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General Motors has finally made a move to help its ailing European operations by tying its fortunes on the continent with those of PSA Peugeot Citroën. The two automakers have agreed to a new global alliance in which GM will buy a seven-percent stake in PSA, thereby making it the European automaker’s second largest shareholder behind the Peugeot family itself. The shares won’t give GM any governance rights over PSA, and the two companies will remain competitors in Europe.

What the alliance will give each company is the ability to share vehicle platforms, components and modules, as well as stronger purchasing power for sourcing components, raw materials and other goods and services. They’re combined annual purchasing volume together will be approximately $125 billion. The vehicle platforms most likely to be shared will be small and midsize passenger cars, MPVs and crossovers, with the first one arriving by 2016.

GM says that synergies resulting from the alliance will save approximately $2 billion annually within about five years, though critics argue the alliance doesn’t address the main problem plaguing automakers in Europe: overcapacity. While the alliance does give a shot in the arm to both Opel, GM’s European subsidiary, and Peugeot, analysts and investors alike still believe that plant closings and consolidations are the remedy required for Europe’s struggling automakers. Full details in the press blast after the jump.

Continue reading GM buys 7% stake in PSA Peugeot Citroën, creates global platform-sharing alliance

GM buys 7% stake in PSA Peugeot Citroën, creates global platform-sharing alliance

Two years after Consumer Reports smacked Toyota by pulling its coveted Recommended label from the Japanese automaker’s vehicles in the wake of safety concerns, the venerable consumer products testing magazine has slipped back into its comfortable role of being one of Toyota’s biggest fans. In announcing its annual Top Picks list, CR lauded five Toyota models as best-in-class, meaning the once beleaguered brand captured fully half of the category awards.

The five triumphant Toyota models included the Camry Hybrid (hybrid), RAV4 (small SUV), Sienna V6 (family hauler), Prius (green car), and Highlander (Family SUV). It is the first time since 2003 that a single automaker has scored five class awards. Honda, the last automaker to do so, did not land a single vehicle on the list for the second time in three years.

Other vehicles landing a spot on the list include the Ford Mustang (sporty car), Hyundai Sonata (affordable family sedan), Infiniti G (sports sedan), Subaru Impreza (small car), and Chevrolet Avalanche (pickup truck).

CR says it evaluates vehicles for their road test performance, as well as reliability and safety, requiring that winners rank at least near the top of their category on the organization’s overall road test scores while having average or better reliability on reader surveys and performing “well” on crash tests.

Click past the jump to read the full press release.

Continue reading Toyota dominates Consumer Reports annual Top Picks list

Toyota dominates Consumer Reports annual Top Picks list

About 100 children and over 200 adults die every year because drivers accidentally back over them. It’s a sad statistic that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration feels can be prevented if all new vehicles come standard with backup cameras.

The New York Times reports that NHTSA plans to announce this week that rearview cameras will be mandatory on all vehicles by 2014. The compulsory cameras and interface for viewing what the camera sees is estimated to set new car buyers back an additional $160 to $200, but the government feels the cost is worth it if it prevents some of the 17,000 Americans that are harmed in backup accidents every year.

Clarence Ditlow, director for the Washington-based Center for Auto Safety, tells The New York Times that while the government acknowledges that in terms of pure numbers, the cost of the program is high and the amount of lives saved is small compared to some other safety implementations. But those numbers look a lot more doable when considering how devastating roll-over deaths are to families. “When you have a parent that kills a child in an incident that’s utterly avoidable, they don’t ever forget it.”

What do you think, should rearview cameras become legally required? Have your say in Comments.

UPDATE: Ward’s Auto reports NHTSA has delayed submitting its recommendation to Congress, likely to hold more discussions to hear and address concerns from the auto industry.

NHTSA ready to submit rearview camera mandate to Congress [UPDATE]

Another week brings another action-packed episode of Translogic. Our sister site continues its tour of Europe with a trip to Switzerland’s Rinspeed. If there’s a car builder that more resembles a toy company for adults, we can’t imagine it.

