DriveNews.co.uk: Your Ultimate Hub for Comprehensive Automotive News and Insights! We bring you the latest reports, stories, and updates from the world of cars, covering everything from vehicle launches to driving tips. Stay with DriveNews.co.uk to stay revved up about the automotive world 24/7
PARIS/BERLIN – Volkswagen has walked away from talks with Renault to jointly develop an affordable electric version of the Twingo subcompact car, three sources familiar with the situation said, in a setback for the EU carmakers' efforts to fend off Chinese rivals.
With the introduction of the new Fox-platform Mustang for the 1979 model year, the Pinto-derived Mustang II was shown the door and a new era of Mustang performance began. Mustangs with ever-more-powerful V8s and turbocharged four-bangers hit the streets, rappers sang their praises and hot-rodded Ford ponies took over the drag strips. The thing is, we often forget that the Mustang also remained faithful to its origins as a sporty-looking yet economical commuter car during the Fox era, which means that plenty were sold with gas-sipping base engines and penny-pinching price tags. Here's one of those cars, found in a North Carolina self-service knacker's yard recently.
It’s been a few years since General Motors recalled the Chevy Bolt for battery fire risks, but it’s taken until now for the automaker and its battery supplier to reach an agreement on who should pay for the massive action. Automotive News reported that LG Energy Solution and GM reached a proposed settlement, and Bolt owners could get a check out of the deal.
STUTTGART, Germany – Cars with different drive modes are commonplace. Even a humble Kia has a Sport button that tightens up the steering a smidge and makes the throttle more responsive. Two cars in one they do not make, however. The 2024 Porsche Panamera E-Hybrid, on the other hand, comes awfully close to pulling off the trick. Not by futzing with the steering effort – that remains resolutely constant, per Porsche’s wise tradition – but by boasting the powertrains of an EV and gas-powered engine. Of course, plug-in hybrids are commonplace themselves, but this one distinguishes itself with a gasoline engine that’s characterful, accompanied by a saucy exhaust note and coupled to a transmission that snaps off shifts like a Porsche, rather than stirring through ratios like a Prius Prime. It’ll be silent and sophisticated when you need it – to work, to dinner and when stuck in traffic. But with the turn of the drive mode dial, it’ll come alive with the sort of sounds and feelings that make even the most EV-angelized car enthusiast take pause for what may be lost.
Joining in the cavalcade of Chinese-bound EVs is Toyota. It revealed a pair of production-ready vehicles, the bZ3C and the bZ3X. Unfortunately, the company provided barely any details about these two, despite the fact they will be available to purchase.
The Volkswagen Golf R should’ve been a new car I was giddily waiting for the second it was available for testing. Both it and the GTI have long been on the short list of the cars I’d actually buy, even with price as no issue. I’m not alone around here. “You should buy a GTI” was basically a running joke during the Autoblog Podcast’s “Spend my Money” segment. But then something happened with the latest-generation Golf R and GTI: The interior became infuriating.
This here is the totally new Mini Aceman, and it’s an all-electric, Mini crossover. Splitting the size difference between the properly mini Mini Cooper and large Mini Countryman, it fills the space previously occupied by the now-discontinued Clubman, but does so without a gasoline-powered option (or cute barn doors in the rear).
General Motors created the Geo brand in order to sell cars built in partnership with Suzuki, Isuzu and Toyota in the United States, and Geo-badged machinery was sold from the 1989 through 1997 model years. Today's Junkyard Gem, found in a New Orleans self-service boneyard recently, is one of the very last Geos ever built.