ma section - featured

Volkswagen has an odd situation on its hands thanks to its subsidiary Seat, who has priced its new Leon Cupra hot hatch below that of the Golf GTI on which it shares the same platform. Seat has tweaked its Leon hatch using knowledge it gained from participating in World Touring Car Championships...

How much do you like the car you drive? Would you buy the same car again? These were the two simple questions that were presented to new car buyers by the Consumer Reports National Research Center in a recent survey. For the third straight time in a row Toyota’s Prius came out on top, with...

Mitsubishi will debut its second car based on its new global platform at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, in the form of the all-new, four-door Lancer small sedan. The first car built on the global platform was the second-generation Outlander crossover, but the Lancer is much more significant as...

We’ve all seen them before, budget econo cars tricked out in flashy aftermarket accessories that are often worth more than the car itself. The worst offenders are the odd bunch who like to equip their small underpowered hatches with huge exhausts and ridiculous bodykits with go-fast stickers...

Honda has announced that it will be launching the Mugen name in the US with the planned release of a limited-edition Mugen Civic Si sedan in spring next year. Mugen is a Japanese tuning house with very close ties with Honda, and has been enhancing and racing Honda vehicles since the 1970’s...

Leading from the previous story where 6 of the top 10 worst cars on sale were from Detroit, the influential Consumer Reports magazine has found that the domestics are lagging the Japanese in numerous comparison tests, as reported by The Detroit News. The domestics fail mainly on the reliability...

According to one of its founders, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Proton will collapse unless it finds an international partner. Proton has lost significant market share to main rival Toyota, and was previously holding talks with Volkswagen. However, negotiations were said to have...

German electronics specialist Siemens has developed new braking technology in the form of the electronic wedge brake, which the company claims can dramatically reduce stopping distances of cars compared with conventional hydraulic systems. Previous attempts to improve the efficiency of braking...

The head of GM's Hummer brand has told reporters that the brand will be launching a new truck in 2009. According to Hummer’s General Manager Martin Walsh, "the new product will have unparalleled off-road capabilities, and like our current Hummers it would be recognizable from a distance."...

DaimlerChrysler has finally released details and official images of the second generation Smart Fortwo. Only available in a two-door coupe or cabriolet, the new Fortwo has grown in size and power. In order to meet strict new EuroNCAP pedestrian safety regulations, designers decided to add an extra...

The 2010 BMW Z4 has officially been revealed. Click here for all the details and images. BMW has ambitious plans for its "Z" label, with rumored plans to release more cars wearing the Z badge to join the current Z4 coupe and roadster. We’ve previously covered the possibility of a small Z2...

The usual methods of winding down the window or turning up the volume to stay awake on long journeys are mediocre at best, but a new system designed by Japanese company Denso Corporation may be the answer. It monitors drivers for drowsiness and responds by vibrating the driver’s seat and then...

BMW’s next small car will be a two-door sedan shaped version of the 1-series hatch, which is expected to appear in coupe and cabriolet variants. Unlike the recently launched 3-series convertible, the small 2 will feature a canvas soft-top and is expected to go on sale by the summer of 2007...

General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] recently announced that it was planning to build hybrid-electric cars in China by 2008, with drivetrains co-developed with DaimlerChrysler and BMW. However, the company is still fully backing hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles and has announced today that it could...

Rumors are circulating that Chrysler has decided to stop work on a replacement for the Pacifica, originally due in 2009. Auto industry sources told the Detroit Free Press that they had been told to stop work on the new car, codenamed CT, and that some were even forced to lay off workers on the...

For its 2007 model, BMW has updated the potent M5 sedan with a conventional six-speed manual transmission. The optional transmission comes at no extra cost and is exclusive to the North American market. The previous seven-speed SMG III electro-hydraulic manual unit had been largely criticized by...

Subaru feels “the market is ready” for STI versions of other cars in their range, according to Tomohiro Ishitobi, Subaru vice president of product planning, in an interview with AutoWeek. The STI brand, which stands for Subaru Tecnica International – Subaru’s motorsport...

It seems the aftermarket tuning world is too hard to resist even for Volkswagen, the company famous for “unpimping” their autos. Showing up to the mother of all aftermarket tuning conventions, SEMA, VW trotted out two highly modified versions of its Golf hatch aimed squarely at the raft...

Ford's got no shortage of potential buyers for Aston Martin, with more than 30 different parties reported to be interested in the legendary British marque. Industry experts are estimating that the increased level of interest could push the price tag up to £1 billion or roughly $1.9 billion –...

General Motors has announced today that it plans to build hybrid-electric cars in China by 2008 at one of its plants in Shanghai. GM will be working in a joint venture with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp to build a new cost effective and highly flexible hybrid system that was co-developed...