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Auto News For Monday, April 4, 2016 – Ford Knows How To Sell Transits

2016 Ford Transit extended passenger van

Here are the six must-read, must-watch auto news stories and videos for Monday, April 4, 2016.

TRANSIT
If a Ford dealer wants to sell the Transit – and Ford dealers are far more willing to sell Transits than Econolines – they need to be prepared to sell 58 different variants. How does a dealer figure out how to stock such a broad lineup? Sales figures certainly suggest Ford dealers have it figured out – the Transit didn’t just outsell all other commercial vans in March 2016, it outsold all minivans, too. – Wards

MODEL 3
Perhaps overshadowed by a nuclear summit, a candidate meltdown, and your own local news was a story that still managed to rise to the top of the business and autos pages last week. Tesla unveiled a new model. Sort of. This isn’t the production version of Tesla’s upcoming model, but everybody still has an opinion on the Tesla Model 3. Here are some of them. – Automotive News

POLESTAR
Though not exactly as well known as AMG or even SVT, Volvo has its own increasingly high-profile tuner. The Polestar S60 and V60 are ditching their 3.0L turbo six-cylinder for a turbocharged 2.0L four-cylinder with 362 horsepower. It’s not your college professor’s 240GL. – Top Gear

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TAKATA
Of the 29 million defective Takata air bags that need to be replaced in in-use vehicles on U.S. roadways, fewer than 8 million have visited a service department for replacement. – Reuters

FAST
“For Gen Y, this is what fast looks like: Squat, more hunchback than hatchback, draped on four big wheels brazen with Brembos, blacked-out glass, a face full of intercooler, with mad wing and splitter.” What car is the Wall Street Journal’s Dan Neil describing?

WATCH
Perhaps you’re sad that the BBC’s Top Gear will no longer include Jeremy, Richard, and James. Perhaps you’re disappointed in the cast selections for the new generation of Top Gear. But it appears as though you won’t be disappointed in the production values, which remain high.