| Natick woman critical after Friday wreck
A Natick woman remains in "very critical" condition after a five-car crash last Friday, police said yesterday. The accident is still being investigated by both the Framingham Police Department and the Middlesex District Attorney's office. No one has been charged or cited in the accident. Investigators may have video evidence of the crash because a limousine involved was equipped with a special camera. The accident occurred at the intersection of Speen Street and Rte. 30 around 4:50 p.m., police spokesman Lt. Paul Shastany said. Two vehicles were turning left from Rte. 30 to Speen Street when witnesses say a BMW sports utility vehicle plowed into the cars. One of the drivers of the vehicles that were hit was knocked unconscious and appeared to have head injuries.
Audi A3 Cabriolet: One for the ladies?
It cannot simply be that the TT Cabrio costs a bit more, or that the A3 Cabrio offers slightly more practicality in the form of rear seats, although (as in the TT Coupé, another nominal 2+2) that space is best regarded as tiny tot/dog territory. Perhaps it is the severe pseudo-Bauhaus lifestyle statement the TT makes, which appeals strongly to some chaps, but far less so to young women. Well, that's enough psychosexual analysis, what about the subject in question? This is Audi's first entrant in the open-top "premium compact" class. Open-top and compact you can figure out, but what does "premium" mean? Well, its only direct rival is BMW's forthcoming 1-series Convertible, and here it means a starting price of £20,740. At first glance this looks expensive, but Audi is on a roll.
Little Fiat sexiest car ever
Top Gear magazine has voted the humble Fiat 500, which looks like a cross between a Mini and a VW Beetle, No 1 for setting pulses racing. It tops a list of 100 sexiest cars because the mag claims anyone behind the wheel looks sexually charged ? even a nun. Contributing editor James May defended the bizarre choice yesterday, saying: The Fiat 500 advertises nothing about its owner, except that its someone who doesnt need to try. Top Gears top ten sexiest cars: 1. Fiat 500; 2. Aston Martin DBS; 3. Maserati Quattroporte; 4. Chevrolet Camaro; 5. Citroen C6; 6. Lincoln Continental; 7. Bentley Continental S1 Fastback; 8. BMW M1; 9. Rolls-Royce Phantom; 10. Sally the Porsche 911 Carrera (from the animated film Cars). .
2008 Honda Accord EX sedan is able but clunky
Everyone but maybe Toyota likes Honda, the aloof, coolish engineer nerd of the auto industry. From snarling, wheel-standing crotch rockets to cheap, hard-edged Civic sedans, Honda builds unusually balanced, dynamic vehicles – a result, I think, of the company's vast racing experience. We love them here at the Daily Planet. If you sent out an e-mail saying there was a Honda with its lights on in the garage, our high-tech newsroom – Truth Central, I call it – would empty as hordes of reporters and editors loped outside to save their cherished Civics, Accords, Pilots and Odysseys. (Maybe that's a slight exaggeration. But I'm sure I wouldn't have much company inside if that happened.) So why was I so conflicted about the 2008 Accord EX I had recently, a four-door sedan that, at about 3,600 pounds, is now heavier than some Buicks and stranger-looking than many 5-series BMWs? After all, most of my colleagues in the automotive media continue to heap praise on the Accord, as competent and complete a sedan as ever.
ROUNDUP Inchcape looks to growth in emerging markets after pretax ...
LONDON, Feb. 26, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- Inchcape, the motor distributor and retailer, said expansion in fast-growing emerging markets such as Russia and China and new models from car makers including Audi and BMW will drive growth in the year ahead. Chief executive Andre Lacroix said Inchcape had more than doubled sales and tripled operating profits in emerging markets in 2007, which helped it beat analysts' expectations with a 9.9 pct rise in adjusted pretax profits of 235.1 mln stg for the year to end-December. Conditions in the UK market had been 'very challenging', he said, but the group's focus on premium brands, such as Toyota, BMW and Audi, helped it outperform the market and deliver like-for-like sales growth of 5.2 pct. 'In the UK, we have a very clear strategy of focusing on the premium segment,' he told Thomson Financial News in a telephone interview.
For Carmakers, High Performance Equals High Profit
In March, Lexus is launching a high-performance division. Called the F—for "Flagship"—the first model will be the sporty, $56,765 Lexus IS F. Several more F models are in the pipeline, including a luxury sedan and an SUV-wagon crossover. This represents a radical departure for Lexus, which has enjoyed enormous success as Toyota's (TM) luxury brand, despite being often faulted by driving enthusiasts for making cars that are unexciting, albeit attractive, well-built, and competitively priced. Now obviously Toyota's top brass wants to change this impression—and that is something that should concern executives at the high-performance divisions of its luxury rivals, specifically Mercedes-Benz (DAI), BMW (BMWG), and, increasingly, Audi (NSUG). Mercedes offers an AMG version of nearly every model it sells, including light trucks.
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