Chrysler, VW, Kia and Toyota set March sales pace

U.S. light-vehicle sales--aided by Chrysler Group, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai-Kia and Toyota Motor Corp.--rose 13 percent in March to 1.4 million units, with demand for smaller, fuel-efficient models, redesigned vehicles and pickups driving the gains. Even with gasoline prices exceeding $4 a gallon in many parts of the country, the seasonally adjusted sales rate for March hit 14.4 million units.

Volvo XC90 (2015)

After three highly-regarded concept cars and a rather extended gestation period, the first of the new generation of Volvo cars, the XC90 SUV, has been unveiled. Designed – at least latterly – under the auspices of Thomas Ingenlath, who joined the sole remaining Swedish brand from VW as its design director in March 2012, the new Volvo XC90 is the first to sit on the company's new, modular SPA platform (Scalable Product Architecture, if you're interested). This allows more freedom in terms of proportions, with a particularly generous axle-to-dashboard distance.

McLaren: The dealer network takes shape

The McLaren dealer network is starting to take shape Most of what we’ve written about McLaren in the last month or two hasn’t been about the new McLaren – the McLaren MP4 12C – but about McLaren’s venerable hypercar the McLaren F1. Firts we had Ron Dennis telling anyone who’d listen – quite rightly – that the showdown Top Gear staged between the Mac and the Bug had to be re-run repeatedly until the Bug actually won, but Ron being Ron had to go a step further and proclaim the Veyron a ‘Piece of Junk’. But it made his point.