It was 23 degrees, cold and dark. I was leaving Cleveland in the dead of a cold winter’s night. I’d been invited by BFGoodrich to the unveiling of their newest, ultra-high performance summer tire, the BFGoodrich g-Force Sport COMP-2. Oh, and the event was being held in sunny southern California. It didn’t take much convincing to get me on the plane.

The COMP-2 is BFGoodrich’s answer to the new breed of high-tech ultra-high performance tires on the market. Three years in the making, the new tire uses a new silca-infused rubber compound and reinforced internal structure to improve grip in all situations. In comparison to the other leading tires in this category, the BFG claims a 30% increase in grip in wet conditions while maintaining an 8% lead in the dry.

BFG is going for the enthusiast aftermarket where tire performance and looks trumps most other factors. With over 50 diameter and width combinations available, it’s designed to fit most foreign and domestic sports cars.

Fast forward 32 hours to the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, California. 67 degrees and dry as a bone, the perfect weather to put the new tire to the test. BFGoodrich had prepared several different events for us to try out the new g-Force Sport COMP-2, and better yet, to compare it to the competition. For every car clad in the new COMP-2s, there was at least one other car of the same model shod in Yokohamas, Coopers, Hankook, and other leading brands. We had the opportunity to test back-to-back the BFGoodrich offering against the industry leaders.

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The lore of NASCAR is filled with stories of backyard mechanics taking cars right off the showroom floor and winning races, fame, and glory with nearly stock cars. This is why NASCAR is called “stock car” racing after all. However, since the late 1980s, the cars have become less and less related to the showroom cousins. For 2013, Ford is trying to mend that gap, at least aesthetically, with their new 2013 Fusion racer.

Taking its cues from the production Fusion that debuted at the North American International Auto Show, the new Fusion race car adapts the cars dramatic headlight and grill treatment. To make the car look even more “stock,” the overall proportions of the stock car were mirrored. Even the character line that runs down the stock car’s side was replicated on the racer.

All of this may seem inconsequential, but in a race where a few millimeters on a spoiler’s rake can dramatically affect your finishing position, it is a big risk to change the cars body like Ford has. Rest assured that the proper adjustments were made to make sure this car is still race ready.

The changes to make the NASCAR version more similar to the production version are only skin deep though. Like every other NASCAR car, the Fusion racer will be rear-wheel drive with a big V-8 up front. No Ecoboost engine the race version, unfortunately. How sweet would that be if Ford could enter an AWD Fusion with an Ecoboost V6 in a few of the NASCAR circuit races, a’ la Aussie Supercar Racing, though?

Pipe dreams aside, get ready to see the new Fusion NASCAR contender this February in the season opener at Daytona.

Little was known about the sub-Boxster model Porsche was planning to produce. Some, like myself, saw it as a successor to Porsche’s 550 Spyder and 356. Others pointed to the parts sharing between Porsche, VW, and Audi, and saw the car as a successor to the dreadful 914. We may never know how good it may or may not have been however, since reports out of Germany say that Porsche is stalling its development.

Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller sat down with German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche to discuss the automaker’s future. When pressed about the 550 successor he stated, “Possibly we need to wait until the next generation of customers before the idea of a small roadster will work for Porsche,” and that it would “dilute the brand image.” This reason is complete nonsense. He might have well said, “These are not the droids you are looking for.”

This statement is a smokescreen for Porsche’s true intentions. Porsche does not care about “brand image,” it cares about profits. Their history and brand image is only a means to squeeze out profit, not an inspirational launching point for new products as they would like you to believe. They are leveraging this pedigree in every way possible to reach 200,000 sales by 2014. Their sales numbers are a window to this strategy.

