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Kia Track’ster is a bonkers 4wd 250bhp concept

The barking mad Kia Tracks'ter The Kia Trackster Concept has been revealed as a three-door, 250bhp, 4WD track version of the Soul. The Kia Soul may not be thye first car you’d think of turning in to a hot hatch, but that hasn’t stopped the Kia Track’ster arriving as a concept at the Chicago Motor Show today. Based on the Soul, the Tracks’ter (those Kia apostrophes again) gets 4WD, loses its back seats to what Kia call an “Integrated Equipment Tray” instead, gets a 2.0 litre turbo with 250bhp mated to a six-speed ‘box and a set of 19″ alloys.

University students learn product development at Eco Car Challenge

The Eco Car Challenge spring workshop had a flavor of cutting-edge environmental technologies in advanced prototypes--developed by students. The event, at the Environmental Protection Agency's laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., allowed journalists to get behind the wheel of these test cars. It was part of a competition among 16 North American universities to design, develop and build vehicles that are forward-looking yet practical.

Honda to build subcompact cars in Mexico

Honda Motor Co. said Friday it will build an $800 million assembly plant in Mexico to produce subcompact vehicles for the Mexican and North American markets. The Japanese automaker said the plant is scheduled to begin operation in 2014 with an annual capacity of 200,000 units.