Austin A40 Somerset on 2040-parts.com

Ford spoofs Cadillac ELR with latest ad

Rule Number One of advertising is, "kick 'em when they're down." Or was that Sun Tzu...or Bone Thugs-N-Harmony? Either way, while Cadillac catches flak for its controversial ELR ad, the above Ford ad with a C-Max Energi is either a shameless ripoff or a smashing riposte. (This, of course, depends on your affinity for European-derived plug-in crossovers.) Instead of a white guy, it's a black lady.

MINI Goodwood Price? A cool £41k

MINI Goodwood - more than twice the price of a Cooper S We did wonder, tongue in cheek, when BMW revealed they were making the MINI Roller – the MINI ‘Inspired by Goodwood’ – if we would see the first MINI with a list price of £50k. Of course, even BMW aren’t bold enough to make a production MINI – even one with Rolls Royce fairy dust sprinkled on at Goodwood – cost so much. But they’ve come damn close.

Groupon vouchers for cars? No

The Groupon juggernaut rolled into auto retailing last week, and dealers around the nation watched intently to see whether the online coupon phenomenon could drive herds of shoppers into showrooms. So far, no. Only four consumers agreed to pay $200 for a $500 discount voucher on a new-vehicle purchase at LaFontaine Buick-GMC-Cadillac in Highland, Mich.