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VW CrossBlue Coupe Concept heading for Shanghai

Volkswagen are heading to the Shanghai Motor Show with a new SUV concept as car makers strive to satisfy car buyer’s lust for rugged cars to prowl the urban landscape. But the VW CrossBlue Concept doesn’t seem to be a car that fits in to the fad for compact SUVs, rather it’s a full-size SUV that appears to be a coupe version of the VW CrossBlue Concept we saw earlier this year in Detroit. So far we only have a sketch of the CrossBlue Coupe, and you can be pretty sure it won’t be quite as ‘Coupe’ as the sketches indicate when it does turn up in Shanghai this weekend; think more Audi Q7 than Mercedes GLA.

Mercedes GLA concept (2013) first official pictures

This concept car previews the look of the new Mercedes GLA. ‘GLA’ is new jumble of letters from Merc – essentially this is a jacked-up crossover version of the current A-class hatchback. A production version of this Shanghai motor-show bound concept will be on sale in a Mercedes showroom near you from 2015.

Mercedes GLA Concept: OFFICIAL

Aimed at cars like the BMW X1 and Audi Q3, the GLA is a good-looking compact SUV that carries much of what’s good about the new A-Class, raises its ride height, adds a few butch bits and creates a car that will probably have more appeal for owners of the old A-Class than the new A-Class does. The GLA heading for the Shanghai Motor Show sports a 2.0 litre turbo with 208bp, 4MATIC and a 7G-DCT gearbox – which we guess makes it a GLA 250 – and sports something new – laser headlights that function as projectors. The GLA features a pair of cameras on the front of the roof rails that can take 3D HD images and can be removed if you want to use them for mountain biking or jet-skiing or whatever floats your sporty boat.

Lamborghini Aventador LP720-4 50 Anniversario heading for Shanghai

So, even though the Veneno was the Lamborghini 50th Anniversary car at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, it looks like Lamborghini is having a second ’50th Anniversary’ special up their sleeves – the Lamborghini Aventador LP720-4 50 Anniversario. According to Carscoops, the Lamborghini Aventador LP720-4 50 Anniversario will debut this weekend at the Shanghai Motor Show as a limited run of just 100 cars to add an extra celebratory veneer to Lambo’s 50th year as a supercar maker. The LP720-4 50 Anniversario comes in an eye-catching bright yellow - Giallo Maggio – with a black aerodynamic package to contrast that includes a new front apron, diffuser and skirts.

Maserati names new North American boss

Update on McNabb Maserati has named longtime Chrysler executive Bob Graczyk as CEO of its North American division. He replaces Mark McNabb, who previously worked for Cadillac and Infiniti. McNabb had led Maserati since June 1, 2009.

Study: Distracted driving deemed socially unacceptable among young drivers

A new survey shows that young drivers think it’s socially unacceptable to drive distracted. This data is among the results of tiremaker Bridgestone Americas Inc.'s annual survey that polls more than 2,065 drivers aged 16 to 21 nationwide. Of those drivers, 80 percent said sending texts and emails is "unacceptable." But our distracted-driving epidemic isn't solved yet; 37 percent admit to still doing it.

Heifer fuel

Unlike most people, when Michael Doyle drives past a herd of cattle grazing in a field, he doesn't see future tenderloins or T-bones. He sees fuel. The company Doyle co-owns, North Star Biofuels, is about to start production of biodiesel at a new $15 million, 20,000-square-foot plant in Watsonville, Calif., about 60 miles south of San Francisco.

Guinness returns fastest production car world record to Bugatti

The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport is back as the “Fastest Production Car” after Guinness World Records looked deeper into the claim, and decided that Bugatti's eliminating the speed limiter in order to set a record did not bar the vehicle from holding the title. “The focus of the review was with respect to what may constitute a modification to a car's standard specification,” said Guinness in a statement. “Having evaluated all the necessary information, Guinness World Records is now satisfied that a change to the speed limiter does not alter the fundamental design of the car or its engine.” Now the company owns both the open- and closed-top speed records with the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse and the Veyron Super Sport.

McLaren P1: Middle East demand outstrips supply & new P1 photos

So the opening of McLaren Manama –  a joint venture between McLaren Automotive, Mumtalakat, and Al Ghassan Motors - at the Bahrain World Trade Centre is an opportunity to get the P1 front and centre as McLaren promotes both the new showroom and the upcoming 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix. But it won’t just be the P1 in McLaren’s new Bahrain showroom, it will also be the getting the Formula One gloss too with the MP4-25 – Jenson Button’s car in his 2010 season with McLaren – going on display to garner footfall in the new showroom. To give us a reason to report on the new showroom in Bahrain, McLaren has released more images from the photo shoot earlier this year at the Bahrain International Circuit when they were busy drumming up interest in the P1, and they’re such beautifully lit and shot images we couldn’t not publish them.

