With its target of 800,000 sales still firmly in mind, Volkswagen is taking its next step towards achieving their goal, and the company is looking to their dealers for help, as they continue to roll out all new vehicles designed with American consumers in mind. With the new Passat and Beetle set to be launched...
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Despite higher gas prices and panic over Japan’s earthquake, and its subsequent effect on auto production, March 2011 was a positive month for the industry, with sales up 17 percent compared to the previous year. Among the Big 3, Ford managed to outsell General Motors for the first time in a year, with a 16...
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Hyundai‘s vice-chairman, Shin Jong-Woon unequivocally quashed rumors regarding a separate premium brand for Hyundai’s upscale vehicles, telling Automotive News “There are no plans for Hyundai to make a separate brand.” Hyundai spokesman Frank Ahrens elaborated on Jong-Woon’s comments, citing costs and branding difficulties as the main obstacles towards establishing a premium channel ala Lexus, Infiniti...
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The Toyota Prius, beloved of eco-conscious of buyers in California, is in short supply in the Sunshine State, as high gas prices and production disruptions due to Japan’s natural disasters have caused dealers to either run low on supply or be completely out of stock. Dealers, who report as little as a 14-day supply of the...
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Despite the stupid April Fool’s prank involving the BMW M3 Pickup, this announcement is not a joke. BMW is bringing a lightweight version of their M3 sedan to the M Festival, an event to be held at the Nurburgring 24 Hours race in late 2011. Positioned as a stopgap between the standard M3 and the...
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A shortage of parts means that Subaru‘s Indiana plant will have its production cut in half through the end of the week, and the company will assess the situation on a day to day basis to examine whether a continuation is necessary. Each of the two shifts will have 4 hours cut from their length....
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Kia is forging ahead with plans to build a rival to the Volkswagen Golf GTI, complete with a turbocharged engine and class-leading driving dynamics. The new car will be part of Kia’s effort to differentiate itself from Hyundai by focusing on performance and excitement. The GTI rival will likely be based on the well-received Cee’d, which...
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Autoblog has revealed that the 2012 Kia Rio will make its debut at this April’s New York Auto Show, with an expected 1.4L 4-cylinder making 108 horsepower and 100 lb-ft of torque. Expected transmissions are a 6-speed manual and an automatic, rumored to be a 4-speed. The sedan will complement the hatchback previously revealed at...
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The world famous Autobahn, known for its sections of speed-limit-free roads, looks set to lose some of its famous stretches of highway, with the election of a new, environmentally focused government in the home state of manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. With the Green Party having emerged victorious in a regional election in the state...
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With the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid delayed due to a change to the pedestrian warning system, the Kia Optima Hybrid will face similar delays, with units expected to arrive at dealers sometime in the summer, a full 5 months later than planned. The Optima Hybrid, being mechanically identical to the Sonata Hybrid, must also undergo the...
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The 2012 Jaguar XF seen in the above spy shot may not look too different from the existing car, but the improvements you can’t see are what caught our attention. Jaguar claims that this XF is motivated by a 2.2L 4-cylinder diesel engine making 187 horsepower and 322 lb-ft of torque, while delivering about 52...
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New luxury vehicles tend to post exceptional sales within the first year or so of their introduction, only to taper off to more reasonable levels as the vehicle’s life cycle continues. Not so for the Porsche Panamera, a vehicle derided by Porsche loyalists that has gone on to be the brand’s best-selling vehicle. In 2010,...
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The Toyota plant which builds the Yaris subcompact for export markets will remain closed for another month, as the factory recovers from the massive earthquake which struck northern Japan. While the plant has had repairs completed and electricity has returned, the supply of natural gas has not been restored. Toyota’s other plants are expected to...
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Rumors of Holden vehicles, specifically the rear-drive Commodore, coming to the U.S. have always been a fixture of the automotive media, and with the Holden-based Pontiac G8’s demise a few years ago, some of them have seemed to be more wishful thinking than anything of substance. General Motors is bringing back the larger Holden Statesman...
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Although the destroyed Chinese Lamborghini will forever linger in the minds of car enthusiasts bemused by the antics of spoiled owners, a Range Rover driver decided to take a less apoplectic approach and simply returned his Range Rover by towing it to the dealership with two donkeys. Dissatisfied after his Rover broke down 6 times in one...
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The last V6-powered Ford F-150 was sold to the public in 2008, and only 11% of sales were made up of the smaller-engined trucks. Three years later, and Ford’s gamble to offer not one but two V6s in America’s best-selling vehicle seems to be paying dividends, with 35% of F-150’s sold coming with either the...
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One of the leading teams in the American Le Mans Series has published a tactful but strongly worded essay taking the ALMS to task for failing to secure a proper live television deal for the 2011 season, when the race series has previously been able to secure such a contract. For this season, ALMS shifted...
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A MINI Cooper S fitted with an experimental hybrid all-wheel drive system was spotted testing in winter climates, a surprise move for BMW, which has given no indication it was developing such a car. Sharp-eyed readers will not the electric motor mounted between the rear wheels, as well as the “hybrid” stickers mounted on the...
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James Glickenhaus took his custom made P4/5 Competizione to the Nurburgring ahead of its first race there at the Nurburgring 24 Hours. Driver Mika Salo was able to get ample seat time in the hand-built racer, but co-driver Luca Cappellari was limited to a single lap after a red flag came out for unidentified reasons....
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Determined to make sure the launch of their new 2012 Focus is flawless, Ford is road testing the first examples of the new Focus for 30 miles, an unprecedented length for a mainstream car. Ford will take a Focus from its Wayne assembly plant to a Dearborn test track for evaluation, and then a further...
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The Tea Party political movement is sponsoring an entry in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series, with the red #89 truck driven by Chris Lafferty being rebranded as the “We The People’s” truck for the next two seasons. The sponsorship will actually work in reverse from the usual arrangements, with sponsorship money actually going to the...
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Jeep is launching an ambitious campaign in Europe to boost sales eight-fold by 2014, with a new premium small SUV helping to lead the way. The next generation Jeep Compass is expected to debut around 2014, and will be based on the same platform as the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, and the Compass will also share...
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A Japanese factory that makes batteries for the Chevrolet Volt is back online today after being temporarily shut down since the March 11th earthquake. Hitachi Automotive operates the three plants, one of which produces batteries for the Volt. GM has apparently ordered 100,000 battery packs for the Volt. The other two produce various vehicle components,...
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Former F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen will join NASCAR, in a surprise move, a departure from his previous endeavors in Formula 1 and rally racing. A Finnish newspaper, cited by Autosport, claims that Raikkonen will start out in the Truck series before moving on to both the Nationwide and Sprint cup car series. No start...
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