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Hurricane Sandy cost automakers 15,000 vehicles, may have ruined up to 200k

Hurricane Sandy was the largest Atlantic storm in US history, and its total economic impact is just now coming into view. According to Automotive News, Toyota, Chrysler, Nissan and Honda are set to scrap around 15,000 new vehicles ruined by the storm. Nissan alone accounts for about 40 percent of those, with 6,000 Nissan and Infiniti models deeded "un-saleable" due to damage. The company saw 56 dealerships shuttered due to the storm, but 51 of those have since reopened.
Toyota, meanwhile, had some 4,000 vehicles at its Newark port facility, and of those, 3,000 may be scrapped. An additional 825 were dealer inventory when they were ruined. Honda and Acura dealers are reportedly sending 3,440 vehicles to the salvage yard. By comparison, Chrysler weathered the storm fairly well with 825 units destroyed, while Hyundai suffered only 400 lost units and Kia scrapped around 200.
As you may recall, Fisker also suffered some losses, and Automotive News reports the manufacturer saw 320 Karma models damaged beyond repair. Ford and General Motors have yet to come up with estimates, and no automaker has commented on the full cost of replacing the vehicles.

Kia Sorento is the official ride of the Justice League

Toyota showed us a Spongebob Squarepants-themed Toyota Highlander last week. Kia has now revealed a Justice League themed Sorento. Can we just have normal, competent crossovers without all the animation frosting, please?
To be fair, this Sorento is for a good cause. It will be part of a charity auction on eBay, benefitting DC Entertainment's We Can Be Heroes campaign, which raises money for the famine-ridden Horn of Africa, a region that's facing its worst food crisis in six decades. DCE's President, Diane Nelson, claims DC has managed to raise over $285,000 through crowd-funding campaigns and unique opportunities for its fans. The Justice League Sorento is just the latest such fund-raising opportunity, with the automaker having already commissioned a number of similar themed vehicles for individual members of the Justice League.
The seven-passenger Sorento was designed by Jim Lee and created by West Coast Customs. It sports graphics that, relative to the Spongebob Highlander, are downright subtle. Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman are depicted on the driver's side, while Superman, the Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg are on the passenger side. The Justice League logo is emblazoned on the Sorento's hood.

2015 Kia Soul EV production model glimpsed before Chicago

A few days before its on-stage reveal at the Chicago Auto Show, the production version of the 2015 Kia Soul EV has been spotted, tagged and bagged in this series of spy shots. On the EV captured by our photographer's lens, we can see unusual baby blue accents on top, on the mirrors and up front, as well as a closed-off "Tiger Nose" that is both taller and larger than the grille on the standard Soul. The special "Eco Electric" badge on the sides is useful for identifying the car in the picture, but we can't imagine it'll make the transition to showroom floor (at least, we hope). The Soul EV's rear side is different, too, with the bottom lights moved lower and the design of the main taillights tweaked a bit (compare our spy shots gallery to the standard model here). The wheels get a fresh five-spoke design as well. What lies under the new exterior? Some things we already know. The Soul is supposed to have a "class-leading" range of over 120 miles on a charge thanks to a 27-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion polymer battery pack. The electric motor offers 109 horsepower and 210 pound-feet of torque to create a 0-62 mile per hour time of under 12 seconds and a top speed of around 90 mph. What we can't see in these shots is a window sticker, but from what we've heard before, the Soul EV, "won't be priced to stimulate demand." Early predictions put the price at $35,000-$40,000 US – before government incentives – when the car launches in the US in the second half of this year. The gas-powered Soul starts at $14,400. We should learn more in Chicago later this week.