New CAFE proposal would add $5,000 to sticker price, dealer group says

An Obama administration proposal to nearly double today's fuel economy standards could end up tacking on $5,000 to the sticker price of a new vehicle, a top official with the National Automobile Dealers Association said Tuesday. The proposal, which seeks to raise the corporate average fuel economy to 54.5 mpg by the 2025 model year, would force automakers to adopt costly fuel-saving technologies that could eventually price some buyers out of the new-car market, said Don Chalmers, chairman of NADA's government relations committee. NADA, a dealer trade association, represents 16,000 new-vehicle dealers who operate 32,500 franchises.

Mercedes E Class gets AMG Pack

Mercedes quietly unveiled the 2009 Mercedes Benz E Class at Detroit. Quietly, because it wasn’t actually planned, but due to details leaking out ahead of the show, it seems Mercedes decided they may as well get the reveal over. Bigger than the last generation E Class, the new E Class gets a complete styling overhaul, with a new style in keeping with Mercedes more recent ‘Family’ looks.

Top Gear Christmas Special: Video trailer

Top Gear Christmas Special - Iraq to Bethlehem The first clue we had about what the Top Gear Christmas Special would be this year was back in October when we caught the boys out playing in the Middle East with a trio of rather battered roadsters. It seemed like the makings of another road-trip special with the madness of the Middle East as a backdrop for the madness of Top Gear. It was only a month later we learnt that the Middle East was to be the backdrop for the 2010 Top Gear Christmas Special with the boys searching for ‘The Baby Jesus’ on a road trip to Bethlehem as three modern-day wise men (oxymoron obviously springs to mind).