Host Bradley Hasemeyer got a full demonstration of several remarkable vehicles during his visit. The sQuba submarine car is straight out of James Bond, though it’s based on a more modern Lotus than the famous Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me. The similarly amphibious Splash can operate as either a car, boat or hovercraft. The X-Trem is an oddly styled pickup that can load and unload – you guessed it – a hovercraft from its truck bed. Similarly, the Tatooo carries an underwater scooter.

But Rinspeed isn’t just about wet and wild concept cars. The company has been pioneering alternative fuel vehicles, like the R One, a biofuel-powered roadster. It’s also built the Presto, a frankly remarkable car in that it can transform from a compact two-seat roadster to a full four-place vehicle with the press of a button. The UC is a small electric car built out of a Fiat 500, controlled by a joystick and designed to be carried on a commuter train for urban use.

Click past the jump to watch the episode in its entirety.

Continue reading Translogic gets inside look at Rinspeed’s concept shop

Translogic gets inside look at Rinspeed’s concept shop

There are some cars we enjoy writing about more than others. Those tend to be the ones with the big horsepower numbers and seldom more than two doors, but the new Volvo V40 that was officially released today stands as an exception, because while it is hardly what you’d call exotic, it did pique our interest more than a workaday hatchback should. But we’ll have to try not to like it too much, because we just received confirmation that it is not, we’re sorry to report, coming to the United States.

In an email we received today from Geno Effler, head of public relations for Volvo Cars of North America, we were told that – and we quote – “The V40 is not coming to the United States.” Rats.

Effler further states in the correspondence that “The V40 is not replacing an existing model; it is a new model.” Which may be true enough, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see the existing C30 hatchback, S40 sedan and V50 wagon all go the way of the dodo in due course.

But then we wouldn’t be all that surprised, either, to see a three-door version spun off of the V40 to officially take the place of the aging C30, a sedan version to replace the even older S40 and maybe even a longer wagon to take the place of the V50. For now, however, this is one more stylish European hatchback we’ll just have to admire from afar.

So do you think Volvo ought to change its mind and bring the V40 to these shores? Cast your vote in our informal online poll below. You never know who in Gothenburg might be listening.

View Poll

Volvo not bringing new V40 to these United States [w/poll]

Audi has yet another race trophy to place in its awards cabinet after claiming the overall victory at the Bathurst 12 Hour race in Australia this past weekend for the second straight year. The win was achieved by the Phoenix Racing team, which also campaigns an Audi in Germany’s DTM series.

Like any endurance race, the victory didn’t come easily for Audi. Heavy rains and fog made for difficult racing conditions through much of the 12 hours, and a spin in the leading Audi R8 LMS temporarily relegated it back to third place. By the time the checkered flag waved, though, the Audi was back in front and beat out the second place Mercedes SLS GT3 by just over a minute.

The win at Bathurst is just the latest of many for Audi and its privateer-run R8 LMS race cars, marking the 119th time the car has claimed victory since it was introduced three years ago. The R8 LMS has been particularly successful over the last year, having also won the 24 hours races at Spa and Zolder as well as the GT3 class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

Click past the jump for a full recap of the race via the official press release from Audi.

Continue reading Audi R8 LMS remains king of the mountain with second straight victory at Bathurst 12 Hour

Audi R8 LMS remains king of the mountain with second straight victory at Bathurst 12 Hour

Nearly three months on the Saab story is the same: company makes a bid, General Motors knocks it back. But this time, the latest round of corporate “He said/She said” puts Turkey’s Brightwell Holdings on the other side of the table instead of a Chinese company. Brightwell was the other publicly identified bidder for Saab that pledged to make a bid, along with Chinese concern Youngman.

