Thursday, February 10th, 2011
With our redesign comes the return of Morning Shift, our one-stop daily morning roundup of all the auto news that's actually important to you — right here on Jalopnik every weekday at 9:00 AM. It's all of the most important automotive news on the internet wrapped up neatly with a bow for you every morning.
1st Gear: It's day two of the 2011 Chicago Auto Show and... well... there's not much left to "reveal" other than the news every auto journalist probably has a headache from being out too late at Kingston Mines. But if you missed yesterday, here's everything you need to know in one killer roundup from Sam Smith.
2nd Gear: Remember how dual-CEO Sergio Marchionne talked about merging Chrysler and Fiat? And then he said he could see the merged company living in Detroit? And then he railed on those "shyster" government loans? OK, now you remember. Well, remember how next he backtracked on that last part? Well, now he's backtracked on that first part.
3rd Gear: A prototype of the two-seat Mini coupe was caught yesterday doing some final shakedown tests. As you can see, not much has changed since the concept version was first shown in the fall of 2009. Good, because given this vehicle is supposed to go on sale later this year it better be in the final stages of development. Just sayin'...
4th Gear: Around 25 FBI agents raided the offices of Auburn Hills, MI automotive supplier TK Holdings Inc. yesterday. A company executive suspects it was the latest probe by the government into suspected antitrust activities within the supplier industry. Yes, because of all those massive supplier profits in recent years. And by "massive profits" I really mean "massive bankruptcies."
5th Gear: Suzuki's dropped a hint of what to expect from a replacement for its superseded Swift Sport with a computer-generated image of the Swift S-Concept, which will make its world debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month. So far it looks like it's a car from a video game. Yeah, we got nothin'.
6th Gear: Land Rover unveils its most expensive and luxurious Range Rover ever at next month's Geneva Motor Show. It's the Range Rover Autobiography Ultimate Epic Superfluous Ostentatious Dollar-Dollar-Bills-Y'all Edition. The interior's so filled with amenities, there's Apple iPads installed into the back of the front seat headrests. Because nothing spells luxury like mass-produced tech toys.
Reverse:
⏎ Is Detroit's comeback for real? Is it hackneyed to still be asking this question? [Popular Mechanics]
⏎ Honda will stop hosting IndyCar in Japan starting in 2012. [JapanToday via Bloomberg]
⏎ Hyundai CEO says war has broken out in the U.S. auto market. A price war. [Reuters via Automotive News]
⏎ Car Wars, Episode VI: Return of the Rapper? [The Detroit Bureau]
Today in Automotive History: On this day in 1966, Ralph Nader, a young lawyer and the author of the groundbreaking book "Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile," testifies before Congress for the first time about unsafe practices in the auto industry. [History]
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