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Confirmed by Mercedes-Benz CEO Dieter Zetsche, the Audi Q3 and BMW X1 will soon meet their match with the automaker's A-Class-Based compact SUV.

“Starting this production marks a new stage in our Mercedes-Benz growth strategy. The A-Class leads our offensive charge in the compact segment,” said Dieter Zetsche. “And there'll be more to come: the compact SUV will be the third model we are manufacturing here in Rastatt.”

According to different sources, the SUVs will be called GLA and will share the same 4-cylinder engine as the hatchback model. For its second wave expansion, Mercedes-Benz will invest $731 million in 2012 and in the following year - that's in addition to the $731 million that has already been invested to develop these new models.

Source: Carscoop

Photo: Mercedes-Benz

Photo: Mercedes-Benz

Here's a before-and-after taste of a 2012 Ford Mustang GT that received a new FlowMaster Outlaw exhaust system. There are simply no words to describe it; you have to listen to it!



For more information about the FlowMaster Outlaw, go to: www.americanmuscle.com

Here is the official schedule of the Edmonton Indy event to be held this weekend. The Edmonton Indy is a round of the IZOD IndyCar Series held at a temporary circuit set up at the Edmonton City Centre Airport near the downtown area of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

2012 EDMONTON INDY OFFICIAL SCHEDULE*

Friday, July 20
7:00 a.m. Venue opens to public
8:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. NASCC Eurasia Cup Practices Session (30 minutes)
9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Star Mazda Championship 1st Practice Session (30 minutes)
9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Firestone Indy Lights Series 1st Practice Session (45 minutes)
10:50 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. IZOD IndyCar Series 1st Practice Session - A (30 minutes)
11:20 a.m. to 11:50 p.m. IZOD IndyCar Series 1st Practice Session - B (30 minutes)
12:45 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Firestone Indy Lights Series 2nd Practice Session (45 minutes)
1:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. Star Mazda Championship 2nd Practice Session (30 minutes)
2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. IZOD IndyCar Series 2nd Practice Session (60 minutes)
3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. NASCAR Canadian Tire Series 1st Practice Session (60 minutes)
5:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. NASCC Eurasia Cup Qualifying Session (30 minutes)

Saturday, July 21
7:00 a.m. Venue opens to public
8:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Firestone Indy Lights Series Qualifying Session (45 minutes)
9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. IZOD IndyCar Series 3rd Practice Session (60 minutes)
10:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. NASCAR Canadian Tire Series 2nd Practice Session (30 minutes)
11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Star Mazda Championship Qualifying Session (30 minutes)
11:45 a.m. to 12 noon Firestone Indy Lights Series Warm Up Session (15 minutes)
12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. NASCAR Canadian Tire Series 3rd Practice Session (30 minutes)
1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. IZOD IndyCar Series Qualifying Session (75 minutes)
2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Star Mazda Championship 1st Race (30 minutes)
3:20 p.m. to 4:35 p.m. Firestone Indy Lights Series Race (75 minutes)
4:50 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. NASCAR Canadian Tire Series 1st Qualifying Session (20 minutes)
5:20 p.m. to 5:40 p.m. NASCAR Canadian Tire Series 2nd Qualifying Session (20 minutes)
5:55 p.m. to 6 :40 p.m. NASCC Eurasia Cup Race (45 minutes)

Sunday, July 22
7:00 a.m. Venue opens to public
8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. IZOD IndyCar Series Warm Up Session (30 minutes)
9:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Star Mazda Championship 2nd Race (45 minutes)
10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Race (75 minutes)
12 noon IZOD IndyCar Series Drivers' Introduction/
Opening Ceremonies
12:45 p.m. IZOD IndyCar Series 2012 EDMONTON INDY Green flag - 75 laps
(169.2 miles/272.3 km)

* Schedule subject to change without notice.

Sixty-six-year-old American Robert Russell had the surprise of his life recently while browsing on eBay, as he stumbled upon the Austin Healey 3000 which he had purchased in 1967, and which had been stolen from him three years later in 1970. Although he never gave up hope of finding it one day, he acknowledges that the probability was quite slim. '' It could have been abandoned or demolished,'' admits the sexagenarian.

