White House pushes automakers toward 54.5-mpg target by 2025

The White House is pushing automakers to agree by Wednesday to a corporate average fuel economy target of 54.5 mpg by 2025--a figure 1.7 mpg less than the 56.2 mpg standard it floated earlier this month. The easing of the White House plan stems from a concession to makers of light trucks and SUVs, and particularly larger vehicles in that segment, such as Ford's F-150, sources said. The latest White House proposal, the most definitive of any it has put forth, calls for a 5 percent annual mileage increase for cars from 2017-2025, said industry and congressional officials who asked not to be named because their discussions with the White House are confidential.

Audi to buy Ducati 'next week' - Reuters

Audi looks set to complete its purchase of superbike maker Ducati as early as next week, according to Reuters. The news wire reports the deal could be finalised by 18 April 2012, the day before VW's annual shareholders meeting in Hamburg. Audi has been undertaking due diligence on the purchase of Ducati and the bean counters are reporting no obstacles to the deal.     Why is Audi interested in buying Ducati?

BMW M3 Matte Edition: China only

BMW M3 Matte Edition - China's second limited edition M3 in a year It’s less than a year since China got it’s last BMW M3 special – the BMW M3 Tiger Edition – so we’re guessing it sold rather well as BMW has launched another limited edition M3 just for the Chinese market – the BMW M3 Matte Edition. It isn’t going to be horribly difficult to work out that the defining feature of the M3 Matte Edition is its paint job. It’s Matt Black.