GM may let Euro drivers switch Opel Ampera to gas power to save batteries

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt made major media waves when it was first revealed that its engine could power the drive wheels independently under certain circumstances. According to a report from HeadlineAuto in the UK, though, General Motors’ European division is actually considering adding a switch for the Opel Ampera (the Volt’s more attractive European cousin) that would allow the driver to control how the drivetrain operates.

For instance, when driving longer distances, such as when traveling from city to city, the driver could potentially switch the car into its so-called charge sustaining mode so that the gasoline-powered engine would run constantly in order to maintain a full charge of the battery. Then, after the speeds slow back down and the driver re-enters an urban area, the car could be put back into its normal battery-first mode.

At this point, this report appears to be little more than speculation based on statements made by GM’s Lars Peter Thiesen, who is overseeing the process of tuning the Opel Ampera for the European market. There’s currently no reason to believe that GM would make such a modification to the U.S.-spec Volt.

Subcompact sales fail to impress; Ford Fiesta and Chevy Aveo selling similarly

Despite the wave of all-new compact and subcompact fighters hitting the market right now, sales of small cars in the U.S. don’t appear to be budging much. According to Cars.com, models like the much-hyped Ford Fiesta are struggling to do much better than their older, stale counterparts at other automakers. So far, the Fiesta is number four in sales in the subcompact segment, falling well behind the Nissan Versa with 6,724 sales in November, the Honda Fit with 4,180 units and the Hyundai Accent at 4,052. In fact, Ford only managed to move 3,473 Fiesta units – just a hair above the 3,262 soon-to-be-replaced Chevrolet Aveovehicles that rolled off of dealer lots last month.

Fortunately, the news is a little better for larger vehicles like the Chevrolet Cruze. General Motors managed to sell 8,066 of its small sedans in the vehicle’s first full month on the market, and a total of 8,955 new-for-2011Volkswagen Jetta models found homes during the second to last month of the year as well. Even the agedFord Focus saw its sales jump by 27 percent to 13,030 in November thanks in no small part to an aggressive incentive program.

Head over to Cars.com for a full breakdown of America’s disappointing subcompact sales, then chime in with your thoughts on the matter in Comments.

60 out of 77 Aston Martin One-77 supercars already sold – at $1.87M each

The One-77 is the rarest of all Aston Martin models, with a grand total of 77 units for the rest of forever (well, assuming they decide against a Volante model). Add in a body that is made with copious amounts of carbon fiber, a 750-horsepower V12 and hand-formed aluminum panels and you’re looking at a price tag of $1.87 million. If you’re thinking that that’s more money than you’re likely to make in the next lifetime, we’re on the same wavelength, but not everyone is tuned to the same frequency.

Inside Line reports that fully 60 of the 77 One-77s are already spoken for, leaving only 17 copies of the ultra-mega rare English exotic up for grabs. And what One-77 owner doesn’t want a mini-Aston for when driving their $1.89 million supercar is just too big for the country club? IL claims that many One-77 buyers are opting to spend the extra $30,000 for the Toyota IQ-based Cygnet. Hey, $30,000 may be a lot of coin for a gussied-up Toyota, but then again, the Cygnet likely isn’t the only $30,000 option available in Aston’s catalog – and it drives all by itself.

Audi Quattro Concept

Blue and red flashing lights filling the mirror after a spirited canyon run are never welcomed. Yet this time, I’ve fully embraced them. Why?

I’m driving down California’s Pacific Coast Highway in Audi’s one-of-a-kind Quattro Concept with a full police escort. In front, law enforcement is clearing the road ahead as if sweeping for mines, pushing civilian traffic off to the side. I’ve got another unit behind me, shooing the restless natives off my flanks. The parade is impressive, but I’m wary of the pageantry. Are the cops there to solely maintain a generous cushion around the multi-million dollar concept, or has Audi paid them to keep me from rocketing off into the sunset off with their turbocharged 190-mph sports coupe?

To know Audi’s Quattro Concept, you have to recall the original Audi Quattro (a.k.a.”Ur-Quattro”) from 1980. Launched 30 years ago, the two-door coupe was the first sports car to feature the automaker’s new Quattro all-wheel-drive system. With a turbocharged 2.1-liter inline five-cylinder engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission, the original 200-horsepower street variant was good for a 0-60 sprint of around seven seconds and a top speed of 137 mph. Rally-prepared, and with hundreds of additional horses under the hood, the Audi Quattro was unstoppable, dominating the Group B class in rally competitions around the world for years.

2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon priced from $30,960

During a product briefing today, Acura executives revealed that the 2011 TSX Sport Wagon will be priced from $30,960 (not including $860 for destination) when it goes on sale in just a few weeks. This represents a price increase of $1,350 versus the slightly refreshed 2011 TSX sedan that recently debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

All TSX Sport Wagons come standard with a leather-trimmed interior, premium seven-speaker sound system, XM radio, USB audio with iPod integration, Bluetooth connectivity and a power moonroof. For an extra $3,650 you can opt for the TSX Technology Package, which adds sat-nav with voice recognition and rear-view camera, an ELS surround audio system, GPS-linked solar-sensing climate control and a power liftgate out back.

