1969 Pontiac Sales Brochure Station Wagon Bonneville Safari Catalina Le Mans 69 on 2040-parts.com

NHTSA unveils new safety ratings; BMW and Hyundai first to get five stars

The 2011 BMW 5-series and the Hyundai Sonata were the first two cars to achieve five-star ratings under NHTSA's revised safety ratings announced on Tuesday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will rate a total of 24 cars, 20 SUVs, nine pickups and two vans for the 2011 model year. The federal agency has significantly modified its rating process and will now grade side-pole testing and crash-prevention technologies such as lane-departure warning and electronic stability control.

Chevrolet City Express priced at $22,950

Chevrolet has released pricing for the 2015 City Express urban work van, which debuted at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show just a couple months ago. The van is Chevy's answer to the Ford Transit Connect, and is actually based on the Nissan NV200. The Chevrolet City Express will start at $22,950 when it goes on sale in early fall, and will be powered by a 2.0-liter dual-overhead cam inline-four making 131 hp and 139 lb-ft of torque.

RenaultSport Clio 200: Paris 2012

Renault has unveiled the Clio RenaultSport 200 at the Paris Motor Show with a 1.6 litre turbo engine delivering 200bhp. The latest version of the Clio RS forgoes its naturally aspirated 2.0 litre engine for a turbo 1.6 litre delivering the same 200bhp but more torque – up more than 10 per cent. What dropping the 1.6 turbo has done to the Clio is make it more economical – Renault say it is 25 per cent more fuel efficient and, obviously, emissions drop comparably.