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- Cherokee Returns!, Mercedes’ Big Plan, Chinese Love
Cherokee Returns!, Mercedes’ Big Plan, Chinese Love
PLUS: Baby G-Wagon Spied, Genesis V8 Supercar, Skip Black Friday
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2025-11-26
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Releases & Reviews
Jeep’s reborn Cherokee rides on Stellantis’ STLA Large platform with a plush dual-screen cabin, roomy rear seat, and a quietly comfortable suspension tune. But its hybrid all-wheel-drive powertrain feels sluggish, off-road capability is merely adequate, and pricing nudges uncomfortably close to more refined rivals.
The 2025 Giulia is aging and expensive, with spotty dealer coverage and grim depreciation projections, yet it still seduces with delicate steering, rear-drive balance, and a soulful four-cylinder and V6 soundtrack. The review frames it as an irrational, emotion‑first choice in a spreadsheet‑driven segment.
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Technology, Market Data & Analysis
New registration data shows plug-in hybrids have finally surpassed diesels in European market share, marking another milestone in the post‑Dieselgate powertrain shift. Buyers are drawn by urban emissions rules and tax incentives, while automakers use PHEVs as a bridge technology toward stricter 2030s CO2 targets and full EV lineups.
The piece tracks how Chinese EV makers woo U.S. influencers with all‑expenses‑paid trips, studio drives, and lightly disclosed sponsorships, creating glossy YouTube and TikTok coverage. It also explores how tariffs, data‑security fears, and dealership politics keep those attractively priced, tech‑heavy models out of American showrooms for now.
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Car Culture
Jay Leno's Garage spotlights the Nilu, an analog V12 supercar that intentionally sidelines big touchscreens in favor of traditional gauges and tactile controls. Leno and the car’s creators argue that its raw soundtrack and hands‑on driving feel represent a last stand for pre‑electrification exotics.
The story recounts how Gordon Murray’s S1 LM arrived at auction by helicopter before selling for $20,630,000, the highest price ever achieved by a new car under the hammer. The untouched chassis number one effectively validates the brand’s exclusivity strategy before any customer has driven the model in anger.
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Miscellaneous
Hyundai is recalling 85,043 2020–2023 Sonata sedans with the nonhybrid 1.6‑liter turbo engine because a faulty purge control check valve can over‑pressurize the fuel tank until it deforms, melts, or leaks. Dealers will replace components free of charge, and hybrid 2.0‑liter models are not affected.
Mercedes-Benz outlines a push to reclaim the U.S. luxury crown by chasing roughly 400,000 annual sales with more high‑margin EVs and AMG‑branded halo models. The strategy includes trimming low‑end variants, investing in software‑heavy interiors, and fending off Tesla while outglitzing volume leaders Lexus and BMW in key coastal markets.
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Quick Links
After sampling the Ioniq 5 N’s N Grin Boost, virtual gearshifts, and arcade-style sound modes, Porsche engineering bosses reportedly want similar playful tricks baked into the 2027 electric 718.
Norwegian startup Greenmission’s latest Ctrl-Bar sticks beneath a Tesla’s center screen, adding physical sliders and knobs for climate and media without permanent wiring, drilling, or tampering with factory software.
Early prototypes of Mercedes’ junior G-Class reveal a shrunken, boxy SUV roughly Kia Soul-sized, expected to offer serious off-road hardware and possibly electric power when it arrives for 2027.
Built from a Defender OCTA for the W2RC’s new Stock class, the Dakar D7X-R keeps its V8 but adds uprated cooling, sand-protecting intake filtration, and endurance-ready fuel capacity for January’s rally.
Porsche has thoroughly overhauled, repainted, and retro-trimmed a first-gen Cayenne GTS for collector Phillip Sarofim, signaling factory recognition of the SUV as a configurable modern classic rather than just a used truck.
A routine tire rotation turned disastrous when a VW Atlas fell off a shop lift in a viral Facebook reel, reportedly damaging the SUV so badly the owner left in a replacement vehicle.
An iSeeCars analysis of over 40 million transactions finds Black Friday and Thanksgiving rank near the bottom for used-car bargains, with seven other holidays offering significantly higher odds of real discounts.
A battered 1969 Mustang shell evolves into Ringbrothers’ Kingpin through a years-long process of teardown, digital modeling, hand-formed bodywork, and bespoke interior and chassis upgrades tailored to the client’s vision.
In a detailed video on the Doug DeMuro channel, Doug dissects Infiniti’s muddled branding, aging lineup, dealer and product missteps, and future product plans to assess whether the marque can credibly recover.
Genesis confirms its Magma GT concept is evolving into a production mid-engine V-8 supercar, with engineering already underway and a deliberately aggressive design aimed squarely at established European exotics.
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