The Dacia Duster will debut in the UK in 2012, with the new SUV appearing on the European market in a few weeks’ time at just 11,900 euros. The Dacia is a Romanian car brand that belongs to the Renault group, and is creating a stir with its entry level market options [...]

The biggest news at Hyundai's Geneva Motor Show booth is the world premiere of the i-Flow concept study. The sporty-looking mid-size sedan with the 'Cab-Forward' design is said to give Europeans a first look at the Sonata replacement (apparently the latest generation model wasn't cut for Europe) that will get a new name following the brand's alphanumeric nomenclature.

Hyundai confirmed that a production model based on the styling of this concept study will hit European showrooms sometime in 2011 offering the South Korean brand a new fighter in the D-segment that includes models like the Ford Mondeo, VW Passat, Toyota Avensis and Opel Insignia (Buick Regal) [...]

The trailer gives us the RS5 in action (what sound!). Rumours are that with the improved chassis we could be looking at a Nurburgring track time of under eight minutes [...]

The first Audi A1 on-road video shows the new compact driven by Markus Winkelhock (official Audi DTM driver), in a more modest standard version than those we’ve seen so far, although we do get a look at the famous “wasabi green” interior inserts and trim. With commentary from Horst Glaser of Audi’s chassis department, this is the first real sense I’ve got that the A1 could be a serious contender to the Mini, without the retro style, of course.

The A1 debut at the 2010 Geneva motor show was almost overshadowed by the A1 E-Tron prototype; the third in the E-Tron family, none of them are headed for production in the near future, although the second compact E-Tron is said to be the future Audi R4 [...]

Three prominent automakers teamed up to jointly develop the Proton Emas Hybrid. Employees at Italdesign Giugiaro co-created the car with one of Malaysia's largest automakers, Proton, and outsourced the hybrid drivetrain to Lotus.

Proton really needs an interesting new hit to win back market share they have lost over the last few years [...]

The chiding war of words between BMW and Audi has been extended, with BMW firing the latest round across their competitor's bow. The new commercial features children in a classroom, with one small BMW fan taking over his teacher's lecture.

A strict teacher has been telling her class that efficency and dynamics in a vehicle is not necessarily a contradiction [...]

Ford has released the first images of the 2012 Focus wagon, ahead of its official debut at the Geneva Motor Show.

Set to account for nearly 33 percent of Focus sales in Europe, the wagon features attractive styling, integrated roof rails, and a self-closing tailgate.

According to Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president of Product development, "Our next generation of C-cars shows how Ford is using its global resources to develop at least ten new models or derivatives from the same platform globally. The Focus wagon is the next model to be revealed, and is particularly significant for the European market as more than a third of our C-car customers here prefer a wagon bodystyle."

While Ford is staying mum on details, the company announced the wagon will be offered with four-cylinder EcoBoost engines [...]

We've seen Valentino Balboni drive the tires off his namesake and even managed to spend a few hours with the man while stuck in LA's notoriously hellish traffic. Now, Danish magazine Bil Magasinet gets some quality time with the famed test driver as he flogs his Lamborghini LP550-2 across the frozen countryside.

Balboni's warm, Italian charm stands in stark contrast to the surrounding snow as he offers up several choice quotes about Lamborghinis past and present, his time with the automaker and the development of the LP550-2, among others [...]

The ActiveHybrid 5 is (officially now) the newest concept from BMW's Efficient Dynamics division, and ED has shaken things up a bit in the power train department. Instead of going with a V8-based mild hybrid setup a la the 7-Series and X6 hybrids, BMW decided to try the system out with their award-winning TwinPower Turbo'd 6-cylinder with Start/Stop tech running the show.

The system is fairly straightforward: up front is the engine, followed by the electric motor which is connected via an automatic clutch, and the 8-speed automatic transmission is the caboose [...]

When it comes to the Porsche Cayenne, it's safe to say that the Autoblog team has a love-hate relationship with Stuttgart's hulking SUV. The new Cayenne could win over the haters among us with a Biggest Loser-style 400-pound weight loss program, a new hybrid variant capable of going 97 mph using only electric power and the return of the 500 horsepower turbocharged 4.8-liter Turbo S [...]

Here's the first official video clip of the limited edition Citroen DS3 Racing that will be formally introduced at the Geneva Motor Show next week. A creation of Citroen's Racing division that handles the firm's World Rally Championship cars, the DS3 Racing will be produced in a strictly limited number of 1,000 units.

The hottest variant yet of the French automaker's premium supermini is powered by a tweaked version of the BMW-PSA Citroen Peugeot co-developed 1.6-liter turbocharged engine that's also used on the rivaling MINI Cooper JCW model [...]

McLaren has entered the final phase of development for the McLaren MP4-12C.  The company will announce performance details on their new prototypes next month, leading to the car's 2011 market launch.

The company refers to each vehicle as an "experimental prototype," or XP for short.  Shown in the video are the XP8 and XP10, wrapped fully in matte black vinyl, as opposed to black and white camouflage seen on the last round of prototypes.  These vehicles entered testing five weeks ago, according to the company.

In the four-minute long video, the cars can be seen on the road near Montblanc, Spain, and on the track.  The cars use an updated version of the McLaren M838T twin-turbo engine, and a gearbox with optimized ratios.

"Some supercars that we drive are pretty intimidating.  That's something with the MP4-12C that we never really wanted," said McLaren new vehicles director Mark Vinnels.  "Everything we are trying to do with the car is to make the car as easy as possible to drive."

McLaren says that not a minute goes by that the XPs are not tested.  The company has a team of about 25 engineers working on the car in shifts 24/7.

Source [...]

Get a kick out of this fresh new video of the British firm's Porsche Panamera rival that was filmed during the media presentation in the city of Valencia in Spain earlier this month.

Aston Martin's four-door, high-performance sport saloon is powered solely by a mighty 6.0-liter V12 engine, the same one found in the DB9.

It produces a peak power of 477-horsepower and 443 lb-ft of torque, enough to propel the four-seater Rapide from zero to 60mph in 5.1 seconds and on to a maximum speed of 188mph or 303 km/h. Watch the Rapide in action in the video after the jump.

Source [...]

By now, you already know what the new Porsche Panamera looks like. Even if you haven't had the chance to see Stuttgart's sports saloon in person, you've seen hundreds of photos and plenty of videos of the V8-powered "S" and "Turbo" variants.

So, what's the first thing you'd be interested in a video showing the new entry-level model with the VW Group-sourced 300HP 3.0-liter V6 gasoline engine? Apparently, the answer to that question is what the V6 sounds like [...]

Tesla Motors is known for its innovative work in the area of clean electric powertrains. The company recently commissioned a group of eleven L 'Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) of Turin students studying for their Master of Arts in Transportation Design to come up with a new Tesla concept that meets several criteria [...]