Volkswagen announced today that it has produced one million dual-clutch gearboxes, all at the company's Kassel, Germany factory. As we've been writing a lot recently, DSG (VW's name for the boxes) is a way to reduce fuel consumption because they bridge the mechanical efficiency of a manual transmission with an automatic's self-shifting capability.

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In the future, fueling up your vehicle should be a whole new experience. From biodiesel to ethanol to hydrogen, the next generation of fuel should be less polluting and more efficient.
High gasoline prices have sparked a lot of interest among consumers in vehicles that can stretch their fuel dollars. Concern about air pollution, carbon-dioxide emissions, and U.S. dependence on imported oil is also driving research into nonpetroleum-based fuels and technology.

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We didn’t have too many gripes with the old Nissan Murano, introduced in 2003 as a 2004 model. Along with the Lexus RX300—now the RX350—the Murano helped to pioneer the hot-selling vehicle du jour, the so-called crossover SUV. Often based on car platforms, crossovers combine the virtues of an SUV—available all-wheel drive, a high seating position, and wagonlike versatility—with more carlike handling and drivability than the traditional truck-based SUVs. The original Murano was based on the underpinnings of the previous-generation Altima, so it drove quite nicely. The interior was versatile and roomy, and the only letdown was the cheesy interior trim, which was as low rent as a trailer park in Alabama.

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Tall wagon. Small crossover. Sleeper rocket. Lesbo-chic whisk-about. The Subaru Forester has been called a lot of things, but one thing it’s never been called is sexy. That all may change for 2009, when the Forester undergoes its first ground-up redo, featuring a three-inch-longer wheelbase, three inches of additional length, and, gratefully, all-new, more-macho styling.

What won’t change is its tall-wagon, raised-suspension program, but the ’09 model’s off-roading capability should be heightened—literally—thanks to no fewer than 8.9 inches of ground clearance.

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he large 2009 Ford Flex crossover will be followed by a version for Lincoln but not Mercury, Car and Driver has learned.

The Flex is a seven-passenger SUV that essentially takes the place of the minivan in Ford’s lineup. It will be built at the automaker’s plant in Oakville, Ontario, for sale next summer.

The initial expectation was that product-starved Mercury would get a version, but it is the luxury Lincoln brand that will get an as-yet-unnamed model, Ford CEO Alan Mulally confirms to us exclusively at an event in Dearborn.

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The Audi wagon had us at "Hello."

We were smitten by its black and brick-red leather interior accented with birch wood veneer. It was elegant, exquisite, one of the most inviting interiors we've seen in any car. I wanted to drive it. My wife, Mary Anne, wanted the wheel. Ria Manglapus, my partner in vehicle evaluations, wanted in. Granting access required diplomacy. It did not work.

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The name may not be carved in stone, but the Traverse could be the tag applied to the long-rumored Chevrolet version of GM's big new "Lambda" architecture crossover vehicles.
The other Lambdas include the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook, and GMC Acadia. Read the rest of this entry »

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Michigan's economy in the past few years has often been described as gripped in a "one-state recession," and while no one predicts a rose garden for the state in 2008, there are at least some signs this may be the last tough year before the state begins a slow rebound in 2009.

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Porsche has market-researched it to death, but we expect that only two kinds of people will buy the Cayenne GTS: those who will love it and those who will come to hate it. It's the grip- and agility-rich Cayenne that the Porsche faithful will love, or it will be resold within months by people who simply wanted to be seen in the best Cayenne there is but were ultimately unable to live with the tradeoffs Porsche made to get it there.

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Chances are you've seen spy photos of Subaru's 2009 Forester circulating, but here are the first official pictures of the new wagon that will debut at the Detroit auto show.

The third-generation Forester sits on a new platform that is 3.6-inches longer than its predecessor. It moves to a double-wishbone rear suspension for sharper handling and allows for more interior cargo space. Dimensions remain mostly the same, aside from growing roughly 3vinches in overall length.

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