Smart ForTwo Electric Drive will be cheapest EV at $25,000*

We're getting our first drive in the 2013 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive today, and Smart just announced pricing for the latest version of its all-electric minicar. The starting price for the ForTwo ED Coupe will be $25,000 (*plus delivery fees), making it the lowest price electric vehicle in the U.S. from a mainstream automaker and that doesn't even include the available $7,500 federal tax credit.

With the tax credit figured in, the starting price works out to $17,500. Add in the required $825 destination charge and up to $2,200 for a home charger, and the 2013 ForTwo ED Coupe will essentially start at just $20,525 $1,100 cheaper than the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Of course, customers who already have home charging stations can save even more. Smart has said that it will offer two different home chargers that range in price from $1,300 to $1,700, and it is estimating installation will cost somewhere in the $300 to $500 range.

While we do know the starting prices for the new ForTwo ED, options and lease prices have not been announced. For comparison, the previous-generation ForTwo ED had a lease price of $599 a month.

Scroll down for more information on the 2013 Smart ForTwo ED, and look for it in dealers this spring.
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Land Rover Defender will return to U.S. in next generation [UPDATE]

Good news, Defender fans: Word has it Land Rover will bring the rugged SUV to the U.S. market once the next-generation bows. According to TheCarConnection.com, Jaguar Land Rover North America CEO Andy Goss confirmed the next Defender will be a global product, and that it will be specifically engineered to meet U.S. crash safety and emissions standards. The news came during the 2012 Paris Motor Show, where JLR officials also made it clear the brand intends to bolster its Land Rover offerings in the North American market. As of right now, the vast majority of Land Rover Sales in the States can be attributed to the high-end Range Rover line.

That mix may change somewhat as Land Rover refreshes some models and replaces others. Expect to see both the LR4 and the Defender receive serious overhauls in the near future.

Even so, it will be some time before he next-generation Defender bows, and whether or not it looks anything like the DC100 concept above remains to be seen. From what we've heard, the new bruiser won't bow until 2017 at the earliest. In the interim, U.S. buyers will just have to continue to look wistfully across the pond.

UPDATE: Since this report went live, Land Rover has commented to us that its "intention is for the next generation Defender to be engineered in a way that would allow it to come to the U.S.," but that there are still many obstacles to face before that happens and its reintroduction to this market confirmed.
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Smart ForTwo Electric Drive will be cheapest EV at $25,000*

We're getting our first drive in the 2013 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive today, and Smart just announced pricing for the latest version of its all-electric minicar. The starting price for the ForTwo ED Coupe will be $25,000 (*plus delivery fees), making it the lowest price electric vehicle in the U.S. from a mainstream automaker and that doesn't even include the available $7,500 federal tax credit.

With the tax credit figured in, the starting price works out to $17,500. Add in the required $825 destination charge and up to $2,200 for a home charger, and the 2013 ForTwo ED Coupe will essentially start at just $20,525 $1,100 cheaper than the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Of course, customers who already have home charging stations can save even more. Smart has said that it will offer two different home chargers that range in price from $1,300 to $1,700, and it is estimating installation will cost somewhere in the $300 to $500 range.

While we do know the starting prices for the new ForTwo ED, options and lease prices have not been announced. For comparison, the previous-generation ForTwo ED had a lease price of $599 a month.

Scroll down for more information on the 2013 Smart ForTwo ED, and look for it in dealers this spring.
Via: Smart ForTwo Electric Drive will be cheapest EV at $25,000*

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ICON will debut '65 Dodge pickup project at SEMA

SEMA is right around the corner, folks, and that means a whole slew of custom auto builders are working furiously to finish project cars in time for their Vegas introductions. One of the coolest is bound to come from ICON. Based on a 1965 Dodge D200 crew cab that previously saw use by the U.S. military, we fully expect ICON's latest to be in the running for best-of-show.

Underneath the customized vintage bodywork will sit a chassis borrowed from a much more recent Ram 3500 fitted with a 4.5-inch suspension lift kit. A Banks-modified Cummins turbodiesel with six inline cylinders displacing 5.9 liters will reportedly pump out 975 pound-feet of torque. That's the kind of get-up-and-go we can get behind.

