#EconomyCar

Americans finally get a chance to see the fourth-generation Kia Rio at the 2017 New York Auto Show.

When the Scion xB was first introduced in 2003, it was a funky looking little square box aimed at youths involved in the tuner car scene. However, like many vehicles of this era targeted at younger buyers, it never really caught on. Blame the lack of power, blame the quirky looks, blame an unknown brand, but the xB look was destined to disappear into the automotive hall of shame with Edsel, the Aztek and the Vehicross.

Japanese car firm Toyota is already a world leader in hybrid technology. Now it seems, Toyota wants to have a similar strangle hold of the fuel-cell market.

The Ford Fiesta B-Spec is intended to be Ford’s offering for the newly created B-Spec racing class, which allows racers a (relatively) affordable way to go road racing in production cars.

Hyundai has already admitted that they have two sets of tooling for their three-door Veloster, so that Hyundai can switch the door’s location for either left or right-hand drive markets, and the company has admitted that a Veloster with two rear doors is a possibility for the future.

Volkswagen‘s Up! city car will go on sale in the United Kingdom for £7,995 up to £11,180 ($12,422 to $17,371) with deliveries starting in the spring of 2012.

The Smart fortwo might be the butt of jokes Stateside, but the city car has managed to move 500,000 copies worldwide after launching in its second generation four years ago.

Kia will launch their 2012 Rio Hatchback with a starting price of $13,600, plus a $750 destination charge (bringing the total to $14,350).

Suzuki may be an also ran in America, but in India, their Maruti Suzuki partnership can boast the title of “best-selling car” with their Alto subcompact. With a population of 1 billion people, the Indian market is a significant one, and the Japanese auto maker is facing competition not just from home grown efforts like Tata, but Hyundai as well.

Last weekend, Nissan Canada officially began the reservation process for the all-new electric Leaf. Within two hours, all Leaf inventory was reserved.

Today was a great day for MINI, as the two millionth Cooper rolled off the assembly line, ten years after the start of production. British Prime Minister David Cameron was even present at the Oxford plant to drive the car out of the factory.

MINI has recently released another short commercial featuring the adventurous 2012 coupe. This video is a tad bit creepy, involving a hitchhiker, a MINI driver and a wanted poster. The video leaves us on a cliffhanger, and we’re not exactly sure what happens. Maybe MINI Coupe owners attract negative attention? MINI also released two other videos, with one set in Hong Kong (and taking a much lighter tone) and another set in Rio, with a carnival/samba theme.

Three different trims will be offered with the Coupe including the standard Cooper, Cooper S and the high performance John Cooper works model.  The base model will start at $22,000 and have a 121-hp engine. The S model will start at $25,300 and gets a turbocharged 181-hp engine. The steroid infused JCW model will start at $31,900 and produce 208-hp, also through a turbocharged engine.

Check out the video after the jump!

In case you weren’t impressed with the Mayfair or Goodwood model, MINI will be releasing another special edition known as the Highgate later this year. The vehicle will follow along the lines of the recently released MINI Hampton.

The 2013 Kia Forte will be an all-new model, following closely after the changes introduced in the 2011 Hyundai Elantra.

Subaru of American announced today, that its highly-anticipated 2012 Impreza will start at just $17,495. At that price, customers will get the base model 4-door 2.0-liter with a five speed manual transmission.