Brightwell blames GM “intransigence,” a familiar epithet by now, has scuppered the possibility of a deal. GM says that’s not the case, rather that a deal for Saab can’t include any of the technology licensed from GM. Brightwell believed that that condition only applied to Chinese buyers, since GM’s position that it didn’t want to compete with another company using its intellectual property was always taken in reference to interest from companies like Youngman and Hawtei.

If GM’s position is that it won’t license its technology to anyone anywhere, that could alter the landscape for the six to 14 bidders rreported to be hovering over Saab’s remains. Based on Youngman’s last statements, it should still be in the mix, though: it pledged to make a bid for Saab that avoids GM-developed vehicles like the 9-5 and 9-4X and restarts the brand with the new 9-3 on Saab’s Phoenix architecture.

Brightman hasn’t ruled itself out completely yet. Having spent “millions of euros” on its bid, a firm partner said that if GM is open to discussions then he “will jump on a plane and visit them in Detroit.”

“Shocked” Brightwell drops Saab bid, blames GM intransigence

Magna Steyr may not be a name most consumers would recognize, but it is one of the biggest players in the auto industry. As a contract manufacturer, it has produced some 2.5 million vehicles across 21 different models, including the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Aston Martin Rapide and Mini Countryman, to name just a few.

The Austrian unit of Canadian mega-supplier Magna International, Steyr has also helped countless automakers develop new vehicles and technologies, and though it doesn’t market any vehicles under its own name, it often showcases its abilities with a series of concept cars labeled MILA. And this is the sixth and latest.

Called the MILA Coupic, the show car demonstrates an adaptable bodystyle. What looks at first blush like a crossover coupe (similar in form to, say, the Range Rover Evoque) can turn into a pickup truck or convertible. The front and rear glass roof panels can also be opened independently of each other, giving the MILA Coupic an even more adaptable form and showcasing the type of innovative roof approaches that Magna Steyr has applied in making the mechanisms for the Mecedes-Benz SLK, Fiat 500C and Opel Astra TwinTop.

The folding seat module also allows for easy loading, and when folded forward, is said to seal off the passenger compartment in pickup mode. Although all we’ve got to go on visually at the moment is the solitary rendering which you can click above to enlarge, but there’s a full press release after the jump as we prepare to depart for Geneva where this show car, among countless others, will be unveiled next week.

Continue reading Magna Steyr previews shape-shifting MILA Coupic concept for Geneva

Magna Steyr previews shape-shifting MILA Coupic concept for Geneva

Legends come and legends go when it comes to supercars, but few remain etched as indelibly in our hearts and minds as the McLaren F1. Still capable of trouncing 99% of the performance machinery being built today, the legendary F1 is one icon whose successor has been anticipated arguably more than any other.

Since the end of its production run in 1998, McLaren has gone on to produce the SLR for Mercedes-Benz and branch out on its own once again with the MP4-12C (pictured above in Monte Carlo). But as capable as these machines have proven, everyone’s been waiting for the F1’s true successor to come rolling out of Woking. And now, like a child anticipating Christmas, we just may have that launch date to look forward to.

According to reports, McLaren Automotive is planning to unveil the new seven-figure, 800-horsepower hyper-car not at a major auto show and not at its own dedicated event, but at no less a celebration of speed than the Monaco Grand Prix.

The 70th running of the most iconic of Formula One races, which McLaren has won no less than 15 times (more than any other team), is on the calendar for May 27, so if the rumors prove accurate, we’ve only got a few months to wait.

McLaren to unveil F1 successor at Monaco GP

Report cards are headed home in automakers’ backpacks today, and provided there isn’t any grade-changing subterfuge, Subaru has managed to land itself atop the Consumer Reports dean’s list. The triumph comes thanks to a class-topping essay entitled “What I Did Over Winter Break: Redesigning the 2012 Impreza,” which earned the rugged brand top marks in Small Sedans 101. Combined with high scores in other vehicle classes, Subaru knocked Honda from the valedictorian’s position it has held for the past four years.

