Auto Shows
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The four-door e-Tron GT concept that Audi introduced Wednesday at the 2018 LA Auto Show is “very, very, very, very, very close to production.” Those are the words of Audi design boss Marc Lichte, not ours. The design study will earn the distinction of being the first battery-powered Audi Sport model when it makes its debut as a production car in 2020. Two years is an unusually short amount of time to turn a concept into a car the general public can buy, especially when new technology enters the equation, but Audi isn’t the least bit worried. The GT’s body is nearly...
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2019 Mazda 3 sedan and hatch aim for an X factor–and that’s not electricMazda has revealed its 2019 Mazda 3 compact car, in new-generation form, at the 2018 LA Auto Show. It’s not surprising, given the brand’s go-it-alone strategy this decade, that the new ‘3’ appears to take a different path than key global compact-car rivals in nearly every...
Bengt Halvorson -
Toyota Prius AWD-e earns 50 mpg with all-weather treadsIf you want one of the highest-mileage non-plug-in vehicles on the market—like the Toyota Prius, Hyundai Ioniq, Kia Niro, or Honda Insight, there’s been one quite significant deal-breaker for many Snow Belt families: All-wheel drive simply isn’t a possibility. That’s due to...
Bengt Halvorson -
2018 LA auto show preview: 10 green-vehicle intros that matterMost of the major auto shows, like the Los Angeles auto show, have always had two components: news-making and car-selling. And it’s the second part—the public days—that thrives today. People are attending traditional, consumer-focused auto shows in record numbers...
Bengt Halvorson -
Buick to launch new electric, plug-in hybrid models in China; what about US?For 15 years now, Buick has been a far more important brand in China than it is in North America: four out of five Buicks sold globally are purchased by Chinese buyers. The brand has a wider range and variety of vehicles in that country, along with numerous models U.S. buyers never lay eyes on. So...
John Voelcker -
5 things about the 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric we learned at the NY auto showAfter a Detroit auto show that was about little except pickup trucks and a new Jeep, followed by a tepid Chicago show, New York proved to be relatively rich in interesting new green cars. The standout was clearly the 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric, the 250-mile battery-electric small hatchback that...
John Voelcker -
With a new, all-electric Mini E set to arrive in dealerships in a year or less, BMW wants to highlight the idea of a Mini Cooper powered by batteries. That's what led it to display an "old Mini" converted to electric power at a reception before last week's New York auto show. Sadly, the car wasn't on display at the show itself because—as booth staff explained—it was privately owned, not a company project. DON'T MISS: Electric Mini makes US debut at LA auto show (Nov 2017) In its press materials, the company didn't detail the electric powertrain, though we doubt it shares any...
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2019 Hyundai Santa Fe launched with diesel; hybrid, plug-in hybrid for US or not?Along with the 250-mile 2019 Kona Electric hatchback it launched Wednesday at the New York Auto Show, Hyundai unveiled an entirely redesigned version of a much higher-volume vehicle. That's the 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe mid-size crossover utility vehicle, which gains size, features, and considerably...
John Voelcker -
2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback returns at NY Auto ShowThe Toyota Corolla is the world's highest-selling nameplate, having surpassed the Ford Model T and Volkswagen Beetle years ago. It exists in many different models and varieties all over the world, but the U.S. hasn't always been offered the hatchback version. In fact, the Corolla lineup only...
John Voelcker -
2019 Hyundai Kona Electric US debut: 250 miles of range from small electric hatchbackThe biggest question around the 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric has now been answered: it will have a rated range estimated at 250 miles on the U.S. test cycle. Hyundai debuted the U.S. version of the small all-electric hatchback on Wednesday at the New York auto show media days. While the company...
John Voelcker -
Jaguar I-Pace electric car to join Waymo's self-driving car fleetBritish carmaker Jaguar Land Rover and Waymo said Tuesday the carmaker would sell Google's autonomous-car technology arm up to 20,000 of its new all-electric Jaguar I-Pace SUV to be used in self-driving service by 2020. While last week's news focused entirely on the fatal crash of a Volvo converted...
John Voelcker -
Redesigned 2019 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid debuts at New York auto showWith buyers showing no signs of letup in their enthusiasm for crossovers of all sizes and shapes, the redesigned 2019 Toyota RAV4 couldn't be coming at a better time. The Toyota RAV4 small SUV became the company's single best-selling model in the U.S. last year, surging past its long-time champion...
