No more hiding under conceptual suits and swirly camouflage for MINI’s all-new 2012 Coupé as the firm’s parent company, the BMW Group, officially lifted the veil off the production model on Monday. The sportiest-looking MINI to date is a coupe-flavored version of the hatchback with seating strictly for two. 
The Coupé’s appearance was previewed by the 2009 concept car of the same name and is distinguished by the backwards “helmet roof” design and the more sharply raked A-pillars. The first “three-box” MINI also sits 52mm or 2.05-inches lower than its three-door hatchback counterpart. Notably, it also features an active rear spoiler that extends automatically at 80 km/h (50 mph) to optimize airflow at highway speeds.
After briefly postponing the presentation of its all-new Fit Shuttle due to a variety of problems that arose from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Honda on Thursday officially launched its mini MPV. While keeping the five-seat layout of the regular Fit (called Jazz in Europe), the Shuttle is longer and taller, with the extra space benefiting both the rear passengers and the cargo area.
After preparing its customers with an announcement in January, Nissan today went ahead and introduced a re-badged version of the Mazda5 MPV (called Premacy in its home market) in the form of the new Lafesta Highway Star. The compact minivan is supplied to Nissan by Mazda on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) basis, and will be sold exclusively in Japan.
With the first photos of the all-new 2012 M5 making the internet rounds since the early hours of Wednesday morning, BMW decided to lift the embargo and officially present the fifth generation of its high-performance saloon. 
As with all previous M5s since the introduction of the first generation model back in 1984, the most important highlight of the car is tucked away behind the double kidney grilles. This time, BMW’s M division opted for a 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine that replaces the previous M5’s more exotic but less powerful, naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V10 with 507HP.
Cadillac is getting ready to return to the fabulous world of motorsports with its new CTS-V Coupe race car. Following the two-door model's world premiere at the Detroit Motor Show last week, the race-prepped CTS-V Coupe hit the track for the first time on Monday driven by Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim, for tests at Sebring International Raceway.GM's luxury car division had pulled out of racing before the U.S. government bailed out the company in 2009. More specifically, the last time Cadillac competed was in 2007 in the Sports Car Club of America World Challenge GT series. Now, the company will reenter the series, beginning with the season-opening race in St. Petersburg, Florida on March 25-27. Hit the jump for a comprehensive gallery.
The new 2012 ML-Class has been making the rounds on the web-o-sphere for a couple of days now, and today Mercedes-Benz’ press department finally decided to share the details and a high-resolution photo gallery of its newcomer with the rest of the world. We have already voiced our thoughts about the ML-Class’ styling so on this post we’re going to concentrate on the available engine lineup and specifications. 
Starting with the North American model, the third-generation ML-Class will make its U.S. retail debut in September 2011 with two available models at launch, the ML350 4MATIC and the ML350 BlueTEC. More engines will be added down the road.
Having brought you all the automotive-related news from the 2011 Wörthersee Tour including the Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet in GTI and R formats, the 503HP Audi A1 and the Skoda Fabia RS2000 Convertible, now it is time for us to share with you something related but far more spicier if you catch our drift… 
Yes, that is right; we are talking about a photo gallery of the booth professionals and ladies who made their presence felt in full force at the world’s largest annual Volkswagen Group meeting, which took place in Austria from June 1 to 4. Hop over the break to get a taste of what you missed at Lake Wörthersee in our photo set that includes more than 70 images.
With imagery of the brand new 1-Series hatchback making the internet rounds since Friday, it was only a matter of time before BMW came out with an official release and a full set of photos. The Bavarian firm’s entry-level model sports has grown in size and sports fresher –albeit, somewhat more controversial- looks, while also introducing a new generation of 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engines with up to 170HP. 
For its debut, BMW chose to show the five-door hatchback model, but the range will eventually grow to include a three-door hatchback followed by the coupe, cabriolet and if the grapevine holds true, a longer and more spacious Gran Turismo version in the likes of the 3-Series GT we recently showed you in these spy shots.
For the past thirty year, tens of thousands of enthusiasts of Volkswagen Group cars assemble on the shores of Lake Worthersee in Austria to participate in the largest festival of its kind in the world. Over the years, Volkswagen and the other brands of the German group including Audi, Seat and Skoda, have used the show to unveil special concepts, new models and studies that hint at future production versions or accessories. 
At this year’s event (June 1 to 4, 2011), the VW Group prepared several vehicles for the festival including the production VW Golf GTI 35 Edition with 235HP, the VW Golf Cabriolet GTI and R concepts, the wild 503HP Audi A1 Clubsport Quattro study, and the Skoda Fabia RS 2000 Convertible prototype. As you may have noticed, the company didn’t show much love for its Seat brand which was left to display its current lineup.