He still had the original keys and title in his possession. Russell contacted police as soon as he made the discovery. The authorities explained to Russell that the serial number had been improperly inputted in the official records at the time. Upon further investigation and the correction of the information, authorities quickly moved-in and seized the vehicle at the selling vendor's location, before promptly restoring it to its rightful owner.

Purchased for $3,000 at the time, the car is now estimated to be worth nearly $24,000 in today's market.



Source: Autoblog

OAK Racing's Morgan-Nissan LMP2 took victory at the Donington Six Hours, Round 2 of the European Le Mans Series.

After the race in Zolder was cancelled due to the poor number of entries, the ELMS field was also low at Donington with only 13 cars at the start, including nine LMP2 prototypes, one GTE Pro, two GTE Am and one Formula Le Mans.

Nicolet and Lahaye clinched pole position in their OAK Morgan-Nissan, but it was their teammates Olivier Pla, Bertrand Baguette and Dimitri Enjalbert who took victory after six hours of racing.

The fight for victory was intense between eventual winners and the TDS' Oreca and the Murphy Prototypes' Oreca.

AF Corse's Ferrari F458 driven by Simonsen and Cocker captured victory in the GTE Pro class, and concluded the race in 8th position overall.

The GTE Am battle was won by IMSA Performance's Porsche 997, and the only Formula Le Mans car also reached the finish line.

Final classification:
1 - Pla/Baguette/Enjalbert (Morgan-Nissan) - OAK - 251 laps in 6h00'05"061 (1st LMP2)
2 - Beche/Thiriet (Oreca 03-Nissan) - TDS - 21"574

3 - Firth/Hughes/Hartley (Oreca 03-Nissan) - Murphy - 32"365

4 - Sarrazin/Minassian/Marroc (Oreca 03-Nissan) - Loeb Racing - 1 lap
5 - Kaffer/Ayari/Perez Companc (Oreca 03-Nissan) - Pecom - 5 laps
6 - Nicolet/Lahaye (Morgan-Judd) - OAK - 7 laps
7 - Brundle/Ordonez/Kimber-Smith (Zytek Z11SN-Nissan) - Greaves - 17 laps
8 - Simonsen/Cocker (Ferrari F458 Italia) - JMW - 19 laps (1st GTE Pro)
9 - Pons/Armindo/Narac (Porsche 997) - IMSA - 20 laps (1st GTE Am)

10 - Perazzini/Cioci/Griffin (Ferrari F458 Italia) - AF Corse - 21 laps
11 - Dagoneau/Battut/Hartshorne (Oreca FLM09) - BGR - 38 laps (1st Formula Le Mans).

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said the government is "looking for solutions" to help prop up car sales and soften PSA's decision to slash jobs and close a factory near Paris.

General Motors Vice Chairman and interim Opel CEO Stephen Girsky said changes have to be made at the carmaker to revitalize it, a German newspaper said, citing his e-mail to staff.

Mattias Ekström (Audi) wins the individual trophy presented in Munich's Olympic stadium, after he defeated Jamie Green's Mercedes in final.

To reach the final, the Swede took down Joey Hand (BMW), Martin Tomczyk (BMW), and then Gary Paffett (Mercedes).

Jamie Green (Mercedes), the other finalist, who had won the team trophy on Saturday alongside teammate Ralf Schumacher, defeated Filipe Albuquerque (Audi), Mike Rockenfeller (Audi) and Bruno Spengler (BMW).

It was a disappointing day for Spengler, who was dominated in the first part of the semi-final, then back in the lead after his team BMW did a better tire change, but eventually out anyway.

The Canadian driver lost time when he went a bit wide in the antepenultimate lap (out of five), which allowed Green to take the lead back, and eventually win to reach the final.

Robert Wickens (Mercedes), the other Canadian on track in Munich, defeated Timo Scheider's Audi in the first round, but lost in the next round against Tomczyk.

Although Brad Keselowski was dominant, he had some help from lapped traffic holding off Kevin Harvick for the Nationwide Series win at New Hampshire.

Austin Dillon finished third and took home the $100,000 Nationwide Dash 4 Cash bonus.

Keselowski led a race-high 131 laps but gave up the lead on restart on lap 155 when Harvick made contact with Amber Cope who was running 33-laps back.

"The 24 (Cope) every time you come to her she don't know whether she is going high or low," he said. "She wants to be Danica Patrick, but can't hold her helmet," said Harvick. It was Cope's second Nationwide race.

