Audi A3 TDI Clubsport To Burn Oil, Rubber
Since winning Le Mans with a diesel R10, Audi has been surprisingly shy about emphasizing diesel motorsports as part of its brand. That's starting to change;…
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BMW Commits Brand Sacrilege. Or Not.
Old fogies like me remember when BMW's GM-sourced automatic transmissions caused sturm und drang. Brand dilution! How can we Germans rely on a foreign compet…
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Renault/Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn Has a Plan! Again!
In a direct homage to Glorious Communist Plans of Stalin and Mao, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has announced his employer's latest five-year plan. The New York Ti…
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France's System U: Pas Plus D'E85!
Energy Business Review reports that French hypermarketeers System U are pulling the plug on their bio-ethanol pumps for one simple reason: no one's buying E…
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Audi's Stadler: We'll Have an Electric Car… In About Ten Years.
According to The Economic Times, your local Audi will be singing the car body electric 2018. In fact, Audi chairman of the board Rupert Stadler says he expec…
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Ford of Europe Sells 55 Mpg Focus
Chevy has its Cobalt XFE, VW its special Polo Bluemotion edition. And now Ford has joined the party, at least in Europe with a special edition Focus called E…
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Investors, Analysts: Daimler is Losing Its Way
Why did Daimler AG– already involved in aerospace, a French limousine company, synthetic fuel and (God help them) Chrysler– purchase 22 percent o…
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FIAT Buys Majority Interest in Yugo
According to Automobilwoche, FIAT signed an agreement to purchase 70 percent of Yugoslavia's Zastava in Belgrade Wednesday. This is a marriage made in Heaven…
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Opel Profit Rewarded With Investment
While GM bleeds cash at home, its overseas business continues to fare pretty well. Auto Motor und Sport reports that GM's European Opel division posted a rec…
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Brabus R230: Yes We Are Trying to Kill You
Uber-tuner Brabus announces an overpowered car you probably can't afford.
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Nissan GT-R Slower 'Round the Ring Than Pagani Zonda F. Just.
The Nissan GT-R laps the Nurburgring faster than anything-- except a Pagani Zonda F
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Subonda and Mitsazda Bullish On Production, Sales, Profits
Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Mitsubishi and Mazda all prepare for growing foreign markets
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In Soviet Holland, Airbag Cushions Pedestrians
Motor Authority reports that the Dutch Cycling Federation (their equivalent of AAA) is calling on the Dutch government and the auto industry to make extern…
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China Hearts Gas-Guzzlers
The DOT wants to raise CAFE standards even higher. To meet the new standards, automakers will have to downsize and lighten everything they offer. However, th…
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FT: Low-Cost East European Car Production is Doomed
The Financial Times says low-cost European carmakers are facing wage inflation.
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BYD Targets Europe For Hybrid Sales
Say what you want about Chrysler's new marketing slogan, at least their name isn't Build Your Dreams. Automotive News (sub) reports that the Chinese manufact…
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Hard Times Ahead For Chinese Industry
It's a testament to the roaring Chinese economy that A-listed automakers in the Middle Kingdom increased output and sales by about 22 percent but still didn'…
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Volvo Slows Production
Now that Ford has ditched… er, sold Jaguar and Land Rover they're turning their attention to their Swedish marriage from 1999. It seems that Volvo's N…
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Next Ford Focus RS to Be 4WD and 350 Hp?
The rumors around the rumor mill are that the next super-hot version of the Ford Focus – the RS – will get 4WD or AWD and 350 horsepower from a s…
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GM Excelles at Brand Dilution in China, Too
You know how awesome the GMDAT Suzuki Forenza sedan is? Unfortunately, we've never reviewed it here at TTAC, which is mostly due to our intimidation by the 1…
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Citroen Refreshes C2, Now With 53mpg
Citroen's C2, a fairly popular citycar over on the continent, has been refreshed. In addition to a new cutesy front fascia, it will now feature a 110 hp dies…
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Germany: E10 Delayed, 50% of Cars Have Technical Probs.
Germany holds off on E10 standards, 50 percent of vehicles have technical problems.
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Bertone Has Buyers
Legendary automotive atelier Bertone has fallen on hard times, having filed for for bankruptcy protection back in November. Now Automotive News tells us th…
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Four-Cylinder C-Class Coming to the U.S. Again.
