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The concept was branded a Toyota, and I've never seen any reference to it as a possible Scion. Rumors are that the Subaru sister car will be larger, more powerful, and AWD. It is not clear what the Scion tC replacement will be, but I'd venture to guess it would be another FWD coupe.

The Genesis Coupe competitor will be the production version of the FT-86 concept, and it will be the successor to the much beloved AE86 RWD Corolla of the late 1980s. The price will undoubtedly be higher than the Scion range. I think some of the Scion vehicles may be more successful if they were branded Toyotas rather than Scions.

Gibraltar

It was a tumultuous year all around. The year started with the inauguration of a new President who represented hope and change, though not much has been delivered yet. The Great Recession took hold of the country in the aftermath of the financial meltdown of the previous year. Unemployment remains high and afflicts several members of C&G. During the year, the self-proclaimed King of Pop, Michael Jackson, died. Also lost were Walter Cronkite, screechy pitchman Billy Mays, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, and Ted Kennedy. Jon and Kate were overexposed. From South Carolina came a new meaning for “hiking the Appalachian Trail” thanks to its governor and a new political low with the “You lie” shout-out by Congressman Joe Wilson during an Obama speech to a joint session of Congress. David Letterman had extortion and intern issues, and Tiger Woods had infidelity issues. Captain Sully landed an Airbus A320 on the Hudson. Sarah Palin quit the Alaska governorship to cash in, while her grandchild’s father posed for Playgirl. Within the automotive industry, the bottom fell out, and the largest and smallest of the Big Three filed for Chapter 11. Cash for Clunkers cleared the roads of a lot of beaters, as well as a few pristine, would-be classics, from the 80s and 90s. Chrysler eventually was taken under the wing of Fiat. GM shed much of its legacy liabilities, but the people left holding the shares of GM stock were left with nothing. GM continues to try to retire or sell half its brands. Pontiac was retired because it would cost too much to fix. Saturn as the American Opel was a failed experiment due to a limited dealership network and prices higher than the brand could support. Saturn was put on the block, but the only serious suitor, Roger Penske, walked after not being able to line up automakers to supply vehicles. Hummer is still in the process of being sold to—horrors!—a Chinese company. Saab continues to be in limbo. NUMMI, the joint venture in California between GM and Toyota, will finally be shut down. GM wanted to sell Opel but changed its mind, and then Carl-Peter Forster quit GM. And now, time for the Eighth Annual Cheers and Jeers: Cheers to GM for the Excellent Executive Selection in the promotion of Mark Reuss to President of GM North America. It’s heartening that a car guy, a smart engineer who had a stint at Holden, is running the North American operations. Cheers to GM for delivering Standout Product, from the Buick Lacrosse to the Chevrolet Camaro to the Chevrolet Equinox/GMC Terrain/Cadillac SRX to the new iterations of the Cadillac CTS. All the new vehicles have been well received and bodes well for the future of the company. Plans to produce the Caprice PPV with a possible follow-up civilian "SS" indicate that GM is too smart to let a good platform like Zeta go to waste or to abandon enthusiasts. Jeers to GM for Lackluster PR and Marketing. From the embarrassing “Take a Look at Me Now” campaign for the launch of the Buick Lacrosse to promoting the Volt’s supposed 230 mpg, it’s been one bad move after another. GM seems to have awakened a bit lately with the help of Bob Lutz, and the upside of the purging of brands is that more support can be given the remaining brands. Jeers to the right-wing “Government Motors” Ranters, who wanted to see GM buried, along with thousands of jobs and a good portion of the U.S. economy with it. Cheers to Ford for being a Survivor without the taint of bankruptcy and for having made smart product decisions, whether it’s the pending roll-out of the Fiesta, the EcoBoost engines, upgraded Mustang, or Transit Connect. They had to do a lot of borrowing, but they have a plan to thrive in the face of fierce competition. Jeers to Toyota for its Clusterfail, from having the largest number of recalled vehicles, the sinking Scion sub-brand, distrust in their response to the unintended acceleration/floormat issue, and loss of Consumer Reports recommendations. Jeers to Daimler for Adding Insult to Injury by not supplying parts to Chrysler for several models in violation of a contractual agreement. First they practically destroy the company themselves by half-heartedly running it, then they try to finish the job after unloading it. Cheers to oldsmoboi, the new owner of C&G, for the Significant Board Upgrades, including finally having the site on a stable server. The media credential and recent interactive reviews have increased the site's credibility and standing. Cheers also to NINETY EIGHT REGENCY for his return to the site and his contributions as resident newsman. Cheers to PCS, aka Oracle of Delphi, for being the Best Industry Poster with his insider view of what’s going on in GM. AH-HA, evok, and thegriffon are missed, but PCS gives enough hints or cryptic messages for us to ponder. He had his own adventurous year, with leaving GM for BMW, then returning to GM in a couple of different capacities. Cheers to Dodgefan for the Best Concept in a new full-size Cadillac that is edgy and elegant: http://www.cheersandgears.com/index.php?showtopic=45794&pid=548915&st=0entry548915 Honorable mention to Burns for his luxury rear-wheel-drive Buick coupe: http://www.cheersandgears.com/index.php?showtopic=27820&st=0entry464138 Cheers to !!!Ted!!! for Best Non-Insider Scoop in spotting the Orlando in a corporate GM video: http://www.cheersandgears.com/index.php?showtopic=39444&st=0entry529048 Jeers to the Worst Poster/Troll of the Year. It’s the same winner (loser?) as last year and shall remain nameless again. It’s like the same post over and over. Cheers to whiteknight for the Best Retrospective Thread, on Oldsmobile design concepts from the 1980s. http://www.cheersandgears.com/index.php?showtopic=39677&st=0entry529839 Cheers to wildmanjoe for Best Post, the recently posted “A C&G Christmas,” which captures the essence of the most illustrious characters of C&G. http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/50017-a-cg-christmas/page__pid__565373__st__0entry565373 And finally, Cheers to the C&G Community, both staff and members, for making it the site of choice to talk cars and share our highs and lows in life, including new car and clunker purchases, the "C&G Curse" striking again, and other life's events. Honorable mentions to dwightloo and 66stang for their standout contributions to the board. Hope everybody has a safe, prosperous, and Happy New Year!

