting to for the BMW MegaCity to be introduced, but we will have to wait a long time for that. Recently, BMW announced that they will be renaming the MegaCity and future eco-conscious vehicles and placing them under a new brand—BMWi. The new BMWi range is being...
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The 2011 Geneva Motor Show is quickly approaching with the opening day being on March 3rd. As with most shows, manufacturers are using the show as a springboard for their concept cars and model...
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Chevrolet Cruze to Bring Back Small Car Diesel Power In 2013
Diesel’s have had a bad reputation in America, something we actually mentioned during our “Super Bowl Ad Watch” earlier this month. If you didn’t catch it, the subject came up when BMW advertised their 3-Series diesel with an ad depicting older diesels spewing tons of black...
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Nissan Jukes the Competition With Their New Sport Cross
The 2011 Nissan Juke is a unique car. It isn’t just its styling or the clever advertising; no, it is the entire package. The Juke is what Nissan is calling a sport cross, but what does that really mean? For Nissan, it means a car that has a lifted ride height, standard turbocharged engine and...
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Can an EV Be Too Small? Toyota Says No With iQ EV for Geneva
We have said it before and we will say it again: Electric vehicles will be all the rage in 2011. We have seen some great strides in the market, so much so that auto manufactures that were saying just last year that the technology wasn’t ready for the electric vehicle (EV) are now putting new...
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2012 Fiat 500: ecoDrive Plugs In And Coaches Drivers Right From Their Laptop (VIDEOS)
Ever wonder how your drive to the office might be effecting your fuel economy? The engineers over at Fiat have and to help educate drivers have introduced the BLUE&ME USB port in conjunction with Microsoft and the eco:Drive program. The program reads the car’s systems and stores the...
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Mini MINIs Spotted Looking Ready For Production
MINI is always up for something new, especially when it comes to adding more people to the MINI community. Back in 2009 at the Frankfurt Auto Show we saw a coupe and roaster version of the popular MINI Cooper unveiled. At the time there was no confirmation as to whether this shortened Coopers would...
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Anyone that has owned a car knows about maintenance. Some people take their cars in for what the industry calls “regularly scheduled” maintenance and others might wait until something...
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2012 Buick Regal Gets Some Green Help From eAssist
Last year we saw the return of the Buick Regal, but it surprised reviewers and consumers alike. The Regal revealed itself as being on par with cars like the Acura TSX, Nissan Maxima and Ford Focus. Maybe it was the European design or the power combined with class competitive fuel economy that made...
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SUPER BOWL Ad Watch: Small Cars That Appeared During the Game
The Super Bowl has historically had a lot of automotive industry ads and this year is no exception. Maybe it is the millions of viewers at one time or the tradition of actually watching the ads as opposed to running to the kitchen for a snack. This year Super Bowl XLV had ads from many...
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SUPER BOWL Ad Watch: BMW Says Diesel Has Ch-Ch-Changed
Diesel cars in America have a reputation for being smelly, slow and loud…mostly this was perpetuated by the late ‘70s and ‘80s Mercedes diesels. The stereotype isn’t wrong, the diesels of the past put out a lot of soot and you tended to need ear plugs to drive them long...
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SUPER BOWL Ad Watch: Hyundai Says Don’t Be Hypnotized
Some watch the Super Bowl for the game, some watch it for the ads and other take in both. Super Bowl XLV is no different—that is except that the companies that bought the ad spots this year are a little different. One of those companies that have stepped up into prime Super Bowl positioning...
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Focus Rally: America—First Video Airs Tonight On Hulu
Last week AllSmallCars.com ventured out to L.A. to spend some time with the 2012 Ford Focus. To say that the car was good is probably a bit of an understatement, but we know no everyone will be a fan. Something most of us can agree on is that the all-new 2012 Ford Focus is steps above its...
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Jaguar has seen a lot of change in the last couple decades. Now no longer owned or controlled by Ford Motor Company, Jaguar is looking to see what it needs to do to sell more volume and stay in the...
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2011 Hyundai Elantra Sales Cause Consideration Of Korean Imports
Whenever you sell out of something it is considered a good problem to have, at least to a point. Every manufacturer wants to be in the position where so many people like their cars that they have trouble keeping them in the hands of dealers. We have seen it with the third generation Toyota Prius...
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2012 Ford Focus: Yes, It Can Even Park Itself Like a Lexus
Okay, okay…we have been talking a lot about the 2012 Ford Focus today and hopefully you have been able to check out the articles that interest you most. We have covered our First Drive experience, MyFord versus MyFord Touch, Hatch versus Sedan, Torque Vectoring Control and now Active Park...
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2012 Ford Focus: The Magic of Torque Vectoring Control
Torque Vectoring Control sounds like something out of Iron Man or the Star Trek series. In this case it actually refers to a new system on the 2012 Ford Focus that simulates a limited slip differential. It is also a safety feature that many parents—and adults—will be happy to have...
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2012 Ford Focus: Hatchback Or Sedan, That Age Old Question
Alright, so a couple of years ago I wrote an article about the return of the hatchback, and return they have. Instead of just having a hatchback, car manufactures are opting to have both a hatchback or sedan version of models they produce. This is true in both the new Fords we have seen...
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2012 Ford Focus: MyFord Versus MyFord Touch
If you have been looking at any automotive website starting early this morning you probably noticed that there is a slew of press today on the 2012 Ford Focus—mostly first drive reports. Yes, we here at AllSmallCars.com are guilty of that as well and you can read our first drive at your...
Jonathan McGrew