Hatchbacks

  • Ford’s next-gen Fiesta could be badged Verve

    To emphasize its global ambitions for the next-gen Fiesta compact, Ford is considering dropping the longstanding nameplate in favor of the new Verve label. Due to hit the streets towards the end of next year, Ford’s replacement for the Fiesta will be displayed in concept form at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show. The new concept, also called the Verve, is in fact the first of three new concept cars previewing a future hatch that’ll be sold in Europe, Asia and North America. Ford execs in Europe are believed to be backing the name change, reports BuinessCar. However, Blue Oval CEO...

  • VW: No Golf R36 in production
    VW: No Golf R36 in production

    Volkswagen’s Golf performance range has been hugely successful for the company, but rumors that they're planning to expand it to include a top-of-the-line R36 model with a 3.6L V6 engine are unfounded. That’s the claim made by a VW spokesman, who said the Golf R32 is perfectly placed...

  • Kia releases more info on pro_cee’d hatch
    Kia releases more info on pro_cee’d hatch

    Kia’s latest offering for the style-conscious Euro market is the new pro_cee’d hatch, which will debut at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show before going on sale early next year. The new pro_cee’d sits lower than its five-door sibling, making it the sportier of the two...

  • Peugeot 308 SW Prologue
    Peugeot 308 SW Prologue

    Peugeot will unveil the 308 SW Prologue concept car at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, previewing a possible production version of the wagon due early next year. We call it a concept because the new model is yet to be given the green light and will only be produced given the level of...

  • Volvo presents ultra-efficient C30 hatch and Powershift dual-clutch gearbox
    Volvo presents ultra-efficient C30 hatch and Powershift dual-clutch gearbox

    Joining its new focus on biofuel and hybrid technology, Volvo will be introducing a series of new fuel-saving and emissions reducing technologies in several of its models for the 2008 model year. The first of these will debut in the Volvo C30 Efficiency that will make an appearance at next...

  • Is Porsche developing the ultimate hot hatch?
    Is Porsche developing the ultimate hot hatch?

    Rumors of Porsche’s Golf-sized hatch first emerged back in May of this year but since then the car’s existence has been overshadowed by talk of a new mini-SUV model. Porsche boss Wendelin Wiedeking firmly said no to the idea of a smaller SUV, no doubt due to the impact looming...

  • Base Audi A3 gets new turbo engine

    Audi’s cheapest A3 comes with a 1.6L engine but this is soon to be replaced by an even smaller 1.4L model fitted with a turbocharger. Despite the smaller capacity, the 1.4L TFSI delivers 125hp and 200Nm of torque (respectively 10hp and 45Nm more than the outgoing engine). With the updated engine, the A3 now hits 100km/h in 9.6s – still relatively tardy but a one second boost over the old model. Top speed is 126mph but the A3 will still get 36.5mpg (US figures). The Volkswagen Group has been pushing its forced induction engine strategy of late with multiple turbo models found in...

  • VW to introduce Golf BlueMotion at Frankfurt
    VW to introduce Golf BlueMotion at Frankfurt

    Volkswagen will be using next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show to debut the first BlueMotion version of its popular Golf hatch, which will star alongside five other BlueMotion cars planned for the show. BlueMotion is VW’s title for its ultra-efficient diesel range, which combines not only a...

  • Updated Volkswagen Golf Mark VI preview
    Updated Volkswagen Golf Mark VI preview

    Click here for all the official information and pictures for the 2009 Volkswagen Golf Mark VI Following last month’s spotting of the next-gen Volkswagen Golf testing in California’s Death Valley, new, more accurate renderings of the car have been created that includes new details taken...

  • Renault planning 7 debuts for Frankfurt
    Renault planning 7 debuts for Frankfurt

    Renault will unveil five new production cars and two concepts at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show including the debut of the first-ever estate version of the Clio hatch. Picking up the Clio Sport Tourer moniker, the new wagon measures 4.2m in length and offers a total of 439L of storage...

  • More details on the Kia Pro-cee’d hatch
    More details on the Kia Pro-cee’d hatch

    Kia has released a second image of its upcoming Pro-cee’d, which is set for its world debut at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show. The new three-door hatch will be joining the cee’d five-door and the soon to be released cee’d wagon models in the European market and was...

  • Preview: 2010 Audi A3
    Preview: 2010 Audi A3

    Audi has pushed back the arrival of its next-gen A3 by one year as it tackles the launch of several all-new models such as the new Q5 SUV and A2 minicar. Originally slated to arrive in ’09, the next A3 will now hit the market in 2010, initially in a three-door bodystyle. Subsequent models...