Also passing Honda were salutatorian Mazda and perennial top-three performer Toyota, who reliably proved that whether it’s the smartest kid in the class or not, it’s well liked. Mazda climbed in the rankings thanks to a lighter class load, while Honda’s drop from the top reflected a year spent drawing giant spaceships and hoping that in Civics class nobody would notice when it turned in a weak rewrite of it’s own popular essay from last semester.

Honda wasn’t alone in spending the grading period not paying attention. Also spotted wandering the halls was Ford, which dropped out of the top five. While Chrysler found itself with the worst grades in the class – again – the carmaker did see some results from hitting the books lately, earning it the title of second most improved behind Mazda.

Click past the jump to read the full press release.

Continue reading Subaru tops Consumer Reports Automaker Report Cards

Subaru tops Consumer Reports Automaker Report Cards

The Legend Boucles de Spa is a historic rally held in the Ardennes Forest around Spa, Belgium, and it commemorates the actual Boucle de Spa rally races held for 37 years from 1953 to 1990. The drill is simple: lots of drivers plotting vintage machinery at various levels of anger through the trees.

Hundreds of cars run, some like the Ferrari 308 you’d never think to choose for rallying, while others like the various Lancia, Ford and ducktail Porsche racers are just good to see on the road again. There’s over 11 minutes of high-def footage after the jump, and mercifully, the only soundtrack are the cries of exhausts that aren’t anywhere near street legal. Enjoy.

Continue reading Rally legends at Spa is music to our ears

Rally legends at Spa is music to our ears

If Rolls-Royce can make a Year of the Dragon special edition Phantom, then why can’t Dartz do the same? And if Rolls can sell out the entire run of $1.2 million sedans, then why can’t Dartz do the same for 12 Prombron Black Dragons priced at an estimated 50,000,000 Chinese renminbi ($7.4 million U.S. greenbacks)?

Dartz said its research revealed that Chinese buyers want something “Bigger and More expensive than [the] neighbours car.” They’ll find it in the Black Dragon Prombron a “mobile business” limo that joins another “business pullman called The Dictator that will arrive in Spring.”

The Black Dragon is two feet longer than the standard Prombron, has one door on the left side and three on the right, lead plate for safety due to “memories of Fukushima,” a 42-inch television, a piano lacquer floor and logos in diamonds, gold and rubies. For starters.

Follow the jump for another signature press release from Dartz and a video of the behemoth that prowls an autocrat’s dreams.

Continue reading Dartz promises matte Black Dragon with bullet-like wheels and crazy trimmings

Dartz promises matte Black Dragon with bullet-like wheels and crazy trimmings

Between now and the middle of this century, analysts predict that the world’s vehicle population will quadruple, going from around one billion today to four billion by 2050. To keep perpetual, global gridlock at bay and reduce consumption, automakers and communication providers have to team up, and that’s exactly what Bill Ford Jr. proposed on Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

Under the banner “Blueprint for Mobility,” the great-grandson of Henry Ford detailed what it will take to make congestion-free motoring (or at least congestion-controlled) a reality in the coming decades, utilizing a combination of connected cars, connected roadways and a totally revamped mobile infrastructure.

“If we do nothing, we face the prospect of ‘global gridlock’, a never-ending traffic jam that wastes time, energy and resources and even compromises the flow of commerce and healthcare,” Ford told the assembled masses in Spain.

Ford’s proposal comes in three parts – near-term (5-7 years), mid-term (2017-2025) and long-term (2025 and beyond) – with the first part requiring the development and deployment of vehicle-to-vehicle warning systems, “limited autonomous functions” (think next-gen adaptive cruise control) and the expansion of car sharing programs like ZipCar.

Mid-term solutions range from semi-autonomous vehicles to new city car models that carry between one and three passengers, while long-term proposals include a range of intermodal transportation networks that combine individually owned cars with public transportation, fully autonomous vehicles and a constantly connected road network that uses vehicle-to-vehicle communication and road trains.

