Tariffs Cutting South Korean Domestic Auto Market Share
The South Korean auto market is changing rapidly with imported auto sales increasing from 28% to 41% of the market in the past two years. The sales surge is caused by lower tariffs on imported cars that often make foreign luxury brands cheaper than domestics. The historically higher tariffs had kept imported car sales small. For ex... read >

New Ranking Lists Top 10 Most Valuable Automotive Brands
Market research company Millward Brown has released its annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands survey. Apple was ranked as the most valuable brand in the world for the third consecutive year with an estimated value of $185.1 billion, up 1.2% from the previous year. Google was second highest with a value of $113.7 billion ... read >

Land Rover Going Soft-Roader with Next Defender and Dropping Freelander Name
Land Rover intends to make major changes for its next generation of trucks. Plans for the next generation Defender to continue to be a hardcore off-roader have been scrapped, and the next generation will be more of a soft roader like the Evoque. The Freelander name will be dropped in Europe in favor of the car being a variant of the Di... read >

BMW and Toyota Hybrid Sports Car Likely Shown in Tokyo in November
We will likely get to see the jointly developed BMW and Toyota hybrid sports car before the end of the year, likely at the Tokyo Motor Show on November 22. The car is a side project related to BMW and Toyota co-developing lithium-air batteries for automotive use, and BMW supplying Toyota with diesel engines. "Toyota is strong ... read >

Renault Building Limited Run of RB8-Inspired Megane RS Cars
Renault has worked with Red Bull in the past to build special edition Megane RS cars, but it has just announced the new Megane Renault Sport Red Bull Racing RB8 that is inspired by Red Bull and Renault's win of the World Constructors' Championship last year.  All of the cars will come in Crépuscule Blue, wh... read >

Audi Planning on Focusing on Performance to Lure New Buyers
Audi has a plan to increase sales that will make driving enthusiasts in much of the world very happy. Its plan is to focus on performance-oriented models in the near future, especially in North America. Even if the cars, like the A3 sedan, are not especially sporty, they will be marketed like they are. The belief is that sporty mod... read >

BMW Says No Way It Will Return to F1 Anytime Soon
BMW says that it has absolutely no plans to return to Formula 1, even has an engine supplier. Bernie Ecclestone started the rumor of its return for the 2015 season. For the foreseeable future, BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt says that the company will focus on DTM and sports car racing. "I don't know with whom B... read >

Peugeot Bringing Onyx Concept and 208 GTi to Goodwood
Peugeot is bringing its range of performance models like the 208 GTi and RCZ to the Goodwood Festival of Speed on July 11-14 and will be driving 600hp Onyx hybrid supercar concept up the hill during the event.  The Onyx was first shown during the 2012 Paris Motor Show. It is a carbon fiber-bodied supercar with a 3.7-liter V8 d... read >

Mercedes Scores First Ever Win in Nürburgring 24 Hours After Delayed Race
The 2013 Nürburgring 24 Hours was a race of firsts. Mercedes-Benz scored its first ever overall win in the Nürburgring 24 Hours with the #9 Black Falcon SLS AMG GT3 team driven by Bernd Schneider, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Sean Edwards and Nicki Thiim.  The Mercedes win was even more special when considering that most of t... read >

French-Built Toyota Yaris Cars to be Exported to North America
Toyota will begin exporting French-built Yaris cars to North America for the first times in the brand's history. The Yaris models in North America had previously been built in Japan. The move to European accomplishes two things. First, it decreases free production capacity at Toyota's Valenciennes, France, factory. Sec... read >