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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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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Volkswagen is recalling 71,403 2011 Jetta models due to a problem with the vehicle’s wiring. The issue affects the vehicle’s horn and anti-theft system, and Volkswagen said no injuries have been reported. Owners can check their vehicles build date to see if it falls within the specified range (March 2010 to March 2011) by checking...
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BMW is planning to expand its range yet again, with reports of an upcoming 4-Series lineup that would compete against the Audi A5 Sportback in the burgeoning sporty hatchback segment. Rumors have been flying about a possible 3-Series GT, a complement to the crossover-like 5-Series GT (shown above), but this may in fact be part of the...
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The guys at the well-regarded motorsports blog Axis Of Oversteer are building a car for the annual One Lap of America race, and their weapon of choice, a BMW M Coupe, looks to be the ultimate expression of what the Bavarian brand can do, mating an older M Coupe chassis with a fully built E39...
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You will never be able to buy one off the showroom floor, but that shouldn’t stop you from drooling over the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, a race version of Mercedes’ most extreme sports car. At a sticker price of $430,000, the GT3 version is the psychotic sibling of the standard car, and only a shadow...
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Volkswagen‘s Spanish subsidiary SEAT is preparing to take on the task of assembling Audi‘s Q3 compact crossover, at their plant outside of Barcelona. The move comes as a bit of a quid pro quo for Audi, since SEAT’s Exeo flagship is a re-badged Audi A4, and with SEAT’s flagging sales presenting an issue for Volkswagen’s...
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It’s only a matter of time before the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG gets adopted by the Ed-Hardy-and-hair-gel crowd as the official car of the Flash and the (steroid-fueled) Furious, but Mercedes has at least put out a video showing some decent b-roll footage of the car being driven at speed. The 451-horsepower coupe is arguably the...
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While Italian sports cars get a bad rap for being fickle, nobody has ever accused the Porsche 911 of having major reliability issues, and J.D. Power, publisher of the legendary reliability rankings, seems to confirm that, having named the 911 the most reliable sports car and Porsche as the top German manufacturer. While some of Porsche’s newer...
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After teasing the public with a Superbowl ad hinting at the new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle, the new coupe will almost certainly bow at the New York Auto Show in April. Arriving in showrooms this fall, the Beetle will get simultaneous unveilings at both the Shangai and New York Auto Shows, with a convertible version bowing...
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BMW is considering an assembly plant in Latin America, specifically Brazil, but its exact plans remain up in the air. BMW currently builds motorcycles at a plant in Manaus, and is debating whether to expand its facility to include auto production, or starting an all new plant exclusively for cars. BMW would likely begin with...
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The excited hoardes of car-geeks who drooled over a prototype BMW M3 pickup, spied lapping the Nurburgring, will have to steel themselves for more disappointment, as Road & Track magazine confirmed that this car will not be entering production. “BMW M did indeed create the pick-up seen on the ’Ring, but it was just an...
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The Audi A2 was well ahead of its time when it launched in 1999, and it paid dearly for its advanced nature, with a short lifespan and disappointing sales. But the A2, which was capable of getting 78 mpg in some trim levels, appears set for a renaissance. Times have changed, and the demand for a...
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Alongside the new 6 Series Coupe and a special long wheelbase 5 Series plug-in hybrid, BMW will debut a concept version of the new M5 at the Shanghai Motor Show next month. Teased incessantly by the German automaker the car will get a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 making no less than 555-hp and mated to a...
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In luxury mad China, the most coveted brand by consumers is not Rolex or Apple, but BMW. A survey conducted by Clear Asia, a consulting firm based in Hong Kong, polled 2,500 Chinese consumers about their favorite brands, and the Bavarian auto maker came out on top, ahead of the luxury watch giant and the...
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The next Porsche 911 is expected to shed roughly 100 pounds of weight, thanks to an aluminum intensive chassis that will be shared with the next generation Boxster and Cayman. The news, courtesy of Motor Trend, seems to suggest that power upgrades won’t be as substantial, with the reduced weight helping to bring the majority...
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For those of you who can’t wait until BMW releases their new M5 sports sedan at this September’s Shanghai Auto Show, the company has just released new videos of the car undergoing winter testing in Austria, but you’ll need to speak German if you want to catch any of the dialog. With a twin-turbo V8 and...
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Some cars, like the Bugatti Veyron, are so expensive that we can’t imagine ever owning one. Others, like the Porsche 911 GT2 RS are so outrageously powerful that we wouldn’t want to drive them, because of the massive disconnect between our own limits and those of the car. With 620 horsepower channeled only through the...
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Purists may scoff at the 4-door MINI Countryman and its betrayal of “brand values”, but BMW’s bean counters are laughing all the way to the bank as the company credits the newest MINI with helping profits surge 15-fold in 2010. BMW’s net income was recorded at 3.23 billion euros in 2010, up from 210 million...
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For all the hype surrounding the Fiat 500, Ford‘s CEO, Alan Mulally, has become one of its most prominent detractors, condemning the car to failure before it’s even launched. Speaking to the Italian language magazine Panorama, Mulally remarked “I do not see large market in the U.S.A. for a smaller car than the Fiesta. Those that tried...
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As if news of the impending launch of the Audi TT-RS wasn’t enough, North American consumers will be treated to an extra 20 horsepower, according to Car and Driver magazine. C/D spoke to Audi representatives at the Chicago Auto Show, where they were informed that Audi is pushing for a total output of 360 horsepower...
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If you want an aggressive looking Mercedes-Benz C-Class but can’t ante up for the psychotically delightful C63 AMG, the 2011 C350 BlueEFFICIENCY equipped with the AMG appearance package might be a suitable bridge between the standard car and the V8 demon lurking at the top of the C-Class food chain. LED running lights and new...
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With the positive reception given to the very compact MINI Rocketman concept at this year’s Geneva Auto Show, MINI execs have given indications that the car will be produced sometime in the near future. “We are good at looking at history and interpreting a future for it,” MINI sales and marketing chief Kevin Robertson told...
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Mercedes-Benz is following in BMW’s footsteps and launching an online short film, dubbed an “interactive movie” to coincide with the debut of their new C-Class Coupe. While BMW’s short films featured A-List Hollywood directors and megastar Clive Owen (before he was widely known), Mercedes is taking a different approach, with the artistic side of the...
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