Ford pulls out of Canadian auto reveals, Honda’s FCEV plans, and extra

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Welcome to our roundup of the most important breaking tales on Driving.ca from this previous week. Get caught up and able to get on with the weekend, as a result of it’s arduous conserving tempo in a digital visitors jam.

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Right here’s what you missed whilst you have been away. 

Ford pulls out of Canadian auto reveals for 2023, and Calgary calls it quits

Ford has determined to not journey to any Canadian auto reveals subsequent yr, saying it’s discovering different (higher) methods to get the eye of Canadian prospects. Automotive Information Canada obtained an e-mail from the American maker saying it deliberate to “discontinue company assist” of the reveals “for each the Ford and Lincoln manufacturers” in 2023 because it was “studying tips on how to join with customers in new methods.” 

Impartial sellers might technically buy flooring house on the reveals in Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver and show their Ford goodies as they’ve at smaller reveals, however there’s no phrase on this taking place but. The retraction by the U.S.’s second largest automaker is certainly a blow to Canada’s auto-show scene — Ford and Lincoln took up a bunch of house on the final in-person Canadian Worldwide Auto Present in Toronto. 

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In the meantime, in Alberta, organizers of the Calgary Worldwide Auto and Truck Present have full-on canceled the 2023 present, claiming it’d be too troublesome for producers, sellers, and distributors to come back as a consequence of supply-chain points.  

“We did have some producers that dedicated to attending and taking part within the present however, fairly frankly, there wasn’t sufficient of them to be honest to those who have been going to come back, and to be honest to the patrons that need to attend the present,” mentioned Jim Gillespie, govt supervisor of the Calgary Motor Sellers Affiliation (CMDA). “It was not going to be the present that we want to produce. So, sadly, it was a troublesome choice however the affiliation had no selection.”

Honda will make fuel-cell electrical automobiles come 2024

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Beginning the yr after subsequent, Honda will produce fuel-cell electrical automobiles at its Efficiency Manufacturing Middle in Ohio. This marks a step in the proper course for the model, which has pledged that its lineup will probably be 100 per cent BEV or gas cell by 2040. 

Honda has been fidgeting with a CR-V-based automobile that marries battery-electric and fuel-cell know-how for a next-gen “hybrid.” Heading for manufacturing in 2024, the automotive will handle the difficulty of vary anxiousness with out counting on fuel energy by utilizing the onboard battery within the metropolis and the gas cell for prolonged journeys. It will likely be the primary North American road-certified automobile to take action. 

House owners identify the 5 most dependable pickups for 2022

In response to Shopper Reviews’ newest proprietor survey, pickup vehicles are much less dependable than different automobiles and have been for a while. That doesn’t imply individuals gained’t drive ‘em although… not by an extended shot. 

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The survey asks homeowners to charge 17 bother areas from squeaky brakes to defective inside trim to transmission issues and extra. This yr, Toyota Tundra homeowners had quite a bit to say, as did those that owned the Hyundai Santa Cruz, Jeep Gladiator, and full-sized vehicles from Ford and GM — all of these have been deemed to have below-average reliability. The Toyota Tacoma, Ford Maverick, Ford Ranger, and Honda Ridgeline, alternatively, have been proven to have above common reliability, with the Tacoma and Ranger taking the one four-out-of-five rankings within the pickup truck phase. Our pickup truck professional Matthew Man breaks down the outcomes right here.  

Try this Spanish-built, Mazda-based imitation of a basic British convertible

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Hurtan Automóviles is a Spain-based automotive firm that began within the Nineties and focuses on “retro-styled” automobiles. Its newest is a droptop referred to as the Grand Albaycín that’s constructed on a Mazda MX-5 roadster and meant to imitate a basic British roadster whereas celebrating the corporate’s thirtieth anniversary with up to date colors and trims. So, how does it do? 

Hurtan did properly to reshape the Mazda, including flared wheel arches, twin spherical headlights, quad exhaust suggestions, and a dose of polished wooden to the inside. It appears stately and British and prepared for the street. And since it’s (in all probability) powered by Mazda’s confirmed 1.5L 132-hp engine or its 2.0L 184-hp engine, it’s probably a great deal extra dependable than any precise outdated British roadster. 

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Ford remembers 634,000 SUVs over hearth dangers

Probably cracked gas injectors within the 2020-2023 mannequin yr Bronco Sport and Escape SUVs has the choice makers at Ford frightened. Anxious sufficient to recall properly over half one million of the automobiles world wide. 

The Blue Oval introduced the recall of 634,000 automobiles worldwide on Thursday, citing presumably cracked gas injectors within the Bronco Sport and Escape SUV with three-cylinder 1.5-litre engines. If left unchecked, says Ford, gas or gas vapour might seep out of the injector cracks and pool close to sizzling surfaces, presumably leading to a fireplace below the hood. 

Unhealthy luck for Ford and for homeowners, particularly those that already had their Bronco or Escape recalled again in April of this yr for a possible oil separator housing difficulty that would result in an engine hearth — the U.S. Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration has confirmed that these automobiles must be recalled a second time. House owners ought to look ahead to a dashboard message alerting them if their gas injector is cracked.