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2012 Fiat 500 Buyers “Have No Interest” In Manual Transmission, Want “No-Haggle” Pricing
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Fiat is hoping to eliminate haggling from the buying experience of the new 500 small car, in what the company claims is a bid to eliminate a stressful process for younger buyers. Speaking to Automotive News, Fiat USA head Laura Sove stated that “The pricing is the pricing.” “The younger generation doesn’t haggle. They don’t…
Skoda To Get Minicar Based On Volkswagen Up
Volkswagen is planning to spread the platform love with its new Up city car, with Czech subsidiary Skoda being the first VW division to get the tiny car, with a SEAT-branded version to follow. Packaged as a three-door five-seater, a 1.0L gasoline engine and a 1.2L diesel engine will be offered, with an all-electric version…
Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback To Debut In Geneva
With hatchbacks playing a significant role in auto markets outside North America, the Chevrolet Cruze hatchback will bow at this year’s Geneva Auto Show, where Chevrolet will try and further its push into the European market with a well-targeted product like the 5-door Cruze. While Chevrolet showed a concept version at the Paris Auto Show…
Nissan Surpasses Honda In Global Sales
Nissan has traditionally played second fiddle to Honda in terms of sales figures, but the company’s strong numbers in China, combined with Honda’s declining fortunes have helped Nissan surpass Honda. Nissan moved 4.08 million units in 2010, with Honda only pushing 3.56 million. Although Honda’s sales were up by 5 percent, it did little to…
Alfa Romeo, Jeep To Build 280,000 SUVs Per Year In Italy
As part of the new joint venture between Fiat and Chrysler, the two companies will build 280,000 SUVs a year at the new Fiat facility near Turin, Italy. The SUVs will be produced for the Alfa Romeo and Jeep brands. The Alfa SUV, the first for the 101-year-old sports car maker, will compete with offering…
Lincoln Dealers Won’t See New Product At Meetings With Ford Execs
With 200 of Lincoln‘s 1200 dealers staring down a possible termination of their franchise, an upcoming dealer meeting will provide little comfort to retailers of Ford’s luxury brand, as the Blue Oval will not share upcoming product details with Lincoln’s sales force. Even though Ford is aggressively targeting Lincoln dealers with a demand for a…
Cadillac CTS-V Coupe Race Car At Sebring [Video Inside]
After bringing you pictures of the Cadillac CTS-V Race Car tearing up Sebring Raceway in Florida, we finally have some video to show you. The images are cool, but what you’re really after is the noise from the LSA V8 engine at full blast, sans catalytic converters or mufflers. In case the 60 second video…
2012 Fiat 500 Misses The 40 MPG Mark
The Fiat 500 just missed the now coveted 40 mpg mark, returning 30 mpg in the city and 38 mpg highway with the 5-speed manual, while automatic versions will net 27 mpg in town and 34 mpg while cruising. While the numbers are nothing to frown about, expectations were higher considering the car’s 1.4L four-cylinder…
Mercedes-Benz To Launch Entry-Level Lineup, Including, SUV, Coupe, Shooting Brake
Mercedes-Benz will launch a new front-drive model for the United States market, aimed at capturing sales from a younger demographic, as the company seeks to stay competitive with rivals BMW and Audi. A coupe and SUV have been confirmed for an expected 2013 launch, while a third variant is under considering. Mercedes is evaluating both…
Car and Driver, Road & Track, Sold To Hearst Publishing For $889 Million
Two mainstays of the buff book world have been sold as part of a package deal, after their parent company, French publishing giant Lagardere, dumped a variety of print properties, including Car and Driver as well as Road & Track. In a shedding of properties that Lagardere no long deems “strategic”, the two magazines, as…
Audi TT-RS To Debut At Canadian International Auto Show
Audi has been busy courting Canadian media outlets with some of their hottest product. Sympatico Autos, a popular portal in the Great White North, was given exclusive drives of the A1 Quattro, RS3 and (earlier in the year) TT-RS. Given the penchant for smaller (and premium) cars north of the 49th parallel, we understand the…
Volkswagen Golf MKVII To Bow In 2013
Although the current MKVI Volkswagen Golf has only been on the market since 2009, the car will have an extremely short product cycle, as Volkswagen confirmed that the next generation car will debut “end of 2012 or early 2013”. Although German media reports said that the car will hit showrooms in November of 2012, VW…
Volkswagen Engine Plant Coming To Mexico, Will Supply North American Market
Volkswagen broke ground on a new engine plant in Puebla, Mexico, which is expected to come online in 2013. The $550 million plant is expected to supply engines to vehicles built at Volkswagen facilities in Mexico and Chattanooga, Tennesse. An estimated 700 jobs will be created at the plant, along with auxiliary jobs for parts suppliers….