By now you might have heard from Autoblog or Edmunds' Inside Line the shocking, incredible news that Mercedes is developing a blown 4-banger in the C-Class f…
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Cars Hot in India but Thailand Prefers Pickups
"It's raining cars in the Indian automobile market," says The Economic Times. Credit the increase in Indian auto sales to a four percent cut in the excise du…
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2011 Audi A3 to Feature Many Variants, Added Bulk
We've never known quite what to make of the A3. Sure, sure, it's a great car with the DSG and the AWD and the big engine, but then the price tag can bump $40…
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SEAT Unveils New Ibiza Compact
About a month ago, SEAT showed a concept car for the Geneva Auto Show, previewing the replacement for its crotchety Ibiza compact car. SEAT has unveiled (or…
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Motor Authority Speculates on the 2011 BMW 6-Series
When the E63 platformed 645i first debuted I personally had high hopes. Like all car guys, I irrationally loved the 633CSi. In my mind's eye, I pictured a le…
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Japanese Car Sales Fall To 33 Year Low
New car sales in Japan have dropped for the fifth straight year, to their lowest level since 1975. Thomson Financial (via Forbes) cites a Japan Automobile De…
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World's Ugliest Car Set to Leave Japan
Get a bunch of car journalists together and a few conversations are inevitable. Stuff like, "What's the best car ever, period?" or "What's the dumbest car yo…
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Australia Certifies Its First ZEV
CarDomain brings us the story of the Blade Runner , a battery-powered Hyundai Getz minicar which is the first vehicle recognized by Australia's Scientific a…
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Amortize This! Toyota Increases Prius Production to 450k
That, my aspiring plug-in friends (2010), is a Hell of a lot of Priora. Nikkei English News reports that Toyota's ramping (amping?) up Prius production at…
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Nissan GT-R is Hit!
With the buff books claiming the Nissan GT-R does runs of 0 – 60 in only 12 parsecs (yes, I know a parsec is a measurement of distance, Han Solo) and o…
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The Next M3 Back Down to Six Cylinders?
I've been kvetching about the overcylinderization of BMWs M cars for a while now. The first M3 had an inline four. The next two gens holstered straight sixes…
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China Launches Parts Recycling Program
With the Olympics set to thrust The People's Republic of China into the world spotlight, the dictatorship's rulers have been attacking "environmental issues.…
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After 28 Years, Mitsubishi Ends Aussie Production
The Age reports that the last of the great V8 Interceptors… Hold on, that's not it. Right. The last Australian-built Mitsubishi will roll off the lin…
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Toyota Attacks Weak Domestic Sales With Car Mall
The AP reports that Toyota is tackling slow Japanese sales with a new, 200-store and restaurant, auto-themed mall. The Tressa mall in Yokohama features car-s…
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Fiat Eyes Detroit Partnership
Fiat has been talking-up a stateside launch for Alfa Romeo, and even suggested manufacturing in the US or Mexico. Now Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne tells the Fi…
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World's Tallest Man Gets A ZAZ
When you gotta drive, you gotta drive. Unless you're Leonid Stadnyk, the world's tallest man. In that case you're eight feet five inches tall, still growing…
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Cheney: Saudis "Kept Their Word" On Oil Production
VP Dick Cheney may have been a little off on WMD, but oil is his thang. So when, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, Dick assured us that our friends the…
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Audi Announces New Engine for the U.S.
For the second time in a week (clock analogy again), Bob Lutz made an accurate prediction. GM's Car Czar told journalists he'd like to put a 200 horse turboc…
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Triumph Of The (Unfree) Market
We Americans like to think that much of our industrial and economic success is a result of a free market and private ownership. Russia's experience with unbr…
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Hyundai To Mass-Produce Hybrids
With Toyota set to begin selling hybrids in South Korea this year, Hyundai is fighting back by announcing it will begin mass-producing its own hybrids. Donga…
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GM Announce Joint Project For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Uzbekistan
MarketWatch reports that GM is going to business with Uzbekistan's state-owned automaker Uzavtosanoat (pronunciation anyone?). GM VP Eric Stevens said the n…
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Porsche, VW PreNup Wrangling Continues
Forbes reports that the latest showdown pits Porsche against the German state of Lower Saxony, which holds just over 20 percent of VW stock and is determi…
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Land Rover LRX To Go Into Production
Land Rover has announced that its LRX concept "cute ute" will be available in showrooms sometime in 2010. Auto Express tells us (over the sounds of retching…
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Hyundai To Launch Luxury Brand; Ridiculous Name to Follow
Hyundai sales executive Young-Key Koo revealed to China Daily (via MotorAuthority) that the Korean carmaker will be spinning off a new luxury brand. The new…
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Aston Martin Flirts With Daimler
Der Spiegel reports that Aston Martin Boss Ulrich Bez met with Daimler's Dr Z last week, and both came away talking relationship. The two met to discuss the…
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And Now… Maybach Deathwatch?
Daimler's Man in the Iron Mustache, Dr. Dieter Zetsche, told The Car Connection that Maybach may go the way of the Oldsmobile within the next two years. Zets…
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Honda Investing $500m in Micro Car Production
Honda's stepping-up their investment in their smallest Japanese models. Although Kei cars are virtually unknown to Americans, they account for a huge segment…
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Aussies Hail Holden's Export Success; GM Loses Money
The forthcoming introduction of GM's Pontiac G8 GXP and ST (Sport Truck to those of us who would prefer they just call it the El Camino) at the New York Auto…
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