Mercedes GLA Concept leaks ahead of Shanghai Motor Show debut

But ahead of a debut of the production ready GLA at Frankfurt, Mercedes are taking a GLA Concept – which is pretty much what the production version will be – to the Shanghai Motor Show this month. But it’s arrived early. Thanks to a German website publishing the pictures ahead of time (which they’ve subsequently removed) we get our first look at Mercedes latest addition to the A Class family – and it does look quite convincing.

MINI Countryman to be built in India

MINI sells worldwide – even in the US – and, despite claims it was a step too far for the brand, the MINI Countryman has been a big hit for MINI, offering as it does most of MINI’s charm but in a bigger, more family friendly package and with the option of All4 4WD for a degree of off-road ability (well, certainly the ability to treat boot sale car parks with disdain). Now, for the first time, BMW is to build the MINI outside Europe with a new MINi assembly facility coming on stream in Chennai, India, where BMW already makes 3 and 5 Series models as well as the X1 and X3. The plan is part of BMW’s plan of ‘Production follows the market’ where BMW aim to make their cars where they’re sold, so with the MINI brand showing strong growth in India since its launch it makes sense to build them there.

One Lap of the Web: KERS, Klass and autonomous cars

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- KERS, the kinetic-energy-recovery system, was first seen in Formula One a few years back.

Flat Rock Assembly turns out millionth Mustang

Ford's Flat Rock Assembly Plant has a four-decade history split between the Blue Oval and Mazda. As of last year, the facility was back under Ford's sole control. And now, into its ninth model year of Mustang production, Flat Rock's built its millionth example of America's longest-running pony car.

Volvo S60 Polestar goes in to production

It sounded like a plan to put it in to production – even if it would probably need twin turbos to make it nicely wieldy on the road – and that’s exactly what Volvo and Polestar have done. The Volvo S60 Polestar has gone in to limited production, initially for the Australian market, but instead of the mighty 508bhp of the concept it has to make do with a more pedestrian 350bhp, little more than the V60 we reviewed last year with the Polestar upgrade. But the extra power is enough to get the production S60 Polestar to 62mph in 4.9 seconds and, thanks to tweaks to the suspension, brakes and aerodynamics, the S60 Polestar looks like it will be able to handle the power quite well.

Kia K9 sedan, camouflaged Sportage spied testing

Kia was doing a bit of vehicle testing around Mammoth Lake, Calif., last weekend, and Autoweek reader Kristoffer Gjevre was there to capture the convoy. His photos show a camouflaged small SUV/ crossover and a completely undisguised K9 sedan backed up by Hyundai Santa Fe and Veloster support vehicles. Based on the roofline and A, B and C pillars, that small crossover appears to be a Kia Sportage -- and the heavy concealment at the front and rear of the vehicle suggest updated fascias may be in the works.

2014 Corvette Stingray coupe, Z51 details revealed in order guide

The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray won't arrive at select dealer lots until summer, but you can get a jump-start on the ordering process now that the ordering guide has been released at Corvette Blogger. There's a lot of press release-worthy copy in the guide (“sleek, sculpted profile,” “richly appointed interior design”), but there are also plenty of details to whet the appetites of the C7-hungry masses. The guide contains an exhaustive breakdown of what is, and isn't, available on the 1LT, 2LT and 3LT trim levels of both the base Stingray and the Z51 coupe -- including wheel, seating and exterior color options.

Porsche shows off 911 RSR for World Endurance Championship

Porsche is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 911 this year with several events including the Retro Classics show in Stuttgart, Germany, an exhibit at the Porsche Museum and honored marque status at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Porsche also went racing with the new 911 RSR in the first event of the World Endurance Championship this weekend, and has posted a clip on its YouTube channel. The 991-based Porsche 911 RSR houses a 4.0-liter flat-six making 460 hp with a new six-speed sequential transmission with paddle shifters.

Ford 'video snack' makes technology more appetizing

Whether you opt for it or not, many cars sold today come loaded with technology. Some drivers are savvy and learn how to navigate many of the features right away; others drive for months or even years before they crack the code of their vehicle's capabilities. Ford's new video snack approach presents a palatable method of teaching new car owners all they want to know about their new vehicle.

