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2012 BMW M5 revealed in production trim

The wraps have been torn off the fire-breathing 2012 BMW M5. And, as expected, the Bavarian luxury maker is going in a different direction under the hood. BMW is eschewing a naturally aspirated powerplant in the new M5, whose high-revving roots date to the 1980s, in favor of a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 pushing out about 552 hp.

Storing classic concept cars is a huge hassle

If you see a dazzling concept car at an auto show this year, consider this: Somebody is going to have to find the space to park it and maintain it in a heritage collection, perhaps until the end of time. Preserving this year's hits as the museum pieces of the future is one of the great backroom issues of the auto industry. If you need to see the first wood-paneled Honda Civic Country station wagon from 1980 for some good reason, Honda has one in storage in Japan.

Hyundai/Kia – the Hydrogen push.

Hyundai and Kia are making huge strides in to the mainstream car buyer’s conscientiousness. They’ve managed – in just a short time – to move from being an almost laughably cheap option for buyers with no money and even less taste to cars that offer serious and credible alternatives the best from Europe and Japan. So we now think of Hyundai and Kia as a formidable threat to established car makers, but not exactly innovators and pioneers.