SUVs
Report: Mercedes Launches Lease-Only ML450 Hybrid
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Mercedes has just announced announced the ML450 Hybrid 4MATIC model is ready for purchase… sort of. The first complete product to use the two-mode hybrid system built by the joint General Motors, Daimler, BMW and Chrysler hybrid technology group will only be offered as a lease. The ML450 Hybrid will be made available for either…
Report: 2011 Volkswagen Toureg to Debut in Detroit
With a facelift back in 2008, the all-new “third-generation” Volkswagen Touareg is set to debut at the 2010 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The new SUV is expected to go on sale mid way through 2010, with a variety of powerplants being offered – including a hybrid. This will be the first gas-electric…
Report: Toyota to Race 2010 4Runner in Baja 1000
Toyota has announced that the all-new fifth-generation 2010 4Runner will compete in the grueling off-road Baja 1000 race. The truck will compete in the “Stock mini” class, meaning that it will receive minor modifications in order to compete. Toyota isn’t fooling around either and has hired Ivan “Ironman” Stewart, a 22-time Baa winner and member…
SEMA 2009: Robby Gordon to Compete in 2010 Dakar Rally in New Full Carbon H3
As a brand, Hummer’s time in the spotlight is pretty much over, although if there is something that can save the brand it might be a core group of enthusiasts and a strong motorsports background. While Hummers are best known for being excessive street machines, unlike a lot of SUVs, they are actually incredibly capable…
SEMA Preview: Two Serious Off-Road Mopar Jeeps Headed to Vegas
Two of the highlights at Chrysler’s Mopar themed SEMA booth this year will be from Jeep and both are suited to some serious off-roading. First up is the Mopar Jeep Lower Forty, which started life as a two-door Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. The gear-heads at Mopar decided to add on a set of 20-inch Mopar wheels…
Breaking: GM Sells Hummer to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong
General Motors has sold its Hummer brand of SUVs to Chinese heavy industrial machinery builder Sichuan Tengzhon. No details have been released but the sale was reportedly made for a sum of just $150 million. GM CEO Fritz Henderson had estimated in documents filed during GM’s bankruptcy proceedings that the brand could be worth as…
Report: 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee May Be Delayed Due to Parts Dispute with Daimler
Chrysler only has one product set to launch in all of 2010 and now one of its 2011 vehicles is in jeopardy. The all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee may be delayed due to a parts dispute with the company’s former owners at Daimler. Daimler was supposed to supply axles for the new Jeep SUV, but…
Report: Land Rover Confirms LRX Production Model for 2011
Land Rover has now officially confirmed that it will build an SUV based on the LRX Concept, which debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in 2008. The new model will debut in 2010 as a 2011 model and rumors have suggested it will arrive on June 17th, the 40th anniversary of…
Report: 2010 Toyota 4Runner Officially Unveiled at Texas State Fair
Toyota chose the Texas State Fair and its truck friendly audience as the venue to debut its latest 4Runner model. For 2010 this body-on-frame SUV is both wider and longer, further differentiating it from the Highlander crossover. Toyota has opted to drop the V8 engine for the new model, instead offering a 4.0-liter V6 that…
Breaking: Tata to Close One Jaguar or Land Rover Factory by 2014
Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata Motorsw says it will close either a Jaguar or Land Rover factory in England by 2014. The decision as to which of the company’s three U.K. plants will be shuddered has not yet been made, but Tata has said which two are on the chopping block. The first candidate is…
Frankfurt 2009: Hyundai Premieres New Tucson ix35
Hyundai introduced its new Tucson SUV at the Frankfurt Auto Show. The new Tucson, named the ix35 in Europe, is an example of what Hyundai calls its new “fluidic” design language with its sweeping, curved lines. Hyundai lowered the overall height of the new Tucson while still promising extra legroom and headroom. A new dual-panel…
Report: 2011 Infiniti QX SUV Spied
Thanks to a budding spy-photographer with a cell phone camera we have these images of the next Infiniti QX. Reportedly taken at a private event in the middle-east, the photos show a significantly revised look with much of the old luxury SUV’s odd proportions smoothed over. Looking a lot more like it’s Lexus LX competition,…
