Toyota says it is ready to beat the tar out of GM for world dominance, but the Detroit automakers looks like it is winning the hearts and minds of the Chinese.

General Motors said it has become the first overseas car maker to sell one million units on the Chinese mainland this year.

Cadillac SLS China

GM didn’t give specific sales figure for the whole year. Last year, it sold 876,747 units on the mainland, a jump of 32 percent from 2005 and outpaced the growth of the entire auto industry of 25 percent.
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Nissan’s GT-R supercar will begin its international rollout shortly, but company official are setting a wary eye on the UK where they are concerned about illegal imports.

Even though the 473 HP GT-R is not officially set to hit Britannia until March of 2009, illegal importers are already heading to the high seas with a supply from Japan to quell the thirsts of those who can’t wait.
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The presents have been torn open and the bird is about to have a long winter’s nap in the oven. The fire is bright and the lights are twinkling on the tree. Christmas in The Garage is off to a great start. We hope that all of you are also having a wonderful time with your family and friends.

The wonderful greeting above was created by our friend Paul Chenard.

Follow the jump to a funny Christmas video from our friend Jay Yoo. It’s not car related and definitely not kid friendly, but it is a must see!

Merry Christmas everyone!
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Our west coast contributor Aaron Von Minden would like to wish everybody a happy holiday season, Savage Speed Garage style.

Enjoy the PBR’s boys, I hope Santa is good to you all!

Dodge announced the pricing for their new 2009 Journey crossover first reveled at the Frankfurt Motor Show this past fall. This is Dodge’s first plunge into the segment.

Offered at a little under $20,000, Dodge is hoping that the price point steers some potential buyers away from the Mazda CX-9, Hyundai Veracruz, Toyota Highlander, and Ford Edge.
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Start licking your chops and get ready to come in for the kill if you have been in the market recently for a full size pick-up. It appears that the Chevy Silverado is the injured prey waiting to be consumed.

I don’t get it. If you are just a casual viewer of current events, you saw the imminent collapse of the housing industry in America starting to unfold months and months ago. This means bad news for trucks used to make the construction industry move. It appears the Armani clad economists working for GM somehow missed the story.
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I was on the initial Sebring press revel in San Diego back in 2006 and enjoyed the couple of days I was at the helm of the car. I gave the car a decent review inside and out but was pummeled by fellow journalists for my lack of taste in not blasting what was considered a dreadful cheap looking interior.

Well it appears that the irate angry mobs that descended upon the gates of Chrysler in Auburn Hills, with torches in hand to protest bad taste are getting their way.
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Welcome to the Christmas Eve edition of the Carnival of Wheels. Ok, so it’s a day late. Again. There is just so much going on in The Garage these days as we get things ready for the other fat man to arrive. You know the one, the guy in the red suit. Let’s take a few minutes before we start into the egg nog and go for a quick lap around the blogosphere.

The last few days in Ontario have seen a complete turn around in the weather, with temperatures well above freezing and the rain threatening our white Christmas. Until this morning that is, when the temp dropped to -5 Cel (23 far). With that in mind, Mike at Hybrid Car Review takes a look at the cold realities of driving a hybrid car in the winter.
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Like so many other racing addicts, the fever was started with a Bugeye Sprite. In my case though, it wasn’t my own car but my father’s first race car a full 2 years before I was born. The seed was planted though and that propelled Bud on to race with some success over the next few years.

The car is obviously an Austin Healey Sprite, which us North Americans call a Bugeye, while the Brits feel it is more of a Frogeye. It looks like the shot was taken on the pre grid at Mosport, prior to the Formula 1 garages being built. I believe the year was 1965. A bit of success with this car led to the Mark II Sprite that Bud won the first ever Ontario Sports Car racing championship in 1967.

Unfortunately this photo isn’t in the best of shape, but I believe it is the only one of this car.

What a difference a day makes! Just yesterday Bob Nardelli was ringing his hands ready to sell the family farm for fear that the bank would be looking to take his deed. (See the “Who’s going to save the Savior” post) Today, rose colored glasses were handed out at Chrysler as a statement came out late this afternoon saying all is well despite Nardelli’s grim recent assessments.

The only thing that might have been grim was the way Nardelli was probably spoken to off the record concerning his announced strategy of land for cash. The PR hacks had to burn the midnight oil to churn this spinning top out.

I guess the new strategy is to blame journalists for the company’s ills and lead us to believe that Bob Nardelli had a body double responding to a journalist questions. At a meeting earlier this month, chief executive Bob Nardelli told employees the company is headed for a substantial loss this year and is trying to sell assets to raise cash.
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