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Auto News For Wednesday, February 24, 2016 – Aston Martin Says No To North America, Heads To Wales

2013 Audi Q5 beige

Here are the six must-read, must-watch auto news stories and videos for Wednesday, February 24, 2016.

AUDI, SUBARU, LEXUS
The Honda Fit, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Camry, Subaru Forester, Lexus RX, Mazda MX-5 Miata, Chevrolet Impala, Kia Sorento, Ford F-150, and Toyota Sienna led their categories in Consumer Reports’ 2016 Autos Spotlight as the vehicles with the best combination of road tests and reliability surveys and safety ratings. The top brand overall? Lexus slid to third as Subaru surged and Audi topped the charts. – Consumer Reports

WALES
Premium European marques have flocked to North America over the last couple decades. Mercedes-Benz builds SUVs in Alabama; BMW in South Carolina. Audi will soon build new vehicles in Mexico. But though many believes Aston Martin would follow the trend, it turns out that Aston isn’t straying far from its Gaydon, Warwickshire, headquarters. The next Aston Martin factory will be built in St. Athan, in the south of Wales. – BBC

SMOKE & MIRRORS
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says Cadillac can go ahead with the CT6’s rearview mirror that isn’t a mirror at all – it’s a screen. And General Motors says the new Chevrolet Bolt and Cadillac XT5 will offer the same feature. – Automotive News

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WORK
The vehicles of the working man and working woman – pickup trucks and commercial vans – posted massive Canadian sales gains to begin 2016. Pickup trucks attracted more than one out of every five Canadian new vehicle sales. – Autofocus.ca

GTD
Priced at £26,935, evo magazine tests the Volkswagen Golf GTD, a GTI with a diesel engine that’s quickly become anathema to many North American car buyers. “The GTD is the hot hatch you can get away with. It’s the sensible buying decision when you aren’t really intending on buying something sensible. It’s the car you buy when you need to reach a halfway house, but don’t really want to.” – evo

WATCH
Don’t agree with the findings of Consumer Reports mentioned above? Here’s their defense wrapped into one long video.