Car News

Last November Volkswagen unveiled a thinly disguised 'concept' of the new Mark VI Golf GTI, one of the most acclaimed hot hatches on the market, and in late January the first images of the actual production version hit the web. Following the success of the Mark V model, there were high expectations...

Love them or hate them, tuners are here to stay, and sometimes they even manage to improve the cars they tackle. Take the new JMS VW Scirocco for example. Though they recognize the difficulty in improving on a dramatically styled new car like the Scirocco, they've managed to make some basic changes...

What do you get when you combine a MINI Cooper S Clubman with a renowned furniture design company? An Airstream trailer concept, of course. Well, maybe the result isn't so obvious, but that's exactly what will be on display at the Salone del Mobile in Milan this April. The Republic of Fritz Hansen...

Hydrogen fuel is often derided as an impractical and inefficient solution - and for the most part, the critics are right. But BMW is forging ahead with its hydrogen-burning cars, today announcing a technological development that has raised thermal efficiency to 42% - one percent greater than...

Th!nk's financial saga has seen it bounce from owner to owner, into bankruptcy and back out, and now it's looking for government aid, but still its vehicles and ideas are inspiring people. The FROST design study, for instance, was penned by a Norwegian design student as a Th!nk concept, intended to...

Earlier this week a report emerged naming Buick the new gateway for Opel’s European models into the U.S. now that the future of Saturn is looking grim. The star in Opel’s crown, the 2009 Insignia sedan, is already on sale in Chinese markets as the Buick Regal but an insider at General...

Audi’s motorsport division first announced plans in August last year to launch a 500hp-plus (373kW) version of the V10-powered R8 for use in the 2009 GT3 racing series. The first of these high-performance race cars has now finally been released, with Audi Sport Italia taking delivery on...

General Motors and Chrysler have told authorities in Canada they need as much as $8 billion in aid to stay afloat, more than double the original amount requested just three months ago, and in the latest twist Chrysler has threatened to pull out its operations if it does not receive the funds. The...

Ford of Europe will be expanding its flex-fuel vehicle range with the addition of a new variant of the Mondeo capable of running on three different types of fuel. Scheduled to make its debut later this month at the Leipzig Motor Show, the new tri-fuel Mondeo will be able to use petrol, ethanol, or...

Noted for its sleek, stylish and almost stealthy modifications of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, Kicherer occupies a special place in the German tuner scene. Apparently that place is very special, because it has released a new E-Class tuning program before the car has even been delivered to dealerships...

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been popping up in auto headlines a lot lately, most recently when he made a surprise visit to the Geneva auto show on last week. Schwarzenegger is back in the headlines, this time following a promotional event where he was able to test drive the unique...

About two years ago a Texas-based custom car manufacturer by the name of Unique Performance was found to be guilty of ‘title washing’ their cars, which eventually saw the owners of the operation arrested and charged and the business shutdown. Unfortunately for the scores of customers...

Ever since Mansory acquired the former Porsche performance division of Swiss design firm Rinspeed, the Bavarian tuner has been releasing a slew of new models based around Porsche’s various models. Last week’s Geneva Motor Show saw several of the beasts unveiled, including the...

Taking care of its retirees is one of the things the American auto industry prides itself on, and for good reason. But it's also one of the things that are making it hard to compete with foreign carmakers - the expenses are getting out of control. To help keep both Ford and the UAW operating in the...

In the future, no one will ever leave their homes. Work, play, business - it will all be done remotely. Or at least that's what it's beginning to seem like. So-called 'telepresence' is one of the buzzwords in the burgeoning robotics industry, but carmakers like Honda are leapfrogging the system...

General Motors, like a lot of other carmakers, is having a tough time lately - some might say tougher than most. Opel, GM's German subsidiary, and Vauxhall, Opel's UK-based doppelganger, are taking it on the chin as well. Today German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the government would be...

What makes a hand-built car so different from a standard robot-assembled production line car? Some might say it's attention to detail, but the scanning cameras and computer software of a modern assembly line might disagree. In truth, it's craftsmanship, and nothing illustrates that better than a...

No stone is being left unturned in carmakers' hunt for more and better safety technology, and Toyota is often at or near the forefront of that search. Today the company has released a new system: the world's first rear-seat center airbag. Designed to protect occupants in a side-impact from...

The American tuning scene is rapidly expanding to the point where some firms, like Ohio’s Switzer Performance and now Arizona’s Evolution Motorsports (EVOMS), are modifying German cars to the same extent, if not more, than tuners in Germany itself. Switzer has released a number of kits...

Small-scale German manufacturer Bitter is known for making its own breed of custom cars based on vehicles from the General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] stable. The company made a comeback last year with the release of the Vero saloon, which is based on the Aussie-made Holden Statesman and is sold in...