guest

The falling sales for Scion is no surprise given the number of funky competitors and the staleness of the tC. What I find surprising is launching Scion in Canada.

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Sorry about this Roger. People are just such idiots sometime.

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Happy birthday, BV! Hope you had a good day.

Here are some more of my observations of the LA show: Best bag: The Ford Taurus SHO ecoboost bag. The innovation was the adjustable shoulder strap. You had to sit through the Ford Taurus Theater to get one...more on that later. Most crowd-pleasing production vehicle: The Porsche Panamera. Best concept: Cadillac Converj. It's absolutely gorgeous in person, and it drew a crowd. Best freebies: Ford. More below. Best display: Ford. They went all-out, and they bribed people to attend presentations with a passport that need stamping at various booths. If you sat through the two-minute Ford Taurus Theater, did a Raptor driving simulator, sat in a Ford Flex for a Ford Sync demo, and talked to some Ford representatives about the Ford Fiesta, you got a Ford cap, a Focus water bottle, and a $5 Best Buy gift card. They also threw out Ford Fusion Hybrid T-shirts. If you put one on, a secret shopper may approach you and shower you with $10,000. And here are some more observations: GM: The displays were not too exciting overall, and the loss of brands made GM look like a shadow of its former self. On the positive side, the newest GM offerings are of high quality. The Volt was there, complete with dancers. There were two Cruzes on display, a light blue one and a red one. They were cordoned off. However, I think the car looks better in person than in pictures. There were 8 Camaros on display. The CTS Coupe and SRX use the new Cadillac logo that has more texture than the old cartoony one. The new Saab 9-5 is as impressive as others have stated. Kia: They have come a long way. The new vehicles are very stylish. The Forte is really cheap inside, a step down from the Civic, but the Koup looks great. Hyundai: The Sonata is a step up from the last model and is much nicer than the Camry inside. The Equus is impressive in person. Honda: The Crosstour is ungainly in person, but it was drawing interest. Acura: The ZDX is sadly an exercise in function following form. The rear seat is only for small people, which is unexcusable for such a big, thirsty vehicle. BMW: The new 5-Series wasn't there, except for the awkward GT. Toyota: I like the new Sienna. There were three at the show, but none were accessible. Mini: Fun. I like the new Roadster and Coupe. Audi: They were all white except for a black S8, red R8 coupe, and red R8 roadster. Jaguar: The new XJ has presence. It's not exactly pretty, but it's stately and modern. Mercedes: The E350 is really growing on me, and I could live with the tiny quarter windows on the E500 Coupe. The newest generation of Benzes exudes more quality than prior models.

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