Used to aid performance and improve efficiency through reduced weight, carbon fiber is increasingly finding its way into modern vehicles. Holding back a more mainstream adoption of the high-tech material is its price. It should come as little surprise then that BMW isn’t too concerned, especially when it comes to spendy luxury barges like the...
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A radical Mercedes-Benz SLS patent filing has leaked, illustrating a four-door variant of AMG’s stand-alone halo car. The standard SLS AMG coupe was followed up with a SLS roadster while an AMG Black Series is expected for 2013. The natural progression for the SLS trim line-up would be a Black Series roadster, but Mercedes-Benz seems...
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Earlier this month we reported that Honda had launched a recall for 347 Accords and Crosstours subject to the possibility of side curtain airbag failure. The devices may fail to deploy at the moment of strong impact, putting passengers at a higher risk of physical harm. The failure lies in incorrect propellant used in the...
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Announcing its 2011 financial results, General Motors has reported record profits of $7.6 billion, an incredible 62 percent increase from last year. Its previous record was $6.7 billion in 1997. Annual revenue increased by 11 percent to $150.3 billion for the American automaker and its global says jumped 7.6 percent for a total of nine...
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One of the great perks of becoming an automotive journalist is the opportunity to get behind the wheel of practically any new car on the market, whether it be the latest Porsche or a Pagani Huayra. However, Tesla has chosen not to oblige. According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk during an announcement last night, no...
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When Mercedes-Benz announced the termination of its superluxury Maybach brand, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said succinctly, “It would not be sensible to develop a successor model for the current Maybach.” Now we know why. After a seven year stint of Maybach production, the marque has only sold approximately 3,000 units. What’s more, CAR had calculated that...
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When Cadillac aired its 30-second “Go To Green Hell” Super Bowl ad for the upcoming ATS sedan during the last two-minutes of the game’s last quarter, a total of 111.3 million viewers tuned in, effectively making this ad the most watched television commercial in U.S. history. Could the marketing department at GM have somehow foreseen...
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First shown in concept form a month ago at the Detroit Auto Show, Acura has revealed its new entry-level ILX sports sedan at the Chicago Auto Show today. Based on the Civic platform it certainly doesn’t look it, though it does share some very familiar powertrains. With a base 2.0-liter 4-cylinder, there’s also a 2.4-liter...
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On the eve of the Chicago Auto Show, Acura has revealed the newest addition to its lineup, the ILX. A compact premium model, it shares its chassis and powertrains with the Civic, though little else. Looking nothing like a Civic, with a sleek Acura design, it’s actually significantly larger, measuring 2-inches more end-to-end and almost...
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Posting respectable 2011 sales numbers, the quietly successful Buick Regal outsold the Audi A4, Lexus IS250 and Acura TSX last year. For 2013, the Buick Regal has received some drivetrain upgrades. First, the performance trim Buick Regal GS will receive an automatic transmission. Second, the 2013 Regal will possess eAssist technology as standard. Introducing the...
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Toyota has launched a new social media initiative with a chance for participants to win a brand new 2012 Camry for themselves and one more for a friend. The opportunity will come tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 5, during a live NBC broadcast – we’re presuming Toyota means the Super Bowl, but the oddly worded press release...
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Volvo has long been recognized for its boxiness and its Swedish sensibilities but it wasn’t always so. For February 2012, Volvo is celebrating the 30th birthday of the original 760 GLE sedan, the car that saved the Volvo Car Corporation. During 1975, automakers across the world were badly beaten by the effects of the oil...
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In a January 2012 sales conference call, Toyota division group vice president and general manager Bob Carter reported some surprising results. Recovering from its mid-2011 slump, Toyota sold 124,540 units from its Toyota, Lexus and Scion divisions. Those sales translate to a 7.5 percent increase over last January. Toyota enjoyed a 9 percent increase in sales...
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Americans are saying “yes” to the 2012 Volkswagen Passat and the German giant is responding in kind by boosting production and adding jobs. 200 more positions are being created at the Chatanooga, Tenn. plant that already manufactures the car. According to Automotive News, the company will achieve this goal by increasing the number of cars...
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Since its reveal at the Detroit Auto Show, the new 2013 Dodge Dart has received a lot of positive reactions and Dodge intends to make it even better. Based on the Italian Alfa Romeo Giulietta platform, the solid European chassis will be further finessed for sport and performance under the care of Ralph Gilles and...
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When GM sold 9.03 million vehicles globally to become the world’s largest automaker of 2011, a great deal of the American automaker’s success came down to its dominant popularity in the Chinese market. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), the best selling car in China for 2011 was the Buick Excelle. While...
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Out photographers have snapped several spy photos of the upcoming Mazda6 undergoing testing in the frozen European north. Underneath this current-generation body there’s plenty of new equipment to evaluate, from an all-new Skyactiv chassis and suspension system, right down to the engine and a start-stop system mated to an innovative regenerative braking system. The next-gen...
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Hyundai has made incredible gains in the global market, challenging larger automakers in markets they once dominated. While Volkswagen has globally sold a record number of vehicles in 2011, Hyundai Motors and its Kia affiliate have exceeded VW’s numbers in the United States. According to senior analyst of auto website Edmunds.com Jessica Caldwell, “Hyundai offers...
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What do the Porsche Panamera and Nissan Juke have in common? Answer: the ability to love them only after you’ve driven them. With styling that wouldn’t sell were it not for that Porsche badge, the German sports car maker has put its notoriously uncreative design team to work searching for a way to “modernize” the...
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According to reports, the all-new Mazda 6 will be unveiled at the upcoming 2012 Paris Auto Show. We have already seen a solid hint at the styling of the new Mazda 6, with the Takeri concept (pictured above) which the automaker revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show this past December. The new production version of...
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It seems that Volkswagen, Europe’s largest automobile manufacturer, has no intention of slowing down. Sales results for 2011 revealed a sales gain of another 14.3 percent from last year. In a single December, Volkswagen completed 650,000 deliveries. However, the most staggering statistic of all is that Volkswagen Group delivered more than 8 million vehicles for...
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With a new flagship supercar planned in the NSX Concept, Acura also unveiled a new entry-level model at the Detroit Auto Show this week. Called the ILX, it’s based on the new Honda Civic platform, but significantly modified. It also gets some distinct bodywork and three unique engine choices, including a hybrid option – the...
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Unveiled on the eve of the Detroit Auto Show, we had our first chance to run our paws over Cadillac’s new luxury sports sedan, the ATS. The car is a bold move by Caddy, which claims the ATS was built not just to compete along segment hallmarks like the BMW 3 Series, but to beat...
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Setting the new standard in the mid-size family sedan category, Ford will unveil its all-new 2013 Fusion today at the Detroit Auto Show. Unequivocally good looking and perhaps even downright sexy, the new Fusion will be available with five different powertrains, and Ford claims the car will get best-in-class fuel economy in the gas, hybrid...
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