Buzz has officially begun circulating regarding Audi’s plans for this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. Latest reports suggest that Audi will unveil an RS3 hatch back.

According to WCF, under the hood of the Audi RS3 will be a turbocharged 2.5-liter engine found in in the TT RS. If the RS3 does feature this engine it will be capable of 340 hp and 450 Nm or torque. If however, the engine is tuned for this model, which is likely to happen, we may see those numbers reach as high as 400hp.

As of now we’ll just have to wait until the Frankfurt Motor Show next month to see if Audi will showcase their RS3.

Tags: frankfurt motor show, rs3, rumor, speculation

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Back in June reports surfaced of a possible Hummer buyout by China’s Tengzhong but here we are 3 months later and still no deal. Today, however, reports have again surfaced regarding the buyout, this time notifying us that it is expected to go down in Q3 of this year.

There’s no official word on just how much the transaction will go down for but Autoblog suggests Tengzhong will be paying about half of what GM had originally wanted for it or about $200 million.

Let’s hope that under Tengzhong’s management, the Hummer brand will live on.

Tags: buyout, Chinese, HUMMER, speculation, tengzhong

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Earlier this month we were given word that GM could potentially be seeing a drought of Chevy Volts due to limited production. Today, however, buzz suggets that GM will be producing a lot more cars than previously though.

If/when the public takes to the Volt, CNET sees the Chevy Volt reaching production of up to 70,000 vehicles each year. This would be after the ~400 GM plans to build in 2010 alone so it will most likely be a ways off until we see these kind of numbers.

Tags: chevy volt, GM, Production, rumor, speculation

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If recent reports are to be believed, we may be seeing two different hybrid versions of BMW’s newest 5 series models. Speculation comes to us from BMW Blog who says a company insider has notified them that the 2011 5 Series models will feature 2 different hybrid power trains. One model will reportedly feature the same power train used in BMW’s X6 ActiveHybrid while the other will feature the power train found in BMW’s latest 7 series vehicles.

Whatever the case, BMW is sure to have a hit with high level consumers who are looking for a fuel efficient and stylish looking vehicle.

Tags: 5 Series, 7 series, BMW, hybrid, rumor, speculation, x6 activehybrid

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After weeks of speculation, Chrysler has finally filed for Chapter 11, a development that many deem as long overdue. Even during the early phases of the celebrated financial bailout plan, critics saw that it was just a matter of time before Chrysler bit the bullet. And apparently that time is now.

BankruptcyData.com reports that Chrysler LLC has filed for Chapter 11 protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York. The Company is represented by Corrine Ball of Jones Day. According to BankruptcyProfessional.com, since 1990, Jones Day has served as petitioning counsel for 7 of the nearly 300 public company bankruptcies listing a pre-petition asset figure of $1 billion or more.

Chrysler has indicated that it maintains approximately 100,000 employees. That figure makes it the third largest corporate employer to seek refuge with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court since 1980, according to BankruptcyData.com. The largest and second largest employee counts belong to Kmart Corporation and Delphi Corporation (DPHIQ), respectively.

In addition to its high employee and asset count, Chrysler’s filing is newsworthy in another respect. George Putnam, III explains, “The Chrysler bankruptcy could be particularly interesting because of the government involvement. The Obama Administration may have a few things to learn about the bankruptcy process.”

(Source) Press

Tags: 1 billion, bailout plan, bankruptcy court, bankruptcy process, Chapter 11, Chrysler, company bankruptcies, corporate employer, delphi corporation, financial bailout, george putnam, government involvement, kmart, matter of time, petition, southern district of new york, speculation

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If rumors are to be believed, Bugatti is prepping an all new car (as in not a Veyron) for release this September possibly at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

There’s really no other information to go by other than this rumor but if we were to take a guess, we’d say this thing would have some sort of ridiculous number for both it’s horsepower output and price. We’re thinkin’ millions.

Read (Autoblog)

Tags: buggati, frankfurt motor show, rumor, speculation, veyron

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Rumor has it, Toyota was none too pleased with the recent announcement that the Honda Insight would be the cheapest hybrid on the market. So, they decided to do something about it.

Apparently, this new Prius from Toyota would feature a smaller engine than current-gen Prius’ and cost 20%-30% less.

With the early sucess of the Honda Insight this rumor seems completely plausible. I mean, Toyota would obviously want to preserve it’s title as the best selling hybrid automaker around, right?

Read (Autoblog)

Tags: competition, Insight, market, Prius, rumor, speculation

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Talks about fully electric cars from major automakers have been circulating for a while. Some fully electric ones have even managed to be mass produced and sent to market.

Well, despite all this, VW CEO Martin Winterkorn says that daily electric car use is still very far away and he’s even investing in this assumption capitalizing on the ability to power cars with gas, but just less gas.

What do you guys think? How much longer do we have to wait until electric cars become the norm?

Read (AutoBlog)

Tags: ceo, martin winterkorn, speculation

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Have you ever stopped to think that putting ethanol into your car is a sin? No? Well Sheikh Mohamed al-Najimi, an Islamic scholar, begs to differ.

According to Mr. al-Najimi, Muslim’s using ethanol may in fact be commiting a sin. But why? Well, purchasing, using, transportating, selling or making alcohol, in any way shape or form, is stricly illegal under Muslim belief.

And what is ethanol? Well, alcohol, of course!

Read (TheCarConnection)

Tags: beliefs, culture, Ethanol, muslim, religion, speculation

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