Audi of America has discovered there is gold in after-sales accessories, and it is planning to mine significantly more of it. To that end, the company announced on Wednesday it would for the first time have an exhibit at the Specialty Equipment Market Association trade show in Las Vegas, from Nov

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The storied brand that got its start in 1926 as an affordable six-cylinder intended to compete with more inexpensive four-cylinder models fell victim not to old age, but to the recession.

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The sixth generation of Volkswagen’s small family car was only unveiled a short time ago at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show, but the German automaker has already found a way to persuade more money out of the wallets of potential Jetta owners with a new version of the vehicle

Download 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI

Complaints of torque steer aside, the Mazdaspeed3 has proved a highly likeable part of the long-term fleet. Staffers enjoy the Mazda's power response, its excellent steering, and the flexible cabin. This is a great car to drive on a twisty road. However, many are still unsure of the Speed version of the Mazda3 as a viable daily driver, pointing out the interior noise, rough ride, clutch engagement like an "on/off switch," and minor interior gripes.

Download Long Term Update 6: 2010 Mazdaspeed3

Vehicles like the Audi Q7 TDI have done a lot to change the perception that diesel vehicles are crude, stinky, black smoke-spewers, and the company's lone turbodiesel SUV gets even better for 2011. (Sister company Volkswagen has several other diesels in its line, including the Touareg, with the same engine as the Q7.)


Download First Test: 2011 Audi Q7 TDI

The ZDX's design has been getting mixed reviews from the staff. It's not exactly setting the automotive world on fire, either. Even in a trendy area like Los Angeles, there aren't a lot of ZDXs populating the streets. Writes one staffer, "You don't see too many of these on the road. It was a big shock when we spotted the ZDX's twin parked right next to our long-termer at lunch one day. (It was even the same color!) I do think this vehicle is unattractive, but once you're inside, that's not much of an issue."

Download Long Term Update 3: 2010 Acura ZDX

The Shanghai Auto Show came and went with one star-studded concept slipping under the radar from a little unknown company called Icona Shanghai. Icona is a design studio based out of China and focusing on projects in China and Asia. Their latest project comes to us in the form of the Icona Fuselage, a concept that incorporates a design that is on a completely different level than many concepts we’ve seen in awhile.

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Audi's RS division, which all but ignores the U.S. market, is keeping busy. It just released the RS3 in Europe, and next year will launch the new RS4. Most of its mechanicals come from the RS5, including a naturally aspirated V-8 engine making 444 horsepower at 8250 rpm. It feeds a crown gear center diff that's able to send torque forward or backward according to programmed maps, making the car feel oversteery and driver-sensitive. Transmission is a seven-speed S-Tronic twin-clutch. Active variable-ratio steering will be optional. The bodywork will incorporate extra aluminum compared with the regular A4's, and be available in sedan and Avant variants.

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The rollout of the new 2006 Mazda MX-5 represents what is nominally the Miata's third generation, but it's actually the first total rework of everyone's darling roadster. And that makes it a high-stakes gamble. Confronting a new-generation Mazda Miata is charming and bubbly, yet at the same time scary and momentous, because so much could go wrong.

Download Full Test: 2006 Mazda MX-5

Newport Beach is one of the most disarmingly picturesque — and frighteningly expensive — beach towns in Orange County, California. This part of the "O.C." — don't call it that — is the perfect environment for the 2006 Volvo C70 T5, now a convertible of the retractable hardtop variety. (The essentially unchanged 2007 Volvo C70 goes on sale in midsummer.) Be it a misty morning of "June Gloom" or an SPF-challenging sunny beach afternoon, the Volvo C70 compromises neither beauty nor functionality when rigged top-up as a steel-roof coupe or top down as a well-finished convertible.

Download Full Test: 2006 Volvo C70 T5

The Mercedes F-CELL World Drive will be travelling across North America until March 18, demonstrating the potential of fuel cell technology. In addition, with what is to date a unique undertaking, Mercedes-Benz is reaffirming the need to develop a comprehensive global hydrogen infrastructure. “We will have reached market maturity with fuel cell technology by 2015 at the latest. From that point we would then be in a position to bring several 100,000 vehicles, in a variety of different model series, onto the roads. For example we are also planning a saloon model with fuel cell drive and will thereby expand our portfolio of local zero-emission vehicles. Therefore, by that time, an infrastructure which allows the everyday operation of such vehicles, needs to be in place.”, according to Dr. Thomas Weber, the Daimler AG Board Member responsible for Group Research and Development for Mercedes-Benz Cars. “Now is therefore the time to increase speed and consistently develop the hydrogen filling station network.”

Download Mercedes-Benz F-Cell World Drive Kicks Off Its North American Tour

Mercedes-Benz Canada is pleased to announce the Canadian premiere of the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Affalterbach Edition today at the 2011 Montreal International Auto Show. Exclusive to Canada, and limited to just 30 units, the C63 AMG Affalterbach Edition was designed in the AMG Performance Centre in Affalterbach, Germany and features unique styling cues and an impressive list of special equipment that have never been offered before on a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG.

Download C63 AMG Affalterbach Edition Unveiled by Mercedes-Benz Canada

I'm parked alongside the road to Castellet, España, in a spanking-new 2007 Mini Cooper — an S version, for the record — when Officer Jose Lopez of the Policía Local de Catalunya rounds the corner. Instantly, his roof lights snap on as he angles his cruiser across the one-and-a-bit-lane road, ending up nose-to-nose with my Hyper Blue example of the freshly redesigned two-door hatchback.

Download First Drive: 2007 Mini Cooper S

The S-Class of vans

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Mercedes will begin manufacturing its E-Class mileage-meister next year. When the company's first diesel-electric powered car was previewed at the Geneva auto show in March 2010, production was promised for 2011. Now executives admit the hybrid version of the E-Class won't be showroom-ready until sometime in 2012.


Download Mercedes E-Class Diesel Hybrid Development Continues