India’s Mahindra has nearly completed a purchase of Korean carmaker circus freakshow Ssangyong, maker of the world’s ugliest vehicles.

“We give the takeover candidate (Mahindra and Mahindra) an exclusive right for negotiation, and won’t be involved in any takeover-related activities with a third party,” Ssangyong said in a statement. Financial terms were not announced but some analysts value the deal at roughly $420 million.

Ssangyong, which makes the Rodius minivan and Actyon crossover, was slated to be resurrected by Chinese carmaker SAIC, until the recession caused them to abandon plans for Ssangyong.

[Source: Drive.com.au]

After receiving 1,100 complaints regarding the 2005-2007 Toyota Matrix and Corolla, NHTSA has decided to broaden their investigation into the vehicles, after launching a preliminary inquiry in November of 2009.

According to reports, Toyota told NHTSA that a problem with the car’s ECU (engine control unit) that causes stalling, rough shifting and stops the car from re-starting after these problems occur. While the company hasn’t recalled the vehicles, it has issued a number of service bulletins and replaced the defective part on an unspecified number of vehicles. Toyota also replaced the part under warranty provided the vehicles had fewer than 80,000 miles.

Toyota faces lawsuits over the issue in a number of states including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Minnesota, Florida and California. The company was fined $16.4 million in March for delaying the recall of 2.3 million vehicles.

[Source: Detroit News]

Hyundai CEO John Krafcik confirmed to Autoblog that their next generation of Genesis, Genesis Coupe and Equus rear-drive cars would also be offered with all-wheel-drive.

While no powertrains have been announced for any of the cars, the news of AWD will be welcome for those in the Snowbelt states, where traction going to all four wheels is so prevalent that most dealers don’t even bother to order rear-drive variants of cars like the Infiniti G, and Mercedes C, E and S-Class sedans.

Autoblog also dropped a vague hint that the next Genesis Coupe will go “upmarket” next time, perhaps setting its sights on the BMW M3 rather than the current crop of pony cars. Honestly, the Genesis Coupe, while a decent car, might want to set its sights on the Ford Mustang 5.0, which seems to have the bargain-M3 formula down to a science.

[Source: Autoblog]

Lexus is soliciting the advice of some 20,000 owners for opinions on product features, social media and demographic information. “This is a great way of listening to customers,” said Deborah Senior, Lexus corporate manager of marketing strategy and communications.

According to Senior, incentives like cash cards as a monthly draw prize helped draw in the substantial amount of responses, which will help shape future Lexus product. “We can use this information in combination with information from other resources to develop future plans. Everything from products to the customer’s relationship with the dealer to the ownership experience to how we communicate with them.”

Lexus is hoping to get a better idea of the wants and needs of its customer base as it battles Mercedes-Benz and BMW for supremacy in the luxury vehicle sales race. The primary challenge for the brand appears to be drawing in new customers while meeting the needs of its core buyers, who tend to be aging baby boomers.

[Source: Automotive News]

FIAT CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters at a Chrysler event in Ohio that Alfa Romeo cars would be sold in the United States in joint Alfa/Fiat dealerships starting in 2012.

The official statement pretty much puts to rest any rumors of a sale of the Alfa Romeo brand to Volkswagen, something was was reported by many outlets in the preceding days. While Alfa Romeo sales have been dismal over the past two years, FIAT brass are confident that the new Giulia sedan and a mid-size SUV will be able t0 lead the brand’s return to America. Alfa Romeo has a tremendous amount of goodwill and brand recognition in the United States, and can be positioned as a sporty, upscale line within the Chrysler/FIAT framework.

[Source: Left Lane News]

An attendee at QuakeCon (a video game convention) recently became infamous for being caught on tape committing the blunder of a lifetime; selling a winning raffle ticket for a 2011 Ford Shelby GT500.

This wasn’t your ordinary raffle either. To get the ticket (one of 100) you had to win one of the convention-sponsored tournaments or contests, which ostensibly took some skill, and made for very good odds. One raffle ticket winner sold his for $200 moments before the draw, only to find that his was the winner.

