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Readers chat it up live with AW associate editor Jon Wong

For those who have ever stared longingly at a Mazda RX-8, or who love the symphony of a Honda four-cylinder engine turning at 200 rpm short of the redline and the tactile joy of the shifter sliding flawlessly from gear to gear, you have a friend in AutoWeek associate editor Jon Wong. On Friday, readers took the opportunity for a virtual mind meld, as Jon fielded questions in an online chat at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.

Mercedes sacks U.S. boss Ernst Lieb

Mercedes boss Ernst Lieb let go In a surprising move, Mercedes has upset its apple cart in America by sacking its CEO, Ernst Lieb. It’s hard to work out why Leib has been given the heave-ho, especially considering Mercedes USA is riding high at the moment on the back of strong sales and well-received models in the U.S. Under Lieb’s leadership Mercedes has enjoyed sales up 10.4 per cent for this year, a performance that is outstripping the market as a whole.

2013 Chevy, GMC trucks recalled for roll-away risk

General Motors is recalling 69,000 2013 full-size trucks and vans that could shift out of “park” and roll away. The recall impacts the Cadillac Escalade; the Chevrolet Avalanche, Express, Silverado HD and LD, and Suburban and Tahoe; and the GMC Savana, Sierra HD and LD, and Yukon and Yukon XL. The trucks may have been built with a fractured park-lock cable, or a deformed steering-column lock-actuator gear in the lock-module assembly.