For all the skepticism surrounding the Hyundai Equus, the Korean luxury sedan appears to be doing well, even exceeding Hyundai’s own expectations. Hyundai’s Midwestern PR head Dean Bedore gave us some insight into the success of the Equus, noting that it currently has a 5 percent market share of the luxury car segment, while Hyundai...
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The not-quite-an A6, not-quite an A8 five-door from Audi finally has a price: in America it will start at $59,250. At that price, the A7 will come with a 3.0-liter supercharged, direct-injection V6 hooked up to a Tiptronic transmission and quattro all-wheel drive. The sedan-cum-coupe-slash-hatchback will reach showrooms later this month, to confuse potential A6...
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With its Lincoln luxury brand currently facing tumultuous times, parent company Ford has created a new internal division to help bring Lincoln back up to speed, after a period where the brand lacked resources needed to compete. Ford has set aside a staff of 85 to help work on various aspects of the Lincoln brand,...
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BMW reportedly considered creating a stripped-out CSL version of its M6 luxury coupe, but ended up axing the project after the company could not justify a business case for the car. The CSL would have had an active aerodynamics package, 220 lbs stripped from the car and upgraded power levels, but BMW ended up nixing...
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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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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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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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Canada and Britain are hooking up for new collaboration that will get you talking. Canadian luxury mobile phone maker Mobiado is teaming up with Britain’s Aston Martin to launch collection of luxury mobile phones. Set to hit stores in May 2011, this is a phone that trend setters and fashionistas will want to keep their...
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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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Another one makes the cut. Add the 2012 Volvo S60 to the list of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Top Safety Pick award winners. That means it earned good performance ratings for front, side, rollover, and rear crash protection. It also comes with standard electronic stability control (ESC), which is also needed to win...
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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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What’s one simple way to extend range on the next-gen Fisker gasoline-electric powered car? Cut pork from the gasoline-engine side of the equation by using a lighter-weight, three- or four-cylinder engine. According to information leaked by very knowledgeable sources, Fisker is weighing the feasibility of a dedicated range-extended engine after the current crop of Karma models...
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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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British radio personality Tim Westwood may have bought a Cadillac Escalade, but the brand has had inconsequential sales throughout Europe for its entire life. Even GM’s poor attempt at a Euro-friendly Caddy, the ill-fated BLS sedan. The misfortunes of Cadillac hasn’t stopped GM CEO Dan Akerson, who was quoted by Autocar as saying “The only thing you...
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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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With the New York Times erecting a “pay wall” around their online section, many web enthusiasts are crying foul at the venerable paper’s decision to abandon the online modus operandi of making information free. But 200,000 of the Times’ best customers will be eligible for free access (worth about $150) thanks to Lincoln, which is...
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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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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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Who would have thought that punk icon Henry Rollins would ever end up doing voice-overs for a luxury car? Certainly not us, but while the punk days are over, Rollins is a tremendous speaker, and we’re looking forward to his work for Infiniti as the brand prepares to launch its new M Hybrid. With 360 horsepower and...
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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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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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