Children more distracting than cell phones, study finds

Parents of small children will not be surprised by findings released recently by Australian researchers stating children pose a greater distraction to drivers than talking on cell phones -- a 12 percent greater distraction, to be exact. With all the screaming and crying infants bring to the commute and the fighting and other factors older siblings contribute, we wonder why nobody has pointed a finger at our precious angels sooner. Perhaps because there is little we can do to control when or where our kids decide to dissolve into fits of rage or sorrow.

One Lap of the Web: DTM racing set to music, top Hollywood cars and the Porsche 928

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- The Smoking Tire offers up a video summary of the entire DTM season set to music in what they're calling the video equivalent of Beluga caviar served in a Faberg

2013 Jaguar F-Type drive review

What is it? The F-Type is the latest in a long and distinguished line of “Types” from the Leaping Cat: C-Type, D-Type and E-Type being the predecessors, any one of which holds a revered place on the wish list of true collector's must-have sports cars. Now, for the first time in 50 years, Jaguar is introducing a new two-seater: the F-Type.

BAIC previews Concept 900 ahead of Shanghai reveal

BAIC will unveil its Concept 900 at this week's Shanghai auto show, previewed in three images. The Concept 900 sports sedan is the latest result of BAIC's ongoing collaboration with the Fioravanti-Eastone carrozeria following last year's C90L, first seen in Beijing. It has been created to indicate BAIC's future design language.

Jaguar F-Type to get high profile dealer handover ceremony this week

Now the time is nigh, and the first F-Types will be heading for Jaguar dealers around the UK on Thursday (18th April), but they won’t be going on a fleet of transporters as usual. Instead, Jaguar is making an event out of a normally quite prosaic handover. Jaguar dealers from all round the UK will congregate at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry to find 59 new F-Types arranged in the shape of a giant ‘F’.

Top 20 Supercars from the last 20 years

Supercars – you’ve got to love ‘em. For most of us a real supercar is out of reach, but that doesn’t stop us lusting after them, and it also doesn’t stop us having opinions about which are the best. Top car dealers Romans International are playing the ‘Greatest Supercars’ game with an infographic detailing the top 20 from the last twenty years; everything from the Ferrari Testarossa of 1984 through to the Porsche 918 Spyder (which still hasn’t arrived).

Lexus IS 300h promises unrivalled ownership costs

The new Lexus IS - launched at Detroit in January and costing from £26,495 for the IS 250 in the UK – actually offers ownership costs that eclipse diesel offerings from the likes of Jaguar, BMW, Audi and Mercedes, say Lexus. Despite the logical assumption that the complex hybrid powerplant in the IS 300h would cost more to maintain, Lexus say the opposite is true. Because it has no clutch and the starter motor and alternator are integrated they require no servicing or replacement and Lexus has fitted a timing chain instead of a timing belt, so it won’t need regular replacement either.

Is Stirling Moss a misogynist & homophobe? No, just a man from a bygone age.

Sir Stirling Moss is a remarkable character; a proper ‘Boys Own’ hero from a bygone age where men where men and women cooked and cleaned and did as they were told (well, in public, at least). Now 83 years old, Stirling Moss is still a force to be reckoned with, still making public appearances, still driving and still opinionated. But his opinions are a bit out of kilter with modern sensibilities.

Toyota & Lexus: Hybrid sales in Europe hit 20%

The ‘Green’ evangelists want to get us all driving electric cars to save the planet, but in the real world car drivers want a car that offers them all the practicality of a normal ICE car, but without the penalties of the poor range, high cost and inconvenience of an EV. So, with ever-rising fuel costs, it’s no wonder car buyers are willing to pay a little more for a car that offers better economy at the pumps – which plays straight in to the hands of Hybrid pioneers Toyota. The result is that Toyota and Lexus now see a full 20 per cent of their sale in Europe being hybrid cars in the first quarter of 2013, with sales of hybrid cars up a massive 82 per cent year-on-year.

Driving whilst smoking should be banned say motorists

We live in a Nanny State, and a Nanny State revels in banning us from simple pleasures. Like smoking. Smoking is bad for you, it’s bad for those around you, it costs a fortune and makes you smell.

One Lap of the Web: Cutaway F1 cars, Bugatti's Blue Dream and building your own paint booth

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- Sauber Motorsports invites you to take a look under the skin in their Cutaway Insights YouTube series.

Mercedes C-class to get expanded lineup

Mercedes-Benz will add convertible, diesel- and hybrid-powered sedans to its C-class lineup after the car is redesigned next year. The current C-class is offered only as a sedan and coupe and only with gasoline engines. The rival BWM 3-series is sold in coupe, convertible, station wagon, diesel and hybrid versions.