Filed under: Europe, Plants/Manufacturing, Crossover

The Land Rover Range Rover Evoque is selling well here in the States. So well, in fact, that the compact utility is barely sticking on showroom lots. Dealers are reportedly struggling to get an Evoque in the hands of every customer that wants the Beckham-inspired luxury 'ute. They need more supply to meet the demands of potential customers, lest Land Rover lose said customer to a competitor.

High demand is a good problem to have, but Land Rover would prefer to meet demand and reap the financial benefits. Fully aware of the supply issues both in the U.S. as well as globally, the British automaker is reportedly set to boost production of the Evoque by 25 percent.

Currently, 750 units a month are produced at Land Rover's Halewood, England facility, but that number is set to jump to 1,000 vehicles a month, says Automotive News. According to Land Rover North America CEO Andy Gross, this will come as a major relieve for dealers, pointing out that "It's been tough on the network."

While Land Rover sold just 2,244 Evoque models last year as production ramped up, it moved 4,355 in just the first six months of 2012. Even with the big daddy Range Rover selling out the last year before its redesign and a short supply of Evoques, Land Rover sales are up an impressive 21 percent. With a new Range Rover set to debut in early 2013 and Evoque capacity on the rise, it looks like Land Rover should enjoy similar growth in the year to come.

Land Rover boosts U.S. allotment of hot-selling Evoque originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Sedan, Lexus, Luxury

Guess what, folks? It's teaser time again!

This time, it's the 2013 Lexus LS sedan that's being given the painfully slow reveal treatment on Facebook. We know that the next LS will get its official debut on Monday, July 30, which means there's 11 more days of potential teasing to go. Strap in.

Judging from the smoky image above, we can expect a mostly traditional silhouette from the 2013 LS, with perhaps a bit more rake than the outgoing model. We're almost certainly going to see a so-called spindle grille to match the faces of Lexus' other recent models, and we're thinking there may be standard, hybrid and F Sport models on tap.

We tried playing with the teaser photo to eke out more details, but sadly there's not much else to see. That said, feel free to click on the image above for a larger view.

Lexus uses smoke but holds the mirrors for 2013 LS teaser originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Toys/Games

Where better than Comic-Con for Codemasters to announce the deceptively titled F1 Race Stars. A 180-degree hairpin from the other Codemasters F1 game, this is less about the stars and much more about the wild, arcade-style racing with weapons and bonuses on "fantastical" versions of real Formula One tracks. It looks like McLaren's Tooned as a video game, with more drivers and cars.

As for those stars, your driver lineup will be Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastien Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Romain Grosjean and - eyebrows raised here - Bruno Senna. There'll be lots of arcade options like online racing with up to 12 players, split screens with up to four players, and carerr modes. It's arriving in November for PCs, Playstation and xBox 360. Check out the promo video below.

Mario Kart meets F1 in new Codemasters game originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Cadillac, Luxury

We don't want to say much about this, because you really should just watch the introductory videos for Cadillac ATS vs. The World, a seriously intense videographic effort for the new entry-level luxury challenger. Racer Derek Hill, son of Formula One World Champion Phil Hill, drives the ATS into some of the planet's most taxing conditions, television actor and anthropology buff Ross Thomas rides shotgun, and Jeff Zwart steps out from behind the wheel of his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to lead the film crew.

Know beforehand, though, that this is about more than a Cadillac - this is National Geographic meets a really long-form Super Bowl commercial with a ladle full of Top Gear thrown in. And these are only some of the highlights. You can check out this big global video series below, with the launch films from Patagonia and Morocco.

Continue reading Cadillac kicks off ATS marketing with new global video series

Cadillac kicks off ATS marketing with new global video series originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments