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Though overall sales figures have slumped through the end of 2008 and start of 2009, there are occasional bright patches of news as carmakers grab market share from long-time competitors or reach individual sales records. Audi has done just that, beating BMW's 3-series and Mercedes-Benz's C-Class in its home market for the year. The rivalry between Audi and its German colleagues is deep, and though the brand doesn't sell as well in the U.S. in relation to BMW and Mercedes, its success in its home market serves to prove how fierce the competition is. Audi sold 98,714 A4s in Germany in 2008...
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Toyota confirms 2012 U.S. launch for electric vehicles
Toyota used last week’s Detroit Auto Show to unveil its new FT-EV concept, a compact urban runabout based on the iQ minicar and powered by an all-electric drivetrain. The carmaker also used the Detroit event to announce plans to launch an urban commuter ‘battery-electric vehicle’...
Alex Kaufmann -
Report: Audi working on five new ecological models
Audi currently has a range of models that carry a lower case ‘e’ as part of their title to denote their fuel-efficiency prowess, but a new report has revealed the carmaker is planning a new family of eco-friendly vehicles, codenamed E1 to E5 and spanning everything from minicars to...
Kenneth Hall -
ASMA releases 'Perfectus' Mercedes-McLaren SLR
Production of the Mercedes-McLaren SLR supercar may soon be coming to an end but that appears to have no affect on the number of modified versions of the car being released by the world’s big-name aftermarket tuners. Late last year we saw the introduction of the Hamann Volcano, and then on...
Alex Kaufmann -
Saleen reveals SMS 570 Dodge Challenger
American performance carmaker Saleen and its new SMS supercar offshoot has finally revealed its first official product, the Signature Series performance line based on the 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T. The lineup will consist of two new vehicles, the SMS 570 and SMS 570X Challengers, both fully...
Ralph Hanson -
Renntech declares 'Horsepower War' ongoing with new SLR 777
Mercedes-Benz's AMG arm has declared the horsepower war over two years in a row, all the while continuing to turn out new and improved - and more powerful - cars. Renntech has taken its cues from the spirit, if not the letter, of AMG's announcements with its latest modification, boosting the SLR...
Alex Kaufmann -
Europe's Office for Harmonization of the Internal Market (OHIM) maintains a trademark database that helps to ensure a minimum of conflict and easy filing for claims. That same database also lets slip basic sketches of car designs before their official unveiling on a regular basis, and this time the Nissan 370Z Roadster gets its unofficial debut. Though the simple line drawings reveal nothing in terms of materials, the key details of profile, function and outline are all present. The last-generation 350Z Roadster was often criticized for its top-up looks, with a soft top that looked like a...
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Honda announces new round of job and production cuts
Slumping sales and surplus supply are old hat by now, but the ongoing effects of the poor economy mean carmakers must continue to adjust their capacity and output to remain viable. Honda's readjustment, like its American counterparts, is unfinished, and today it revealed another 3,100 temporary...
Kenneth Hall -
Video: Cobra Venom V8 design study
The latest concept creation of budding automotive designer Jamie Martin is the modern Cobra Venom V8 based on the original AC Shelby Cobra. In fact, the design depicts a possible successor to the original 1960 Cobra and if built would be powered by a Ford V8 engine. This new video rendering of the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
McLaren reveals MP4-24 2009 F1 race car, Dennis to step down
After one of the closest finishes imaginable to the 2008 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, won by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes on the final lap, by a single point, the 2009 season's challenges have the potential to truly shake things up. Mercedes, on the other hand, is working to keep things the same...
Nelson Ireson -
Parajet Skycar Sets Off On London-Timbuktu Expedition
A U.K. company with a flying car prototype announced late last year that it would undertake an epic journey south from London across the Straits of Gibraltar and then the Sahara Desert to Timbuktu, in Mali. Today the journey got underway as the car drove off toward its final destination. The...
Nelson Ireson -
Hamann Tycoon BMW X6 widebody kit
Late in 2008 Hamann revealed its plans for the BMW X6, including a range of performance and appearance upgrades. Today the tuning house expands that range with a new Tycoon widebody kit for the 'sports activity coupe'. Building on the foundation of Hamann's earlier X6 modificaitions, including...
Alex Kaufmann -
The silly season is drawing to an end and the teams behind the cars that will contest the 2009 Formula 1 race season are gearing up for the start of what promises to be a unique year. Among the first to show off their new candidate for the World Championship is Toyota, today revealing the TF109 race car. Building a race car from the ground up is a tough enough challenge, and despite Toyota's growing expertise in Formula 1, 2009 is set to be even tougher than usual. The FIA has decided to change the rules for the upcoming season, and one of the biggest differences is the inclusion of KERS...
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Russia’s Sollers seeking rights to SsangYong vehicles
Despite the attractive new C200 crossover concept debuted at last year's Paris Motor Show, the successful Rexton production SUV and the new-for-2008 Chairman W luxury sedan, South Korea's SsangYong has revealed that it is entering court receivership to avoid being forced into bankruptcy. The global...
Nelson Ireson -
Ferrari F430 carbon wheel package by Miami’s 360 Forged
The number of high-end performance tuning coming out of Florida appears to have no bound, with Miami’s 360 Forged being the latest to join a growing list that includes the likes Renntech and Mosler Automotive just to name a few. Unlike some of the more established firms, 360 Forged is focused...
James Martinez -
2009 Detroit Auto Show winners and losers
In the midst of one of the toughest years the car industry has had to face and government loan programs getting underway, the 2009 Detroit Auto Show was set to be a touchy dance with public sentiment. In the end the expectations proved true, and the restrained and carefully orchestrated displays...
Ralph Hanson -
Chrysler's LaSorda denies sale of brands
One of the biggest criticisms for struggling Detroit carmakers General Motors and Chrysler is the number of brands they have under the one roof and the associated problem of selling models that often compete with one another in the same segments. In its efforts to secure its share of a federal...
Ralph Hanson -
Barack Obama's Cadillac presidential limo revealed
With president-elect Barack Obama soon to be sworn in as the nation’s leader, a new presidential limousine was in call for and once again General Motors was assigned the task of building it. Nicknamed ‘The Beast’, the limo is based on a number of GM platforms and shares components...
Ralph Hanson -
Famous Japanese tuner Mine’s first showed off its modified Nissan GT-R as far back as December 2007, and since that time the performance workshop has had plenty of time to develop new parts and accessories to make the car perform even better than before. Mine’s previous R35 GT-R proved to be faster around the track than a Lamborghini Gallardo, as well as the firm’s previous R34 GT-R model. The tuner’s latest work includes a brand new aero package, which includes of a full bodykit plus several additional carbon-fiber accessories. These include pieces such as a...
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Volkswagen sues California Lamborghini dealer for theft of $12 million in cars
Volkswagen has filed a lawsuit against Lamborghini Orange County for what it terms 'outright theft' of $12 million worth of Lamborghini vehicles. The dealership, owned by Vik Keuylian and his sisters Asdghig, Nora and Sossi, hasn't yet responded publicly to the accusations. The suit stems from the...
Nelson Ireson -
Seat trials Leon 'Twin Drive' plug-in hybrid
Seat has unveiled an electrically-driven prototype based on its Leon hatchback, which the company plans to trial in an urban environment together with the Spanish government. The technology behind the new prototype is Volkswagen Group’s Twin Drive plug-in hybrid powertrain, which was first...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Spy shots: 2011 Ford C-Max test-mule
The current Ford C-Max was first launched in Europe back in 2003 and was treated with a mild facelift last year as part of its mid-cycle upgrade. New test-mules of the C-Max spotted in Germany suggest that Ford is already conducting public road-tests of the next-generation model due sometime in...
Alex Kaufmann -
Johnson Controls re3 Concept offers early look at future small car design
Engineering firm Johnson Controls has unveiled a new concept at this year’s Detroit Auto Show that is described as a preview of technologies we can expect to see in future small cars. Combining intelligent packaging solutions with sustainable motoring concepts, the compact show car is one of...
James Martinez -
More details on Power Enterprise’s quad-charged Nissan GT-R
The Nissan GT-R has been called a supercar-killer for its astonishing performance in spite of what have classically been seen as huge barriers: its heavy weight, low cost and non-exotic origins. However, regardless of how one comes out on the 'supercar/non supercar' debate, the sheer impressiveness...
Kenneth Hall