Presumably, the winner was not a car guy, otherwise we would have seen him collapse with anguish upon seeing this. The bald, dorky looking ticket buyer, on the other hand, looks unbearably smug, and it’s a perfectly understandable reaction.

[Source: Vimeo]

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Lotus is readying plans to build two Evora hybrids but is waiting on funding for the project from the Technology Strategy Board, a publicly funded think tank in the United Kingdom.

The prototypes, known as the Evora 414E range extending hybrid, will go forward, with at least one being built. However Lotus needs additional funding to build a second example. Two motors, one in each rear wheel, will produce 207ps, or 414ps in total. The motors also use a one-speed transmission and will allow torque vectoring between each rear wheel. The car’s electric powertrain will be able to be charged via a regular household plug, or the on-board “generator” in the form of a 1.2L 3-cylinder gasoline engine producing 47 horsepower.

Lotus says the car will hit 60 mph in 4 seconds and can travel up to 35 miles solely on electric power.

Gallery: Lotus 414E Hybrid

[Source: Autocar]

Volkswagen looks to be following a brand strategy similar to Pokemon; “gotta catch ‘em all”. The company is aiming to increase its stable to 12 brands, and one of those under consideration is apparently Alfa Romeo.

While Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne denied reports that Alfa is for sale, the Italian sports car maker is considered a financial loser, selling only 100,000 cars in 2009, while bleeding funds. By contrast, Volkswagen’s SEAT brand, which is regarded as VW Group’s worst performing brand, sold 300,000 cars.

There has been analyst talk of VW using SEAT product badged as Alfa Romeos should the VW group acquire the iconic Italian car maker. While the concept seems unpalatable to die-hard Alfisti, the front-drive layouts of Alfas and VW group cars means that there would be an easy synergy between the two brands. And with Volkswagen’s fairly solid engineering and reliability, there may be an end to the notorious Alfa Romeo build quality jokes.

[Source: Reuters]

Several photos and a smattering of details about the 2012 Nissan GT-R have leaked online, with the latest selection of details about the mild updates to the 2012 model coming to us via GT-RBlog.

Most noticeable on the 2012 GT-R is a modified front bumper with integrated LED daytime running lights. In total, the sleeker bodywork results in a coefficient of drag (Cd) that drops from 0.272 to 0.268. At the same time, downforce has also been improved by 10 percent thanks to a new rear diffuser.

But the best upgrade is easily the new set of Rays wheels, which cut a total of 26.4 lbs of weight from the car where it’s most important. Reportedly the new rollers will be offered in both a Hyper Blue Black finish and Hyper Titanium.

Two new paint colors will also be offered, with a stunning Aurora Flare Blue Pearl, as well as another color known as Nebula Opal Black.

A slight price hike is also included for 2012, with an extra 80,000 yen bringing the 2012 GT-R’s sticker price to 8,694,000 yen in Japan. U.S. pricing is not yet known.

[Source: GT-RBlog]

Some of us real passionate gamers don’t think Gran Turismo 5 will make it to our grubby little hands anytime soon. But there’s always reason to hope that the company’s continuous delay in releasing the game is well worth the wait. This is probably not one of those highlights that makes us thankful that they delayed the release of the game, but it shows just how thorough GT5 will be.

The second generation Prius was available in Gran Turismo 4, so this isn’t exactly huge on the ‘wow’ factor, but it’s nice to know that they’re shoving in every new vehicle they possibly can to keep the game up-to-date when it’s finally released. And given just how successful the third-gen Toyota Prius is in Japan, it’s no surprise that Gran Turismo 5 will be featuring it.

It probably won’t be one of those awesomely popular cars to race, but for 3rd generation Prius owners, it’s pretty cool. We do find it thoroughly entertaining that it looks like a Nissan Versa is dusting it on the very scenic track.

GALLERY: Toyota Prius Gran Turismo 5

[Source: PriusChat]