Smart saved with Renault partnership

A recently announced deal between Daimler, and Renault-Nissan will see the next generation of Smarts sharing platforms with the French marque. The alliance also sees each company taking three percent of the other's shares.

This news is good for Smart, as the company has long been struggling to turn a profit and the deal guarantees its future. A short wheelbase platform being developed by the new pairing will underpin the next generation Smart, as well as the Renault Twizy and a new Nissan small car to take on Toyota's iQ. A longer wheelbase will also be used, which could provide a replacement for the short-lived Smart ForFour.

The move also increases the chance of a full production electric Smart, given that the Twizy is currently an electric-only concept.

Source: AutoExpress
Image: Tarmac

Post-Passover Pizza For The Hungry

My favorite Jewish Pizza joint, Jerusalem Pizza in Southfield, MI, is once again auctioning off the very first pizza made after the end of Passover to benefit the Yad Ezra food bank. eBay link here.

I am so in.

"Naughty Volvo"?

So Volvo has launched a web marketing theme of "naughty".  I went to Volvo's web site to look at it and well, videos of a Volvo stopping automatically to keep from hitting a pedestrian isn't exactly naughty.  When you try to dial up the naughty-ness, the video gets more shaky, the driver seems to be driving faster, and some naked (male) jogger runs through the frame for some reason.

Here's an idea, Volvo, if you want to get "naughty".

V60 wagon + Haldex AWD + manual transmission + direct injected turbo engine = V60R 

Then film the V60R running the Nurburgring, in the wet, with gobs of heroic drifting.  That might be naughty.

Ja?