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Ford barely edges surging Chrysler for Canadian sales crown in best year ever

The auto industry in the US showed strong results through much of 2014 with sales regularly growing year-over-year for many brands. That same trend carried over in the Great White North, as well. Canada posted its best numbers ever with 1.85 million units sold, up about 100,000 vehicles over 2013. The country nearly had a new market leader, too. The big winner among our neighbors to the north in 2014 was Ford with 291,951 vehicles sold, up 3 percent from 2013, according to Reuters. That success also handed the company the sales crown for the fifth consecutive year. In large part, the strong result came from the company's popular trucks, which represented about 80 percent of overall sales. "Ford moved into the number one position in September and didn't look back," said a note to clients by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants quoted by Reuters. However, the Blue Oval didn't exactly take an overwhelming lead for the year. The company nearly had to hand over the sales trophy to FCA after the company rallied in the latter part of the year. The Italian-American conglomerate had its best results ever to nip at the Ford's heels and move 290,004 units for 2014, a 12-percent improvement from last year. Jeep especially helped the bottom line with over 50-percent growth, according to Reuters. Only two other brands were able to break the 200,000-vehicle barrier in Canada for 2014. General Motors came in third place overall with 249,800 sales, up 6.3 percent. The combined Toyota and Lexus also barely jumped the hurdle with 200,851 units moved, a 2.8 percent improvement.

Lexus NX small CUV caught

To the untrained eye, these photos might not look like anything more than a Lexus CT 200h undergoing testing, but what we really have here is something pretty significant. According to our spies, this is actually a mule that gives us our first glimpse at the upcoming Lexus NX crossover, a smaller vehicle that will slot below the RX in the automaker's CUV portfolio - presently only one vehicle.
Look closely, and you'll note that this mule has a much higher ride height than the normal CT hybrid hatchback. The upgraded wheels with crossover-spec tires are another dead giveaway that something more robust is being tested in this CT's shell.
Late last year, we learned that Lexus had reportedly trademarked the names "NX 200t" and "NX 300h," which provided a glimpse into the powertrain offerings for the new CUV. Lexus will finally make use of turbocharged power with this new NX - a 2.0-liter turbo-four fitting of the 200t nomenclature. A hybrid variant will almost certainly be available - the 300h - probably using the same 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and electric motor combination found in the ES 300h. Our spies report that a naturally aspirated, four-cylider version should also be available.

Will.i.am and Lexus make music on a runway with frickin' lasers

There's no doubt that an engine can make some fabulous sounds, but they don't technically fit the definition of music. In a spectacular recent stunt from Lexus, Will.i.am, and a huge team of technicians, a trio of NX CUVs actually became an instrument while driving down a runway to play the artist's song #thatPOWER. All that was necessary to get it done was the help of a whole lot of lasers and some very precise driving. The team rigged up 350 audio-sensitive lasers and lights to make this stunt possible, and it essentially turned the runway into a real-world version of the Rock Band video game interface. The three NXs needed to drive not only in the right location but also at the right speed to keep the song's tempo going. While what you see here was reportedly shot in just one night, setting everything up took 65 people over seven days. The awesomely named light artists, Marshmallow Laser Feast, designed the actual layout. The end result of all of the hard work definitely looks impressive in this video, but it also appears like this was a very difficult stunt to actually get right. A lot of the faces at the end of the clip were wearing a look of relief of finally doing things successfully. will.i.am AND LEXUS CREATE LASER AND SOUND SPECTACULAR ON EPIC STREET 'STAVE' FRONTMAN CHALLENGED TO NAVIGATE GIANT VISUAL INSTRUMENT IN ALL NEW LEXUS NX Brussels 30th July 2015 - #NXontrack - Lexus Europe, today unveiled an innovative audio-visual film which sees global entrepreneur and musician, will.i.am challenged to create a remix of one of his most iconic tracks, #thatPOWER in a breath-taking music, art and technology spectacular. . Played out on a disused runway lined with more than 350 projected mapped motion and audio sensitive lasers and lights, the front-man battles against speed and rhythm to conduct and navigate a trio of striking Lexus NXs', hitting the laser 'targets' at the correct tempo to synchronise with his smash hit. The unprecedented live event, shot in one night last week, sees the musician's skills put to the test as he joins three stunt drivers including 2013 Blockbuster, Rush frontman, Niki Faulkner, to take on the colossal 'sound-road', race against rhythm and successfully complete the challenge in the limited hours of darkness available before the sun rises. Speaking about the video, will.i.am said: "Working with the stunt guys to hit the laser targets in time with the music wasn't easy to get right but the result was awesome.