The Lincoln brand might have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to competing in the luxury segment, but perhaps they’re on to something with hybrids. According to some recent figures released by the Ford luxury arm, a total of 394 MKZ Hybrids were sold in February, over a fifth (22 percent to be exact), of total MKZ sales that totaled 1,774.

There’s good reason for the preference, namely that the 41/36-mpg (city/hwy) car is priced identically to the non-hybrid model at $35,180.

By comparison, the mechanically-similar Ford Fusion Hybrid sold 1,379 units in February, with its much higher sticker price relative to the rest of the Fusion lineup meaning it accounted for just 6 percent of overall sales.

Rolls-Royce has just announced the grand opening of its newest and largest showroom and the location comes as no surprise. Situated in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, the new showroom is 10,000 square feet and can house 5 Rolls-Royce models – or approximately 76 regular sized cars.

As luxurious as the vehicles themselves, other amenities include a coffee bar and customer configuration lounge. Plus, there’s a state-of-the-art service facility in case you scuff a rim while out drifting.

Rolls CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös was on hand for the grand opening and commented that, “The showroom opening in Abu Dhabi represents one of a line of new and expanded Rolls‑Royce showrooms which have been unveiled throughout the Gulf region in the last 18 months. These investments underline the continuing confidence that the company sees in the Rolls-Royce brand across the Middle East. The Middle East region continues to be an important driver in the global growth of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.  Last year the region contributed over 15% of our global sales.  Abu Dhabi is no exception and continues to demonstrate remarkable year on year growth.”

To celebrate the new dealership, Rolls-Royce unveiled the latest of a limited collection of 100 bespoke models, the Spirit of Ecstasy Centenary Collection Phantom Drophead Coupé.

GALLERY: World’s Largest Rolls-Royce Showroom

Volvo has issued a recall for just 13 of its 2011 S40 models and while the number of vehicles affected may be small, the issue is not. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the cars may have a crack in a support member found the engine bay, which could reduce the vehicle’s ability to withstand an impact in the case of a crash.

Volvo will inspect the affected vehicles and if no crack is detected no action is required, however, if a crack is found, Volvo will replace the car with similar model.

Volvo will notify customers by April 15th and those with questions are asked to call the automaker’s customer care center at 1-800-458-1552.

Volvo is searching for 13 vehicles in particular (7 in the U.S., 4 in Canada and 2 in Puerto Rico). If you think you might own one, Volvo has released a list of the VIN numbers which you can find after the jump:

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Any Porsche fan will tell you that there’s always something better than a Turbo – a Turbo S. This rule is about to apply not just to the 911, but also the Panamera, with forum chatter indicating that just such a model will launch as early as next month.

No details of the car’s performance have been released, but look for the 4.8-liter twin-turbo V8 to be tuned up to the 550-hp mark with a 0-60 mph time around 3.7 seconds.

The timing of next month matches up with both the New York Auto Show and Shanghai Motor Show, and with the original Panamera debuting in Shanghai two years ago, it seems the likely choice. (A simultaneous unveiling is also likely).

A forum member on TeamSpeed has reportedly ordered his Panamera Turbo S already and claims deliveries will take place in June/July.

[Source: TeamSpeed]

Easily the best thing to come out of the now-defunct Pontiac brand in recent memory was the G8 sports sedan – based on the Australian Commodore. Not only was it an impressive performance machine, but it gave North America a taste of just how good a job Holden is doing down under.

Looking to satisfy that appetite, General Motors will reportedly re-introduce the rear-drive sedan in 2013 as a 2014 model year car. According to GMInsideNews, internal documents regarding the development of the car (code named ‘SS Sedan’) now have it listed as an approved program.

Delayed several times, the new launch date is designed to follow with the introduction of a new Commodore in Australia.

With the Pontiac brand now gone and no indication from General Motors to revive it, look for a Chevy bowtie to grace the grille of this new rear-drive machine.

Less certain, but not entirely ruled out, are the introduction of two additional Commodore-based models for North America: the Holden Ute (El Camino?) and Holden Commodore SportWagon. The future of these two vehicles depends on the success of the sedan, as well as the effect of rising gas prices on the buying habits of consumers.

[Source: GMI]

The opening of a new logistics center and training facility for Mercedes-Benz Canada drew some of the German automaker’s top brass, but they weren’t there to just cut the ribbon on a new warehouse. No, the event also doubled as the send-off for M-B Canada CEO Marcus Breitschwerdt.