The only engine available in the Sport Wagon is the TSX’s 2.4-liter inline-four, mated exclusively to a five-speed automatic transmission (a six-speed manual is available on the sedan). 201 horsepower is perfectly adequate for the Sport Wagon, but we’re curious as to why Acura felt it necessary to leave the sedan’s 280-hp V6 mill out of the mix. We’ll have the full report of how the TSX Sport Wagon fares out on the road in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

Next Nissan Sentra to look more like a baby Altima?

It’s not that the Nissan Sentra is a ‘bad car,’ so to speak, but it’s about as exciting to anyone with even a modicum of automotive enthusiasm as a haircut. Sadly, that milquetoast feeling even extends to the more powerful SE-R and 200-horsepower SE-R Spec V. Said another way, the current Sentra is a long time gone from the SR20DE-engined B13 Sentra SE-R of the early ’90s.

But there may be light at the end of the tunnel: Nissan knows that its current Sentra is too boring. Al Castignetti, Nissan Division Vice President of Sales recently admitted to AutoWeek that “We miss the heart of the market right now. A lot of people reject the Sentra because of its looks… it is not a natural progression to move down to it from the Altima.”

While you could certainly argue that the Sentra needs more than just a restyling – like, perhaps having more content and sporting potential to properly differentiate itself from the almost-as-large and significantly cheaperVersa – looking more like the handsome Altima sounds like a solid step in the right direction.

Beauty and a Beast: New Lancia Stratos runs 0-62 in 3.3 seconds

In a perfect world, the fastest cars would be the best looking ones. And to some extent, that’s often the case. But not always. For instance the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is one of the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous automotive creations ever devised, but by most accounts, its performance fails to live up to its styling. Conversely, cars like the Nissan GT-R and Porsche 911 GT2 RS are some of the most devastatingly fast vehicles ever to grace tarmac, but not everyone’s enamored of their sheetmetal.

The New Stratos is here to suggest that you may be able to have your cake and eat it to, as full technical specifications and performance stats have been released on the one-off retro creation. The aluminum chassis from the Ferrari 430 Scuderia is a good starting point, giving the New Stratos a compact, lightweight frame, a 44/56 front/rear weight distribution ratio and a 4.3-liter V8 tuned from the 508 horsepower delivered in the Scud to 540 in the nuovo Lancia.

That’s enough to rocket the coachbuilt custom from a standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 3.3 seconds, past 200 km/h (124 mph) in 9.7 and on to a top speed of 170 mph. (That last figure may not be the most impressive, but the original Stratos was never geared for top-speed runs, but for rapid acceleration and nimble handling, and its successor appears to have followed the same route.)

Toyota Prius has been Japan’s top-selling car for 18 straight months

The Toyota Prius has been the top-selling vehicle in its home market of Japan since its redesign in 2009 for the 2010 model year, due partly to a series of incentives created by the Japanese government to promote fuel efficient vehicles – more specifically, hybrids. Those incentives ended in September, leading many to wonder if Toyota’s hybrid hatchback could maintain its stranglehold atop the sales board.

Apparently, the answer is yes. According to data provided by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association and the Japan Mini Vehicles Association, Toyota managed to sell 21,400 Prius hybrids in November, more than enough to earn the fuel-sipper the top sales spot over the second-place Honda Fit (16,677 units).

It seems that the end of hybrid vehicle subsidies did take something of a toll on Prius sales, however. Though still on top, sales of Toyota’s hybrid hatchback were down by just over 20 percent when compared to the same period one year ago, when the Japanese government’s incentives were in full effect. Still, Toyota’s green jellybean has enjoyed 18 months at the top and still has quite a few carlengths on the Fit, and that’s nothing to be sneezed at.

Lamborghini would choose four-door over SUV

Lamborghini remains intent on adding a third model to its range. This, straight from the proverbial lion’s mouth – that of the company’s affable CEO Stephan Winkelmann, who would like a new model to attract new buyers to the brand. The question is, what form will that new model take?

According to a new report from Autocar, the most likely scenario is a production version of the Estoqueconcept sedan unveiled in Paris a couple years back. Previous reports suggested a successor to the LM002 sport-utility vehicle could be in the works. But while either model could borrow underpinnings from within the Volkswagen Group (the Porsche Panamera or Audi A7 for the Estoque or the Porsche Cajun/Audi Q5 for the LM00X), enabling a faster and more cost-effective development process, Winkelmann seems to like the idea of the Estoque better.

Building the Estoque could also potentially lead to more variants as well, including a front-engined coupe and convertible, while the LM002 would, in all likelihood, be a single-model proposition.

Us? We just hope that the new model (whatever it is) gets built soon. In the case of the Estoque, there’s nothing worse than a painfully slow gestation of an already aging concept car to kill buzz.

Are you the 2012 Volkswagen NMS?

