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Ok, so this is an ad. Obviously. And if you’re watching it, you might just be the sort of sucker for clever marketing that Volkswagen is hoping you are, which means they’d also like you to sign up to follow the company’s latest character, Sluggy Patterson, on Twitter.

How is this news? First, we love a good game of Punch Buggy. Second, we think it’s the first time an automotive company has made an ad featuring violence caused by the brand. Third, it’s sort of funny.

While we can’t say we have anyone in our immediate family who acts like Sluggy, we can certainly relate — which is just what Deutsch, Volkswagen’s new ad agency, is hoping to capitalize on.

[Source: AdAge]

Audi has yet to import their bonkers TT-RS to North America, and the odds that it will make it over here are about the same as the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series. The 335 horsepower five-cylinder is enticing, but the $66,000 price tag is sure to put a lot of prospective buyers off.

For those who don’t feel like dropping that much money on a TT, Audi will have the same powerplant tucked into a much more practical package, in the form of a five-door A3 hatchback. The RS3, as its sure to be known, will get the five-banger, a revised fascia as well as bigger brakes. Nothing has been revealed about the chassis tuning, but you can equally be sure that some new suspension bits will be included as well.

The A3 hasn’t been a rousing success in North America, but a fast version would go a long way to lift the cars profile among the public. The only question is, will anyone be willing to fork over what is sure to be a hefty price tag for a 350 horsepower hatchback?

Recently spy photogs caught the upcoming TT-RS testing on Germany’s famed Nürburgring. See the link below for the pics:

[Source: Left Lane News]

Apparently owning an AMG Mercedes-Benz has more perks than just driving the vehicle. Those owners who pilot AMG vehicles have access to the AMG Private Lounge online where they get access to insider AMG news, connect with other AMG owners and explore the general world of AMG.

One of those lucky AMG Lounge members came across this sweet bright orange E63 AMG that sports some classy carbon fiber accents and flat black wheels. From what we can gather, this one-off E63 W212 was built by AMG Performance Studio, which is a division of AMG, specializing in appealing to the needs of their special customers. So for those seeking beyond the standard AMG packages, AMG Performance Studio will customize anything you can ask for with AMG quality – from paint to interior customization to new audio.

We don’t have a ton of specs on this car unfortunately, but hopefully the lucky owner of this E63 will surface on one of the many Mercedes forums. But we have to admit, this is one hot E63 AMG and the color is absolutely gorgeous on a sporty, classy, luxury vehicle.

[Source: Automotive Addicts]

GALLERY: AMG Performance Studio Mercedes-Benz E63 W212 AMG

K-Pop, Kimchi, and…Camaro? From 2011, Korean customers will be able to pick up a slice of Americana like the Camaro, alongside more conventional Chevrolet offerings.

The announcement was made at the Busan International Motor Show, by GM Daewoo Auto & Technology President Mike Arcamone.

“According to our market research, half of all Koreans are familiar with the brand and more than 80 percent are aware of Chevrolet’s distinctive logo,” said Arcamone. “This is indicative of the positive brand image that already exists among consumers in Korea toward Chevrolet. We see tremendous upside with its introduction.”

Chevrolet vehicles will be sold alongside GM Daewoo offerings, and Chevrolet will not be replacing the Korean Daewoo brand.

It may seem like a strange fit, but the country has taken to an earlier American pastime – baseball — becoming one of the leading nations in talent. Baseball is the country’s largest spectator sport, so we don’t think it’ll be strange if Koreans start coveting muscle cars.

This author has loved hip-hop music since the tender age of 3, when Digital Underground’s “The Humpty Dance” caught my attention. I didn’t really understand the lyric “I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom” but it had a fat bassline and a character from a nursery rhyme, and that was enough for me.

In the same way that rock and roll groups mythologized American muscle in the 1960′s, rappers have taken to lionizing the automobile in all its forms, whether it’s an East Coast rapper like Jay-Z rapping about Maybachs or Jaguars, or Snoop Dogg cruising through Long Beach, California in one of his famous 1964 Impalas.

Recently, the Southern United States has had a stranglehold on the hip-hop scene, and their love of American muscle has seen a resurgence of interest in rear-drive American cars. For those with money, a new Dodge Charger or a classic muscle car is the must have ride. But not everyone can afford a new car, and so ordinary folk turn to cars like the Chevrolet Caprice, Mercury Grand Marquis or 1980′s G-Body General Motors cars and customize them with cartoonish 24inch rims and custom lift kits.

As with any fashion-driven culture, huge chrome rims are now out of style, and the new trend is “swangas“, the street term of wire wheels from a 1983 or 1984 Cadillac. Since the wheels were made for a rear-drive offset, they tend to poke out on many of the front-drive vehicles that are affordable to young people, like Oldsmobile 98s, Cadillac Devilles or Buick Park Avenues. While automotive purists may scoff, the “poke” aesthetic is a signature look of the “swanga” movement.

Houston rap group “Block Boyz Click” released a video, imaginatively titled “Ridin Swangas”, and the song is a decent, if amateurish attempt to capture the slowed-down, soulful styles of fellow Houstonians UGK, the video is chock full of truly ghetto American iron that should have been consigned to the junkyard long ago. Aside from the aforementioned cars, sharp eyes will also spot a Chrysler LHS, Buick LeSabre and Pontiac Bonneville.

The artistic merits of the song may be a matter of opinion, but we happened to enjoy the use of some under-appreciated Rick Wagoner-era General Motors machinery, rather than having the (rented) supercar du jour being driven at a snails pace, with a blinged-out hand gripping the wheel at 12 o’clock. Long live the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the Dirty South. Keep swangin on ‘em, H-Town. Check out the official video after the jump.

[Source: Cardomain blog]

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A little over a month after the new Outlander Sport SUV (known as the ASX or RVR in the rest of the world) took a bow at the New York Auto Show, Mitsubishi has announced that it will be giving a variation of the sharp-looking crossover to Peugeot and Citroen, two companies which have had a long alliance with the Japanese automaker.

The Peugeot/Citroen variant will come with a very European 1.6-liter diesel engine, and the choice of either front or four-wheel-drive. Expected to launch in 2012, Peugeot and Citroen expect to move a combined 50,000 units per year, with the companies forecasting a 60% growth in SUV sales by 2015. While Europe is not usually thought of as hot spot for SUVs, compact crossovers (like this small, diesel powered model) are a hit and the ASX could potentially be a popular vehicle for locales with tight, winding streets and high fuel prices.

Official release after the jump:

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BMW‘s M3 coupe can be ordered with a roof panel made from carbon fiber, but the German auto maker has plans to expand its use of the exotic material. In addition to the upcoming MegaCity electric car, BMW is building a new plant on Washington state to manufacture carbon fiber parts. Carbon fiber is not only light weight but also incredibly strong, which makes it ideal for meeting safety requirements.

Speaking at the Beijing Auto Show, Ian Robertson, head of global sales for BMW, explained the benefits of investing so heavily in carbon fiber technology. “By using carbon fiber, which is a little more expensive but 30 percent lighter, you don’t need as many batteries for the same range,” said Robertson. “There’s a trade-off that actually works.”

Robertson also said that BMW “…will be the first manufacturer to take carbon fiber to effectively high volume.”

[Source: Autoblog Green via Automotive News]

With his already amazing collection of classic, exotic and rare automobiles, Jay Leno has just added one more specimen – the Koenigsegg Trevita. Number three of three, the Trevita is based on the 1,018-hp CCXR and gets a special Simmering Diamond carbon fiber body, with a diamond coating layered over the special lightweight weave.

Thanks to the folks at JP Logistics we have a selection of photos of the car – and a bit of a look inside one of Leno’s garages. There are even a few snaps of Leno and Christian von Koenigsegg.

Browse our gallery below or hit up the photog’s Photobucket page here.

GALLERY: Jay Leno’s Koenigsegg Trevita

[Source: Luxury4Play]

Getting a drivers license and a car is possibly the most important milestone in a young persons life. It means freedom, having, a place to call your own, and, most importantly, it has a back seat.

If you’re a parent of a teen, odds are you’ll be buying their first car, or at least funding a large portion of it and insuring it as well. No doubt you want your kid driving a safe, reliable car that has predictable handling characteristics and a small enough engine that the driver won’t be caught running drunk from the cops at 150. Consumer Reports has just released their top recommendations for teens, and surprising to no one, rear-drive cars are completely absent from the list. As is anything with a Turbocharger, Supercharger, or more than 4 Cylinders.

But alas, not all hope is lost. There are some great starter cars in this list. First-generation Acura TSX’s are fun to drive, well-built, and reliable. So is the Mazda3. But the Kia Optima? Come on…. 16 year-old me wouldn’t be caught dead in that.

Parents, take our advice. Allow your child some leeway to buy a fun car, provided it’s affordable and safe, but spend a few hundred bucks on real driver training, such as the Skip Barber Car Control course. Far too few parents take advantage of these opportunities to teach teens how to really handle a car in an emergency, and those few hundred dollars spent on driver training could mean your child’s life.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

See the whole list after the jump:

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Although embattled Toyota has received the lion’s share in recent months when it comes to recalls, the fact remains, they’re part and parcel of the auto business and from time to time, nearly every player in the business is faced with the issue on some of its offerings. A case in point: Ford Motor Company recently announced that it is recalling 2010 Explorer Sport Trac models, built between December 15 2009 and February 3 this year, for faulty seat recliner mechanisms that apparently can cause the seat backs to lose support and fall rearward in the event of an impact. The seats, like many used in FoMoCo products over the years, are supplied by Lear Seating, from factories in the U.S. and Mexico.

According to sources, Ford will start recalling affected Sport Tracs immediately (before April 30) and customers who currently own one of these trucks can contact the automaker if they have questions or concerns at 866-436-7332 or call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s vehicle safety hot line at 888-327-4236.

[Source:Pickuptrucks.com]