Daimler Employees Get A Bonus For Company’s 125th Anniversary
If you work for the Daimler corporation, you’re about to get a nice bonus from the company for doing absolutely nothing. As part of their 125th anniversary celebrations, all 260,000 employees of Mercedes-Benz‘s parent company will be getting a bonus to celebrate the milestone, with the total amount estimated at 100 million euros. The average…
Chevrolet Caprice Gets Put Through Its Paces, Looking Good In Civilian Trim
While the Chevrolet Caprice is reserved for police vehicle fleets only, there have been some rumors about a civilian version making its way to showrooms for public consumption, and the latest videos showing footage of a police evaluation event only seem to further that. Previous shots of the Caprice have either shown it in full…
BMW Prepares For 4-Cylinder Onslaught
BMW has always been known for their trademark inline-6 engines, but the recent industry-wide trend of downsizing has led to BMW adopting turbocharged four-cylinder engines as an alternative to smaller, naturally aspirated I6 engines in the name of efficiency. First to get the turbo-4 treatment is the X1 small crossover, although Jim O’Donnell, head of…
Ayrton Senna Documentary Gets Sundance Screening
Of all the highly touted films screening at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, the one we want to see most is Senna, a documentary on the life of three time Formula 1 world Champion Ayrton Senna. Assembled entirely from previously unseen archival footage from Senna’s career (spanning from his youth karting days…
MINI Countryman May Get WRC Inspired Street Car
With a huge gulf existing between the road-going version of the MINI Countryman and the WRC-ready version, a halo version that could bridge the gap between urban crossover and full-blown race car could be an asset for MINI, and help them leverage some of the image boost that their rally program will provide, especially in…
2012 Mercedes C63 AMG Gets New Transmission, Styling
The Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG will get some significant tweaks for 2012, with an official debut at March’s Geneva Auto Show. Arrving this summer as a 2012 model, the biggest news is the addition of Mercedes’ 7-speed MCT gearbox, used in the SL63 and other top-tier AMG cars previously. While the C63 makes 451 horsepower and…
Ridley And Tony Scott To Produce 1960’s Period Drama About Le Mans
With Mad Men setting off a slew of imitators producing 1960’s period pieces on network television, Ridley and Tony Scott, the two brothers collectively responsible for works like Top Gun and Gladiator, are apparently forging ahead with plans for a movie set in the 1960s, but with a motor racing theme. “I grew up in…
BMW Driving School Teaches You Defensive Driving At Former Soviet Airbase
Some driving schools teach you the rules of the road. Others show you how to get the most out of your car while driving at the limit on a closed circuit. A rarefied few, like BMW‘s facility in the former East Germany, can show you how to get away with life and limb intact should you ever…
Volvo To Cut Lineup In Hopes Of Boosting Sales, V50 Slated To Die
Volvo will reduce the number of models sold in the United States as part of their effort to bump up sales. While Volvo currently sells nine models in the United States, three of them are expected to be cut. The first victim is expected to be the V50 wagon, a car well regarded by the…
Volkswagen May Offer European Jetta In North America If Sales Are Strong
Volkswagen‘s newest Jetta was designed to be a volume leader, selling for about $15,000. But Volkswagen loyalists, who previously loved the Jetta for its premium feel and sporty character, have decried what they see as a cheapening of their beloved compact sedan, and Volkswagen seems to be listening. After driving a European market Jetta, with…
NHTSA Investigating 2010 Ford Fusion For Defective Wheel Studs
NHTSA is beggining an investigation into the 2010 Ford Fusion, after recieving complaints of cracking wheel studs on the popular family sedan. Over 280,000 vehicles may be affected by the problem. Wheel studs hold the wheel in place on the vehicle, and a failure could be catastrophic. Interestingly, NHTSA claimed that “Three complaint vehicles belong…
