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Renault-Nissan and Mitsubishi to join forces

MITSUBISHI and the existing Renault-Nissan alliance are set to work together on a series of new cars. Discussions aren’t finished but as part of the deal Mitsubishi will get hold of a Renault chassis large enough to use as a base a full-size saloon for the North American market. The firms will also further develop an electric version of a Japan-only ‘kei car’.

London cabs voted 'world's best'

LONDON has been voted the world's favourite city for taxis, as long as cabbies do not take "the scenic route". The capital topped a global list in five out of seven categories in a Hotels.com survey involving more than 2,600 respondents from 30 countries. The overall result meant London taxis were considered the world's best ahead of second-placed New York, with Tokyo third and Berlin fourth.

Ferrari 458 Speciale (2013) is it the ultimate V8 supercar?

Is the new 597bhp Ferrari 458 Speciale set to be the ultimate V8 supercar? Ben Pulman headed to Ferrari's Maranello headquarters to see for himself... Ferrari's Formula One team might be struggling to put Alonso on the podium, but its road-car division keeps hitting new highs: the F12 is a masterpiece, its 950bhp LaFerrari is poised to eclipse the legendary Enzo, and now this new hardcore version of the 458 Italia will cause sleepless nights down the road in Sant’Agata where Lamborghini is readying its Gallardo replacement.

One Lap of the Web: An awesome Indian Harley, a Toyota 2000GT for sale and vintage snowmobiles on display

-- Bring a Trailer is featuring a 1968 Toyota 2000GT today. It's one Japanese car that looks stunning in kitchen-appliance white paint. Unfortunately, it seems like the window during which you could have bought one of these for a song has slammed shut in the past year.

Chevrolet reveals Silverado Cheyenne concept truck bound for SEMA

Even though the SEMA show is famous for the most outlandish sports cars you could imagine (and some you probably couldn't), there will be no shortage of tuned pickup trucks this year from both manufacturers and tuning houses. And one of them will be the Chevrolet Silverado Cheyenne edition. Admittedly, it's been a while since we've been treated to a serious street-performance truck from Chevrolet, and perhaps it's the GMC Syclone that comes to mind when you think of a small performance-oriented truck from one of GM's brands.

Chevy reveals Corvette, Camaro, SS for SEMA

Chevy saved its best SEMA reveals for Monday. The Bowtie brand unveiled SS sedan, Corvette and Camaro concepts for the yearly aftermarket industry show. Last week the company showed its hopped-up four bangers and front-wheel drive cars.

Jaguar XJ 4WD tackles the coldest town on earth (video)

Jaguar XJ 4WD (pictured) tackles the coldest town on earth If you’ve ever driven a Jaguar XJ in any amount of snow, you’ll know it’s pretty useless. You need a handy supply of snow socks and winter tyres too if you’re going to make any length of journey in seriously cold and snowy conditions without stopping to dig yourself out at regular intervals. But Jaguar now has an XJ that can tackle poor and snowy conditions in the AWD XJ (although, sadly, it’s not on sale in the UK) so they’ve headed out on a 2,000 mile round trip in temperatures down to -50 degrees to show that the 4WD XJ just keeps on going.

Lexus RC to debut at Tokyo Motor Show

The Lexus RC coupe will bow at the Tokyo motor show later this month. The RC 350 will sport the 3.5-liter V6 while the RC 300h will get a 2.5-liter four with a hybrid system. Lexus says the RC was built to raise the brand's profile with a broader audience.

Lexus LF-NX Concept Compact SUV with 2.0 litre turbo petrol at Tokyo

Lexus LF-NX Concept Compact SUV (pictured) with 2.0 litre turbo petrol at Tokyo The Lexus LF-NX Concept debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, and certainly made a statement. Lexus’ efforts to create an SUV/Crossover to sit below the RX and mop up some of the ever-growing demand for more compact SUVs tried hard to do the whole ‘Ugly but appealing’ school of design the Nissan Juke pulled off, but pretty much failed. There were some good ideas running around, but there were just too many jarring angles on the bodywork and not enough cuteness to love and the interior was very ‘concepty’ with a sea of blue and yellow everything and touchscreen surfaces abounding.

