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Filed under: LA Auto Show , Spy Photos , SUVs , Crossovers/CUVs , Lexus Click above for gallery of 2010 Lexus RX leaked shots Thanks to an astute Autoblog tipster, we have our very first look at the upcoming redesigned 2010 Lexus RX ahead of its official unveiling at the LA Auto Show next month. As you can see in the gallery below, which show shots from what appears to be a Japanese brochure, the new RX will retain the same basic shape and styling cues as the current model, but has been gone over with some fine grit sandpaper to smooth out the rough edges. In traditional Lexus fashion, while the new RX may look similar to the old one, we're absolutely certain every body panel is all new. The redesigned interior also features a seriously swoopy dash. The new RX is also rumored to be larger than the current model with a longer wheelbase that may accommodate a third row of seating for the first time. We expect a revised version of the current model's 3.5L V6 to be offered, probably...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , SUVs , Green , Crossovers/CUVs , Hatchbacks At 9AM Eastern on Monday morning, a fleet of 23 diesel-powered Audis will roll out from Manhattan's Tavern on the Green on a trans-continental trek to demonstrate diesel efficiency. I'm in Manhattan this afternoon preparing to spend the next week in an Audi Q7 TDI on the way to Denver and will be checking in regularly from the road as we pass through Washington, Cleveland, Chicago, Memphis, Dallas and Amarillo along the way. Audi plans to launch its fifty-state-legal Q7 TDI in the US market next spring and it seems likely that some of the other vehicles on this trip may not be far behind. I'll be on the first two legs and Sebastian, Damon, Drew and Jonathan will take over for the second week of the trip to Los Angeles. You can also follow along at the Audi Mileage Marathon site where there's a Twitter feed following the participants as they cross the continent. There is also a live map showing our...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Minivans/MPVs , Sports/GTs , SUVs , Green , Chrysler, LLC. , Dodge , Jeep CNBC's Phil Lebeau got a sneak peek at the new EVs Chrysler is developing, and it looks like Auburn Hills is pulling a Tesla, among other things. The yellow Dodge EV you see here is basically an electrified Lotus Europa. With lithium ion battery power, it's reportedly got an operating range of 150 - 200 miles and can be plugged in to household 110 or 220 outlets. Figure a four-hour charge on the latter, and 8 or so on the former. Zero-to-sixty is said to be under 5 seconds. Like we said, this is basically Chrysler's Tesla, right down to the Lotus-sourced donor vehicle. We'll see the Dodge EV introduced formally later this afternoon, along with range-extended EV versions of the Chrysler Town & Country (can you say, "killer app"?) and Jeep Wrangler. With regard to timing, Chrysler says it would like to have "at least one" of these vehicles on...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , SUVs , Trucks/Pickups , Hirings/Firings/Layoffs , Plants/Manufacturing , Crossovers/CUVs , Toyota Toyota's got some changes and rearranges underway with its North American facilities to better serve the demands of the market. The biggest news is that Prius production will be coming Stateside, which will help unkink the supply pipeline, if not also lower costs. A new facility in Blue Springs, Mississippi is being readied for the battery-pack-mobile, though the location was initially meant to turn out Highlanders. With consumer desires shifting with the rise of fuel prices, cranking out more Priuses is a higher priority, and beginning in fall 2009, the Highlander will shuffle off to Princeton, Indiana. With the Highlander elbowing its way into the Princeton plant, the vehicle currently produced there, the Tundra, will see its production move under a single roof in San Antonio, Texas. The big-truck moves are of little consequence when the plants are scheduled...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , SUVs , Jeep Click image above for small gallery of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8 While out in the Mojave testing the new Subaru STI, our buddy Rich Truesdell not only came upon a fleet of 2009 Acura TLs , but caravan of Mopars. There were "several Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8s, a Dodge Challenger, with a camouflaged Jeep Grand Cherokee towing a trailer in tandem with a Mercedes ML towing a similar trailer." The ML was a tipoff that this could be a Grand Cherokee with the Mercedes-shared turbodiesel engine. But when the vehicles passed by, they knew they were listening to a Hemi under that hood. So maybe it is just an upgraded Hemi that was being load-tested against a similarly powerful ML550. Informed speculation says that a new fascia lies behind the camo and it was undergoing cooling testing. Rich also mentions tire upgrades and even a horsepower bump as possible reasons for the desert excursion. One intriguing theory is the adaptation of Chrysler's...