Toyota to Build RAV4 EV in Canada, Sales Start Next Year

Having cleared up the misunderstanding on whether or not the pure-electric RAV4 will be sold to the general public (it will), Toyota and partner Tesla Motors confirmed today that their jointly developed EV SUV will be built at the Japanese company’s Canadian manufacturing plant in Woodstock, Ontario starting from 2012.

“The Tesla-Toyota joint development team has agreed that building the vehicle at the Woodstock plant on the same line as the gasoline-powered RAV4, will streamline and simplify the production process and guarantee the highest level of quality control,” said Ray Tanguay, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) Chairman.

Toyota previously revealed that it will pay Tesla Motors around $100 million to supply the electric powertrain, which includes the battery, motor, gear box and power electronics for the RAV4 EV.

The maker of the Tesla Roadster will manufacture the components of the electric powertrain at its production facility in Palo Alto, California and then ship them to Canada for final assembly into the RAV4 EV.

Toyota said that the RAV4 EV will be sold through its U.S. dealerships with information on the precise launch date and pricing to be announced at "a later time".

TOYOTA RAV4 EV DEMONSTRATION MODEL

Slick Thieves Ride Off with a…Dozen Brand-New Nissans in Canada!

Unless you are enjoying a Fast and Furious flick on the couch, in real life, you rarely hear about car thieves stealing a bunch of vehicles from the same owner.

Yet this happened in the Canadian city of Calgary where some very slick bandits made off with not one, not two but a dozen (!) brand new vehicles from a local Nissan dealership.

The Calgary police said that the thieves broke in the Sunridge Nissan dealership on Sunday , July 24, and stole the keys from 20 different models including sedans, SUVs and trucks, but managed to drive away with "only" 12 vehicles.

"During that break and enter we had 20 keys taken. A subsequent inventory of the vehicles on the lot revealed 12 vehicles were missing," Staff Sergeant Patrick Ochitwa told the local media.

It is estimated that value of the stolen vehicles is somewhere around CA$361,000. According to the local police, all 12 models have been flagged and cannot be registered.

If you're wondering what kind of cars the thieves managed to steal, check out the list below:

2011 Nissan Titan (White)

2011 Nissan Pathfinder (White)

2011 Nissan Titan (White)

2011 Nissan Titan (White)

2011 Nissan Titan (White)

2011 Nissan Frontier (Silver)

2012 Nissan Altima (Black)

2012 Nissan Altima (Black)

2012 Nissan Altima (Brown)

2011 Nissan Titan (Black)

2011 Nissan Rogue (Dark Grey)

2011 Nissan Rogue (White)

Story Source: CTV via VWvortex

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Chrysler Surpasses Ford as Canada’s Biggest Seller of Light Trucks

Canada’s economy seems unaffected by most of the Western World’s woes, where markets are struggling and unemployment is booming. In fact, Canada’s economy is growing and as a result, unemployment is falling and people are getting jobs. Therefore, they have money to buy cars, or light trucks, pickups and SUVs.

“People who are getting jobs are opting for practical vehicles such as a crossover to get better mileage than a traditional SUV”, said Carlos Gomes, an economist at Scotia Capital. “You have the construction sector holding up very well, and that is positive for the pickup segment.”

This has worked very well for Chrysler, which in the first half of the year has overtaken Ford in light truck segment. That is because, with oil prices rising, new truck buyers are opting for more fuel-efficient models.

For instance, Chrysler’s Dodge Journey sales increased more than the SUVs of rivaling carmakers Ford and GM, the Escape and the Chevrolet Equinox respectively.

However, in total vehicles sales including cars, Ford still leads the market with a 17.4% share, having also beaten GM in 2010 for the first time in many decades. GM is second, with a 15.5% market share, but it can feel Chrysler breathing down its neck with 15.0% and only 4,000 vehicles difference in the first half of the year.

Via Bloomberg

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It Came From eBay Hell: Custom Made Canadian “Woodie”

One of my all-time favourite cars is the 1948 Ford Super Deluxe. The station wagon and Sportsman convertible variants were the last true “woodies” and in my mind the best looking of the bunch.

On the opposite end of the scale is this hand-built woodie pick-up from Quebec, Canada. It’s like a child’s drawing of a pick-up truck come to life or maybe the first car designed and built exclusively by the Amish.

It was intended as a static display / parade float / advertising showpiece, though personally I think it’d be better suited as kindling or beaver food.

Underneath that svelte body is the engine, transmission, chassis and suspension of a 1993 Chevrolet S10. With a 2.8 L V6 and manual transmission, you couldn’t pay me to drive this thing.

The body is roasted grey pine and the hubcaps are Russian plywood.

The Buy It Now price on eBay, for what the seller describes as a, “Unique, original and certainly an excellent advertising tool for your business,” is CA$16,000 (US$16,726 / €11,834 at the time this article was written).

Unsurprisingly, no one has made an offer on it yet. The seller is keen the point out that this car cannot be exported to the United States due to its hand-built body and recent vintage.

You can check out our full gallery below and leave a comment if you wish.

By Tristan Hankins

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