In a report by freelance analyst Timothy Cain, he shows that Cayenne sales alone account for 44.7 percent of total sales volume. The Panamera accounts for 24%. 68.7% of Porsche -a brand that touts its sporting image like a tween on Facebook with a new fake tan picture- makes their money selling SUVs and 4-door sedans to badge snobs. The 911 only sells 20% of their volume and is only around to salvage Porsche’s sporting history. Tellingly, the Boxster and Cayman account for 5% of sales.

As you can see, sports cars don’t sell in volumes for Porsche. This sub-Boxster would therefore not be very profitable, or sell in high volumes. However, they can’t just come out and say, “We are killing this sports car because it won’t make us richer.” No, that would tarnish “the aura” that Porsche has built up to sell products outside their traditional offerings. Instead, they do marketing gymnastics to show that a cheaper sports car will dilute the essence that is Porsche.

Now, Porsche is the pious protector of their own legacy. Look, they are killing off a product that goes against their sporting history. Look again, here’s a sepia toned motorsports video that shows the legacy that this small, sports car will supposedly tarnish. The horror. Thank Ferdinand that Porsche has the determination to stand up for the brand’s purity.

Now, look again, here’s a small SUV that will be made instead of a small sports car. This small SUV is the Cajun, and Muller goes on to state in the same interview that Porsche aims to sell 50,000 of them. The Cajun is a small crossover based off other VW and Audi products, like the Cayenne before it. What? You don’t remember seeing the footage of small SUVs racing in LeMans? You’re memory must be fuzzy, here’s a branded Tag Heuer to remind you how authentic we were back in the ’60s.

Of course, Porsche could not afford to offer only sports cars. Many know that Porsche was in dire financial straits without the Cayenne, and without it, may not be able to produce the crazy 911 variants they do make. However, Porsche has another thing coming if they think they can say they are protecting the brand by offering small SUV’s instead of sports cars. Be honest Porsche, you care about the money. Now if only there was a way to kill off that 911 and offer something that will really showcase Porsche’s brand history. Can the Cayenne be turned into a coupe easily?

After three years of being bested by Toyota, General Motors is once again the world’s best selling automaker. General Motors sold 9,025,942 in 2011, a 7.6 percent increase over last year’s figures. General Motors even bested Volkswagen, who have made it a public goal to become the biggest automaker on the block. Toyota trailed both GM and VW though, whose sales dropped 6 percent in 2011.

General Motors is not announcing this news with much vigor though. Seeing that Toyota was hampered by supply shortages stemming from the Japanese earthquake this year, GM does not want to seem boastful in its new found success.

However, this sales surge should not be attributed only to the weakness of Toyota. GM has been on a tear of new product launches such as the Sonic, and Cruze. These products have found traction in a sales segment that GM has been hard pressed to find success in and are a sign of GM being committed to producing quality cars. Furthermore, GM has been able to increase sales in spite of the public relations storm from the bailout and Chevy Volt controversies.

Also, Volkswagen has been stiff competition as well this year. They launched both the new Jetta and Passat, two cars in the heart of the U.S. market and both designed exclusively for American tastes. Volkswagen has made it no secret to become the largest automaker, so for GM to beat them is no small feat either.

The most promising sign out of this announcement is General Motor’s statement that they are focusing on profits, rather than sales numbers. Often, when an automaker focuses solely on sales numbers, the products fall in quality rapidly. Reson being, when automakers try to get the biggest volumes they often cut the costs of the car, and offer steep rebates to garner sales. This not only hurts the quality of the cars themselves, but also the long term financial health of the company. To say they are focusing on profit is not a sign of corporate greed in this case, but a promise to continue making a quality product.

However, General Motors is still pleased to have regained their lost sales, and looks forward to contiuing the fight in 2012. In a statement to the New York Times, CEO Dan Akerson highlighted this fighting spirit with this quote:

I want to win in the marketplace, but I want to win against a healthy and vibrant Toyota and Honda. Next year, we’ll put the gloves back on, and I’m sure they’ll go right back at us and we’ll go back at them.