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , SUVs , Trucks/Pickups , Plants/Manufacturing , Chevrolet , GMC , HUMMER At the General Motors annual meeting in Delaware today, CEO Rick Wagoner will be publicly announcing the latest restructuring round for the beleaguered automaker. In response to plummeting sales of large trucks, GM will close down four more North American Assembly plants by 2010. The plants in Janesville, Wisconsin, Oshawa Ontario, Moraine, Ohio, and Toluca, Mexico are already running reduced production schedules and will cease operations entirely as products are discontinued or shifted to other plants. The Janesville plant builds medium trucks and SUVs while Moraine builds the old body on frame Trailblazer, GMC Envoy and Saab 9-7x SUVs. The other plants build full-size pickup trucks. The closures affect 10,000 employees at those plants. Those that aren't among the 19,000 who are taking buyouts will be offered transfers to other locations to fill spaces vacated by the departing...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , SUVs , Crossovers/CUVs , Porsche Click above for high-res gallery of Baby Cayenne spy shots Porsche almost slid a fast one by spy photographers recently when it began testing a new baby Cayenne SUV prototype at the famed Nurburgring race track in Germany. The thing looks for all the world like an actual Cayenne SUV, but photographers first noticed its diminutive proportions, then its sharply raked D-pillar, and then the different cut lines around its door. Soon it became apparent that this was no Cayenne, but rather a prototype for a new, smaller Porsche SUV that's likely based on the upcoming Audi Q5 . Like most people, we've always thought the idea of a Porsche SUV is kind of silly, but make it smaller and lighter and we get commensurately more interested. Click after the jump for more analysis from the spy photographers themselves. Gallery: Porsche Baby Cayenne - spy shots [Source: KGP Photography] Continue reading Spy Shots: Baby Cayenne caught on 'Ring...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , SUVs , Euro , Porsche , Misc. Auto Shows Click image for a hi-res gallery of the new Cayenne Turbo S Porsche says that Asian and Eastern European market demand for ridiculously high performance SUVs has resulted in a new addition to the Cayenne range. After a brief respite following the introduction of the current-gen Cayenne, the Turbo S moniker returns. With it comes more power, more torque, newly-available features, and a commensurate cost of entry. Updated engine management and a new exhaust system raise peak output to 550 horsepower and 553 lb-ft. Channeled through a 6-speed Tiptronic S gearbox, that's enough to rocket Stuttgart's new über-ute to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds and give it a top speed of 174 mph. Reining in those horses becomes even easier if buyers pony up for the optional, massive ceramic composite brakes (16" front / 14.5". rear), now available on Cayenne for the fist time. Exclusive "Lava Gray" paint, the requisite...
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Filed under: SUVs , Crossovers/CUVs , Audi , Misc. Auto Shows Click above for a high-res gallery of the Audi Q5 For months now we've seen spy photos and heard speculation about Audi's new Q5 CUV. Now, we finally have the official news on the latest entry from Ingolstadt. Unlike its big brother the Q7, the Q5 doesn't share an architecture with a VW model. The Q5 utilizes the same underpinnings as the A5 coupe and A4 sedan/wagon. That means the Q5 has a longitudinally mounted engine rather than the transverse powerplant found in the smaller VW Tiguan. While we were in Germany to drive the new A4, Audi invited us into their design center in Ingolstadt to check out their new virtual reality design system and have a look at the Q5 in the metal, prior to its official coming out party in Beijing. Compared to the Q7, the Q5 looks substantially more compact than its hefty sibling and is much tidier design overall, keeping with Audi's current pretensions of being a premium sporting...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Hybrids/Alternative , SUVs , Geneva Motor Show , Euro , Land Rover Click image for a hi-res gallery of the Black & Silver Land Rover LRX And here we thought it looked good in white . Land Rover is quick to remind that the LRX is "just a concept," but it's sending a pretty strong message in Geneva, where a second , black-and-silver LRX will join the original white truck that premiered in Detroit . And the new one is even hotter than the original, itself one of the best concepts of the last year. It's supposed to demonstrate how a (potential) production LRX could be personalized, and we would like to have one delivered to our personal garage approximately yesterday. The rakish shape now features a silver roof fitted with side rails and a removable carbon-composite panel. This beautifully contrasts the black primary finish, and aluminum-accented details do their part to further dress up the exterior. As a subtle reminder to onlookers that this...