Mercedes B-class fuel-cell drivers tell all

We met in a Los Angeles gas station, directly under the landing lights of LAX's south runway, our conversation interrupted regularly by the Prattt & Whitney thrust of 757s and Super 80s. We could easily be the main characters in an espionage thriller, handing off secret documents at great personal risk. But we're not.

Volkswagen joins Global Rallycross with Foust and Speed

The biggest splash at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show might have been made by Volkswagen on Thursday. The giant German automaker, along with Andretti Autosport, unveiled its 560-hp, all-wheel-drive Global Rallycross Beetle. GRC champion Tanner Foust will pilot the first car while ex-Formula One driver Scott Speed will helm the second.

Future products: Mazda's new direct-injection engine family arrives in 2011

The big news at Mazda is a new family of direct-injection gasoline and diesel engines that will start to arrive in 2011. Mazda will make significant changes to vehicle platforms to accommodate the Sky engines, which will be more powerful and fuel-efficient at lower displacements than the company's current engines. The first Sky gasoline engine is expected to debut in the United States in 2011.