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New Honda CEO to focus on R&D

Takanobu Ito, newly named as the next president and CEO of Honda Motor Co., will redouble the company's focus on research as it grapples with a global market meltdown. Honda presidents traditionally cut their teeth at the automaker's cherished development subsidiary, Honda R&D Co. Ltd.

Autoweek in review: Subaru WRX coupe caught testing, we drive the 2013 Volkswagen Golf, and ride shotgun in the Porsche 918

The 2014 Subaru WRX coupe was caught out on the open road on Oct. 4. Could it be a possible BRZ-based STI?

New Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive goes in to production

The first Mercedes B-Class ED (pictured) rolls off the production line in Rastatt With the BMW i3 grabbing headlines – and flying out of showrooms – as BMW’s first electric car, Mercedes need to play catch-up with a convincing EV of their own, and that’s the new B-Class Electric Drive – an EV version of the regular B-Class – which has now gone in to production in Germany. Built alongside regular ICE versions of the B-Class at Mercedes’ Rastatt Plant, the B-Class ED (Electric Drive) looks practically the same as its more conventionally powered siblings – although the front bumper does look a bit different – and has an electric motor good for 177 bhp and 250 lb/ft of torque, can manage a scoot to 62 mph in 7.9 seconds and has a range of up to 124 miles. The range – at least the quoted range – is a chunk better than the BMW i3′s and on a par with the latest Nissan LEAF, thanks to EV technology provided by Tesla, and the wrapping of an EV drivetrain in a conventional series production car could appeal to more buyers than the ‘statement’ design of the BMW i3.