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Detroit Auto Show , SUVs , HUMMER var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/HUMMER_HX_questions_the_Jeep_Wrangler_s_manhood'; Well, there's another embargo blown. HUMMERForums dropped all the images they had of the HUMMER HX concept that was due to be officially unveiled in a scant five days, and Jalopnik followed suit. So here it is, HUMMER's Wrangler-competitor in concept form, complete with a 3.6-liter SIDI E85 FlexFuel engine which sends power to all four wheels via a six-speed auto 'box. The HX is technically a convertible, meaning that the roof panels and modular rear can open or be stowed, while the interior instruments can be reconfigured depending on the type of driving you'll be doing. All the details are available in the press release after the jump. Gallery: Detroit 2008: HUMMER HX Concept Continue reading Detroit 2008: HUMMER HX Concept Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show , SUVs , Crossovers/CUVs , Subaru Click image to enlarge Subaru's Christmas present to everyone is the release of the first official photo of the 2009 Forester. The Forester's appearance has been one of the least well-kept secrets in all of autodom in recent weeks, but nonetheless, here you go. Subaru's PR (read it after the jump) is scant on details except to say that the car rides on a longer wheelbase than the outgoing model, providing more interior room while growing overall length just 3 inches. Inside, expect to see upgraded plastics and ergonomics, with power coming from 2.5L normally aspirated and turbocharged boxer engines. From the angle shown, the JDM model depicted above still looks like the love child of a Chrysler Pacifica and a Mitsubishi Outlander if you ask us. We expect to have lots more on this new Forester in the coming days. [Source: Subaru] Continue reading Detroit '08 Preview: 2009 Subaru Forester officially revealed...
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Filed under: SUVs , Crossovers/CUVs , Chevrolet , GM , GMC , Misc. Auto Shows Okay, the Automotive News story we were tipped on earlier is now out, and we can clarify the details about the upcoming 2009 GMC Terrain. As initially reported, the Terrain replaces the Pontiac Torrent, which gets laid to rest as Pontiac becomes car-focused once again. The news is that Terrain will be a new vehicle roughly sized the same as the Jeep Liberty, and probably not the exact truck you see above, from the sound of things. It'll join a new Chevy Equinox also built atop the updated Theta platform, and the GMC will have unique sheetmetal that's said to be "bolder" than that of the Chevy. Look for pricing to be in the same ballpark as the Equinox, which will start in the $22,000 range. The Terrain (and presumably the Equinox) will be built at the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario. So, while the new Terrain will share a name with the Antara variant being sold in the Middle East , it sounds...
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Filed under: SUVs , GMC , Pontiac Click image to enlarge var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/2009_GMC_Terrain_replacing_Pontiac_Torrent_in_the_US'; With the Torrent dropped from Pontiac's long-term plans as the brand returns its focus to performance-oriented cars, GM appears to already know how and where it'll replace the small SUV. The answer was unveiled back in November when GMC introduced the Terrain in Kuwait. Like the Saturn Vue , the GMC Terrain is essentially a badge-engineered Opel Antara; and now the Terrain is coming to the US, according to an Automotive News report that's set to hit the wires tomorrow. Due as a 2009 model, the Terrain will be GMC's first foray into the compact SUV segment. As you can see above, the division's branding looks right at home on the Vue/Antara bodywork. The long-in-the-tooth Chevy Equinox can't be hanging around much longer, either, and while GM has denied plans to do so in the past, we've got to believe the...
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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show , SUVs , Crossovers/CUVs , BMW click above image to see high-res gallery of the BMW X6 var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/BMW_X6_unveiled_400_hp_twin_turbo_V8_to_be_offered'; BMW's big Detroit debut will be the production X6 Sports Activity Coupe (unsurprisingly, BMW avoids the somewhat unbecoming "SAC" acronym), which will be arriving in US showrooms sometime during the second quarter of 2008. When it does, buyers get two flavors to choose from. The xDrive50i is powered by a new twin-turbo, direct-injected 4.4L V8 pumping out 400-horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque. The xDrive35i, meanwhile, gets the automaker's acclaimed 300-hp TT inline six-cylinder. Dynamic Performance Control is a standard feature that can direct torque to either rear wheel, further aiding steering in both dry weather and sloppier conditions. Design-wise, the production X6 looks pretty much just like the hybrid-equipped concept version we saw earlier this year...
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