The man in charge of Benz’s Canadian operations is journeying to the UK where he will head up the German automaker’s division there. Breitschwerdt has successfully piloted the brand in Canada where he established it as the premiere luxury marque in the country, wrestling the lead away from BMW.

As for the new logistics center, it’s a much needed new facility for the brand after the split with Chrysler. The warehouse stores 45,000 parts at any given time and has long hours (6 a.m. to 11 p.m.) to better serve dealers in the world’s second-largest country by land mass.

Included among the M-B brass were Joachim Schmidt and Roman Fischer. Schmidt, VP of Sales and Marketing, revealed that the parts and service department represent one-third of all of Mercedes-Benz profits, while Fischer, VP of Global Service & Parts Operations Support Service, put a more specific number on the tally, stated in 2010 Mercedes sold 7.3 Billion Euros in parts.

Set to fill Breitschwerdt’s shoes and take control of a shiny new logistics center is Tim Reuss, a career Mercedes man with 24 years at the company, with is most recent appointment being with Mercedes-Benz in Italy where he headed up the retail division.

Proving that Ken Block isn’t the only one who can wreck a rally car, driver Jimmy Keeney takes to the air in his Subaru WRX STI for a spectacular end-over.

Keeney severely damaged his car, but luckily not himself, competing at the Global RallyCross Championship at Irwindale Speedway over the weekend.

Attempting to hit the tricky 70 foot jump when competing against Marcus Dodd in the runoffs, Keeney looks to get a bit too much air, bouncing and then coming down on the nose of the car and initiating the end-over.

If it’s any consolation, at least Kenney is sharing the weekend’s headlines with rally legend Marcus Gronholm who took home the victory.

See the video after the jump:

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2011 is working out to be an expensive year for many consumers, at least on the automotive front. Even car stereo prices, which have already risen since the start of the year, are set to jump further.

The increase is blamed partly on supply issues in Japan, resulting from the earthquake and Tsunami, as well as the increasing cost of rare earth metals like copper and aluminum, used in component manufacturing for stereo systems.

In addition, currency fluctuations are also having an impact; the Japanese Yen for example is down considerably as is the Chinese Yuan. One Japanese based supplier said “if the Yen holds at 79 (down from  90) you can expect more price increases.”

Some car stereo manufacturers have been responding to the hikes, by increasing retail prices, including Rockford Fosgate and JL Audio. Even those that are currently holding steady, will likely increase their prices by the final quarter this year or in early 2012, by as much as 10 percent.

[Source: CE Outlook]

Recently, the E.U. (European Union) announced plans to ban petrol and diesel powered vehicles from city centers by 2050 in the interest to improve air quality, while also reducing dependence on fossil fueled vehicles. However, U.K. (United Kingdom) is not on board with this idea.

U.K’s Transport minister Norman Baker says these choices should be made by individual cities, based on their needs and agenda, and not as a collective agreement. He added by saying, “We will not be banning cars from city centers anymore than we will be having rectangular bananas.”

The E.U. wants to reduce traffic and smog in city centers and are even looking to expand their plans to encourage rail travel over distances over 186-miles and hopes to cut emissions by 60% by 2050.

The U.K. wants to do things their own way by “decarbonising road transport by, for example, investing more than £400m over the next four years to support electric vehicles and promoting alternatives to car travel like walking and cycling,” said Baker.

[Source: BBC]

The 2011 Formula Drift season is just around the corner, and competing vehicles are out in full testing mode. Samuel Hubinette hasn’t been at the top of the podium for a couple of years now, but it looks like this year his two-car team will be something to look out for. He’ll be behind the wheel of his Dodge Challenger, while Dean Kearney of Ireland will be piloting the infamous Dodge Viper SRT-10.

Both cars are sporting new looks for the 2011 season, welcoming sponsorship from Dodge, V-LEDs, BFGoodrich and Federal Tires. Dodge will be the primary sponsor of Hubinette’s Challenger, while V-LEDs is the primary sponsor of Kearney’s Viper. Interestingly enough, it looks like Hubinette will be driving on his traditional BFGoodrich rubber while Kearney will be burning off Federal Tires.

Kearney captured the 2009 European Pro Drift Championship, and with the experienced Hubinette by his side, it’ll be an interesting year to see how these two battle it out with the rest of the field. We’ll be looking forward to the season opener on April 8-9th at Long Beach, California.

Check out the video of Hubinette testing his Challenger after the break, along with the official press release.

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