We all knew that when Bob Lutz finally stepped away from General Motors he wasn't ging to fade away into the sunset. Just days after his going away party at the Renaissance Center, Transonic Combustion Inc, has added Lutz to its board of…

Mercedes-Benz has officially confirmed the rumors that have been floating around in recent days – it will build an electrically powered version of its upcoming SLS gullwing coupe! The EV version of the SLS will drive all four wheels by means of an…

By now we all know that the market for large trucks and SUVs has become a black hole for both U.S. and Japanese automakers here on this side of the Atlantic. It looks like the same holds true over on the continent where fuel prices have approached…

Click the plug-in hybrid Escape for a high res gallery
The city of St. Petersburg, Florida isn't part of Ford's plug-in hybrid test program but it will soon be testing a PHEV Escape anyway. Progress Energy will be partnering with the Florida city to…

This fall, Volkswagen will be bringing the 6th generation of the Rabbit/ Golf to the U.S. market and diesel will definitely be part of the lineup. Last September, at the first drive of the 2009 Jetta TDI VW of America spokesman Steve Keyes confirmed…

Toshiba is no stranger to the consumer electronics battery business, but now, like so many other companies, it wants a piece of the burgeoning automotive market. Ryuichi Nakata, head of Toshiba's grid and battery unit, announced that the company is…

2011 Saab 9-5 – Click above for high-res image gallery
Except for a few very low volume manufacturers, it's almost impossible to sell any significant number of cars without spending some dollars on advertising and promotion. Yet that's exactly what…

Our friend Mike Levine, proprietor of PickupTruck.com, was trying out the new H3T pickup out in Moab, Utah this week and learned that the H3 will finally lose its hoary old five-cylinder base engine in favor of something a little more modern. A new…

Ever since the all-new 2011 Hyundai Sonata went on sale in February, it's been selling faster than ever. Over 18,000 units were moved in both March and April and the new turbo and hybrid models are still to come later this year. In order to continue…

The Challenge-X student design competition sponsored by General Motors and the Department of Energy is now in the last of a four-year schedule with the final phase coming up in May 2008. The Challenge-X gave teams of engineering students the…