A report by insurance comparison website InsWeb suggests that the priciest car to ensure in America isn’t a Nissan GT-R or some other foreign exotic favoured by the young and reckless, but the strange looking Acura ZDX crossover.

According to the site, there is little data on the ZDX, as few people have bought one, and the vehicle is still fairly new to the market. But the ZDX is apparently involved in more than its share of accidents, something we can’t quite account for. Rounding out the list are obvious suspects, like the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Corvette and Dodge Challenger.

At the opposite end of the spectrum were cars like the Kia Sedona, Mazda5 and Ford Escape, the three least expensive vehicles to ensure, and coincidentally, three of the least exciting.

[Source: Left Lane News]

Porsche‘s supervisory board has given the go-ahead for a new “efficient and sporty model” to be dubbed “Cajun”.

Referencing the Cayenne (seen above), the official Porsche news release dubbed the Cajun as an “entry-level” model, similar to the Boxster in terms of positioning, and stressed that the vehicle will be light weight and agile. No further details were given, but we’re glad to see the industry’s worst-kept secret become official.

Hit the jump for the official news release.

[Source: Porsche]

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In the Chinese market, Buick is kind of a big deal. Driven by emperors in pre-Communist times, the brand has carved itself a nice as a premium automaker that’s still accessible to the middle class. Most of their products are carried over from the American market (though built locally), but some, like the GL8 minivan are the kind of oddities that could only exist offshore.

The GL8, despite its minivan layout, is marketed as an executive transport vehicle. Think “livery car” but with lots of room to stretch out and do work, or transport clients from their airports and hotels to various factories and job sites throughout the country. Yes, the minivan bodystyle is a little strange, but there’s also no “suburban mom/emasculated dad” image to contend with in China.

At nearly 207 inches long, the GL8 is a beast of a car – about 10 inches longer than a Chrysler 300C. Power comes from GM’s 3.0L direct injection V6 or a 2.4L Ecotec 4-cylinder backed by a 6-speed automatic. GM will continue to sell the previous model GL8, though the van will also get a refresh, as it moves to target a more mainstream demographic.

Formula 1 pilot Heikki Kovalainen crashed his Audi R8 LMS race car at the Race of Champions event over the weekend – how embarrassing. To make it worse, his girlfriend was riding shotgun.

The accident was reportedly the result of a suspension failure – which is what we hope they’d say about us if we were one of the world’s best drivers, piloting an awesome race car with our girlfriend in the passenger seat.

Neither Kovalainen nor his girlfriend were injured, although the crash is pretty cool to watch.

See the video after the jump:

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Two years after it’s debut as a concept at the Frankfurt Auto Show, MINI is set to unveil the production version of its Coupe model at the same venue.

The design of the Coupe isn’t expected to change much, but MINI will position the car as its new performance model. According to the MINI enthusiasts at MotoringFile, the Coupe will weigh as much as 150 lbs less than the hatchback with a more rigid chassis. And with the next generation of MINI Cooper hatchbacks getting a variety of 3-cylinder powertrains, the 4-cylinder Coupe will be the undeniable performance leader.

MINI will reportedly debut the car in S and John Cooper Works trim to start, with debate ongoing as to whether it will offer a lower-priced and less powerful Cooper model.

[Source: MotoringFile]

Expected to be unveiled shortly and get an official world premiere at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show, Audi has once again teased its new A6 luxury sedan for 2012.

We’ve already seen teaser images (above), but now the German automaker has released a short video.

The video actually shows little, but that’s not all that important as the A6 is certain to look remarkably similar to the new A7 and A8. It’s also slated to share a platform with those two cars, much like how BMW’s new 5 Series shares its underpinnings with the 7 Series.

See the video after the jump and we’ll keep you posted with an expected release on December 1st:

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A surprising new survey has just revealed that consumer interest in hybrid and electric vehicles is on the rise, despite recent reports that sales of such vehicles has been on a steady decline for the past three years.

According to a new Consumer Reports poll, 39 percent of new car buyers are looking at either a hybrid or an electric vehicle, with the majority of those shoppers (60%) looking at a standard hybrid. A total of 16 percent are interested in a plug-in hybrid while 14 percent are interested in an electric car.

The fact that sales of hybrids continue to decline is backed up by the fact that 94 percent of consumer still find these vehicles lacking due to a number of reasons, including purchase price and range anxiety.

Hybrids are still well ahead of diesels, with just 14 percent of new car buyers saying they are looking to purchase a diesel-powered car.

And as though you needed a warning to take these surveys with a grain of salt, the Consumer Reports survey of 1,713 new car buyers also shows that 16 percent are considering a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, despite the fact that such vehicles are only available in small test quantities in certain regions with limited infrastructure.

Of those surveyed consumers believed electric cars to be the “greenest” vehicles, while the number one reason given for switching to a green car wasn’t environmental concerns, but reducing dependence on foreign oil, with a 26 percent response rate compared to 21 percent.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

The Honda CR-Z Convertible is real – at least it is as a 1:18 scale diecast model.

The folks at the FarmofMinds blog stumbled across some photos of a diecast CR-Z being offered in Japan, well ahead of any comment by Honda about building such a car.

It actually looks quite nice and would no doubt help sell a lot more CR-Zs in the warm climates where hybrids are also popular. Plus, Honda could then claim to be the first automaker with a production drop-top hybrid.

And besides, with the CR-Z an obvious imitator of the CRX, we have to wonder if they’re planning a del Sol revival as well.

Read AutoGuide’s 2011 Honda CR-Z review by Clicking Here.

[Source: Livedoor.jp via Farm of Minds]

See another pic of the car after the jump:

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The Nissan Leaf has just received the Car of the Year award in Europe and is the first electric car to have ever been given the prestigious title. This award will certainly help build anticipation for the World Car of the Year awards, held each year at the New York Auto Show.

Up until now the car’s main rival, the Chevy Volt, has been cleaning up in the North American awards categories, recently taking Motor Trend and Automobile Magazine‘s Car of the Year title as well as the Green Car Journal’s Green Car of the Year award. The Volt is also in the running for the North American Car of the Year, which will be announced at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

The Leaf’s win was not without controversy, however, with several European journalists sitting on the jury placing the car last. The runner up for the European Car of the Year title was the Alfa Romeo Giulietta followed by the Vauxhall/Opel Meriva.

The European Car of the Year title is decided on by 59 jury members in 23 countries.

[Source: AutoCar]

Watch the video after the jump:

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