You’ve got to hand it to those guys over at Aston Martin, they just keep coming up with ideas that seem too good to be true, and then deliver on our wildest dreams by making them a reality. Case in point: the V12 Vantage that the company will officially unveil at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show

Just yesterday we reported the rumor that the V12 Vantage RS Concept car would see production and today Aston has confirmed the news. The super-Vantage will be powered by a 6.0-liter V12 engine and make 510hp and 420 ft-lbs of torque. Aston Martin claims a 0-62 mph time of 4.2 seconds with a top speed of 190 mph.

The body of the car will use significant amounts of carbon fiber and judging from the photos, the V12 Vantage will also make use of carbon-composite brakes.

“This is the ultimate performance interpretation of the Vantage range, combining our most agile model with our most powerful engine,” says Dr. Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin’s Chief Executive Officer. “It represents the definitive driving package; providing spectacular performance to ensure a dynamically thrilling and everyday useable driving experience.”

“The V12 Vantage has a unique character, one unlike our other cars. This will appeal to different people with different tastes, allowing more people to enjoy the Aston Martin experience.

“This also illustrates one of Aston Martin’s key strengths – the ability to act quickly and turn concepts and ideas into reality.”

How right Dr. Bez is. When the V12 Vantage RS concept car came out it seemed too-good-to-be-true and yet Aston Martin is making dreams a reality. To insure exclusivity, just 1,000 models will be built.

Aston Martin V12 Vantage:

Official release after the jump:

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Citing the global financial crisis, Mitsubishi Motors has just announced that it will pull out of all cross-country rally races for 2009, including the Dakar Rally. In a statement the company said that, “The sudden deterioration of the global economy made it necessary for the company to focus its resources more tightly.”

The news comes just after Mitsubishi announced it expects to post a 60 billion yen ($674 million) loss for the past fiscal year.

The move away from Dakar is particularly shocking considering the company’s strong presence in the event and its winning history. In 26 entries Mitsubishi has won the Dakar Rally 12 times , including seven consecutive victories from 2001-07.

Involvement in rally racing has also been a major part of Mitsubishi’s engineering and marketing efforts, with this grueling form of motorsports proving to be a valuable format for developing and testing new technologies (particularly 4WD and AWD technologies) – something that Mitsubishi often relies on in it’s advertising efforts.

Mitsubishi now joins the growing ranks of auto manufacturers that have pulled from motorsports over the past few months. Recently both Subaru and Suzuki pulled out of the World Rally Championship, Honda left Formula 1 and Audi announced it would not be competing in the American Le Mans Series.

Official release after the jump:

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Source Interlink, the parent company for Motor Trend magazine (among dozens of other automotive titles) has ceased distributing magazines. We’ll try to explain.

Source has both a publishing arm and a distribution arm. The distributions side of the company distributes for Source publishing as well as for many other publishing houses in the US, including Time Inc.. Source and another publishing giant, Anderson, (which together account for roughly half of all magazine distribution in the United States) recently announced a seven cent price hike and several of the publishing houses balked at threat, hoping that Source and Anderson would back down. They didn’t.

In response to this move Source Interlink will no longer be distributing magazines. The only problem is, Source distributes its own magazines. We’re left wondering how the company plans to get all those copies of Motor Tend, Automobile, Hot Rod, etc. to their faithful readers.

[Source: Foliomag]

After releasing the first production pictures of its Rapide saloon, there is now a rumor from Aston Martin that the company will bring two new models to the Geneva Auto Show: a car based on the V12 Vantage RS Concept and a drop-top version of the flagship DBS.

We’re most excited about the possibility of a V12-powered Vantage. The concept car featured a 600hp version of Aston’s 6.0-liter V12 engine and weighed less than 3,530 lbs – thanks to gobs and gobs of carbon fiber parts. The concept car has an estimated 0-62 mph time of 4.0 seconds. We don’t expect a production version to be quite as powerful or as light as the concept but a more hard-core Vantage would certainly be welcomed.

The second model might not get our blood pumping quite as quickly but we certainly wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to drive a convertible version of the shockingly-good DBS. This vehicle is also significantly more likely to actually become a reality.

V12 Vantage RS Concept:

[Source: The Motor Report]

V12 Vantage RS Concept press release after the jump:

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Megan Fox and a Tranformer that turns into an Audi R8.

What is there to say but… we can’t wait!

Visit the official home page here: www.transformersmovie.com

Mazda has crushed speculation that there may not be a new version of the MazdaSpeed3 by announcing that the new performance version of the popular Mazda3 5-door hatchback will be unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show in March.

The 2010 model will continue to use the 2.3-liter direct injection and turbocharged four-cylinder engine although power should receive a mild increase.

The Mazdaspeed3 is sold in Japan as the MPS Axela and in Europe as the MAZDA3 MPS.

Sharing the press conference in Geneva will be the Mazda3 i-stop, which features a new technology paired to the Mazda3′s 2.0 DISI (Direct Injection Spark Ignition) engine for a 12 percent reduction in fuel-consumption.

We’ll be sure to bring you more info and photos from the show floor in Geneva starting March 3rd.

Official release after the jump:

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Chris Bangle, the man behind the controversial BMW designs over the last several decades has announced he is leaving his post at BMW after 17 years. Bangle became the Director of the BMW Design Group in 1992 and has since become one of the world’s most famous infamous automotive designers.

Under Bangle’s leadership BMW has produced many new designs including the BMW Z3, BMW Z4, BMW X5, BMW Z8, BMW X3, the new BMW 6 Series, the BMW X6 and the BMW 1 Series. Bangle’s design department also developed the designs for the new MINI and the Rolls-Royce Phantom (at least he got one of them right). Bangle will more likely be remembered for the drastic new direction that he took vehicles like the BMW 7 and 5 Series in. He is also responsible for several new 3 Series designs.

Bangle will be replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk, the currently Head of BMW Automobile Design, who Bangle has worked with for the past 17 years.

“Christopher Bangle has had a lasting impact on the identity of BMW Group’s brands. His contribution to the company’s success has been decisive, and together with his teams he has mapped out a clear and aesthetic route into the future,” said Dr Klaus Draeger, BMW AG’s Board Member for Development.

Bangle has announced that he will not only be leaving BMW but the automotive industry in general, to pursue alternate design interests. He has stated, however, that he intends to keep close ties to BMW.

Caption: Adrian van Hooydonk

Bangle describes his replacement at “truly a top professional in our business,” adding that, “I am sure that the many strong design strategies he has helped us create for the BMW Group will continue to develop and evolve.”

Van Hooydonk, 44, was born in the Netherlands, studied at Delft Polytechnic University in Holland and at the Art Center Europ in Vevey, Switzerland, until 1992 when he went to work for BMW. In 2000 he went to California to work at BMW’s Designworks USA offices. He then was promoted to Head of the Brand Design Studio for BMW Automobiles. In his new position he will be responsible for design development for the BMW, Rolls-Royce and MINI brands.

His influence is already obvious on the 6 Series and 7 Series and he was highly involved in the Z9 concept car, the M1 Hommage and the stunning BMW Concept CS.

“I am honoured and extremely excited to take on this new responsibility“, said van Hooydonk. “BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce produce the best cars and motorcycles in their segment, and I am really looking forward to being able to contribute to the future development of these brands. I have no doubt that there are challenges ahead, but BMW’s depth in engineering and the passion of its talented design team are as strong as ever. Together I am sure we will be able to create some very sophisticated and extremely attractive concepts.”

Official release after the jump:

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Three months after Saleen Incorporated announced it was looking for a buyer the company has just released news that MJ Acquistions has purchased a significant portion of the automakers assets.

The deal puts all supercharger, after market and high performance assets in the hands of MJ Acquisitions. Saleen Inc.  will retain ownership of everything relating to the S7 Supercar and upcoming S5 Raptor – although the move certainly puts the development of the Saleen exotic in jeapordy as it is more than likety the supercar department shares both staff and resources with the departments that have changed hands. And considering how small the volume of sales for the S7 project have been it’s unlikely MJ Acquistions will want to dedicate staff and resources to areas other than the high volume, high profit aftermarket and high performance segments.

On a positive note MJ Acquisitions is a developed and successful automotive company that owns four subsidiaries: Cyltec, LLC, Power-Tec Engineering, LLC, Arrow Racing Engines, LLC, and Control-Tec, LLC. These companies comprise a network that currently facilitates full service enginering, design, manufacturing, assembly and control systems for sectors of the automotive industry.

“We moved on this purchase quickly to ensure that the process of delivering high-quality automobiles and components to the consumers is not disrupted,” said Mike Shields, President and CEO of MJ Acquisitions. “We are working with the talented team from Saleen and our own experts to continue the quality, delivery, and performance the customer base and delalership network have come to expect from the Saleen brand.”

One point of note is that employees of the Saleen departments that were sold were let go, however, many (if not all) of them are expected to be rehired – including Saleen Inc. CEO Chris Theodore, who said that, “MJ Acquisitions and its affiliates are a group of true car professionals with vast experience in the engineering, production, assembly and distribution of performance and racing vehicles. This influx of new life into the Saleen, RaceCraft and SpeedLab brands is a win-win situation.

MJ Acquisitions doesn’t plan to waste any time bringing product to market and the company is expected to forge ahead with a redesign of the flagship S-Line brand, due out in late 2009, as well as the realse of a 2010 Racecraft Mustang – with develpment beging on that project as soon as Ford delviers the new model to Saleen HQ.

[Source: Saleen Owners and Enthusiasts Club]

Official release after the jump:

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While General Motors has been stealing all the publicity in the plug-in hybrid segment and Chrysler keeps rolling out an endless lineup of electric concept cars, Ford has been quietly working behind the scenes to develop both technologies. And according to a report in the Detroit News, Ford will bring both of these new technologies to market in 2011.

There aren’t a lot of specifics on what model the plug-in hybrid will be, but Ford is currently testing a fleet of Escape Plug-in Hybrids that get 120 mpg in the city and 70 mpg on the highway.

As for the zero-emissions electric vehicle, it will be a Ford Focus and will be based on the all-new vehicle due out in 2010. Ford had been concentrating mostly on the plug-in concept until one of its parts suppliers, Canadian company Magna International, developed a fully-electric version of the Focus. Apparently Magna representatives arrived at Ford HQ back in September for a meeting, driving an electric Focus that Magna had developed on its own.

Ford execs were so impressed that they took a serious look and now they have announced that a pure electric model will also join the fleet.

The electric Focus will have no gasoline motor at all and will operate up to 100 miles on a single charge.

[Source: Detroit News]

Image: Scion Fuse Concept

According to a report by Automotive news, Scion is looking to add a fourth model to its lineup. The media outlet quotes Scion VP Jack Hollis as saying, “We think there are a lot of opportunities for a [second] coupe. We think there is room for a bigger sedan and smaller vehicles. We think there is even a possibility for a truck-based vehicle with an open bed.”

This opens up a whole range of possibilities for the brand and has everyone reconsidering the Hako Coupe concept that was unveiled at the 2008 New York Auto Show and the Fuse concept that first made an appearance back in 2006 at the same show.

While the Fuse seems like old news, we should point out that the company recently displayed the model at the Montreal Auto Show. And the reason this bit of info is significant is because Scion recently announced that it will be expanding into Canada and the Montreal Show marked the first time Scion displayed at an Auto Show in Canada and outside the Unites States.

Image: Scion Hako Coupe

There is also a possibility, although somewhat slim, that this model will be a stand-alone hybrid model. During the unveiling of the Lexus HS250h, Irv Miller, Toyota Motor Sales Group VP, Environmental and Public Affairs, said that, “Sometime early in the next decade, we plan to sell one million gas-electric hybrids per year. To accomplish this we will launch as many as 10 new hybrid models between now and then in various global markets.”

Before the launch of the HS250h we never would have considered a Scion hybrid but now that Toyota has announced its ambitious hybrid goals and has created the first every luxury hybrid we could certainly see them building the first ever economy-hybrid. Also, building a second coupe would seem a little redundant – except if it was a stand-alone hybrid coupe.