Audi is testing prototypes of the A1 e-tron, a handsome range extended electric vehicle that uses a Wankel rotary engine to keep you going when the battery goes dead.

Download Audi’s Testing a Volt of Its Own

It’s a new year for Dodge and the American automaker is determined to start the year off on the right foot.

Download 2011 Dodge Durango Heat

Kia is providing the market with a special edition that has nothing to do with the Soul? Well that’s a little shocking to say the least! Just after Kia’s price announcement for the 2011 Sportage, the South Korean car manufacturer has brought forth a special edition model for the little SUV specifically for the British market.

Download 2011 Kia Sportage First Edition 2.0 AWD

Sales of the Toyota Yaris (called Vitz in Japan) took a header last year in the American market, dropping almost 40 percent over 2009, which was one of the worst sales years in forever. To say that Toyota needs to give its small car some love is an understatement, and that makes the U.S. debut of the new 2012 Toyota Yaris all the more important .
“We need to stand out more,” says deputy chief engineer Yoshinari Toyomura. “That is one reason why the new Yaris has grown in size and taken on an edgier look compared to its predecessor.”


Download First Drive: 2012 Toyota Yaris Japanese Spec

The last time Buick turbocharged a Regal, it became a legend, an impossible act to follow. And yet, this new Regal CXL Turbo, with its European-bred poshness and tailoring, is the best new Buick in a long time, perhaps since the venerable Grand National. Today's Regal is attractive, reasonably priced to its competition, and at first glance, has an impressive list of equipment. But that's in the historical vacuum; against the rest of the world, most of the 2011 Regal turbo's performance doesn't pan out.

Download First Test: 2011 Buick Regal CXL Turbo

At the 2010 Paris Auto Show, Lotus unveiled the impressive Elan concept with the full intention of bringing it back in production form by 2013. Be it blind passion or just a mere oversight, Lotus failed to notice that their new concept bared a strong resemblance to their Evora model, so the company is putting the concept on hold indefinitely.

Download Lotus drops plans for Elan; Moves forward with other models

So get this: The journalists attending the launch of the 2012 Porsche Panamera S Hybrid were invited to take part in an economy challenge. Whoever got the best mileage would get a prize.

Download 2012 Porsche Panamera S Hybrid First Drive

"That ain't no Hemi," growls a disrespectful cruise night patron as he glances into the open engine bay of our Inferno Red 2006 Dodge Magnum SRT-8.

Download Follow-Up Test: 2006 Dodge Magnum SRT-8

Catch him on a bad day, and Kermit will tell you, it isn't easy being green. But automotively speaking, that's about to change.

Turn the key in the 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line hybrid and it drives like a well-sorted, peppy crossover. That's exactly the point. GM Powertrain engineers weren't trying to save the world with technology that takes a postgraduate engineering degree to appreciate or operate. People like Steve Tarnowsky, the assistant chief engineer of GM Hybrid Systems, simply wanted to build a hybrid that made sense to buy and drive.


Download First Drive: 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid

The boys from Ingolstadt have gotten serious with the 2007 Audi S6. Serious, in this case, takes the form of a 435-horsepower (DIN) V10 engine. Serious also means minimal look-at-me external clues and boy-racer add-ons. And serious means seriously fast.

Download First Drive: 2007 Audi S6

In BMW's 2006 M Coupe, it's all about the steering wheel.

As anyone who's ever driven a BMW knows, the steering wheel represents a crucial element in cars wearing the blue-and-white roundel. In other automobiles the steering wheel merely serves as a directional control device. But in BMW automobiles it's more like an ergonomically shaped syringe — injecting the car's soul directly into the driver's cerebellum.


Download First Drive: 2006 BMW Z4 M Coupe

What more dynamic way to celebrate the invention of the automobile? The expressive C-Class Coupé sees Mercedes-Benz, now in its 125th year of corporate history, entering a new market segment and for the first time offering a compact, classic coupé. This youthful, sporty two-door car will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in early March and making its way to customers from June. The new model deploys the progressive technology featured on the recently launched new generation of the C-Class to deliver an impressive coupé format that combines pure fun at the wheel with exemplary efficiency. In terms of attitude, this debuting model is tailored to a customer group aged 35 to 45 for whom professional success, love of life and a strong sense of responsibility are all important.


Download 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe International Release

"What kind of car is that?"

"It's a Saturn."

"A what?"

Download First Drive: 2007 Saturn Sky Red Line

Mercedes is reportedly contemplating a smaller SLS-derived, V6-engined coupe for 2014, codenamed SLV (the SLS is pictured). The V stands for variable bodystyles -- the car could be configured as a coupe, a convertible, a shooting brake, a roadster -- and the idea behind the program is to make the most of the SLS's aluminium spaceframe architecture.

Download And Now, the Baby Benz SLS

In the wake of the Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid's surprise launch at the 2010 Geneva auto show, Porsche made little secret of its plans to put the car into production. In fact, Porsche’s erstwhile R and D chief, Wolfgang Dürheimer—who now heads Bentley and Bugatti—personally handed this writer a form to sign up and register his interest in the car. I declined the offer, but others didn't, and official production plans were confirmed last summer thanks to “outstanding customer response.” Now, we have a price: a cool $845,000, not including destination and handling. (We suspect the destination charge will affect few people’s purchasing plans.)


Download Porsche 918 Spyder Priced, Matching 911 Turbo S Will Be Optional - Car News

Since it was first introduced at the Geneva Motor Show, we've seen the Dodge Caliber concept evolve into the closer-to-production model we caught on our way to work this morning. The 2007 Caliber keeps the familiar Dodge styling, with trademark crosshair grille, wide sculpted wheel forms, big 19-inch wheels and tires, broad shoulders, and bulging hood for a proud, powerful stance. Its yellow paint is certainly not subtle, either.

Download 2007 Dodge Caliber