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Akio Toyoda named Toyota president amid global crisis

Akio Toyoda, scion of Toyota Motor Corp.'s founding family and now its next president, will bring a U.S. perspective to the automaker as it battles falling sales and an unprecedented financial crisis. Toyoda, 52, will succeed current President Katsuaki Watanabe in June, the company said Tuesday, ending weeks of speculation.

Wait, is the WhaleMobile still for sale?

In 2009 -- which is about 40 years ago in Internet time -- the motor-mad, mountain-dwelling master-mechanic known to Autoweek readers as Murilee Martin took to the pages of Jalopnik -- yes, it was printed back then -- to describe an ad he found on Craigslist. Here's the full text of the original ad: WhaleMobile *UNIQUE* This one of a kind "WhaleMobile" is for sale. It needs new tires, but otherwise starts right up and runs fine.

Saab 9-2, just a pipe dream?

The Web is lit up today with stories of an upcoming Saab 9-2 because Spyker CEO and Saab owner Victor Muller evidently has sketched what he sees as a new small Saab. It could be a pipe dream, but Muller insists the Swedish automaker really wants it to happen. Muller has been quoted as calling it "a small car, a quirky car, a Saab in the truest sense of the word." Muller said the car would be a small front-drive hatch, a little bigger than a Mini.