Leaked: 2010 Toyota 4Runner Images Hit the Web
Toyota had set September 24th as the date to officially unveil the 2010 4Runner at the Texas State Fair, but thanks to an insider over at Toyota-4Runner.org, we have these leaked images. As a true off-road capable SUV with a body on frame construction, the 2010 4Runner looks the part, with plenty of hard lines…
Report: Mansory Chopster Gets A Full Carbon Body, 710hp and Lots More
European coachbuilder Mansory continues to take its tuning to new excesses with an even more extreme version of the Chopster – a modified Porsche Cayenne Turbo S. With an almost completely carbon fiber body, including massively flared fenders there is also plenty of carbon fiber inside, with four carbon fiber sport seats. Plenty of work…
Report: VW Board Votes to Axe Porsche Panamera, Cayenne
Porsche’s new owners at Volkswagen are aiming to make some big changes at the German sport car maker, including eliminating any models that aren’t sports cars. That’s right, both the Cayenne SUV and Panamera sedan are reportedly on the chopping block, according to a recent report in the U.K.’s CAR magazine. In an article an…
Report: Mustang Tuner Steeda Goes Over the Edge
Steeda Autosports has gotten into the crossover segment with its take on the Ford Edge. Best known for its Mustang modifications, the Florida-based tuner is giving the top-selling mid-size crossover a Steeda-style makeover with the Steeda Edge Sport. The package includes an eight-piece body kit, blacked out head and tail lamps and 22-inch polished aluminum…
Report: Hummer Sale to China’s Tengzhong to Be Finalized Next Week
General Motors’ sale of its Hummer brand to China’s Tengzhong may be completed within a week. The two companies have been working on a deal for Hummer since June, and an unnamed source said to be the discussions said a deal is imminent. “Tengzhong executives have been traveling between the U.S. and China in the…
Report: 2010 Toyota 4Runner to Debut at State Fair of Texas
Toyota has announced that the State Fair of Texas will play host to the debut of the all-new 2010 4Runner. The new model promises to be “more rugged than ever,” which will help Toyota set the off-road-capable SUV apart from on-road machines like the Highlander. Once a staple of the Toyota lineup, car-based crossovers have…
Report: Land Rover LRX Hybrid to Debut Next Year
Land Rover’s smaller, fuel-efficient SUV model based on the LRX Concept, is expected to debut next year as a 2011 model. Several drivetrains will be offered including a hybrid powerplant – a first for Land Rover. The date for the unveiling is expected to be June 17th, which will mark 40 years since the original…
Report: Fords Fill Five of Top 10 Spots on Clunkers List
The four-wheel-drive Ford Explorer topped the list of clunkers traded in under the Car Allowance Rebate System. Ford vehicles appeared five times on the Cash for Clunkers top ten trade-in vehicles list released by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The four-wheel-drive Explorer was number one with the two-wheel-drive version at number four. The Ford F150…
Report: 2010 Hyundai Tucson Revealed in Korea
While the 2011 Hyundai Tucson isn’t set to officially debut until the Geneva Auto Show in March, the Korean automaker has released some details and a few photos of the new model for the Korean market. In Korea two engines will be offered, a diesel and a gasoline motor, both of which will have a…
Report: 2010 Hyundai Tucson Teasers and Renderings Released
Hyundai has just released two renderings and a teaser image of the upcoming 2010 Hyundai Tucson. We have already had a good glimpse of what the car will look like thanks to a lone spy photo, but the renderings give us an ever better idea of the car from all angles, including the large hexagonal…
Official: BMW X6 ActiveHybrid is World’s Most Powerful Hybrid With 480hp
BMW has finally made good on its promise to deliver a hybrid model… and in true BMW fashion it puts performance first. The x6 ActiveHybrid uses a the 400hp twin-turbocharged V8 engine from the X6 and combines it with two electric motors to achieve a massive 480hp and 575 ft-lbs of torque, enabling the X6…
Breaking: Buick Teases Smaller Enclave, Promises Plug-In Hybrid Model On Its Way
Buick has just released a teaser image of a new entry-level luxury crossover that will slot in underneath the Enclave. Normally word of a new model is news enough, but GM has decided to increase our expectations of its new model by announcing that it will be offered with a version of the Volt’s Voltec…
