Put Cadillac's 556-horsepower supercharged V8 into just about anything and chances are we'll like it -but Inside Line Senior Editor Ed Helwig tells us that it's really in the details.
The 2012 Ford Focus, which Ford is unveiling in five-door hatchback and four-door sedan versions at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, isn't the first time that the company has tried to design one "world car" for all its major markets.The "world car" has been to international automakers what low-fat donuts are to lovers of regular donuts — the impossible dream. So we've been down this road with Ford before with cars like the Contour and the old Fiesta. Hell, even the Model T was something of a world ca...
Keeping a lid on details about the 2011 Ford Mustang GT's new 5.0-liter V8 is proving futile for Ford thanks to the magic of the internet. For instance, we now know that the five-oh V8's 412 horsepower come in at 6,500 rpm. And the torque rating is 390 pound-feet -- up from a mere 325 on the 2010 Mustang GT.
With the introduction of its Detroit-show E-tron concept, Audi has taken the lead in electric-powered, chrome-wheeled sports cars. The company is already on its second-generation E-tron since last fall's Frankfurt show.
Because small things are not as good or large as large things, the new 2011 Audi A8 is longer, wider and taller than the 2004-'10 model. And not coincidentally, it's also a little bigger than the standard-wheelbase versions of the BMW 7 Series and Lexus LS. Plus it's not much smaller than the long-wheelbase luxo-barges. Plus it'll roll on wheels up to 21 inches across.
Fiat unveiled the 500 BEV — which stands for battery-electric vehicle — at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, and insiders say the vehicle is planned for sale in the U.S. in 2011. Gasoline-engined versions of the 500 are slated for production in Mexico and should begin reaching U.S. Chrysler dealers in late 2010 or early 2011.
The list of electric vehicles bound for the 2010 Detroit Auto Show grew on Thursday with word that the battery-electric Volvo C30 has been tweaked and will make an appearance in the Motor City. Volvo had announced the car last September but now says the new version "is a much more complete product." "The new battery-electric C30 features a complete interior and full instrumentation, as well as enhanced battery packaging," said Lennart Stegland, director of Volvo Cars Special Vehicles, in a state...
The new concept "does without doors, a conventional roof and all other body elements which might possibly limit the intensity of the occupants' encounter with their surrounding world," said Mini in a statement.The
On sale in May 2010, the rear-wheel-drive cabriolet is identical in size to the
Volkswagen is breaking out of its design straitjacket with the Volkswagen NCC (New Compact Coupe) — a near-production-ready concept with a hybrid drivetrain. High-ranking officials from VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, have confirmed to Inside Line that the NCC will become part of the next-generation Jetta lineup following its unveiling at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. The elegant front-wheel-drive coupe has been conceived to fill the hole left in VW's product line for North America followin...
Well, we dodged a bullet here with this concept vehicle. We were beginning to suspect that the 2010 Detroit Auto Show would see the death of that oldest of auto show concept tropes, the concept car with suicide doors. Then along comes this nifty little gray box, the GMC Granite concept, and it has rear-hinged rear doors. Whew!Of course, GMC doesn't call them suicide doors, lest that remind people of, you know, suicide. They are now "French doors," like the ones you might have seen on HGTV. (We w...
Put Cadillac's 556-horsepower supercharged V8 into just about anything and chances are we'll like it. We loved it in the CTS-V sedan. And there's no reason to assume that we won't love it just as much in the CTS-V coupe that the company is to unveil at the Detroit auto show. Hell, bolt that thing to an Aztek-bodied CTS-V variant and there's a good chance we'll like it just fine. Nothing tricky here; Cadillac has kept the powertrain and suspension specs essentially identical to the sedan, because...
BMW will publicly unveil the new 2011 Z4 sDrive35is roadster in early January at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. The range-topping Z4 sDrive35is features a new M Sports package that also will be offered on other Z4 variants when the Z4 sDrive35is reaches U.S. dealers in spring 2010.
WOODCLIFF LAKE, New Jersey — The BMW Concept ActiveE will make its world debut at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show in January, as the German automaker strives to get an electrically powered vehicle into production under a "sub-brand of BMW in the first half of the next decade," it said in a statement. The rear-wheel-drive Concept ActiveE, which is based on the BMW 1 Series Coupe, appears to have a lot of promise, judging from the advances spelled out by BMW.
The all-new 2011 Bentley Mulsanne — the "Grand Bentley" that has been teased for several months— was shown @ the 2010 Detroit Auto Show.
BMW's new entry 7 Series at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show
The Ford Fusion Hybrid was named the 2010 North American Car of the Year as the 2010 Detroit Auto Show kicked off media preview days.
The 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe, shown at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, gets a modest exterior freshening and a choice of new powertrains.
Some might consider the 2011 Lincoln MKX the "MyLincoln Touch" edition, as it will be the first Ford product to offer the new driver interface technology. MyLincoln Touch is essentially the latest version of Sync packaged with extra features and controlled by a slick, iPhone-style touchscreen. A bit gimmicky maybe, but high-end crossover buyers love that kind of stuff; at least that's what Lincoln is counting on.
Toyota said it is developing a "Prius family" of hybrids for North America and plans to introduce eight all-new hybrid models over "the next few years," including a production version of the compact FT-CH concept that is debuting this week at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show.
Sales of the 2011 Honda CR-Z Sport Hybrid are scheduled to begin in August.Inside Line says: A 122-horsepower sport coupe with a torsion-beam rear end? Doesn't sound very sporty to us.
The 2011 GMC Acadia Denali, a high-end trim level usually reserved for GMC SUVs, will arrive in showrooms in the third quarter of 2010, GM announced on Thursday. Pricing has not yet been announced.
It is the concept-ized version of the next Chevrolet Aveo. And, yes, Chevrolet is keeping the Aveo line going, even after it introduces the yet-smaller, Korean-conceived Spark. Stranger still, the company is going to keep the Aveo name and try to rehabilitate it in the minds of small-car buyers instead of just making up some other name, such as Nutria or Dengue or Flatus.
Porsche rolled out a new open-top version of the Boxster, the Boxster Spyder, at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show. The new model is slated to begin going on sale worldwide alongside its Boxster and Boxster S siblings next February.
Honda's Personal-Neo Urban Transport, which made its world debut at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show on Wednesday, offers a vision of urban transportation beyond such mighty mites as the Smart Fortwo.
"Minivan" apparently is a bit of a dirty word to Toyota. The Japanese automaker rolled out its 2011 Toyota Sienna minivan at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show, emphasizing how sedanlike the redesign has made this people hauler.
On the heels of its global debut last month in Korea, the 2011 Hyundai Sonata is being introduced to U.S. customers this week at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show.
If Ford manages to follow through with its plan for the 2011 Ford Mustang V6, these jokes could all go away, as massive powertrain improvements could not only lift the lesser Mustang out from the land of ridicule but also actually put it in direct competition with the excellent 2010 Chevrolet Camaro V6.
Two years after its launch in China, Europe and other major global markets, the Ford Fiesta is finally coming to the U.S. in 2010 and will be on display at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show. The subcompact Fiesta was last sold here in 1980.Ford introduced the sixth-generation Fiesta in early 2008, following the car's unveiling as the Verve concept at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show. The Fiesta is currently built in Spain, Germany and China and will go into production next year in Thailand.
Check out the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze @ 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show Video on Edmunds' Inside Line.
