Car industry news

Following the sixth monthly decline in new car sales this year (down 23% this month), economists have revised market forecasts downwards, while the Bank of England has cut interest rates by...

If you think America’s Big Three are finding market conditions tough, Europe’s finest are sagging on the ropes, too. This week BMW announced it was axing the radical CS four-door coupe – this, after...

Hyundai will significantly boost its diesel appeal in 2009 with the arrival of two new Euro V compliant powerplants that will slot into the next-gen Tucson, Sonata, Santa Fe and i30. Tell me more...

Caterham has turned to cyberspace to design its next model – the low-volume carmaker is calling on fans around the world to log onto a bespoke website to submit their ideas and designs for every...

How the McLaren road car range will grow to include three model ranges - including a 911 basher

The credit crisis gripping the world's economy struck Chrysler again today – the car maker announced it would cut a quarter of its staff by the end of the year. Although exact figures haven't been...

Hyundai’s president believes his firm’s future lies in MPVs and more derivatives of its existing models. Kun-Hee Ahn, chief of the Korean firm’s European operation said: 'The world is currently a very...

CAR Online today lifts the lid on the secret deal – codenamed Romeo and Juliet – being hammered out between Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz. We have sensational details of the alliance, including a...

Lexus has officially confirmed it will build a BMW 1-series rival. Speaking to the German media, European company MD Tadashi Arashima told reporters: 'We will offer a Lexus in the compact class'. He...

VW has released prices for the new Mk6 Golf, but while the new car was rushed into production to cut costs, none of these savings seem to have been passed onto the consumer – the base 1.4 S now starts...

Electric car start-up Tesla is restructuring its US operation and laying off around 100 staff, as the credit crunch continues to make life difficult for car companies big and small. It’s now on its...

Mercedes is to shake up its entire family of coupes, CAR hears. The changes kick off with the new E-class coupe and will include a proper new C-class coupe (instead of today’s short-cut CLC), as well...

General Motors and Chrysler are in talks to merge and create the world’s biggest car company. Reports in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal say the talks have been underway since the start of...

AMG is going green – the maker of unfeasibly fast Mercedes-Benz models is gearing up for hybrid and diesel versions, using advanced low-weight materials to retain their tyre-smoking performance...

Peugeot used the final round of this season’s Le Mans Series at Silverstone this weekend to show off its new hybrid-powered 908 HDi FAP racer, which features a similar kinetic energy recovery setup to...

BMW and Mercedes are continuing to work on joint projects, CAR can reveal. The two premium brands reckon working together might just stave off the threat of the credit crunch, collapsing car sales in...

Britain's new car market is in deep trouble, official sales figures today confirm. September is historically one of the two biggest registration months of the year, as buyers rush to snap up the...

General Motors has pitched the Corvette into the price stratosphere by announcing that the 206mph ZR1 will retail at an eye-watering £109,000 in the UK. It may be the fastest car ever built by GM, but...

Kia has unveiled a portfolio of new environmental technologies, including a 1.4-litre Ceed with stop-start (due in the UK in 2009), a Ceed hybrid and the latest version of its fuel cell-powered...

Skoda is secretly planning to double its range of cars in three years. Today the Czech manufacturer has a four-strong range: Fabia supermini, Octavia family car, Superb saloon and roomy Roomster. But...

Fiat is planning a massive product offensive over the next three years and could re-launch the evocative Dino badge on a Lotus-derived sports car, CAR has learned. Not to be confused with the Dino of...

Despite hanging its future on the make-or-break Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car, GM has confirmed that it doesn’t expect to make a profit from it – at least not on the first-generation model. The...

Ford UK has confirmed its dealers have received more than 1000 orders for the new Focus RS, despite the rampant hot hatch having only been unveiled at the British motor show two months ago. By way of...

This weekend is Frank Williams' and the Williams F1 team's 500th Formula 1 race. To celebrate this anniversary CAR has sat down with the great man himself to talk about his team and his favourite car...

Tesla Motors is about to ramp up production of its Roadster, having secured supply of a new single-speed gearbox from BorgWarner. Tesla began producing the Roadster in March 2008, but all 27 cars so...

Artega has just launched the brilliant GT, but CAR Online has grilled the top brass to bring you the inside line on the next generation of sports cars from the fledgling German manufacturer. Artega is...

Credit crunch, spiralling oil prices, fragile consumer confidence... It's small wonder that the UK's car market is in turmoil. Figures just out confirm that buyers are shunning dealerships in droves –...

CAR Online has compiled a secret dossier of all the hybrid petrol-electric cars under development at Toyota and Lexus. Today we can reveal a new wave of eco-friendly plug-in hybrids – with...

An extraordinary 30-mile convoy of Subarus smashed into the record books this weekend – all in honour of rally ace Colin McRae, who died in September 2007. An estimated 1100 Subarus drove from his...

Why Aston Martin is exhuming the Lagonda badge

CAR Magazine has been given special access to the Honda Open Study Model (or OSM for short), in the wake of the British International Motor Show where it made its world debut. But what the hell is...

Ever wondered what happens to F1 world champions when they hang up their race suits? Jody Scheckter – the last man to give Ferrari a world championship in 1979 before Michael Schumacher stepped in –...

Honda has started first deliveries of its radical FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle to customers in America. Some 200 hand-built FCX’s will be delivered to a wide range of customers, including...

Trident’s new Iceni sportscar sounds like a dream machine – the Norfolk-based low volume carmaker claims its two-seater grand tourer can top 200mph, swings with a 550bhp turbo-enhanced punch for a...

Tesla has confirmed that it is working with several major car makers to develop affordable, fully-electric city cars, with the first going on sale as early as 2010. The established car makers will use...

Spurred on by massive interest in its Genesis Coupe Concept at the British International Motor Show, Hyundai UK is seriously considering importing a small number of the muscular 306bhp V6-engined...