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U.S. car sales jump 20% in August

UPDATED -- U.S. auto sales--led by Honda Motor Co., the Volkswagen Group and Toyota Motor Corp.--jumped 20 percent last month for the strongest monthly pace in three years. The Detroit 3 also posted double-digit sales gains for August, signaling the auto industry's recovery remains solidly on track despite sluggish economic growth, rising gasoline prices and widespread consumer uncertainty.

Top Gear answers critics of Electric Car Test. Again.

Nissan LEAF runs out of electrickery in Lincoln on the Top Gear Test Top Gear and Electric Cars do have a habit of not getting on. And they didn’t get on in the latest Top Gear test when Jeremy (in a Nissan LEAF) and James (in a Peugeot iOn) set out to demonstrate the shortcomings of EVs, the same shortcomings we we bang on about constantly. The piece by Andy Wilman on Top Gear’s site is in response to an article in the Times, where Nissan complain that ‘…‘Clarkson didn’t give our electric cars a sporting chance.’ But he did, with the Top Gear piece designed to do nothing more than debunk the claims companies like Nissan make for their electric cars.

Pace cadets: At AMG academy, students take their finals with their right feet

Mercedes-Benz USA launched the AMG Challenge in 2002, a program touted as "a chance to experience the thrill of driving the newest Mercedes AMGs on some of America's best racetracks." This year, MBUSA abandoned the Challenge in favor of the AMG Driving Academy, a multistage driver-development program pioneered by AMG in Europe. The difference? According to Greg Clark, AMG manager, "the Challenge was more about the cars, while the Academy is more about the driver." Having participated in both the Challenge and now the Academy, we'd say that difference is subtle, at least as it applies to the one-day program.