Volvo will strive to be the first to market with a diesel plug-in hybrid, debuting a near production ready V60 wagon at the Geneva Auto Show in March. The V6 Plug-in Hybrid will get a claimed 1.9 l/100 km says Volvo, which translates to an incredible 124-mpg.

Combining a 5-cylinder turbodiesel with 215-hp and 325 lb ft of torque with an electric motor, the gas engine will power the front wheels while the car will also include Volvo’s new ERAD (Electric Rear Axle Drive), to enable AWD with a 70-hp motor powering the rear wheels. A lithium-ion battery pack will be used to store energy and the car will use a 6-speed automatic transmission. In addition, it will be able to travel 50 km (31 miles) on pure electric power.

“This second-generation hybrid is the perfect choice for the uncompromising buyer who wants a superbly carbon dioxide-lean car packed with driving pleasure,” says Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volvo Cars.  “In order to get true car enthusiasts to think green, you have to offer them the opportunity to drive with low carbon dioxide emissions without taking away the adrenaline rush that promotes genuine driving pleasure. The V60 Plug-in Hybrid has all the traditional properties of a genuine sports wagon. What we’ve done is to spice it up with spearhead technology.”

See AutoGuide’s complete 2011 Geneva Auto Show Preview here.

Mid way through 2010, Hyundai Motor Group surpassed Ford Motor Company to become the world’s fourth largest automaker, and just-released year-end numbers have confirmed the Korean auto-giant has held on to close out the year.

Total Hyundai (including Kia) sales for 2010 reached 5,744,018 units for the year, just edging out Ford’s global numbers of 5,313,000 units.

In third place is Volkswagen (including its many subsidiaries like Audi and Porsche) with 7.14 units, putting a significant gap between itself and Hyundai. Second place belongs to General Motors at 8.39 units, just behind Toyota, which recently claimed the title of the world’s largest automaker for the third consecutive year at 8.42 million units.

[Source: TTAC]

Volkswagen is considering bringing the Scirocco back to America says Jonathan Browning, the new man at the helm of the German automaker’s U.S. division.

The previous generation Scirocco coupe was sold on these shores, but production ceased in 1992. In Europe, VW resurrected the model in 2008 but it wasn’t offered here, due to the likely cannibalization of sales from the GTI.

The sudden push to bring back the Scirocco is due to VW’s goal to triple sales in America to one million units by 2018. To do this, it is rolling out specific new models designed and priced for the U.S. market, like the new 2011 Jetta and 2012 Passat. However, it is also looking at bringing over some more emotional performance models as well as a way to help build brand recognition and brand loyalists.

In Europe the Scirocco is sold with several engines, including a turbocharged 1.4-liter, a turbocharged 2.0-liter (like the GTI) and a TDI engine. There’s also the strong possibility that VW could give the go-ahead to sell the Scirocco R (above) in North America with a 265-hp version of the 2.0T engine and AWD.

In addition, Browning has also commented that Volkswagen will look to bring back the Phaeton flagship sedan when the vehicle undergoes its next overhaul in a few years time. The $100,000 Phaeton was sold here briefly, until VW axed the model in 2006 due to slow sales.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Chevrolet will unveil the highly anticipated Camaro Z28 at the Chicago Auto Show in just a few weeks time. The team at egmcartech.com have confirmed the news from sources inside General Motors after the ultra high-performance version of the Camaro was a no-show at the Detroit show.

No official details about the Z28 have been confirmed but it is expected to debut with the Cadillac CTS-V’s supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine make around 556-hp.

Other upgrades will include some more aggressive bodywork, upgraded brakes and a revised suspension.

[Source: egmcartech]

The Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG will get some significant tweaks for 2012, with an official debut at March’s Geneva Auto Show. Arrving this summer as a 2012 model, the biggest news is the addition of Mercedes’ 7-speed MCT gearbox, used in the SL63 and other top-tier AMG cars previously.

While the C63 makes 451 horsepower and 443 lb-ft in standard trim, an available AMG Performance Package can boost that figure 481 horsepower, putting it well above its rivals from BMW, Lexus and Audi. The Performance Package engine has a number of fundamental changes, including forged pistons, lighter connecting rods, a redesigned crankshaft, remapped ECU and red brake calipers. A carbon fiber rear wing is also present. A limited slip differential is available as a no cost option.