Yesterday, we brought you the first images of Volkswagen’s Golf GTI Cabriolet study but today we have live photos from the car’s world premiere at the Wörthersee meeting in Austria along with official information on the concept. 
The hotted-up convertible is based on the standard Golf GTI with power coming from the same 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine delivering 210-horsepower and 280 Nm (207-lbs/ft) of peak torque at 1.800 rpm.
Volkswagen says the open-air model’s performance matches that of the closed-top GTI with a 0-100km/h (62mph) sprint time of 7 seconds and a top speed of around 240km/h (149 mph).
This past January at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, General Motor unveiled the new Chevrolet Sonic in final production form. Available in both five-door hatchback and four-door sedan body styles, the Sonic will reach U.S. showrooms this fall. In Europe, however, GM will continue to use the Aveo nameplate when its supermini goes on sale later this summer.
In typical Fiat Group fashion, despite the fact that the new Lancia Ypsilon received its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show close to three months ago, the company waited until today to release a full gallery of pictures. There are more than 70 photographs showing the Italian supermini mostly in its natural habitat, the city. Along with the new images, Lancia also offered new information on its entry-level model, which will be launched from June in major European markets and from September in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where it will wear the Chrysler logo.
Suppose you owned a classic car restoration business and wanted to show potential customers what you could do for them. How would you go about it? Well, Precision Restorations of St. Louis, Missouri have ingeniously answered this question by restoring exactly half a 1967 Oldsmobile Toronado. 
One side of the car is as it was found: rust-flecked paint, yellowing exterior panels and torn leather. The other side, meanwhile, has been fully restored. Check out our gallery below and marvel, as we did, at some of Precision Restoration’s best work.
The world premiere of the new Aston Martin V12 Zagato, which took place at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2011 this past weekend on the shores of Lake Como in Italy, was marked by the design award for Concept Cars and Prototypes. The conceptual model, which was created to celebrate the Aston Martin and Zagato partnership in the 50th anniversary year of the famous DB4GT Zagato, won the approval of the visitors to the Concorso D’Eleganza event. 
The competition in the Concept Cars and Prototypes category included BMW’s new 328 Homage Roadster, the Ferrari Superamerica 45, Audi Quattro, Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake, Infiniti Etherea, Italdesign VW GO!, Rinspeed Bamboo, Renault DeZir and the Scuderia P4/5.
The stage is set for this weekend’s Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este in Italy with automakers and individual owners of classic cars already rolling out their goods for the 2011 edition of the show. The famed event will also play host to the world premiere of a fresh batch of sports car concept cars such as the Aston Martin V12 Zagato that we told you about earlier today and the BMW 328 Hommage concept, which we present here. 
The BMW 328 Hommage was created on the occasion of the original model’s 75th birthday. While the Bavarian automaker avoids to make the connection, the 328 Hommage appears to be based on (or at least developed from) the Vision ConnectedDrive roadster study, which premiered at this year’s Geneva Motor Show.
America's most famous race, the Indianapolis 500, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year and so does Chevrolet, whose name was tied to the “Brickyard” from the very beginning. Arthur Chevrolet competed in the inaugural Indy 500 on May 30 1911, a few months before founding the company that bears his name, on November 3 the same year. Today, Chevrolet and Indy 500 are still together, with the Camaro SS Convertible to be the 22nd Chevrolet to pace the Indy 500 race on May 29 as a common celebration for their 100-year anniversary.
The all-new 2012 Audi A6 Avant has just made its world premiere during a special happening in Berlin Germany, but not before we got our first taste of the estate model with a set of photos that we showed you earlier today. The latest addition to the new A6 range has grown in size offering improved interior space but without any penalties in weight or fuel efficiency thanks to a new composite construction of the body. 
Audi has a knack for designing stylish station wagons with clear lines and details that will delight the aesthetically cultured, and the latest A6 Avant is no exception to this rule. Inside, the estate model features the same materials and dashboard layout as the four-door version adding some bespoke options such as a load-through hatch, a fixing set and a power rear hatch.
It’s been a couple of months since Ferrari lifted the veils off the new FF, but as is the case with any new model from Maranello these days, the hype surrounding the all-wheel driver sports car has yet to die down. For those of you that still haven’t had enough of Ferrari’s four-seater model, we now bring you some fresh photos –as always, in high resolution- of the FF shot during the media presentation, which took place at the snow track in Kronplatz, and the winding roads of Gardena, Sella, Pordoi and Campolongo in the Italian Dolomites. Check them all out in the gallery after the break.
