The 2012 Hyundai Accent broke cover at the New York Auto Show on Tuesday, but Hyundai has previewed the car before, at both the Montreal and Toronto Auto Shows, with little fanfare or media coverage. The previous Accent was the kind of car that you bought out of necessity rather than desire, but the newest...
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The 2013 Ford Taurus was a bit of a surprise for car fans, since the mid-cycle upgrade came early for the barely 3 year old car. Unveiled at the 2011 New York Auto Show, the new Taurus features a host of fairly substantial mechanical upgrades. First on the list is a 2.0L Ecoboost 4-cylinder engine option, good...
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The 2012 Honda Civic is a crucial product for Honda. As the competition gets better and better, Honda will have to fight to retain customers in the compact car segment, an area where they were the undisputed champions for decades. But with the new Chevrolet Cruze, Hyundai Elantra and Ford Focus nipping at its heels,...
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Honda‘s Civic Si sports coupe is back for 2012, and while it may not have gained much in the horsepower stakes, the car’s one great performance shortcoming – a lack of torque – has been remedied with a new 2.4L engine that makes 31 more lb-ft of torque than the outgoing 2.0L motor. The Civic...
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The 2012 Civic Hybrid will have the honor of being the second most fuel efficient vehicle on the market, delivering 44 mpg in the city and 44 mpg on the highway. While not quite as fuel efficient as the Toyota Prius, the numbers are still excellent, especially considering that Honda‘s hybrid technology is a few...
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Suzuki is hopping on the hybrid bandwagon with their new Kizashi EcoCharge, a concept car designed to hint at the possibility of a hybrid Kizashi. Suzuki claims that the Kizashi will deliver a 25 percent increase in fuel economy without any performance drawbacks, thanks to a 144 horsepower 2.0L 4-cylinder gasoline engine and a 20...
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The 2013 Ford Taurus was revealed Monday night on the eve of the New York Auto Show with a few styling tweaks, but the big news is the addition of Ford’s 2.0 Ecoboost engine as an alternative to their V6 engines. With the addition of the Ecoboost, Ford expects the Taurus to return 31mpg on...
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The BMW Z4 sDrive28i Roadster will be the first BMW to get a 4-cylinder engine in the United States since the BMW 318i was offered in the early 1990s. But unlike the underpowered 1.8L mill of yore, this new 2.0L 4-banger will pack a turbocharger, helping it make 240 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. The...
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While the British Royal Family are known for their patronage of British cars (with the Queen favoring Land Rovers and Prince Charles being a notable Aston Martin owner), Audis have been making an appearance in the family’s fleet over the last decade, and the Daily Mail reports that the company offers some very favorable terms...
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Honda will offer their Civic compact car with a new small diesel engine by 2013, but for now it looks like Europe and other markets will get it, with North America seemingly shut out. With a new Civic set to debut in world markets in 2012, Honda is mulling various options, with world markets set...
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Dodge has released their 2012 Avenger R/T, a slightly hotter version of their mid-size Avenger sedan, with a stiffer chassis, R/T badging and a Pentastar V6 good for 283 horsepower. Unfortunately, the sole transmission offered is a 6-speed automatic, a decidedly unsporting choice for a supposedly performance oriented car. The slushbox does help with fuel...
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If you’re buying a Jaguar XKR, you are probably the kind of customer who expects to be swaddled in leather, but an Italian special edition tore the leather out and replaced with with plaid Alcantara. The example pictured above is finished in a pattern known as “Prince of Wales check” and is a bit more...
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Ferrari‘s next flagship supercar, the successor to the 2003 Enzo, will be influenced by the Bugatti Veyron, although Ferrari declined to specify what parts of the vehicle were inspired by the world’s most powerful car. A Ferrari source reportedly told Autocar “The world is a very different place to how it was when the Enzo was launched....
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Dealers may be in for an arduous summer as Japan’s auto parts shortage is on track to choke off new vehicle deliveries for months, with dealers potentially receiving no new vehicles until September. The best case scenario will be a resumption of production on May 9th, after Japan’s traditional holiday break. But manufacturers are still unable to...
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Buick fans disappointed that the forthcoming Regal GS shares little in common with the European market Insignia OPC now have another reason to get mad, after Opel revealed that their hottest sedan is good for an astounding 168 mph when the speed governor is removed. Naturally, Opel is going to try and squeeze another buck out of...
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Hyundai and Kia remain unscathed by the parts crunch that is affecting Japanese auto makers, with both companies running their United States-based plants at full capacity and overtime shifts to help meet demand at certain plants. “We’ve been fortunate,” Robert Burns, a spokesman for the Hyundai plant in Alabama, told Left Lane News. “Our parts...
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While Audi’s plans for the U.S. market originally did not include the compact Q3 crossover, but Audi is re-considering the decision to not import the car after seeing the segment expand with offerings like the MINI Countryman, BMW X1 and the Nissan Juke. While the Q5 starts at $35,200, Audi would likely have to price...
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Ford has released a list of 25 cities in the United States that it labeled “electric vehicle-ready”, with the 20 initial roll-0ut markets for the Ford Focus E.V. listed, as well as 5 other cities, Baltimore, Dallas, Hartford, Honolulu and Charlotte. Ford declined to rank the cities, instead listing them in alphabetical order, but said...
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Aston Martin has just established its first foothold in India, with its first showroom in Mumbai. The showroom will be managed in partnership with Infinity Cars Pvt. Ltd., a well known local distributor, with a location in a swanky district of Mumbai known as Kemps Corner. “India represents a new opportunity for us and as...
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Cadillac is dropping the option of a 6-speed manual gearbox on their 2012 model year CTS Coupe and Sedan models equipped with the 3.6L V6 engine. While the high-performance, V8 powered CTS-V range will still give buyers the option to change their own gears, regular versions of the CTS will now have a sole transmission...
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We often take our own personal safety for granted, but in Mexico, the situation is quite different to say the least. While full-size SUVs are generally the vehicle of choice when armoring comes in to play, they’re not always the most discrete, and Volkswagen is cognizant of this. For about $70,000, Volkswagen will sell you...
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Fiat has just released photos of their 500 Cabrio, the open-top version of their much-lauded 500 hatchback, a week ahead of its official debut at the New York Auto Show. Rather than a traditional convertible body style like the MINI Cooper, the 500 uses a retractable canvas roof panel that still retains the overall shape...
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Lotus may build their next generation Esprit sports car outside of the United Kingdom after its request for a $50 million loan to build a new factory was rejected by an investment arm of the British government. The loan was intended for a new factory in the Norfolk area of Britain, which would employ 1200...
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Despite being written off as a failure in both critical acclaim and unit sales, the Honda Insight has seen sales explode as higher gas prices, a promotional blitz and a general upward trend in sales resulted in a 62.2 percent improvement in year-over-year sales numbers for Honda’s hybrid hatchback. The Insight was regarded by almost...
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