Car Throttle

Well maybe (just maybe) General Motors is starting to get it. It seems that some patent drawings have leaked out that shows the once largest carmaker in the world to be working on (or at least covering their patent bases) on a hybrid minivan. It makes logical sense, in a bunch of realms, so maybe the real surprising thing is that GM came up with it. According to sources, the pictures here are official trademark designs of an unnamed Chevrolet compact minivan. Note the front end and rear end styling. Notice the shape of the headlamps and tail lamps. Looks a lot like Chevy's highly anticipated Volt series hybrid, no? GM Inside News says that the compact people carrier/minivan seen in the drawings looks to

Yeah, like you knew this wasn't going to happen ... or maybe not, Honda can be a very conservative company. Anyway, since Honda first introduced the CR-Z hybrid coupe, and threw around the notion that it's the spiritual and eco-conscious successor to the CR-X, one of the main complaints has been the CR-Z's lack of power. OK, that's a fair enough criticism. The CR-X was a wonderfully fun and tossable car. Light, handled good enough for a front driver, and it had enough power. The same cannot be said, it would seem, for the as announced CR-Z. The CR-Z puts out 122 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque from its 1.5-liter VTEC four-cylinder and Integrated Motor Assist Sporty, yes, but that doesn't make the CR-Z into

How cool is this: The upcoming in 2011 Hyundai Equus will do away with the traditional paper owner's manual, and they'll give you a "multimedia tablet" instead. This falls into the totally bitchin' category of ancillary car stuff, but it also points out how Korean companies can make these leapfrog moves over their competitors. No, there's no word yet on which company will get the nod to supply the owner's "manual" for the 2011 Hyundai Equus, looking at the pictures of the Hyundai Equus' presentation pretty clearly shows a Apple iPad. Oh really? There hasn't been any official announcement form Apple on this. So what gives? At today's New York Auto Show Hyundai USA president John Krafcik didn't unambiguously say that the device in question

Here's an interesting report: The next generation of Mercedes top of the line S-Class will be all hybrid. At least they will be in the United States. Hm. I could see that making sense on a bunch of levels. First off, it will most definitely help with Merc's CAFE numbers. Plus, it still also plays into the hands of the rich, show off greenies out there. According to sources Mercedes-Benz will go all-hybrid with its next-generation S-Class lineup in America. That will be rolling out in 2012 (model year or calendar year was not specified), and the German automaker is not talking about offering both regular and hybrid variants for sale in the States, just hybrids. So what about AMG, you ask? No worries. The enthusiast-oriented

So FoMoCo says they're going to be merging their American and European performance lines. Yes, to me, this sounds like a very good thing. Does that mean that we'll be able to buy the Ford Focus RS here in the good ol' U.S. of A.? I hope so. England's Automobile magazine recently had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Jost Capito, the guy who is in charge of aligning Ford's performance divisions all around the globe for the Blue Oval Boys. And if you're a fan of high performance cars of the Ford stripe the discussion bodes well for the future. "I don't see RS in Europe going away, and I don't see SVT in the U.S. going away," said Capito in reference to

This has been rumored for quite a while, but it looks like the rumors are going to turn out to be true: Ferrari, makers of the finest high performance cars in the world will be showing a hybrid version of their 599 at the upcoming Geneva show. And that's not all, the word is that a production model is planned. OK, so why should we believe it this time? Because the person saying it was none other than Ferrari CEO Luca di Montezemolo, that's why. The announcement of the soon-to-be 599 Hybrid came at the roll out of Ferrari's new F10 Formula One car. Technical details on the 599 Hybrid are scant at the moment, but if past rumors are any indication, it could be something

I've got no problem with diesels. A lot of Americans don't get them at all, but to me, they've always seemed like a viable option. Just ask anyone who's gotten their ass stomped by Audi (or most recently Peugeot) at Le Mans over the past few runnings. Yeah, those cars are diesels. So the news that Volkswagen of America is getting into the whole diesel engine option thing sounds like good news to me. When VW relaunched the 50-state legal Jetta TDI in America in late 2008, diesels have been a major part of the German companies sales here. VW CEO Stefan Jacoby said that he expects new diesel introductions to account for a 20-30 percent share of each model that comes to market. As far

BMW has been putting an emphasis on new performance lately, in addition to efforts to expand the lineup by going down market. In the past few years, the X5 and X6 M has been added, and rumor has it that a M performance model for the 1-Series is in the works as well. BMW recently announced the M3 GTS, the highest performance M3 to date. Being German only and with no plans for it to be available in the United States, some increased performance for the M3 could be on the way. (BMW M3 Sedan from the United Kingdom Pictured) As if it really needs it! More performance = more $ though. Bimmerfile is the site with the scoop, saying to expect a similar competition package to the

On Wednesday, CarThrottle covered news about the Infiniti G sedan getting a new, smaller displacement engine to better compete on the low-end. Edmunds Inside Line reported the information, but some of the details have changed since the original. Unfortunately, that "detail" is the turbocharger. 250 horsepower was the number to be expected according to the previous report. Now, word is we're getting the naturally aspirated version, making 210 hp, less than the 230 hp of the BMW 328i but higher than the the Lexus IS250, which comes in at 204 hp. Infiniti has been known for the excellent value proposition offered by its vehicles, so we're not sure how this is going to work in the marketplace. To be viable, it needs to

2009 was a pretty good year to Jaguar, with the XK and XF selling well and the new flagship XJ introduced, set to go on sale this year. Forward momentum must be sustained though, so what is next? A sports car - the rumored Jaguar sportscar we have been hearing about for years. A sportscar for Jaguar has been rumored throughout the 2000s while the British brand was under Ford's ownership. Now, under the ownership of India's Tata Group, the head of the company Ratan Tata is pushing for one to be built. Edmunds Inside Line has the latest scoop on the internal workings at Jaguar. The "small sportscar" as it is referred to at Jaguar, will be a two-seater, based on an aluminum monocoque like