Report: Volvo looking for small car partner

Filed under: Volvo There are drawbacks to being the property of a larger conglomerate, to be sure, but there are also benefits. Taking advantage of group buying power, shared developments costs and synergies with products from other divisions, for instance. And these are things that, since splitting off from Ford a couple of years ago, Volvo does not have at its disposal any longer. That’s why the Swedish automaker is looking for a partner with which to share development costs – specifically those attached to developing a new small car range

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Report: Volvo looking for small car partner

Report: Car and Driver Lightning Lap is back, throws two trucks into the mix [w/video]

Filed under: Videos , Comparisons Car and Driver is back with its annual Lightning Lap roundup for a sixth year, with 20 of the world’s best vehicles taking to Virginia International Raceway to lay down the quickest time around VIR’s 4.1-mile Grand West Course. Included in this year’s running is a suitably diverse spread of sports cars and sedans, ranging from the lowly Volkswagen Jetta GLI to the formidable Porsche Panamera Turbo S – a difference of 350 horsepower and over $168,000. And, just to add a bit more spice to the festivities, C/D introduced a new class (LLT) to include two trucks in the running: the BMW X5 M and Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 . But what C/D gives, it taketh away.

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Report: Car and Driver Lightning Lap is back, throws two trucks into the mix [w/video]

2013 MINI Cooper spied winter testing in daylight

Spies have captured these latest daylight shots of a 2013 MINI Cooper prototype testing in a group of some MINI prototypes in addition to a BMW 1 Series GT.

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2013 MINI Cooper spied winter testing in daylight

Official: Nissan taking orders for new GT3-spec Nismo GT-R

Filed under: Coupe , Nissan , Racing What would a Nissan GT-R be without the racing pedigree that’s helped make it what it is today? The truth is that we don’t even want to know. But we don’t have to, because the car known as Godzilla is as devastating on the race track as it is on the street. Very different racing versions have been made to challenge the FIA GT1 World Championship and for Japan’s own Super GT series, the latter powered by a naturally aspirated V8 to satisfy regulations instead of the twin-turbo V6 in the production model.

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Official: Nissan taking orders for new GT3-spec Nismo GT-R

Official: BMW ActiveE enrollment process now open in test markets

Filed under: Car Buying , Coupe , BMW , Electric It isn’t every day that BMW offers an electric vehicle, but the ActiveE is just that. The German luxury car maker is now accepting applications for 700 ActiveE “Electronauts” in the test markets of Boston, Hartford, New York, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco. The hand-raisers will need to complete a charging station consultation with BMW Partner AeroVironment to make sure the house of the perspective lessee can handle a charger. The meeting will also serve as a teaching session to make sure the user understands the charging and maintenance of an electric vehicle.

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Official: BMW ActiveE enrollment process now open in test markets

Video: Mercedes teases A-Class ahead of Geneva debut

Filed under: Spy Photos , Videos , Hatchback , Mercedes-Benz , Luxury Last we heard, Mercedes-Benz was planning to bring its new A-Class to North America, a market where the current model has never been sold. But whether it makes the trek or not, there’s little question that the new premium hatchback will be a vital product for Daimler. While the current A-Class hasn’t been a smashing success, the segment has grown into an important one for luxury automakers like Audi with its A3 and BMW with its 1 Series . The new model, however, aims to take a slice of that particular pie once it debuts as anticipated in production form at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in a couple of months from now

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Video: Mercedes teases A-Class ahead of Geneva debut