VW Scirocco coming to US after all?

Motor Authority reported last month that the VW Scirocco successor won't arrive in the US. VW of America executive Adrian Hallmark stated "We don't want it," suggesting that it would cannibalize the GTI's sales. AutoWeek spoke with VW spokesman Hans-Gerd Bode and was told the Scirocco's future in the US was still a top consideration. However, he stated that the final decision will lie upon VW CEO Martin Winterkorn.

If the Scirocco is given the green-light for the US, expect it to arrive at the end of 2008. Until then, we'll wait on the final decision to be made. The Scirocco will share many components with the GTI. The production Scirocco will have minor design differences from the IROC Concept, which debuted at this year's Geneva Motor Show.

[Source: LLN]

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Spied- 2009 Chevrolet Corvette SS (Blue Devil)

Inside Line posted several spy shots of the upcoming high-performace variant of the Corvette caught testing outside GM's Milford Proving Grounds. They also realized the mule featured here was the one that was snapped by an employee of an air cargo company that was hired to transport the mule to Germany. Several undisguised shots were posted including the glory shots of the engine. The employee was later sent to prison for breach of security.

Nonetheless, like the previous car, this mule has covers on the hood and side scoops. Under the hood, we expect a 6.2L V8 that will definitely churn out more horsepowers than the Z06 variant. The new Corvette SS (name still unconfirmed) will debut at next year's Detroit Autoshow with production to kick off summer of 2008. Head on over to Edmunds to see the images yourself, and oh, get yourself a pair of undies ready.

[Source: Edmunds]

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BMW X5 named COTY by PC Mag Digital Drive Awards

PC Magazine is the best electronic hub out in the newsstands as of yet. They cover the gadget sector of the world top to bottom. Since 2006, PC Magazine has been handing out awards to vehicles that are equipped with the best technologies, and this year, the top award has been given to the second-generation BMW X5.

In 2006, iPod jacks were the fad, but now you can find that in the cheapest of the cheapest cars in the market. 2007 is the year for built-in hard drives and lane departure warning systems. The BMW X5 took its acclaim, despite the fact that it is equipped with the "improved" iDrive.

Other cars that received these awards included the Acura MDX for Best Handling, Cadillac STS for Best Navigation, Lincoln MKZ for Best Audio, and Lexus LS460 for Best Parking Experience. See the full list of winners by heading over to PC Magazine.

[Source: Autoblog via PC Magazine]

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New Silverado and Sierra fall short of sales projections

GM was hoping that its GMT-900 pickup trucks would boost in sales rapidly in the US, but the numbers haven't met their expectations so far. The trucks are taking longer time to sell than its predecessor, and to make matters even worse, the new trucks are driving off the showrooms with only $420 less incentives than the model it's replacing.

GM reported that only 200,505 of the new trucks were sold in the first quarter of 2007, and "well below" their internal projections have forecasted. Discounts on the new trucks averaged $2453, and sat an average of 81 days on the lot. That's contrary to 55 days for the GMT-800 trucks for the first quarter of 2006.

[Source: LLN]

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Next Nissan Maxima to be a four-door coupe

The word "CLS" and "Maxima" never went together despite how hard we tried. The flagship Maxima was one of Nissan's less acclaimed models, in particular because of its bland styling coupled with a pretty steep price. Nissan decided to change that and bring out a "revolutionary" redesign of the Maxima in 2009.

Automobile Magazine is reporting that the next Maxima will be styled as a four-door coupe, similar to the Mercedes-Benz CLS. It will be powered by the VQ engine line-up, but it will stay as a FWD layout as to not cannibalize Infiniti's sales. A diesel variant is also in the pipeline and is likely to be the range-topper in the line-up. Next year is Nissan's 50th year anniversary and major introductions are likely to occur. Along with a preview concept of the Maxima successor, the production GT-R and the new 350Z promises to raise Nissan's level even higher.

[Source: Automobile]

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New Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG to power up 450hp

AMG confirmed the horsepower rating of the new C63 AMG today: 450. Its larrger sibling, the E63 AMG powers up 507hp, a difference of 57hp. While the E63 is priced at $83K, the new C63 should cost about $20K less. Autoblog is reporting that the C63 will differentiate a little from the rest of its brothers and receive a restyled body kit. Also, it will receive the quad-exhaust pipes, found throughout the AMG line-p instead of the C. The new C AMG will debut at the Frankfurt International Autoshow in September.

[Source: Autoblog]

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Toyota Tundra gets top frontal crash test rating

The new Toyota Tundra received a four-star rating by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) last month. Toyota, of all, expected the highest rating of five stars as it excelled in their inner developmental crash testings. Toyota would have a sigh of relief as the Tundra received a Good, the highest rating, by the Insurance Institute Highway Safety. IIHS has been known to take more extreme testing than NHTSA, but proved otherwaise so with the Tundra.

The two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive Tundra Doublecab was tested and both scored Good. Also tested was the newly redesigned 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer which also received a rating of Good.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

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