Few things seem to set off a certain part of the political spectrum like the Chevrolet Volt, the extended-range electric car from General Motors.

It’s been on sale exactly one year, so we think it’s rather too early to deem the Volt a success or a failure, though that hasn’t stopped its critics.

(more…)

For years, we’ve reported several Chinese automakers’ intentions sell cars in North America.  Producers like Brilliance, Chery and Geely made it clear they want a presence in the market.

Even electric-car startup Coda looked like a lock for first Chinese car on sale here, until they stressed final assembly would take place in California.

It’s rather a moot point, since the first Chinese car is now on sale here in North America.  

Talk of an Audi A1 quattro has been circling the Internet’s most feverish tubes for well over a year now, heated up by the unveiling of the Audi A1 clubsport quattro concept at the Wörthersee Tour in May. Today, Audi has stripped back the sheet from its latest creation: the A1 quattro.

Looking very much like the clubsport concept from earlier this year, the A1 quattro sports all-wheel drive (natch), and gets its power from a 256-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. Zero to 62 mph takes 5.7 seconds, top speed is 152 mph, and it still pulls in a quoted 27 mpg U.S. A six-speed dual wet-clutch transmission handles the shifts.  

(more…)

The 2012 Chevy Sonic subcompact launched this year to largely favorable reviews, including our own (here and here).

For next year, Chevy is upping the ante, with a turbocharged 2013 Sonic RS model that’s meant to take the littlest U.S.-built Chevrolet into hot-hatch territory. The Sonic RS will be formally launched at next month’s 2012 Detroit Auto Show.

Ford’s first all-electric mass-produced car, the 2012 Ford Focus, isn’t yet available to buy in the U.S., but Ford thinks the delay in bringing it to market will be well worth the wait. 

With what Ford claims will be a best-in-class fuel efficiency of 100 MPGe, and plenty of patented technology designed to help drivers get the best possible range out of its 23 kilowatt-hour battery pack, Ford is confident its 2012 Focus Electric will be a success.  

The details were released today at a media event in Dearborn, Michigan, held before next month’s Detroit Auto Show, alongside more information about Ford’s upcoming 2013 C-Max Hybrid and C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid. 

December seems to be the month when new electric-car makers manage to squeak their first deliveries in under the wire.

Last year at this time, Nissan delivered its first Leaf electric car in San Francisco on December 12, with the first Chevrolet Volt following on December 18.

This year, it’s the 2012 Mitsubishi ‘i’ electric minicar, of which the first production model was delivered for fleet use in San Francisco yesterday.

It’s the first of the month again, and that means: It’s sales report time!

Last month, Chevrolet sold 1,139 Volts and Nissan sold 672 Leafs.

The November numbers bring totals for 2011, with only December left, to 8,720 Leafs delivered (plus 18 last December) and 6,142 Volts (plus 326 last December).

It’s the smallest car ever sold as a Chevrolet. It’s already a huge hit in India (where it’s fitted with a tiny 0.9-liter three-cylinder turodiesel). And now it’s coming to the U.S.

At this week’s Los Angeles Auto Show media days, the 2013 Chevrolet Spark minicar shared the stage with a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 convertible–an odd couple if ever there was one.

But Chevy media event provided more details on the production Spark after it was unveiling last month at a 100th-birthday celebration for the brand.

Toyota is doubling down on its best-known model for gas mileage, the Prius hybrid.

It’s already added two models to sit beside the 2012 Prius five-door hatchback, and now, the last new addition to the Prius lineup has been revealed.

The 2013 Toyota Prius C, the first compact Prius since the original 2000-2003 model, was unveiled today at the Tokyo Motor Show. It will make its formal U.S. debut at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show in January.

Sorry, folks. If you thought the production Fiesta ST would be unveiled in Los Angeles following its Frankfurt Auto Show concept debut, you were wrong. Instead, we get another look at the concept–with two bonus doors.

Aside from the 5-door layout of the new concept, it’s almost identical to the three-door model shown in Frankfurt. Thankfully, it’s sporting a very realistic 180-horsepower turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder. Ford says the the Fiesta ST Concept indicates “the direction for a high-performance Fiesta,” which at least hints that it will be coming as a production model. We have, of course, spied the Fiesta ST in testing and caught it on video, so it looks very likely that a production model will arrive sometime next year.

(more…)