For all of secrecy surrounding the New Midsized Sedan, we may have just scored our first unfettered glimpse at the new Volkswagen four-door. The quick-eyed crew over at JokeForBlog managed to lay their hands on a scant few images of what appears to be the NMS, and the vehicle looks to take more than a few cues from the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta. Using the German carmaker’s revised corporate face up front and the same hexagonal license plate inset on the trunk deck, the similarities are almost overwhelming. We’ve got to wonder exactly what VW has planned to differentiate the two models other than size.

Unfortunately, if these shots are accurate, the as-yet unnamed sedan doesn’t appear to be nearly as aggressive as the renderings we saw at this year’s Paris Motor Show. While those drawings showed off a low-slung four-door with aggressive lines and plenty of menace in its bones, these spy photos show a vehicle that looks downright pedestrian and conservative. That said, given the modest wheels this model is wearing, we suspect it’s a lower trim level – hopefully more expensive models will appear more premium and aggressive.

With the current Passat headed for the scrap heap in America, it would appear that we’d best get used to what we see above. Odds are this machine is going to be a bigger, less-expensive replacement for long-serving VW four-door.

Fenice Milano’s Rolls-Royce Ghost “Diva” makes Mansory look tasteful

Between the gallons of chrome and the Spirit of Ecstasy protruding from its prominent grille, the contemporary offerings from Rolls-Royce have become a favorite among the bling crowd. But there are always those looking for something more outlandish. We thought Mansory had them covered with their take on theGhost, but even that’s looking subdued in comparison to Fenice Milano’s Diva.

Decked out in more gold than an aging Mediterranean playboy’s neck, the Diva edition takes the borderline tasteful way over the top. The hood, grille, side sills and mirrors have all been coated in 24-karat gold, as has the interior, along with custom teak, leather and Alcantara trim. It’s enough to make Liberace spin in his grave, and if you’re wearing your gold D&G sunglasses, you can check it out for yourself in the gallery below and the press release after the jump.

Rolls-Royce to expand Ghost line

It sounds like Rolls-Royce is looking to pull a few more Ghosts out of its hat. According to Bloomberg, the company has its eyes on doubling sales figures in a hurry, and part of that plan may involve more variants of the Baby Roller. As the second model line in the company’s stable, the Ghost has done plenty to generate growth for the company, primarily due to its smaller size and (slightly) more accessible price tag. The Ghost starts at $245,000, while the next step up, the Phantom, hits luxury buyers for a less manageable $380,000.

Rolls-Royce is currently producing around three Ghosts for every Phantom, thanks largely to increased interest in the brand from China. China has already moved up to become the company’s second biggest market after the U.S. – a slot formerly occupied by the UK.

Bloomberg didn’t offer much in the way of details as to what to expect from any upcoming Ghost variants, so full-line Rolls collectors will want to keep their Dom Perignon on ice for the moment. Stay tuned.

Rolls-Royce sales up 146 percent on popularity of Ghost

If there was any lingering doubt as to the business value of the 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost, recent sales figures appear likely to put such concerns to an abrupt end. Over the course of the first five months of 2010, Rolls-Royce has sold a total of 678 automobiles. That doesn’t sound like a whole lot when judged against the world’s largest automakers, but that figure represents an impressive 146-percent increase over the previous year.

As you might have guessed, that sales uptick is being driven by orders for the new Ghost, which, with a price starting at around $250,000, is Rolls-Royce’s new entry-level model. Company head Torsten Müller-Ötvös expects the sales surge to continue throughout the 2010, suggesting that the automaker will post figures “at least double the volume of last year.” As we found during our recent First Drive, Ghost buyers are likely to be very pleased with their new saloons.

Rolls-Royce Ghost is smaller in size, still larger than life

Rich people are different from the rest of us. Their wants and needs involve parameters and details completely foreign to the proletariat. While we use our vehicles for transportation, utility and sport, the rich view their automobiles as a necessary accoutrement to their elevated lifestyles.

For the ultra-wealthy, an appropriate equivalent might be an original Remington bronze or Picasso painting. And just as they need art in their mansions, they need beautiful transportation. The 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghostlives up to those lofty requirements by simultaneously being a rolling work of art and a status symbol beyond reproach.

Like access to the Queen, our time with the Ghost was strictly limited, so comprehensive driving impressions will have to wait. But what we did get was a rare glimpse into what the world’s richest inhabitants will enjoy when the Ghost goes on sale this year. And as you’d expect, life is good on this side of the financial Bell Curve.

Red Dot design award honors Rolls-Royce Ghost, others

Still thinking of the Rolls-Royce Ghost as a mini-me Phantom? Think again. The design is apparently standing on its own merits, and has won the praise of the Red Dot jury. Considered one of – if not the – definitive awards for superior design, the Red Dot is awarded every year to an array of products, from furniture and office supplies to electronics and passenger vehicles.

This year the award was given to a wide range of automobiles, including the Skoda Yeti and Superb Combi, BMW 5 Series andX1, Volkswagen Polo, Kia Venga, Mercedes E-Class Cabrioletand Opel Astra. The “best of the best” designation, however, was reserved for the Rolls-Royce – which follows the prize awarded to the Phantom Drophead Coupe two years ago – along with the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and Peugeot RCZ.