  • Alfa Romeo 147 Sportiva, Blackline and Collezione

    As a last hurrah before the all-new 149 arrives, Alfa Romeo is offering several special editions of its current 147 with the new Sportiva, Blackline and Collezione lines for the 2008 model year. Based on the standard 147, the new Sportiva gets 17in alloys, a sports tuned chassis, leather steering wheel, and a sportier bodykit with foglights integrated into the front bumper. Pictured in this thumb is the Blackline edition, which comes with a painted black roof, larger 18in alloys, aluminum side mirrors, a tail spoiler and blacked out brake discs. The Collezione, meanwhile, gets 17in wheels and...

  • Fiat launches new Grande Punto T-Jet
    Fiat launches new Grande Punto T-Jet

    Fiat has added the T-Jet 120 Sporting to the Grande Punto range to satisfy performance buffs until the sporty Abarth version arrives on the market early next year. The biggest change for the new model is the adoption of the new turbocharged T-Jet petrol engine that debuted in the larger Bravo hatch...

  • JDM Toyota Corolla gets 280HP V6
    JDM Toyota Corolla gets 280HP V6

    Toyota has released a hotted up version of the Japanese domestic market Blade hatch featuring a 3.5L V6 engine with 280hp (206kW) and 345Nm (254lb-ft) of torque. The Blade is sold in Europe as the Auris and in other markets as the Corolla, and it’s expected that these markets will also get...

  • Spy Shots: 2008 MG3
    Spy Shots: 2008 MG3

    MG under the guidance of China’s Nanjing has developed a new hatchback model based on the original Rover 25 that was sold up until 2005. When MG and Rover were split, Nanjing Auto managed to scoop up the tooling for the car and as evidenced by these latest spy shots a new MG3 has already...

  • Subaru introduces visual changes to new Impreza
    Subaru introduces visual changes to new Impreza

    There’s no denying the new Impreza has been a failure for Subaru even before it’s gone on sale. The industry was expecting a new model that would allow Subaru to step up and reposition its brand as affordable Japanese luxury but what we got was a car that is so derivative it could well...

  • Official specs for Mini’s new Clubman
    Official specs for Mini’s new Clubman

    Updated with full gallery after the jump. BMW officials have finally released details for the new Mini Clubman stretch, less than two years after it was first displayed as a concept car. A longer wheelbase, vertically-split tailgate and a single suicide-style rear-opening door on the...

  • Review: Fiat 500 1.3L Multijet

    Like the new Volkswagen Beetle and BMW Mini currently on sale, Fiat’s new 500 minicar has been designed to reignite the nostalgia and the glory days of carefree motoring in Europe during the 1950s and ‘60s. Marking the 50th anniversary of the launch of the original 500 ‘Cinquecento,’ the new 500 offers the same shapely bubble car appearance and sticks to the basic formula of a low-cost town car with plenty of character. For those readers not old enough to remember, the 500 harks back to the days of post war Italy’s ‘motorization for the masses’ when a...

  • Kia reveals three-door Pro-cee’d hatch
    Kia reveals three-door Pro-cee’d hatch

    Kia has released the first preview image of its upcoming three-door hatchback model, which will make its world debut at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show. The new hatch will pick up the name Pro-cee’d. Based on the almost identical concept car displayed at last year’s Paris Show...

  • Preview: Fiat 500 Giardinetta wagon
    Preview: Fiat 500 Giardinetta wagon

    The Fiat 500 minicar only made its debut this month but there’s already talk of additional variants being developed including a new long wheelbase ‘Giardinetta’ version similar to Mini’s new Clubman. Already confirmed for production are the cabriolet soft-top and performance...

  • Fiat's new ‘Cinquecento’ 500 arrives
    Fiat's new ‘Cinquecento’ 500 arrives

    Last night in Turin, Fiat unveiled its all new 500 minicar with more than 7,000 guests tuning up including thousands of dealers and international motoring journalists. The original 500 minicar was launched exactly fifty years ago, and the latest model is expected to live up to the original's...

  • Mazda2 MPS in the works
    Mazda2 MPS in the works

    Mazda’s new MPS (Mazdaspeed) range offer performance levels comparable with much more expensive cars and has quickly become the bang for your buck standard in many segments. Now the range is set to expand with the latest addition to be based on the recently launched Mazda2 hatch. The car is...

  • Toyota reveals new Auris/Corolla three-door
    Toyota reveals new Auris/Corolla three-door

    Toyota’s new three-door Auris hatchback has been launched in Europe, a car that will eventually be sold in other markets as the Corolla hatch. The three-door model offers similar levels of interior space to the five-door thanks to the identical 2.6m wheelbase, and comes standard with...

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