Among the cosmetic changes are revised LED head and tail lamps, new alloy wheels and a redesigned diffuser.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]

With Mad Men setting off a slew of imitators producing 1960′s period pieces on network television, Ridley and Tony Scott, the two brothers collectively responsible for works like Top Gun and Gladiator, are apparently forging ahead with plans for a movie set in the 1960s, but with a motor racing theme.

“I grew up in the North of England at a time when Stirling Moss was a hero.Everyone wanted to be a racing driver. This is a hugely ambitious project and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tell the story of these iconic and legendary men who risked everything to win at Le Mans. It’s an epic story of courage and ambition and a history of racing which has never been told on such a grand scale,” Ridley Scott told Deadline.

Considering the uber-high production values and budgets that usually accompany one of the brothers movies, we literally cannot wait to see what transpires. The 1960′s were some of the best days of motorsports and played host to the infamous Ferrari/Ford rivalry among other legendary battles. Hopefully this one doesn’t languish in development hell.

[Source: Deadline]

Some driving schools teach you the rules of the road. Others show you how to get the most out of your car while driving at the limit on a closed circuit. A rarefied few, like BMW‘s facility in the former East Germany, can show you how to get away with life and limb intact should you ever come under an armed assault.

With BMW’s lineup of factory armored cars, sold under the BMW Security lineup, are frequently sold to customers who live in locales where the rule of law isn’t always stringently enforced. The armor plating helps these types of BMW owners defend themselves against bullets or bombs, but the other half of the equation is driving training. The BMW facility, stationed at a former Soviet airbase, is a prime location to teach evasive driving maneuvers, and as the video below explains, it’s  pretty badass.

[Source: BMW]

Video after the jump

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Volvo will reduce the number of models sold in the United States as part of their effort to bump up sales. While Volvo currently sells nine models in the United States, three of them are expected to be cut.

The first victim is expected to be the V50 wagon, a car well regarded by the automotive press but largely ignored by the buying public. Speaking to Automotive News, Volvo’s U.S. chief Doug Speck said that the S60 sedan and XC60 and XC90 crossovers will remain the focus of the brand. That leaves the C70 convertible, C30 small coupe, XC70 crossover, S40 compact sedan and S80 large sedan left as potential candidates for culling.

Volvo sells 50 percent fewer cars than it did at its peak in 2004. One dealer lamented the lack of green products as a major handicap, noting Volvo’s typical owner profile and their frequent association with environmental causes. “The very seriously lacking element in the United States is that we have exactly zero green products — no diesel, no hybrids, nothing,” said Kjell Bergh, a Minneapolis-area Volvo dealer.

[Source: Automotive News]

Volkswagen‘s newest Jetta was designed to be a volume leader, selling for about $15,000. But Volkswagen loyalists, who previously loved the Jetta for its premium feel and sporty character, have decried what they see as a cheapening of their beloved compact sedan, and Volkswagen seems to be listening.

After driving a European market Jetta, with a more sophisticated multi-link rear suspension and dual zone climate control, a journalist from InsideLine confronted Jetta’s Global Technical Project Leader, Frank Donath, about the decontented car sold in North America, and if there were plans to bring the better equipped European car over.

Donath admitted that, if sales were strong, there was a good chance for the European car to make its way over. The North American Jetta, which uses hard plastics, a torsion-beam suspension and manual climate control, was designed with cost-cutting in mind, and the use of hard plastic and a less sophisticated suspension have saved Volkswagen a lot of money, at the ultimate cost of a less refined car. Now, VW seems to be essentially backtracking, and tacitly admitting that a more premium Jetta is needed. We concur.

[Source: InsideLine]

NHTSA is beggining an investigation into the 2010 Ford Fusion, after recieving complaints of cracking wheel studs on the popular family sedan.

Over 280,000 vehicles may be affected by the problem. Wheel studs hold the wheel in place on the vehicle, and a failure could be catastrophic. Interestingly, NHTSA claimed that “Three complaint vehicles belong to the same 22-vehicle fleet but were assigned to different drivers who experienced the alleged defect on three separate occasions”, meaning the defect could be localized to a specific batch of cars.

NHTSA says that the vehicles in question all have fewer than 10,000 miles on them, and have never had the wheel studs or lug nuts serviced.

[Source: Automotive News]