Nutson's Nuggets: Here Is Last Week's (October 22-28 2012) Automotive News In Case You Were Dozing

Auto Central Louisville, KY October 28, 2012 Each week Larry Nutson, The Auto Channel's Chicago Bureau Chief, along with Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau give you easy to digest nuggets of the past week's automotive news you may have missed.

If you are a car nut like we all are, you can easily "catch up" on these stories as well as the past 16 years 1,355,435 automotive stories, articles, reviews, rants and raves by just searching for the subject you are interested in The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive. Hey South Florida TV viewers, I know you are enjoying watching The Auto Channel's TACH-TV on channel 44 WHDT-TV Palm Beach (Cable 17 and 438, channel 9 Miami and channel 32 Fort Meyers-Naples, and thanks for the positive feedback.... See you next week, LN

Automotive News October 22-28 2012

* Toyota officials may be jumping the gun a bit with two months of sales yet to go for calendar 2012 but they are claiming that Camry will again be the best-selling car in the US. With a 67,000 unit lead over second place Accord they call that lead "insurmountable." This would then be the 11th consecutive year as the sales leader.

* Nissan has the contract to make the next generation of New York taxis. Across the pond, the ubiquitous, iconic, remarkably roomy London taxi may be going away. Maker of the black taxi with classic styling and outdated design, Manganese Bronze who also operated the taxis, is going belly-up unless a sugar daddy can be found to rescue them.

* Here's something we thought we'd never see: Dub magazine, urban auto culture's most high-zoot lifestyle magazine, is building a customized Toyota Avalon, the most notorious old-person's car, for the upcoming SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas. Avalon is freshly redesigned bringing it up to date and, according to one Toyota official, "DUB has proven here that the new Avalon makes a sharp urban ride." Who'd a thunk it?

* As more news trickles out from GM about the next generation Corvette due in 2014 we found out this week that it will be powered by a fresh 6.2-liter small block V8 making 450 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque. The outgoing engine made 430 and 424 respectively. Expected 0 to 60 time is about four seconds and they expect to beat the 26-mpg highway mileage of the current engine.

* The Texas Auto Writers Texas Truck Rodeo results in a series of awards so prestigious that it gives winning manufacturers something special to crow about. "Truck of the Year" (overall winner) goes to the all-new Ram 1500 and "SUV of Texas" award goes for the third year in a row to the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

* The Green Car Journal announced four contenders for its Green Car of the Year Award that will be announced at the LA Auto Show. Finalists are the Ford C-Max, Toyota Prius C, Dodge Dart Aero and Mazda CX-5 SkyActiv.

* Fiat will introduce the 500E, a battery powered all-electric version of the 500, at the upcoming LA Auto Show.

* Volkswagen says an all-new 7-seat, 3-row SUV will be coming to the American market. It will be sized and priced to fit in-between the VW Touareg and Tiguan models.

* The NHTSA is investigating 310,000 model year 2000 to 2003 Taurus and Mercury Sable cars built by Ford Motor Company and equipped with the 3.0-liter V6 Duratec engine over a problem that could cause the throttle to be stuck open.