Details about McLaren's upcoming P11 have been trickling in over the past few months, and we have a couple of new tidbits to add to the file. The P11 program is progressing on schedule and is slated to be unveiled in the fall of 2009 with an on sale date of March 2010.
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Hyundai is already planning to launch a luxury brand in China by 2010, and it looks as though the U.S. might not be far behind, a new report finds. The Korean automaker will decide within the next three to four years whether it will launch a luxury division in the U.S. in the same vein that Toyota launched its Lexus brand.
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Although Fiat was originally eying a U.S. location for an Alfa Romeo production facility, the Italian automaker has now turned its attention to south of the border. Alfa will make its return to the U.S. market in late 2009 and therefore needs a plant in North America to avoid losses due to an unfavorable exchange rate. However, strong demand from South America has Fiat reconsidering the plant's U.S. location.
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The all-new Mercedes E Class is still over a year away, but our spies are gathering lots of details –- as well as pictures — of AMG’s E63 model with very little camouflage! Codenamed W212, the official introduction of the new E-Class is expected at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.
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The BMW X6 is undoubtedly a controversial vehicle. Many critics have labeled it an answer to a question no one asked. But, according to BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer, it's already a blockbuster success. At the company's annual general meeting, Reithofer said the first production of the X6 is already sold out.

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Kia announced on Thursday that it has canceled its plans to produce a mid-size pickup for the U.S. market. Kia gave the Honda Ridgeline-esque pickup truck the green light earlier this year, but decided to cancel the project due to rising fuel prices and a sagging pickup truck market.
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General Motors' Saab division purportedly used human bodies donated to science in crash tests, according to a Swedish newspaper. "For certain things, it’s important to use cadavers," Claes Tingvall of the Swedish Road Administration told Expressen.

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When legislation was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year to mandate a minimum sound level for hybrid and electric vehicles, we have to admit we thought it was a little on the silly side. But after the events of last weekend, it doesn't sound so far fetched. On Sunday, and eight-year old boy was hit while riding his bike by a Toyota Prius because he couldn't hear the vehicle approaching.
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The UAW's strike at American Axle has slowed or idled at least 30 General Motors plants — including the automaker's most profitable truck and SUV plants — and it looks as though the U.S.' largest automaker has had enough. GM announced on Thursday that it has agreed to pay American Axle $200 million to cover its UAW buyouts.
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Mazda has yet to release all the details on its upcoming Mazda6, but a consumer survey has given us our first solid information about the new sedan. The car, due to go on sale this summer, grows in every key dimension and features larger engines as well. Mazda says the bump in displacement, as well as handling traits and interior comfort, were "optimized" for North American roads.

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The Pontiac G8 sport truck has yet to receive its official nameplate, but it looks as though 'El Camino' will almost certainly not adorn the truck's tailgate, a new report finds. General Motors opened a web site earlier this year to let the general public suggest what the G8 sport truck should be named.
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Spy photographers have spotted what appears to be a prototype for an upcoming Porsche "baby" Cayenne near Germany's famed Nurburgring. It has long been rumored that Porsche is developing a smaller SUV based on the Audi Q5 platform, and this could be the first hard evidence that such a program is underway. As previously reported, the tentative name for this new model is Roxster.

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There is definitely no shortage of incentives to buy Chrysler-built minivans these days. If you buy one of Chrysler's two minivans — the Chrysler Town & Country or Dodge Grand Caravan — you get a credit card that locks in gas prices for three years. If you buy a Volkswagen-badged Chrysler minivan — the VW Routan – you get $1,500 towards a college savings plan, per the German automaker's newest incentive program.
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Thanks to a grainy camera phone picture that surfaced on the internet last night, it's a pretty safe assumption that Infiniti's upcoming premium small car will be a coupe — possibly even spawning a cabriolet. But that got us thinking, what platform will they build it on?
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Toyota announced its first quarter results on Wednesday, and the automaker's fiscal results highlight just how bad the U.S. auto market is. Toyota's profits tumbled by 28 percent during the first four months of the year — compared to the same time period in 2007 — largely due to a sagging U.S. market and the continued erosion of the dollar's value against the yen.
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Following the demise of the SRT10 model, there's very little hope for another super-high-performance Dodge Ram any time in the near future. However, if you're looking for something moderately performance-oriented, Dodge might have something for you soon — the Ram R/T.

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Look closely — this is not the Opel Insignia sedan (a.k.a. Saturn Aura) that was recently unveiled. Rather, it's an all-new version — a five-door hatchback. Besides the fact that we’ve seen this test vehicle with the hatch wide open, you’ll also notice the rear window is longer — and the ‘trunk’ is shorter. Also, take note of the typical hatchback rear-window wiper – something we haven’t seen on the sedan.
 
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During two days in Monterey, California at the Western Automotive Journalists media day recently, we had the chance to drive five different unabashedly performance-oriented cars all priced in the mid-$30,000 range.

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It was reported earlier this month that Infiniti was readying a new entry-level model to do battle with the like of the BMW 1-series and Audi A3, and now we have our first visual evidence that such a program is underway, albeit a grainy photo taken with a camera phone.
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General Motors and Ford may be in the midst of a North American turnaround, but Fitch Ratings predicts that the Michigan-based automakers will continue to drain their cash assets through 2008 and into 2009 unless the auto market makes a sharp recovery.
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