John Voelcker -
Ford's premium brand, Lincoln, has started to take on a new confidence, with far more luxurious vehicles and high-end trim levels and vehicles that are more than just restyled mass-market products. On Wednesday, it will draw back the veil from one of the several new SUVs that it hopes will power its growth not only in North America but more importantly, in China. That country may be the driving force behind the entirely rethought Lincoln, a brand that sold a mere 111,000 vehicles last year in a U.S. market of 17.5 million. DON'T MISS: Ford to electrify most SUVs, promises to pass Toyota in...
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2020 VW Atlas Cross Sport concept shows plug-in hybrid possible in futureIn Europe these days, it's all but de rigeur to fit auto-show concept vehicles with plug-in hybrid powertrains. Most of the Volkswagen SUV concepts that previewed what is now the Volkswagen Atlas seven-seat crossover, on sale today, sported plugs—though no such version emerged into...
John Voelcker -
Porsche execs on 2020 Mission E, more electric cars to followAuto journalists often relish interviews and roundtable sessions with German executives and engineers. They usually haven't been beaten into submission and forced to stick to scripted talking points, as have too many of their U.S. counterparts. Most German auto executives also speak excellent...
John Voelcker -
Mercedes-Benz EQ electric car Geneva debut was...a rebranded Smart carUnveilings for several key new electric cars were expected during the media days for last week's Geneva auto show. The Jaguar I-Pace made its formal debut, and the Audi e-tron appeared in camouflage as a sort of full-size teaser display. But there had been word from Mercedes-Benz that it would...
John Voelcker -
2019 Toyota Corolla Hybrid hatchback debuts in Geneva for EuropeRemember hatchbacks? Actually, come to think of it ... remember passenger cars? You know, the sedans and wagons and hatchbacks that don't have all-wheel drive and aren't jacked up 6 to 9 inches off the ground? They used to roam this fair land of ours, but lately, they seem to have been routed by...
John Voelcker -
Audi e-tron electric SUV appears in camouflage at Geneva show, on city roadsThe Geneva auto show was expected to offer the first head-to-head comparison between the first two all-electric SUVs models from European luxury brands, both starting deliveries later this year. It didn't quite work out that way. The 2019 Jaguar I-Pace did indeed debut last Friday, before media...
John Voelcker -
You can smell the diesel exhaust in any city in Europe, sometimes even before you hear the clatter from under the hood of every other passing vehicle. The Volkswagen diesel scandal that broke in September 2015 brought a laser focus to the software used in all diesel engines, and their inability to meet emission limits in real-world use. At the Geneva auto-show media days, starting with events Monday evening and continuing through Tuesday and Wednesday, the messages about the future of diesel were decidedly mixed. DON'T MISS: Fiat Chrysler to end diesel engines in cars by 2022 (but not trucks)...
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Aston Martin Lagonda Vision Concept shows electric car future for luxury sedanThe storied British brand Lagonda has been owned for half a century by the tiny maker Aston Martin, best known globally for its connection to James Bond, Agent 007. It's had a number of iterations, including a startling low, sleek, square-edged sedan designed by William Towns in the 1970s and a...
John Voelcker -
Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo concept: second electric model previewedA design study for the second version of the Porsche Mission E electric sport sedan broke cover Tuesday at the Geneva auto show. The closely guarded concept car is effectively a shooting brake version of the low-slung Mission E sedan that debuted at the 2015 Frankfurt show and will go on sale by...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen ID Vizzion concept for all-electric sedan by 2022 debuts in GenevaWhat's known as Volkswagen Group Night is always a major event at European auto shows. One of the marquee attractions at Monday night's event, held before Geneva auto show media days start Tuesday, was the Volkswagen ID Vizzion concept for a large, all-electric sedan. It will be the largest car in...
John Voelcker -
Lexus UX smaller crossover peeks out before Geneva auto showThe global new-vehicle market is moving toward crossover utility vehicles and SUVs, along with vehicles that look like them. Now the production version of another crossover, shown in concept form more than a year ago, will launch at the Geneva auto show—and Lexus has released one photo and a...
John Voelcker -
Hyundai Kona Electric debuts before Geneva show; 292-mile range from top modelThe lack of plug-in electric crossover utility vehicles with all-wheel drive is a growing and obvious gap in the market. And where there's a gap, aggressive South Korean carmaker Hyundai may try to fill it. The company has now released many of the details of the Hyundai Kona Electric small SUV that...
John Voelcker