A new Hyundai Genesis Coupe will debut at the Detroit Auto Show next year, packing even more horsepower. The new Genesis was caught testing in the Arctic Circle with its usual assortment of recycled Miata tops and Boy Scout tents, covering a new exterior facelift. The Genesis Coupe’s V6 and inline-four engines will both get...
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Believe it or not, they still build the Toyota Tacoma. And like other formerly-compact compact trucks, it’s been neglected for some time now: 2005 was the last major redesign. But according to Ward’s Automotive, Marty McFly can lust after a new Toyota truck as soon as this year. Toyota division chief Bob Carter told Ward’s Auto...
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The third generation of Mercedes-Benz’s wildly popular M-class has been unveiled, and it sports a wider, cleaner new grille and a new V6 diesel engine. The ML350 BlueTEC gets a newly massaged 3-liter V6 diesel engine that’s 50-state compliant and features 55-lb/ft more torque than the last engine, bringing that figure up to 455. It...
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General Motors CEO Dan Akerson is looking forward to the day when he can relax on his yacht, sipping Mai Tais on the deck…and knowing full well that the federal government has finally sold its stake in GM, and has completely divulged itself from the company as it did with Chrysler. But it’s still a...
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There are two things you may take away from this: 1.) there’s an International Parking Institute, and 2.) there are places in America to park that aren’t a painful, emotionally-draining experience. In fact, places like Gateway Self Park, in Chicago, are actually a rather pleasant place to ding your bumper. The International Parking Institute cited...
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This is the sort of thing you won’t see at community dinner theater—Hungarian artist Hajnal Németh turned a mangled BMW 525i into the focus of an experimental opera that reflects the life cycle of a car accident. Entitled “Crash: Passive Interview,” the opera features a liberetto performed by singers inside BMW’ Leipzig plant in Germany,...
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BMW will sink £500 million into its British production network for the current and next-generation Mini, expanding the factory at Oxford and adding over 5,000 UK jobs over the next three years. This brings the amount of money BMW has invested in Mini UK to over £1.5 billion since 2000. Production at MINI Plant Oxford...
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The ghost of Saturn just can’t cut a break. GM is considering what to do with Opel, its German division that won’t be turning a profit anytime soon. GM last tried to sell Opel in 2009 before giving the ailing brand another chance. But despite increasing its lineup with new vehicles, and even increased sales,...
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In a merger that seems obvious from the get-go, American Le Mans has named the Sports Car Club of America its Official Grassroots Motorsports Partner. No, not Grassroots Motorsports, the required summer reading of any Miata or E30 owner—grassroots motorsports, as in an attempt for American Le Mans to reach out to those not blessed...
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Audi’s latest cute-ute (are people still using that phrase anymore?) is entering production in Spain, at the clip of 100,000 per year. The Q3 will be built in Martorell, Spain, in a plant normally reserved for SEAT. Volkswagen recently spent about 330 million Euros in upgrading the facility in anticipation, and is betting big on...
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The venerable MINI Cooper has served in almost every form of motorsport possible—rallying, Dakar, racetrack underdog, drag racing, tractor pulls, and setting land speed records. Now, it gets a chance to prove itself at the Nürburgring at its legendary 24-hour endurance race. On June 25th, MINI Motorsports and three privateer MINI teams will tackle 24...
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When the Nürburgring Nordschleife was built in 1927, the good folks of the ADAC—who were there to promote Socialist Teutonic goodness, eventually—hadn’t expected to carve out a 14-mile merchandising empire among the world’s finest carmakers. Now Renault has given its hot-hatch Megane RS the full-on Nürburgring treatment, and it promises to be a corker, as...
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Formula One’s governing body is planning to reconsider the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix and cast a revote among all teams, after its former president and one of its top drivers called for F1 to cancel the event among continued unrest. “The way things are at the moment, we have no idea what is going to...
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The legendary Unimog has been a Mercedes-Benz workhorse for the past 60 years—a truly rugged, no-frills vehicle that can go anywhere and do anything with neither affluence nor pretension. This Bizarro-World lime-green concept? Not so much. Mercedes-Benz unveiled this crazy Unimog concept as a symbol of what might happen for the next 60, with LED...
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Dr. Dre be the name, still running the game. Chrysler‘s “Imported From Detroit” campaign has propelled beyond Detroit, stopping by in Portland, Oregon (with Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh) and New York City (with menswear designer John Varvatos). Now Chrysler comes straight outta Compton Los Angeles with Dr. Dre and the new 300S with Dre’s signature...
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F1’s former chief commandant Max Mosley has joined Red Bull pilot Mark Webber in speaking up against the FIA’s decision to race in Bahrain this October, claiming that it is a mistake that “will eventually cost Formula One dear.” “By agreeing to race there, Formula One becomes complicit in what has happened,” said Mosley in...
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Meet Aaron Prevost, age 20. He’s a skilled mechanic who specializes in mainly European cars, and he’s been working on them since the tender age of 10. And yet he can’t drive a car—on account that he’s legally blind. Prevost was born with a damaged optical nerve, and attends a school for the blind with...
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Even though the FIA has given the go-ahead to add Bahrain to the 2011 schedule, some aren’t so sure it’s a good idea to race in the troubled country—like Mark Webber, driver for the Red Bull F1 team. Webber was “disappointed” in the decision. “My opinion is unchanged since I was first asked about this...
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Selling cars is kind of big business for Nissan. Taking advantage of social media to reach all those trendy kids these days is merely a part of that. And in the 20 years that marketing communications director Erich Marx has been at Nissan, he’s seen the changes in how people reach out to others, and...
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The Fiesta Movement campaign was a resounding success for Ford, one that enthusiastically introduced to Americans the Fiesta and a new wave of global platform and design collaboration. So what does its social media manager do to highlight this success? He jumps ship to General Motors. Jon Beebe, the man who was in charge of...
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The FIA has just posted its 2012 Formula 1 schedule, and good news to race fans and Americans in general: in the world of international motorsports, our fair nation is once again significant! That’s right, the 10th round of the 2012 Grand Prix schedule includes a date in Austin, Texas—the return of F1 to our...
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You can say Germans have their priorities right. The statistics for German passenger car registrations have been released, documenting car sales by brand, and some interesting trends have manifested themselves: namely, that more people are buying Porsches than Hondas. The largest registration declines over the past five months concern the Chrysler family, and all of...
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They made the threat before, but now it’s official: Fiat controls 52% of Chrysler, and just like in 1998 The House That Walter Built resides mostly in Europe. Late Thursday night the US Treasury Department agreed to sell its remaining 6% stake in Chrysler to Fiat, with a price tag of $500 million. And with...
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From the “America, F*** Yeah” department comes Ford’s announcement that they’ve been honored by the Department of Defense, for committing to the needs of American troops. Ford was one of fifteen companies shortlisted for the 2011 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, with six nominations from its employees who also serve in the military....
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