german car
2012 BMW 6-Series Coupe To Debut In Shanghai
With the 2012 BMW 6-Series Convertible already unveiled at Detroit, BMW needs to throw a bone to its markets in the far east, and will likely unveil the 2012 6-Series Coupe at the Shanghai Auto Show at the end of April. Powertrains are likely to be identical to the 6-Series Convertible, though the extra rigidity…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Audi RS3 Gets Sideways In The Snow
Audi‘s finest test drivers got to wring out the new RS3 Sportback in on some powder-strewn Canadian roads this past week, and lucky for us, they were kind enough to film the whole thing. Powered by the same 340 horsepower 5-cylinder in the TT-RS, the cost of the TT-RS will likely stop it from being…
Audi A6 Hybrid May Not Be Sold Until 2015
Audi fanboys will have the wind taken out of their sails today after Johan de Nysschen, president of Audi’s American division, told Autoweek that the car may not reach the U.S. market until 2015! No reason was given, but we can only assume that it’s far from production ready. The A6 Hybrid is apparently capable…
Porsche Looking To Double Sales Via Factories In North America, China
With Porsche sales having recovered on par with pre-recession levels in the United States, Porsche’s CEO Matthias Mueller said that the brand is looking at adding production facilities in the United States or China so that the brand can meet its target of 200,000 sales by 2018. “We will consider this year whether to start…
Lamborghini Estoque Back On Track
With Lamborghini boss Stephan Winkelmamnn desiring a third vehicle for his company’s product lineup, the Lamborghini Estoque appears to have been given the go-ahead rather than the obvious choice of an SUV. Although Lamborghini pioneered the exotic SUV segment with its outlandish LM002, the company will forge ahead with the Estoque, after Audi decided to…
UAW President Tries To Blackmail Foreign OEMs Into Organizing As UAW Survival Questioned
The United Auto Workers continued its campaign of irrelevancy as its President, Bob King, launched a series of veiled threats at foreign automakers with American plants (such as the Honda plant seen above), while simultaneously stating that the very survival of the UAW is at stake – and the organization of a foreign automaker’s plant is the…
Volkswagen CEO Wants Scirocco For USA
Volkswagen fanboys can rejoice at the news of VW of America’s CEO Jonathan Browning’s announcement that he wants to see the Scirocco sports coupe make its way to the United States. Speaking to USA Today, Browning remarked that “I’d love to … We were not able to make the case to bring it in this…
Volkswagen 1.4 TFSI Twincharged Engine Could Be Killed
Volkswagen‘s famous 1.4L twincharged engine, which uses both a supercharged and turbocharger to squeeze 170 horsepower from 1.4L, could be axed shortly due to its costliness and mechanical complexity. While the engine has garnered substantial praise from both consumers and the motoring press, Volkswagen engineers say that current turbocharging technology can achieve the same power…
BMW Megacity To Cost A Fortune Due To Advanced Technology
A report from Britain’s Autocar magazine is claiming that BMW‘s Megacity electric car will exceed the Nissan Leaf’s sticker price of £23,350 (or about $37,000 USD) due to both the advanced technology used on the Megacity and BMW‘s premium positioning. The Megacity will have a number of groundbreaking features; an aluminum chassis that will resist…
Maybach’s Future In Jeopardy, Nouveau-Riche May Be Left Without A Vehicle
The ostentatious among us may be left without a chariot, as Mercedes-Benz is apparently mulling over a plan to kill the under-performing Maybach brand. The first Maybach concept debuted in 1997, a time when the first dot-com bubble was rapidly growing, and a super-luxury car was a smart move for Mercedes. With the 180 degree…
Detroit 2011: Stolen BMW 7-Series Recovered
A BMW 750i that was stolen from BMW USA at the Detroit Auto Show was recovered by police after being stolen outside a Detroit hotel. The BMW was being used to transport executives around Detroit during the North American International Auto Show. Thieves took the car as it was being loaded onto a transport truck…
BMW X1 Delayed For U.S. Market, Canadian Launch To Proceed On Time
BMW‘s upcoming X1 crossover will be delayed by almost a year, due to extreme demand in the European market. BMW’s Leipzig, Germany plant can barely produce enough vehicles for Europe, and BMW USA has decided to delay the small crossover’s American launch until at least the fall of 2011. Canada will be getting the X1…
Detroit 2011: Mercedes-Benz SLS E-Cell; Faszination Mit Strom Und Gelb!
Thanks to Google Translate, we were able to whip up a wacky title for this article, but the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell is all business, aside from the Banana Popsicle Yellow paint. Making 525 horsepower and 649 lb-ft of torque through all 4 wheels, the SLS E-Cell will hit 60 mpg in 3.9 seconds, a couple tenths…
Detroit 2011: MINI Paceman Confirmed For Production 2013 [Video]
Having just been unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show, the MINI Paceman Concept is production ready, according to a MINI source, who told AutoGuide that 2013 is the target date for the Paceman’s launch. Before the new two-door crossover, MINI will launch the upcoming Coupe and Roadster, sportier, stripped down versions of the base car…
Detroit 2011: 2012 Volkswagen Passat Takes the Stage [Video]
Volkswagen revealed the new 2012 Passat the night before the 2011 Detroit Auto Show but we’ve now got the first live photos of the Tennessee-produced mid-sized sedan. As reported yesterday, the 2012 Volkswagen Passat will be available with three drivetrains, a 170 hp 2.5l five-cylinder engine (with five-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission, a 140…
2012 Volkswagen Passat Debuts Ahead Of Detroit Reveal
The long awaited 2012 Volkswagen Passat has finally been revealed a day ahead of its world premiere at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, looking very much like the recently released 2011 Volkswagen Jetta, sporting the same corporate face and profile in a larger package. Built at VW’s new Tennesse facility, the Passat’s 191 inche length…
