– Prices for the 2006 Toyota RAV4 start at $20,300 for a front-wheel-drive base model with a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine. With the new 3.5-liter V-6, prices begin at $22,335. All-wheel-drive adds $1,400. The top-of-the-line Limited V-6 AWD model starts at $25,870. The prices do not include the $605 destination charge. Models with 4-cylinder engines go on sale in late December, and V-6 models are due about a month later.
– Hyundai has priced its 2006 Azera from $24,995 to $29,995. Azera replaces the XG350. Hyundai wants to sell as many as 40,000 Azeras annually, more than twice the 17,928 XG350s sold in 2003, that model’s best year. Traction- and electronic-stability control and eight air bags are standard on all trim levels, Hyundai says. Destination charges were not released.
– DaimlerChrysler says it will produce its Dodge Nitro, a midsize sport-utility vehicle, at its factory in Toledo, Ohio. The Nitro was shown as a concept at the Chicago Auto Show.
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Transportation in brief is compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services.