It’s all ambitious stuff and echoes much of what we’ve heard from other automakers, including Audi, BMW and General Motors, who have all announced plans to move beyond being a standard automaker and instead become “mobility providers.” Get the full details on Ford’s proposal in the official release after the jump.

Continue reading Bill Ford Jr. outlines future of mobility at MWC

Bill Ford Jr. outlines future of mobility at MWC

Few vehicles have received the kind of gradual, bit by bit roll-out that – intentionally or otherwise – the new Volvo V40 has. The Swedish premium hatchback has been the subject of teasers, spy shots and leaks aplenty – including two video clips and a batch of sixteen images that surfaced just yesterday – but they’ve all lead up to this, its full reveal. (Well, this and its official unveiling next week.)

Scandinavia’s answer to the Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series – and a potential replacement not only for the C30 but also the S40 and V50 – the new V40 is shaping up as quite a looker, but now we’ve got the details to go with it. For starters, the V40 will be available with the cleanest diesel Volvo’s ever offered, anchored at the other end of the spectrum by a 254-horsepower turbo five good for a 6.7-second sprint to 62 mph. Not too shabby, and the entire range – whether mated to manual gearbox or automatic – is equipped with start-stop engine management and regenerative braking, ensuring that, whichever powertrain is selected, it’s running at optimal efficiency.

Being a Volvo, the V40 also incorporates the latest in safety features, including not only low-speed collision avoidance and pedestrian detection with full auto brake but the world’s first pedestrian airbag. Although Volvo hasn’t revealed whether its new entry-level model will make the transatlantic voyage to these shores, it is projecting that 85 percent of the 90,000 units it aims to sell annually will be delivered in Europe from its assembly plant in Ghent, Belgium – which doesn’t bode well for American availability.

Follow the jump for the full press release, scope out the fresh batch of eighteen images in the gallery above, see our previous post for the video clips and watch this space for our live coverage starting this time next week from the floor of the Geneva Motor Show.

Continue reading Volvo drops the full skinny on new V40

Volvo drops the full skinny on new V40

This winter hasn’t been quite as cold as it could have been, but in Wisconsin, there have been enough sub-freezing days for lakes to develop about of foot-thick coating of ice. That’s enough ice for some good ice fishing, but it apparently isn’t thick enough to use as a high-traffic parking lot.

Frozen anglers at a Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin fishing tournament decided to park in close proximity to one another on the ice with predictably disastrous results. Hit the jump to watch the Twin Cities’ Fox News 9 and its coverage of tow trucks plucking vehicle after vehicle out of the appropriately named Lake Winnebago. We saw quite a few pricey pickup trucks being pulled out of the deep, but we’re thinking the pea-green Pontiac Aztek could have been left in the lake long before the incident.

Continue reading 36 cars fall through ice at Wisconsin fishing tournament

36 cars fall through ice at Wisconsin fishing tournament

It looks as if Nissan may have inadvertently revealed part of the 2013 Altima ahead of its debut. The keen-eyed crew over at Inside Line spotted a completely undisguised version of the four door in a promotional video on Nissan Japan’s YouTube channel. While we’ve seen test vehicles in various states of disrobe for a few months now, this is the clearest view yet of the next-generation Altima. We can clearly see the vehicle’s 370Z-inspired headlights and the hint of a more pronounced grille as well as more emotive bodywork.

You may recognize that character line as the similar to the one found on the 2013 Pathfinder. Were we the betting types, we’d say we can expect to see that detail crop up on other Nissan offerings soon as well.

Will the new lines be enough to help the Altima keep its momentum up in the family sedan marketplace? We’re going to hold off judgement until we see the final product in the flesh, but we will say the vehicle will find itself nose to nose with some increasingly threatening competition. With redesigned versions of the Ford Fusion, Volkswagen Passat and Toyota Camry intent on carving out larger slices of the mid-sized pie, the 2013 Altima will have its work cut out for it.

As you might expect, Nissan has since nixed the video with the Altima in it, but Inside Line was quick enough to grab a few screen shots. Head their direction for a closer look.

