Short News: Hyundai HCD-14 Concept

Hyundai has shown the first official teaser of the new HCD-14 Concept. This model will serve as an aesthetic base for the future four-door coupe of the South Korean brand. The official presentation will take place at the Detroit Motor Show next January 14.

And as soon as the car is presented to the public do not forget to come here and see all the photos and technical details.

Source: autoblog.es

Short News: Mercedes announces dates for presentation and commercialization of its models for 2013

In the image above we can see all the presentation dates for the CLA, A-Class, E-Class, S-Class, GLA and C-Class. Besides that we also known when the sales for those cars start.

CLA

Official presentation: January 14, 2013 (In reality it was revealed earlier)

Sales start: April 12, 2013

E-Class Limousine/Station

Official presentation: December 14, 2012

Sales start: April 13, 2013

E-Class Cabrio/Coupe

Official presentation: January 15, 2013 (In reality it was revealed earlier)

Sales start: May 18, 2013

S-Class

Official presentation: March 26, 2013

Sales start: July 27, 2013

A-Class AMG

Official presentation: February 2013

Sales start: June 2013

GLA

Official presentation: To be announced

Sales start: March 2014

C-Class

Official presentation: To be announced

Sales start: March 2014

Be sure you will be able to see those new cars for the first time here, in AutoMonthly, probably even before the announced dates.

Lamborghini Sesto Elemento production version

The Lamborghini Sesto Elemento was first introduced in 2010 at the Paris Motor Show and was soon acclaimed as one of the best looking supercars seen so far, still having that familiar and also radical Lamborghini look. As a curiosity the Sesto Elemento's name is a reference to the atomic number of carbon, due to the extensive use of fiber carbon.

And it is thanks to the carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) that the car can have a curb weight of only 999 kilograms (2.202 lb), and with the engine (5,2liter V10) from the Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera that produces 570 horsepower and 540 Nm (398 lb·ft) of torque, it has a power-to-weight ratio of 1,75 kg/hp (3,85 lb/hp).

The all-wheel drive Sesto Elemento will take 2,5 seconds to reach 100km/h (62mph) and won't be able accelerate beyond the 320km/h (200mph). Production will take place in the so-called Lamborghini Pre-Series Center, a special facility which was set up specifically to produce special models.

The price? 1.5 million euros or almost 2 million dollars. but if you have that money and want to buy , you can't since the twenty units that will be produced have all been sold.

Source: autoblog.nl

Short News: Best selling vehicles in the U.S.A.

2012 is already over so all car brands made ​​their final accounts to find out how many cars each one sold and we can now conclude that for the third year in a row the number of vehicles sold increased. So what was the best selling model? Find out below.

The top three sellers in 2012 are the same from 2011, but the Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Cruze are gone from the 2012 list.

1. Ford F-Series with 645.316, a 10.3 percent increase over 2011
2. Chevrolet Silverado with 418.312, a 0.8 percent increase over 2011
3. Toyota Camry with 404.886, a 31.2 percent increase over 2011
4. Honda Accord with 331.872, a 40.8 percent increase over 2011
5. Honda Civic with 317.909, a 43.7 percent increase over 2011
6. Nissan Altima with 302.934, a 12.6 percent increase over 2011
7. Ram Pickup with 293.363, a 19.9 percent increase over 2011
8. Toyota Corolla with 290.947, a 21.1 percent increase over 2011
9. Honda CR-V with 281.652, a 29.0 percent increase over 2011
10. Ford Escape with 261.008, a 2.6 percent increase over 2011

Source: kickingtires

Short News: China will overtake Europe in automobile production

In reality this is not something unexpected, China is one of, if not the largest emerging market in the world, so it was expected that one day the number of cars produced in the world's most populous country with about 1.34 billion people, surpass those produced in Europe.

And according to the projection made by consultancy firms IHS, LMC Auto and PwC, and investment banks UBS and Credit Suisse, that will happen this year. China will produce 19.6 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, while Europe will reach 18.3 million. in 2012, Europe produced 18.9 million, and China 17.8 million units.

And the European values include Russia and Turkey for a population of 715 million. Fortunately most European car companies have partnerships with Chinese companies and will be able to cushion losses due the contraction of the European market.

Source: autohoje

Short News: Dakar 2013 started today! Stage 1 summary [Video]

Don't forget to watch the 2013 Rally Dakar that started in Lima, Peru, will go through Argentina, and ends in Chile. This year's edition has 459 vehicles, 189 motorcycles, 155 cars, 75 trucks and 40 ATVs (Quad bikes). You can watch the live timings on the official Rally Dakar website.

Overall standings

Bikes - Cars - Quads - Trucks

Honda working on a "baby NSX"

Honda was working on the the successor to the NSX, which will be a an all-wheel drive hybrid vehicle with a V10 engine, when the idea arose of creating a smaller version of the NSX which will also have four-wheel drive.

This will not be the successor to the Honda S2000, but just a shrunken version of the NSX. Power will probably come from a turbocharged direct-injection engine, possibly a K24 series engine, and my bet goes to the K24Z3 with a displacement of 2,354cc, 201hp @ 7000rpm and 233Nm (172lb/ft) @ 4300rpm.

Both cars are being developed at Honda of America's R&D center in Ohio (that is why the concepts use the Acura name), and Honda HQ in Tokyo, Japan, assigned several of its top test drivers and engineers to the North American R&D center for a five-year period, but we already known the bigger NSX will be released in 2015 meaning that the baby NSX will see the light of day until 2017.

The small NSX will share many of its components with its big brother, helping to recover some of the development costs, still the price of the small sports car will be relatively high at around €46.000 ($60.000).

Source: motortrend

Small NSX Render