Best of France and Italy car show shines

You could say the most impressive thing about the annual Best of France and Italy car show was that so many of these things made it all the way to Woodley Park under their own power. But they all did. Indeed, one of the coolest things about this show is the drive there -- you'll pass Alfettas, X-19s, Renault Dauphines, Citro

2014 Lexus RC Coupe revealed

The new Lexus RC Coupe (pictured) debuts at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show It was back in July that the new Lexus RC Coupe was confirmed for a debut at this year’s Tokyo Motor show and now, with Tokyo just a few weeks away, Lexus has revealed the RC Coupe. The RC Coupe gets an evolution of the Lexus design language – more akin to its recent concept models than production cars – with a heavily contoured shape and the big Lexus spindle grill and lights that look like they’ve taken their inspiration from the LF-LC Concept. There’s also a choice of 18″ and optional 19″ alloys, with the 18″ looking butch and the 19″ elegant.

Coming soon: A bigger, better autoweek.com

First, we want to thank all the readers who have helped make autoweek.com what it is today -- we've worked hard to ensure no nugget of cool car news falls through the cracks, and we've been rewarded by a 100 percent increase in visitors over the past two years. That said, we also know there's a lot about our site design that can be improved. Articles don't "pop" the way they should, the home page is far too busy, and our commenting system is…well, let's just say that anything relying on Facebook deserves a healthy dose of skepticism.

Lexus RC coupe (2013) first official pictures

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 04 November 2013 06:00 This is the new Lexus RC, in production-ready, road-going form. It’s a lower, lither, two-door coupe version of the current IS saloon, and is designed to win younger buyers to the Lexus brand who’d normally default to a BMW 4-series, Audi A5, or Mercedes C-class coupe. Should the Germans fear anything from the Japanese pretender?

2014 Nissan Qashqai teased again – and almost revealed

2014 Nissan Qashqai teased again – and almost revealed Nissan has been bust teasing the 2014 Qashqai ahead of its reveal later this week, and today we get the latest tease which actuallt reveals the front end. The last tease only managed to show us the new Qashqai under a dust sheet in a tunnel, but this time we get a head-on view of the Qashqai to give us a few clues about its new look. The bonnet has more flowing lines than before which continue down in to the chrome element of the grill which, although similar in shape, is more integrated than before with slimmer headlights with integrated, v-shaped running lights.

Four Daihatsu concepts for Tokyo 2013 debut

If you thought the old Daihatsu Copen roadster was a bit feminine for a ‘sports’ car, you’ll be pleased with this: Daihatsu’s new, butched-up, small two-seater roadster, the 2014 RMZ Kopen concept. The aggressive-looking mini cabriolet will make its world debut at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show later this month alongside another, rather interesting version of Daihatsu’s didi prototype – the off-road-inspired XMZ Kopen concept. Please click on the image above to read more on the Daihatsu concept cars for Tokyo 2013…

American Expedition Vehicles to debut off-road Ram Concept at SEMA

If you've ever looked at a 2014 Ram 2500 Crew Cab diesel and thought to yourself "Now this would make a great off-road truck!" then we have some news for you. First, American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) has been reading your thoughts. Second, they have accordingly prepared such a machine for SEMA.

Is this a Toyota GT 86 four-door saloon?

Is this a Toyota GT 86 four-door saloon? There has been talk for some time that Toyota are going to stretch the GT 86 by 4″, add a couple of back doors and turn it in to a four-door coupe. And that’s exactly what the organisers of the Dubai International Motor Show – which starts tomorrow – are claiming on their Facebook page, together with a photo (above) which seems to show a four-door GT 86.

Cameras to catch illegal parking on the school run

Schools and councils across the country are turning to CCTV to enforce parking restrictions during the school run – and a new low-cost camera system is set to make this even easier in the coming months. According to reports in the Sunday Times and the Daily Mail, the new surveillance system costs as little as £16,000, and is able to record and recognise the number plates of illegally parked cars outside schools. On Bing: see pictures of parking enforcement cameras How to appeal a parking ticket The recorded footage is then sent to the local council, including evidence of the parking restriction.

Whiplash claim legal costs rising

GOVERNMENT attempts to reduce legal costs from whiplash injury claims seem to be failing. The average legal costs for small, whiplash-like third party injury (TPI) claims now stand at £2,500 per claimant, according to a report by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. The institute said this was a 15% increase since 2010 "when the Ministry of Justice introduced new measures which sought, in part, to contain legal costs".

New Lexus RC Coupe for 2013 Tokyo Motor Show

Could this be a late entry into our gallery of the scariest cars to see in your rear-view mirror? It’s called the Lexus RC Coupe, and it’s a brand new sporting three-door model from the Japanese luxury marque, headed for showrooms in 2014. Before then it will debut at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show on 20 November.

