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McLaren, Koenigsegg, Toyota, Ford, Dodge and Corvette Lego kits announced for 2021

Lego has announced a slew of car-themed sets for 2021. The six kits comprise nine vehicles and fall under the brick pusher's Speed Champion line of official OEM-licensed kits. News of their arrival comes from German toy retailer JB Spielwaren's pre-order listings, which show three single-car sets and three dual-car sets of matched marques. Starting with the McLaren Elva roadster, the kit consists of 263 pieces and is finished in blue. It seems to have a difficult time capturing the curves of the real-life Elva, but there's only so much you can do with a bunch of plastic blocks. Lego has made several other McLaren kits before, including the Senna, 720S, and a more advanced Senna GTR for the Technics line. Next up is the Koenigsegg Jesko, made up of 280 pieces and finished in white. Though the real-life Jesko is still curvy, this kit does a better job of replicating its aggressive maw, vents and cantilevered rear wing. Rounding out the single-car sets is the 299-piece Toyota GR Supra in yellow. This marks the first time Toyota has lent their license to Lego. Again, it struggles a bit to represent the curvy Supra, relying on printed details like logos and headlights to identify. On the other hand, the Chevrolet two-car does a stupendous job with the 1968 Corvette. The C3 is instantly recognizable as such. The C8-R race car it's paired with suffers from the same issues as some of the previous cars, though. The set contains 512 pieces, and funnily enough the C8 driver has short hair while the C3 driver sports a period-correct wavy mane. The next set is a 627-piece Mopar-themed pair, including a purple (Plum Crazy?) 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A and an SRT top fuel dragster. The race car is spot on, but the Challenger was probably tough to make given the width restrictions. It looks a couple of pegs too narrow compared to the wide proportions of the real deal. Last but not least, the Ford set contains a Bronco R and Ford GT Heritage Edition. Consisting of 660 pieces, the set does an excellent job of representing both cars. The GT looks faithful in its Gulf livery, and the Bronco R looks more like a real Bronco than the actual Bronco R race truck. All in all, it's always fun to see more Lego sets with real cars, and we're glad to see more manufacturers added to the roster. The single-car sets are recommended for ages 7 and up, while the double-car sets have an 8 years and up rating. Price in U.S.

Recharge Wrap-up: Volt makes up third of Quebec Chevy dealerships sales, Tesla seeks Aussie talent

A Chevrolet dealership in Quebec has had the Volt make up 35 percent of its sales so far this year. Bourgeois Chevrolet in Rawdon, Quebec received recognition for the feat at the 2014 Electric Vehicle Conference, where it won the award for Leading Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Dealership. To sell that many, Bourgeois Chevrolet had to import used Volts from the US, and keeps about 50 units on the lot in various configurations. The conference also saw Park Avenue Nissan of Brossard, Quebec win the Leading Battery Electric Vehicle Dealership Award, and Loch Lomond Mitsubishi of Saint John, New Brunswick receive the award for Electric Vehicle Dealership Inspiration. Read more at Green Car Reports. Tesla Motors has begun scouting Australian engineers as other automakers shutter operations there. Ford, General Motors and Toyota have announced that they will shut down their Australian factories, leaving behind a lot of unused talent. Tesla recently held a "Recruiting Open House" in Melbourne for engineers to fill positions at its plant in Fremont, CA, where they will be paired with other Aussie engineers already on staff. Read more at Green Car Reports, or at Motoring. Electric turbochargers may come to play a key role in making internal combustion engines more efficient. Valeo recently showed an electric turbo it plans to supply to an unnamed automaker at a fuel economy showcase event at the EPA's National Vehicle Emissions and Fuel Lab. Electric turbochargers have the advantage of greatly reduced lag when compared to exhaust-driven turbos. They also work well when paired with cylinder deactivation, providing a much-needed boost when driving on a grade, which can help reduce the need for cylinders to reactivate. Independence from the exhaust system also makes it easier to package the turbocharger wherever there is room. Read more from Navigant Research. US crude oil futures have dropped to their lowest in more than two years. Saudi Arabia cut oil costs for the US and raised them for Europe and Asia as the US has increased output. On November 3, US crude futures fell as much as 2.2 percent in New York. West Texas Intermediate closed at $78.78, the lowest since June 2012. Brent crude slipped $1.08 to $84.78 a barrel. Read more at Bloomberg.

GM is quietly slashing prices on base models

While General Motors' fourth quarter financial figures haven't yet been released, the automaker seems to be weathering a potentially rocky time well, even beating third-quarter projections last year. To keep the climb going, the company is launching new base trims for several popular models that make them cheaper than ever but with tight dealer margins. The new entry-level trims are the Chevrolet Cruze L, Equinox L, GMC Terrain SL and Buick LaCrosse 1SV. Buyers lose some content by picking them, but the prices are slashed. According to Cars Direct, the biggest savings are on the LaCrosse, where customers pay $31,065, plus $925 destination, $2,570 less than the previous base 1SB trim but must accept things like 17-inch wheels and no cargo net in the back. If you're wondering how Buick can remove only a little equipment but cut the price so much, it's because the company also slashed dealer margins. According to Cars Direct, the difference between the invoice and MSRP for the LaCrosse 1SV is only around $150, compared to around $1,350 before. The disparity is even greater for the Cruze with an $81 difference in the prices, compared to about $600 for the LS version. Showrooms are expected to keep very low stocks of these trims, though. "Dealers use such vehicles to get people in the door, but they do not generally want to do high volumes of these strippers. The margins are next to nothing; they don't make much money off these cars," said Ed Kim, Vice President of Industry Analysis for AutoPacific to Autoblog. Dealers are also expected to advertise that these new base trims undercut major competitors. For example, the Cruze L rings up for about $2,320 less than a Honda Civic LX, according to Cars Direct. One potential drawback for buyers is that these models might not be eligible for incentives. While the attractive prices might get customers into dealers, folks may not actually end up driving home with these entry-level models. Kim indicated base trims also make up a small portion of the sales mix. "Consumers aren't asking for stripped out vehicles, even at the low end of the marketplace," he said. Featured Gallery 2015 Chevrolet Cruze View 9 Photos News Source: Cars DirectImage Credit: Chevrolet Buick Chevrolet GM GMC Car Buying Car Dealers Crossover Sedan gmc terrain cheap cars