With Toyota recovered from their supplier issues, Volkswagen on the attack, and key debuts from General Motors coming soon, 2012 is going to be an interesting year in the automotive marketplace.

Usually when automakers “go green” their product includes electric motors and a heaping helping of tepid performance. Bentley is not one of these automakers. In order to improve their range of cars to meet new emission and mileage requirements, Bentley has engineered a new V8 engine to slot into their Bentley Continental GT and GTC.

This new twin-turbocharged motor displaces 4.0liters and produces 500hp and 487lb. ft. of torque. Direct injection, low restriction turbos, and variable valve timing also play a part in to help the Continental slash emissions and raise mileage by 40%.

Bentley is quick to point out that the V8 is just as refined as the W12 as well. So not only can you enjoy the perpetual thrust of traditional Bentley motors, but also hold your nose up to Prius drivers as well since you too are also saving the planet. But if you absolutely must have the W12, don’t worry, it is still available alongside the V8. No need to get your Saville Row suit in a bunch, the new V8 Bentley Continentals have everything you love about Bentley, with more efficiency than ever before .

It has been a long time coming, but Saab’s curtain call seems to be just around the corner. Yesterday, Saab filed with the Swedish courts for bankruptycy proceedings. Today, Saab North America announced that all Saabs sold from December 19th forward will not have warranty coverage. This move follows a significant period of financial turmoil for the brand as they continue to struggle after being sold by General Motors in 2010. It is not known at this time what will happen to Saab post bankruptcy, but suspending warranty coverage is not a promising sign of Saab returning to produce cars any time soon.

Initially killed by GM post bankruptcy, Saab was rescued by small time supercar manufactuer Spyker in 2010. From there, they debuted the GM-developed 9-5 and the refreshed 9-4X. Saab even hired ex-Pininfarina designer Jason Castriota to pen an evocative supercar for the 2011 Geneva auto show in order to garner some marketing steam for the reinvigorated brand.

However, the champagne had barley been popped before reality set in. First and foremost was their weak product lineup. Although Saab had two new products, their bread and butter sports sedan the 9-3 was ancient, and a predecessor was years away. A smaller mini competitor, the 9-2 was penned as well but also too far away for viability. Sales were shrinking, and most of Saab’s customers fled the brand long ago for more prestigious marquees, such as Audi.

A search for viable financiers also hinder Saab’s second chance. This lack of capital caused them to teeter on the edge of bankruptcy for months as they struggled to pay suppliers and workers. Production was halted, suppliers sued, as Saab continued to look for financial backers. One source was Russian financier Vladimir Antonov, but that deal was struck down by Swedish courts for Antonov’s alleged connections to the Russian mafia.

Saab then looked to China to find such a partner. Talks sputtered for months, and the most recent deal was struck down by former parent General Motors. GM feared that the technology they developed for the 9-5 (the Epsilon II platform that underpins many GM products) would be stolen right from under them by Saab’s Chinese partner. After those talks fell through, Saab had no choice but to declare bankruptcy.

Saab is not officially dead, but a call to void all new warranties is a less than promising move. Saab has a storied, and an interesting product, but it was neglected for far too long to be able to compete with other luxury brands. In the end, they was just no place for them in the marketplace.

In a meeting at the 2011 Tokyo International Auto Show, Tetsuo Iwamura, Honda USA President and CEO, remarked that he was frustrated with slow sales of Honda’s Crosstour stating:

“In the case of the Crosstour, I’m really disappointed because that’s a nice car, [with] very beautiful styling, and it gives very good driving performance as well as packaging. But yet, we went a bit too far.”

Honda wanted to sell 40,000 units of the “lifestyle” crossover, but managed to move only 25,000 in 2010. This year they have only managed to move 16,679. Iwamura is confident that Crosstour sales can be salvaged with further improvements, but I have a different idea for Mr. Iwamura.

