Hatchbacks

To put a little more pep in the 2018 Fiat 500 lineup's step, the Italian announced Thursday at the Chicago auto show that it is making a more powerful turbocharged engine standard equipment. The new 1.4-liter turbo-4 engine represents a 33 percent increase in horsepower over last year's non-turbo...

Cape Town, South Africa - The South African landscape is unusually parched. Late January is midsummer here, and the country is in the throes of a drought that threatens the water supply. Day Zero is April 16, about a month before the rainy season that could stave off this water crisis. It's an...

Mercedes-Benz has new ideas for the compact-luxury car class, and the 2018 A-Class is the first indication. On Friday, the luxury brand unveiled the new A-Class hatchback with a sleeker design, and an interior fitted with the brand's new MBUX infotainment system. The A-Class has grown up, and it's...

The BMW Group is in the requirements phase for its next-generation Mini family and options on the table reportedly include building the cars in China on a platform shared with Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor. Bloomberg last October reported that BMW was in talks with Great Wall over plans to...

As much as we love cars like the Ford Focus RS and Honda Civic Type R, there's no denying they lack the lightness and chuckable feeling of hot hatches from the '80s and '90s. Something like a Peugeot 205 GTI or even the first Civic Type R. There are some modern options that come close, such as the...

Who says auto shows can't surprise anymore? After releasing the details on its redesigned 2019 Veloster, Hyundai pulled a fast one on the 2018 Detroit auto show on Monday, introducing the first member of its long-awaited N performance line. The 2019 Hyundai Veloster N is the most extreme...

The Hyundai Veloster seemed like a safe bet in the automotive death pool. Here was an odd, not very useful hatchback that wasn’t very good to drive from a brand that desperately needed crossovers and SUVs. Killing it seemed like a no-brainer. Instead, it has been redesigned. The 2019 Hyundai...

The new 2019 Mini Cooper hatchback and convertible broke cover Tuesday, lifted straight from the pages of "If It Ain't Broke." Not much on the new model has changed, aside from small touches on the front bumper, Union Jack on the taillights outside, new logos, and bigger touchscreen infotainment on...

Hyundai’s Veloster is a great deal of fun for buyers on a budget. It offers agile handling, punchy performance and decent space—all for a reasonable starting price of about $18,000. Soon, a sharp-looking successor will arrive. The new Veloster is due for a debut at this month's 2018...

Mini’s third-generation Hardtop is encroaching on the midway point in its life cycle and will soon be updated to keep it looking and feeling fresh. A prototype for the updated model has just been spotted ahead of a likely debut early next year. We should see it arrive in showrooms as a 2019...

Toyota is out testing the next generation of its Corolla iM compact hatch. The vehicle is not yet confirmed for sale in the United States but elsewhere it will be marketed as either a Corolla or Auris. It’s being developed alongside the new 12th-generation Corolla sedan which is due out in...

A prototype for the next-generation Ford Focus has been spotted again, and this time it's wearing its final skin. This suggests the reveal is coming up soon. The car represents the fourth generation of the Focus nameplate and is expected on sale next fall, as a 2019 model. And this time around Ford...

You're not alone in scratching your head at the idea of a high-performance Kia, especially one that looks as good as the 2018 Stinger. One look through the spec sheet should get your attention: a choice of turbo-4 and twin-turbo V-6 engines, rear- or all-wheel drive, and an 8-speed automatic...

To Porsche enthusiasts, the Panamera may be heresy. The engine is up front instead of mounted in the middle or the rear. The Panamera debuted in 2010 and immediately became the brand's second-best selling car. Heresy be damned. Now in its second generation, the 2018 Panamera atones for some of the...

Every year at Motor Authority we drive hundreds of vehicles to tell you what's best—swank luxury sedans to hypercars that chew through miles. This year we had a wide-ranging mix including a superb Porsche Panamera, a stunning Lexus LC 500, an upstart Kia Stinger GT that we loved to drive. But...

A new generation of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class compact hatch is brewing and we have new spy shots that reveal the complete design. We also have a video showing a prototype on the move. We’ve already been treated with a preview of the design in the form of the A Sedan concept. Specifically, the...

As if the Ford Focus RS's famed "Drift Mode" isn't enough, Ford Performance used the 2017 SEMA show to reveal its next supplement to on-demand sideways action: the Drift Stick, a Ken Block-approved electronically controlled performance handbrake you can retrofit to the Focus RS. Rally cars utilize...

Volkswagen in the summer unveiled a new generation of its Polo subcompact. The most potent model is the Polo GTI with 197 horsepower on tap, but an even spicier Polo R has not been ruled out. The German automaker unveiled a prototype Polo R in 2014. The car was based on the previous-generation Polo...

Mazda on Wednesday at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show unveiled a pair of concepts that preview upcoming technologies and design themes. One of these is in the form of a compact hatch and is essentially an early look at the next-generation Mazda 3. We’ve already driven a prototype for the next-gen...

It's time to pour one out for Volkswagen's long-running two-door hatchback "coupe," the Scirocco. Volkswagen officially announced the Scirocco's demise and said it will not take additional orders for the car. Customers still seeking their own example will have to scour local European dealerships...