2013 Nissan Altima accidentally revealed in official video

When is a Volkswagen not a Volkswagen? If by Volkswagen, you mean the “people’s car” as it was initially intended, then the answer is: When it starts costing thirty to forty grand. But even with new pricing in place, the Volkswagen CC is still a far cheaper proposition to other German “four-door coupes” like the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, Audi A5 Sportback and A7 and the new BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe.

Whereas the MSRP on the outgoing model started at $28,514, the freshly updated 2013 model starts at $30,250. That, of course, is just the starting price for the base model with the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. Start piling on the options – especially big-ticket upgrades like the VR6 engine and 4Motion all-wheel drive – and you’re quickly looking at a price starting at $41,420 for the top-of-the-line Executive model.

The adjusted pricing puts it well into the company of entry-level models from luxury marques, but if you shun badge snobbery enough to consider dropping that kind of cash on a VW, consider as well that it’s also comparable in both pricing and specification to the new Hyundai Azera we recently drove. Follow the jump for the press release.

Continue reading Redesigned 2013 Volkswagen CC priced from $30,250

Redesigned 2013 Volkswagen CC priced from $30,250

What good is it having an F1 team to your name if you can’t leverage it into a special edition sportscar and have the world champion you just signed unveil it in front of the gathered masses? That’s what Lotus seems to be thinking as the British automaker is reportedly preparing to unveil a special edition Evora at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show.

The model in question – expected to be joined by a convertible Evora as well – is tipped to be based on the top-spec, 444-horsepower Evora GTE, but with the black and gold livery featured on the company’s F1 cars… as well as its other racing cars currently proliferating into racing series around the world.

The car will reportedly be unveiled by Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula One world champion recently signed to return to F1 with Lotus this year. However fast Kimi is, however, the paparazzi seem to be faster as the car in question was snapped at the Jerez circuit in Spain ahead of its official unveiling just over a week from now.

Kimi Raikkonen to unveil special edition Lotus Evora in Geneva

We love SEMA. There’s simply no better place to see the aftermarket go wild. Unfortunately, most of the cars, trucks, vans and other heathens that occupy the Las Vegas Convention Center each November are built to do little more than look pretty under the lights. We’ve always wanted to see the best of the best throw down on a track.

Fortunately for us, there’s the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. For four years now, the battery maker has invited the cream of the SEMA crop to show off just what all that aftermarket hardware is good for.

This year, SPEED tagged along to see what all the fuss was about, and brought along a host of HD cameras to capture the whole event. Hosted by Bill Goldberg, the show is a good chance to catch up on some of the more impressive cars that debuted at SEMA 2011 and watch them as they do battle for the top title.

Who won out this year? We won’t spoil it for you. You’ll just have to look for the Optima Ultimate Street Invitational on SPEED. The show debuted this weekend, but will re-air on March 11 at 2:30 PM EST. In the meantime, check out the teaser after the jump.

Continue reading Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational puts SEMA cars to the test

Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational puts SEMA cars to the test

We’ve seen plenty of Back to the Future DeLorean DMC-12 replicas pass through the halls of the internet. In that time, we’ve always assumed the original movie car was tucked away safely in a museum somewhere. As it turns out, that wasn’t the case. Of all the vehicles created for the three films, the most detailed hero car, otherwise known as the A Car, was left on display outside. The ensuing years of suffering in the elements weren’t kind to the DMC-12, and Bob Gale, co-writer for the BTTF saga, is now working to have the vehicle completely restored to its original condition.

Joe Walser, J Ryan and Terry Matalas are currently working to get the car back to its former glory, but the project needs help. The craftsmen may not need roads where they’re going, but they do need anyone with photos of the original A Car or parts from any of the movie DeLorean models to reach out via TimeMachineRestoration@gmail.com or the restoration’s Facebook page. Very cool.

Original BTTF DeLorean getting museum-quality restoration