Lamborghini has shelved plans for the Estoque, a four-door coupe concept the Italian luxury brand had unveiled at the Paris auto show last year.

"The timing and market conditions are just not right for an additional model line," Maurizio Reggiani, head of research and development at Lamborghini, told Autocar. The Estoque was still in the early stages of development, with limited resources having been put into it, which made it easier for Lamborghini to shelve the project.

It seems the collapse in auto sales has made even premium and luxury automakers scale back their ambitions [...]

Contracts have been renewed for the continued production of Mercedes-Benz's G-Class at Magna Steyr's facilities in Graz, Austria, until 2015. Currently producing the G-Class in three, five-door, convertible and all custom versions, the Magna International division in Graz has output some 200,000 vehicles in its 30 years - satisfying consumers and government contracts alike.

The renewal reinforces Daimler AG's committment to and confidence in Magna, who developed Mercedes-Benz's 4MATIC technology and consequently assemble 4MATIC-equipped E-Class vehicles.

G-Class orders in the amount of 1,200 units from the Australian Army help Magna project itself as a long-term, reliable partner to its clients [...]

So now that all the pizzazz surrounding the Volt has calmed down and while we wait… a couple of years to see how GM’s revolutionary plug-in electric / gasoline hybrid drivetrain works in real life conditions, let’s take a closer look at how the 2007 Detroit Show concept evolved into the final production car that was revealed to the public last week.

If you’re expecting to read a 2,000 word analysis on the Volt’s design, sorry guys, you lucked out. We’ll be short and to the point: our take is that Chevy’s design team essentially went back to the drawing board and created a conservative 4-box saloon sprinkling it with a handful of styling elements from the concept.

We understand that Chevy’s designers had to adapt the Volt’s styling and body analogies to our everyday needs but the end result is nothing out of the ordinary and that’s a damn shame for a car that means so much for the future of a troubled company like GM.

Yes, it may look more distinct than the current Toyota Prius or the forthcoming Honda Insight, but then again, what’s the difficulty with that? We can think of more than a dozen or so everyday family cars that manage to stand out from the crowd and they’re not even hybrids.

If you want an example then how about the European market Honda Civic hatchback? Now here’s a production family car that not only looks futuristic in and out having most of the competition licked for style, but it also does it without any compromises whatsoever in terms of interior space or functionality [...]

It wouldn't take many people long to convince us here at the WCF office to vote for the M1 Homage Concept to be put into production. Lets face it, the Bavarian manufacturer is well placed to create a more than adequate replacement to the legendary M1 [...]

Last year we were presented with the Audi TT Clubsport Quattro Design Study which debuted at the Essen Motor Show, the low windscreen made a production version of this vehicle unlikely however there were some Audi executives that suggested a low volume model could make it to our streets. Now to confirm it could well be a reality, the folks over at Auto Motor und Sport have spotted a very production looking version of the Clubsport Quattro concept.

Instantly we see the front fascia of the pictured prototype is far more in line with the styling seen on the Audi production models, sporting some huge vents which suggest an even more powerful engine could well be hiding under the hood beyond the 300hp TFSI that was in the concept [...]

Production of the Audi A4 convertible by independent carmaker Karmann is scheduled to come to an end later this year and to mark the occasion Audi will launch a new limited edition ‘Advance’ series of the car. Karmann has built the A4 Convertible since 2002 and has seen close to 200,000 cars roll off the production line since then.

The Advance specification will cost an extra €2,950 over the sticker price for the regular model but for the extra cash customers get more standard features including metallic paint, pearl nappa leather, parking sensors, steering wheel mounted controls, an alarm system, xenon headlights, Bose stereo and an integrated satnav system, reports AutoTelegraaf.

The loss of the A4 contract is just another nail in the coffin for Karmann, which has recently been forced to lay-off hundreds of staff due to dwindling contracts with other carmakers and increased competition from newly emerging markets such as China and India. [...]