Kjell Qvale, 1919-2013

The automotive world lost a legend over the weekend, with Kjell "Mr. Q" Qvale's passing at the age of 94. While a handful of people may remember him for the recent sports car that bore his name, Norwegian-born Qvale got his start in the automotive business decades prior, after his service as a pilot in the U.S.

Dodhy motors warning to buyers

MORE THAN half of those seeking help for "dodgy deal" second-hand car purchases experience faults with their vehicle within a month of buying it, according to Citizens Advice. Essential repairs include smoke emerging from the engine, corroded brake pipes and snapped clutches. Of the 2,519 complaints to Citizens Advice about used cars in the first two weeks of September, a total of 83% were about faults.

Female pilots 'less trusted'

MALE PREJUDICE against women drivers appears to extend into plane cockpits as well, according to a survey. And in another blow for equality, the poll showed women were even more wary of female pilots than men. Overall, 51% of people admitted they were less likely to trust a woman pilot than a male one, the survey by travel agent sunshine.co.uk revealed.

London to Brighton Veteran Car Run 2013: in pictures

Nearly 400 pre-1905 cars took to the streets on Sunday 3 November as the 2013 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run took place. Organised by the Royal Automobile Club, the annual 60-mile event started at Hyde Park at 6.58am, with a ceremonial finish along Brighton's Madeira Drive starting just three hours later.

2014 Nissan Qashqai teased… again

This is the first proper picture of the all-new, second-generation Nissan Qashqai SUV crossover, set to go on sale in the UK in early 2014. As we reported last week, although the new Qashqai’s official unveiling isn’t until Thursday 7 November 2013, Nissan can’t help itself, giving us a sneak peak of what it’s got in store for the new car with this latest image. On Bing: see pictures of the 2014 Nissan Qashqai Find out how much a used Nissan Qashqai costs on Auto Trader The studio shot was a bit dark and dingy when it dropped into the MSN Cars’ inbox, but thanks to some Photoshop trickery, we’ve managed to brighten up the picture to get a good look at the replacement for the UK’s best-selling SUV in 2012.

Rolls Royce Wraith Drophead Coupe confirmed for production.

The Rolls Royce Wraith (pictured) will get a Drophead sibling in 2016 It was always likely that Rolls Royce would take their ‘affordable’ model – the RR Ghost – and make a coupe version. What wasn’t really on the cards is that they would give it a more dramatic style – and a more driver-focused experience – and tag a name from the past on it to create a new Rolls Royce Wraith for the 21st century. But that’s exactly what they’ve done, and the Wraith does seem to be an effective tool for Rolls Royce to extend the appeal of their cars to a new, perhaps younger, demographic.

Woman ticketed for driving with Google Glasses

A Californian woman is thought to be the first ever motorist to receive a ticket for driving while wearing ‘Google Glass’ computer spectacles. Cecilia Abadie was written up under a state law banning drivers from watching TV behind the wheel, which the officer in question believed Ms Abadie’s transgression fell under. But there’s a twist… On Bing: see pictures of Google Glass Google driverless cars ‘safer than humans’ Ms Abadie claims the augmented reality device – which displays information on a tiny screen in a smartphone-like hands-free format in front of the wearer’s eye – was actually switched off at the time.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (2013) RESULT

At the last Grand Prix, in India, Sebastian Vettel was dominant and secured his place in F1 history by taking his fourth title in a row. But for today’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Track, Vettel has to start in second place to Mark Webber, so could Webber have found his mojo and be ready to take a win from Vettel? No.

Social media could put your car at risk of theft

USING TWITTER, Facebook and other social media could alert thieves to you being out of your house and allow them to break in to take keys and steal your car. The threat of thieves using Twitter to spot car owners who are out for the night or on holiday has been highlighted by Tracker, a company that specialises in stolen vehicle recovery. Its Police Relationships Manager Stuart Chapman said: ‘The changing face of car theft means that owners have to take more precautions than they would a few years ago.

Crash avoidance technology 'can cut crashes by a third'

GROUND-BREAKING rear-end crash avoidance technology can cut the likelihood of these accidents by up to a third, according to the latest crash test results by European safety body Euro NCAP. The Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) systems were trialled by Euro NCAP, which independently tests the crash safety standards of new cars in Europe. It tested the cars by driving them towards a dummy car made of an airbag to see which would stop before a collision occurred.