Only one of these machines is currently being built, painted in white with black accents and wheels. The interior is sewn up from free-range bison leather and is outfitted with a high-end stereo system, according to Fox News. This one is headed to an anonymous client, and we're jealous. Very jealous.
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Scion targeting heavy metal, headbanger demographic

Marketing to younger buyers can be a funny thing. Sometimes, the more you try to sell Generation XYZPDQ on a car, the more it ensures you will sell to older buyers looking to feel young again. Scion has been toying with this concept ever since it was founded in 2002. The Toyota offshoot's latest target? The heavy metal enthusiast scene.

According to an AdWeek report, Scion thinks the heavy metal crowd has received a bad rap and is undervalued as a consumer base. To that end, Scion recently opened a gallery in Los Angeles that will feature works from U.K. artist French, among others. According to the report, Scion's vehicles will be on display as well, in case patrons want to go for a test drive after purchasing some artwork. Scion has also led an initiative to sponsor heavy metal concerts, albums and music videos. More than 1,700 artists have taken part in over 10,000 events around the country.

This news strikes us as a tad perplexing. After trying for years to appeal to the tuner and enthusiast communities, the brand finally has a home run in the FR-S, a drift-happy coupe that begs to be tuned and modified. Then again, Scion says the metal crowd is "not necessarily trying to be a trendsetter, but more of a thought leader." If targeting that demographic helps the folks at Scion sell more iQ and tC models, more power to 'em. As long as it means enthusiasts still have machinery like the aforementioned FR-S to swoon over.
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Chevy dealer sells car for wrong price, apologizes after having buyer arrested

A Virginia man spent four hours in jail after purchasing a Chevrolet Traverse from Priority Chevrolet in Chesapeake, VA. The dealer's sales staff accidentally sold the SUV to Danny Sawyer for $5,600 less than they should have, and when Sawyer refused to sign a new, more expensive contract for the correct amount, the dealership called the local police alleging the buyer had stolen the vehicle. Law enforcement then picked Sawyer up and held him for four hours before getting the situation straight.

Dennis Ellmer, president of Priority Chevrolet, says he owes Sawyer an apology on behalf of the dealership, and had intended to do right by the buyer by letting him have the vehicle at the agreed-upon price. But Sawyer's lawyer says it's a little too late for saying, 'sorry.' The briefly-incarcerated owner has filed two lawsuits against the dealer, accusing the business of malicious prosecution, slander, defamation and abuse of process. All told, the suits seek a total of $2.2 million in damages, plus attorney fees.

That $5,600 seems awfully cheap now.

The lawsuit says Sawyer originally purchased a blue Traverse on May 7, but took the SUV back the next day for a black one. The dealer's sales manager made the swap, allegedly without saying anything about a price differential between the two. Either way, Sawyer signed a final contract for around $34,000 when the vehicle he took home had an actual price of closer to $39,000. On June 15, Sawyer was taken into custody by police, but the Commonwealth dropped the charges after finding insufficient evidence to pursue the case.
Via: Chevy dealer sells car for wrong price, apologizes after having buyer arrested

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Land Rover Defender will return to U.S. in next generation

Good news, Defender fans: word has it Land Rover will bring the rugged SUV to the U.S. market once the next-generation bows. According to TheCarConnection.com, Jaguar Land Rover North America CEO Andy Goss confirmed the next Defender will be a global product, and that it will be specifically engineered to meet U.S. crash safety and emissions standards. The news came during the 2012 Paris Motor Show, where JLR officials also made it clear the brand intends to bolster its Land Rover offerings in the North American market. As of right now, the vast majority of Land Rover Sales in the States can be attributed to the high-end Range Rover line.

That mix may change somewhat as Land Rover refreshes some models and replaces others. Expect to see both the LR4 and the Defender receive serious overhauls in the near future.

Even so, it will be some time before he next-generation Defender bows, and whether or not it looks anything like the DC100 concept above remains to be seen. From what we've heard, the new bruiser won't bow until 2017 at the earliest. In the interim, U.S. buyers will just have to continue to look wistfully across the pond.
Via: Land Rover Defender will return to U.S. in next generation

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