Auto News & New car review

NISSAN Australia managing director Shinya Hannya predicted last week that its all-new Micra “will change the balance of power in the light-car segment”.
The micro-car marks the Japanese brand’s return to a segment it helped restablish with the 1967 Datsun 1000 and then abandoned in 1997 after a half-hearted attempt with the previous-shape K11 Micra. Read the rest of this entry »

LEXUS surprised few by revealing an all-new version of its top-shelf LS sedan at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit yesterday.
Though the Toyota luxury brand’s fourth-generation flagship is virtually identical to the LF-Sh hybrid concept shown at Tokyo in October, it’s the LS460’s preliminary specs that are the real news. Read the rest of this entry »

THIS might look like a standard Renault Scenic, but underneath that unassuming pale blue bodywork lies a glimpse ofthe future of motoring.

Promising to be the most environmentally friendly model the French firm has ever built, the ZEV H2 isn’t simply an exercise in squeezing more mileage out of every last drop of fuel; it’s a fully fledged, production-ready zero-emissions fuel cell car. Read the rest of this entry »

With the North American debut of Ford’s Verve Concept, Ford announces a new vision for its future: small cars and sustainability. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to people who love Ford’s European small cars like the Ford Focus, Fiesta and Ka. “Ford’s small cars are loved in Europe and Americans love our European small cars,” says Jim Farley, Ford’s Group Vice President, Marketing and Communications. Read the rest of this entry »

“The interior is built for pure functionality, and while it may not be pretty, it sure gets the job done…”

“Besides new front-end styling, the designers have added a set of side-hinged doors on the driver’s side, greatly enhancing interior access, and have also created a set of access panels that open onto a quartet of storage cubbies handy for tradesmen.” Read the rest of this entry »

If our 234bhp ‘Grand Challenge’ Lexus Soarer smokes its inside rear wheel like a bastard (as they say) at the slightest provocation, then how does our new Volvo C30 T5 manage to put down just 7bhp less through its front wheels? The answer is pretty darn well, actually. Read the rest of this entry »

The Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid is a gasoline-electric hybrid version of the automaker’s flagship S-Class sedan that’s expected to arrive in the U.S. in fall 2009. Average fuel economy is about 30 mpg, according to Mercedes, which is nearly double the 16 mpg combined rating of the V-8-powered S550. Read the rest of this entry »