VW announces seven-passenger CUV at Detroit auto show

Last year at the Detroit Auto Show, VW showed the CrossBlue concept. Built on VW's new MQB modular architecture, the CrossBlue was designed to both showcase the versatility of MQB (it also underpins the upcoming Golf, the new Audi A3, as well as SEAT and Skoda models) and illustrate that VW was serious about the seven-passenger market in the United States. Prior to the Frankfurt motor show, we took the CrossBlue for a spin.

General Motors halts Hummer production until sale is completed

General Motors will stop production of Hummers at the end of this week as the automaker waits for Chinese regulators to approve the brand's sale to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Output of Hummer H3 and H3T models at GM's Shreveport, La., plant will resume once the pending acquisition is completed, Hummer spokesman Nick Richards said. Richards declined to specify what issues remain to be approved by the Chinese government.

Toyota and Lexus secret hybrid cars revealed

By Georg Kacher Motor Industry 03 September 2008 11:50 CAR Online has compiled a secret dossier of all the hybrid petrol-electric cars under development at Toyota and Lexus. Today we can reveal a new wave of eco-friendly plug-in hybrids – with confidential details of the next Prius and all the new models that will build on the success of Toyota and Lexus battery cars. There will be a new family of Prius hybrid models, as previously reported in CAR, as well as a new Lexus RX hybrid, sportier batter-powered cars and a top-secret petrol-electric Lexus hatchback.