WomanOnWheels.ca

What the Ford is that? Ten terms every fan should know...

Do you know what a deuce, a vicky, or a Y-Block is? Who's a Tin Lizzie, and what's a Triton? Find out in my list of Ford terms over at Driving.ca.

Confused by car terms? Here's some help...

That's the C-HR, which Toyota calls a "crossover," but which Natural Resources Canada calls a "car." Some automakers call their four-door cars coupes; and what's an SAV? Find out what all these car terms mean in my story at Driving.ca.

What do those confusing auto terms actually mean?

What's the difference between a sunroof and a moonroof? Are your seats cooled or ventilated? Is your cruise control adaptive, or active, or dynamic? If you're not sure what's what when there's more than one name for an item, find out more in my story at Driving.ca.

Do you know what the car ads are really telling you?

Tiny payments, big truck numbers and long warranties - car ads tell you a lot without always telling you a lot. I've listed some of the things to watch for in my story at Driving.ca.

These are some of the biggest things trucks have towed

Trucks pulling trains, trucks pulling trains, trucks pulling...flags? Yes, for the sake of showing how tough their vehicles are, automakers love to hook them up to Big Things and pull them along. Take a look at some of the biggest in my story at Driving.ca.

How do automakers look at their female customers?

Women buy a lot of cars, but there are times when it seems like auto manufacturers don't actually think about it. So over the years, along with some highlights, there have been more than a few misses when they try to appeal to us. See what they are in my story at the National Post (Driving.ca).

Who was J.D. Power, and what does he mean to you when you're buying a car?

J.D. Power is a powerhouse today, but the enormous company started at a kitchen table ... and you won't believe who the "Associates" in J.D. Power & Associates were. Find out in my story over at the National Post (Driving.ca).

Volvo: A new way to get a car

As the world goes increasingly online to buy its goods, auto manufacturers have to keep up. The latest is Volvo, which is introducing a subscription service for specific models that gives you a single price per month, with almost everything in it. Find out more in my story over at AutoTRADER.

Auto marketing terms: Do you know what they really mean?

Do you know exactly what Subaru's "symmetrical" all-wheel drive actually is? How about winter gas, military-grade aluminum, Trail Rated Jeeps, or even antique and classic cars? Discover what's hype and what's the truth in my feature over at AutoTrader.

All about auto advertising ...

Do you know who started the trend of focusing on the driving experience, rather than the car? Or if Chrysler truly had "rich Corinthian leather?" Find out more in my trivia column in the Toronto Star.

Who really determines an automaker's fate ...

   I was talking to a woman yesterday who asked my opinion on what vehicle she should buy. When I mentioned a model, she said she'd never buy a domestic. Why not? She wasn't happy with the dealer she'd encountered.

Which made me realize something very vital. An auto company spends years and millions of dollars designing a vehicle. It spends many more millions getting it onto the assembly line, and then spends again to launch and advertise it. The CEO poses beside it at the auto shows, the publicists woo the media with it, and men and women toil on the assembly line to build it.

And then it all comes down to the guy on the other side of the desk at the dealership.

I worked in dealerships, and I can tell you this: there are some really good, really dedicated people out there who genuinely feel a calling, and who truly have the customer's interests at heart. And there are more than a few who couldn't make a go of it selling computers or lawnmowers or whatever, and so they answered an ad, spent a week learning the ropes, and then got sent out to deal with the public.

For all the public sneers at auto salesmen, selling cars is not a cushy job. There are very long hours involved. You've got pressure from the customers, pressure from the sales manager, pressure from the dealer principal. You have to deal with tire-kickers and people who don't think the company should make a penny of profit on the car. And even though you've been behind your desk for ten hours that day, if you don't sell a car, you don't take home any money.

And yet, that car salesman, whether he's good or bad, is the auto company. If he screws up badly, never mind that the customer isn't coming back to the dealer again; he or she may never come back to the brand at all.

No matter how big the auto company is, no matter how much they pay the CEO, no matter how many people work for it, it all comes down to this: all that time, all that engineering, all that design, all that assembly, and the final spokesman for the brand is a guy who doesn't even work for the company itself, and who really just wants you to buy the car so he can go the hell home to his family.

An ad campaign we'll never see in North America ...

Mitsubishi Motors is introducing a new compact pickup truck in the United Kingdom, which features more load length and extra power.

The advertising campaign? The company plans to run it under the banner, "What would you do with an extra seven inches and bit more poke?"

Japanese auto ads: Harrison, Bruce, Brad and ... Ray?

What do Robert DeNiro, Ray Charles, Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Murphy, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Michael J. Fox all have in common?

They've all starred in Japanese car commercials, and you can see some of them over here. I'm not sure which one is the weirdest, although Harrison Ford jumping out of his Honda Legend to capture a runaway horse rates pretty high on the bizarre scale, as does Brad Pitt showing off his T-shirt to a little boy who does something very odd with ice cream and his tongue.

The biggest disappointment? Ray Charles just sings in the back seat -- they don't let him drive!