The real problem with the Crosstour’s sales slump is that the Crosstour is a blight on the automotive landscape that should be tossed in the same fiery pit as the Pontiac Aztek. The Crosstour is none of the things that Iwamura thinks it is. The Crosstour is no where near beautiful (it looks like an Accord that has mated with Jabba the hut), not roomy (since it is a ridiculous “four door coupe crossover”), and not cheap.

Frankly, the Crosstour has no reason to exist, and is emblematic of Honda’s refusal to produce cars that people want to spend actual money on. The only improvement Honda can make to the Crosstour is killing it with as much fire that can be found. Maybe they can even find a person to drive it to a giant volcano and throw it in.

What Iwamura is really doing is making excuses for a dreadful product. Please stop making excuses Honda, and start making good cars again.

Apparently, if people were not rioting over two dollar waffle irons at Wal-Mart, they were buying cars on our nation’s most treasured holiday, Black Friday. The result of the strong sales last weekend caused November of this year to post sales at a 13.4% seasonally adjusted rate, 2% higher than the same period in 2010. In fact, this is the highest seasonal rate increase since “Cash for Clunkers” was operating in 2009. There are more factors contributing to November’s sales success than just Black Friday though.

Many analysts point to underlying issues in the marketplace that are causing people to buy more cars, not just to the fact that people bought cars because it was Black Friday. First, consumer confidence was much higher. According to a New York based research firm, consumer confidence was the highest it has been in 8 years. On top of that, the percentage of people looking to buy cars increased to 4.1%.

Secondly, demand may have hit rock bottom last year, and sales have nowhere to go but up. Compounding the demand issue is that supply of cars were significantly hampered by the Japanese earthquake as well, especially from Japanese manufacturers. With supply back to normal levels, and demand perking back up, people are finally buying that new car they have been eyeing for a long time.

Car manufactures have taken note of this pent up demand, and reached out through a variety of deals to bring people into the showroom. Notable examples are VW’s “Sign and Drive” event and Honda offering a zero down lease payment offer.

The automaker to post the largest gain from the extra business is Chrysler. Chrysler sales have increased 37% over the same period last year, a continuation of a string of positive month to month sales growth. Other automakers that have gained significant sales volume over last year’s figures are Ford, Hyundai, and GM.

With holiday spending at nearly $54 billion dollars over the Black Friday weekend, there seems to have been plenty left in the piggy bank to buy a new car for the holiday season.

In a press conference by Toyota Motor Corp.’s president Akio Toyoda today, Toyoda announced that the strength of the Japanese yen may cause Toyota to shift production of compact cars to other countries. Toyota is not the first Japanese car company to come out against the yen. Nissan has also pleaded to the government to weaken the yen, or they would pull out of domestic production as well.

The yen has been incredibly strong against the U.S. dollar as of late, causing profit margins to erode for many of the domestic Japanese automotive manufacturers. Coupled with lagging demand in the U.S., and supply chain disruptions due to the earthquake, Japanese brands have had a difficult set of circumstances as they struggle for sales in a tough year.

Toyoda fielded a few questions on if moving production would hurt Toyota’s national image. Toyoda explained that Toyota is an international company, and that although strongly tied to its home country, Toyota must take actions to keep the company healthy in order to keep providing jobs for Japan.

One car whose production may be moved is the Toyota Corolla. This compact car has a low profit margin which makes it more vulnerable to the exchange rate crisis currently affecting Japan. this move would benefit the U.S., though, since Toyota’s new plant in Mississippi was noted as a possible new location for the car’s production.

Toyota is also asking for government assistance in the form of devaluing the yen and giving out tax incentives to stimulate demand in the increasingly car averse cities of Japan.

A safety recall disaster, strong competition in the marketplace, an earthquake, and now currency issues have all taken their toll on the once invincible Toyota. With a revamped product line, and maybe a way around a strong yen, Toyota is looking for a variety of ways to put those past issues aside and reclaim its former dominance.