After Harvick's contact Keselowski retook the lead with 26 laps to go and sailed to the victory. It was a clean sweep for Keselowski, who took the pole earlier in the day - his third straight Nationwide Series pole at "The Magic Mile."

It was Keselowski's 19th victory in 182 Nationwide races, which ranks 15th on the all-time series wins list.

"Kevin (Harvick) raced me hard and there are very few guys that I'd like to race more than Kevin. He's a lot of fun to race with. I caught a little bit of a break in lapped traffic. That's the way it goes. You're always going to have some traffic.

"You're always going to have those that don't know where you're at. That's part of this series, different driver learning and trying to pick up their awareness on the race track."

"We've had great runs in the past, but we couldn't close the deal," said Keselowski, who now has two victories and nine top-10s this season. "It feels great to finally close the deal. It's a good two days on the Nationwide side - hopefully we can carry it over into Sunday and get another win."

Sam Hornish Jr. (Keselowski's teammate) finished fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. the defending series champ finished fifth. After the race Stenhouse collapsed due to dehydration and exhaustion.

"I feel OK now," Stenhouse said after being released after being released from the track care centre. "They gave me some fluids and got good to go. I think just being a little sick all week, not eating much and not drinking enough fluids caught up with me after the race.

"I think we'll be good to go now."

Elliott Sadler, who finished seventh still holds the series points lead over Dillon by three points, and by 16 over Stenhouse.

Mercedes duo Jamie Green and Ralf Schumacher take win in the final round of the first day of the showcase event presented in Munich.

Drivers were paired after the qualifying rounds, according to their car and fastest lap. Thus, the best driver from each manufacturer was teamed with the fourth fastest, and the second with third quickest. Fifth and sixth fastest were eliminated.

After beating the pair Miguel Molina / Mattias Ekström (Audi) in quarterfinals, and then the duo of Gary Paffett / Christian Vietoris (Mercedes), Jamie Green and Ralf Schumacher emerged in the final against the Audi of Timo Scheider and Adrien Tambay.

Canadian driver Bruno Spengler (BMW) was associated with Augusto Farfus, the two men being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Scheider and Tambay, eventual finalists. Robert Wickens (Mercedes) was eliminated after the qualification rounds.

DJ Kennington took the lead late in the race and won his third consecutive NASCAR Canadian Tire Series event, this time in Vernon, British Colombia.

Defending series champion Scott Steckly lost the lead to Kennngton on Lap 249 and, once in front, he remained there the rest of the way to win the A&W Cruisin' The Dub 300 at Motoplex Speedway and Event Park.

Jason Hathaway followed in second with Steckly, then J.R. Fitzpatrick and British Columbia native Jason White picking up his career best finish on an oval in fifth.

Kennington, who finished second to Steckly in this event the previous two seasons, started third in the race and needed just five laps to pass pole-sitter Ron Beauchamp Jr. to take the lead for the first time.

Rounding out the top 10 were Martin Roy, Jim White, Beauchamp, J.P Dumoulin and Noel Dowler. Not a great weekend for two-time NCTS champion Andrew Ranger who had qualified 8th and crossed the finish line in 11th.

The race was slowed six times by caution in the longest race of the year for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series competitors.

The series continues its visit to western Canada with the Edmonton 100 at Edmonton City Centre Airport on July 22.

Vauxhall, a European subsidiary of General Motors, will launch the new ADAM subcompact hatchback at the Paris Auto Show in September. And sources say this Fiat 500 rival could eventually be sold in North America as a Buick.

The three-door, four-passenger ADAM will make its market debut in the UK early next year with a choice of three trim levels - JAM (entry-level), GLAM (classier), and SLAM (sportier). Their gasoline engine will produce 70, 87 and 100 horsepower, respectively.

Much like Fiat, Vauxhall promises a wide selection of customization options, both inside and out.

Pricing has yet to be announced.

Source: Autoguide

Photo: Vauxhall / Fiat

Still, to this day, the Mazda CX-9 surprises, but only those that give it chance. Somehow, this large crossover misses the mark as it should sell better than it currently does.

At roughly 100 units a month on average, the CX-9 is outsold three times over by the Toyota Highlander. Another close competitor is the Chevrolet Traverse that GM manages to deliver nearly five times more in the same period of time. Yet, we at Auto123.com picked and would probably pick it again over its competition.


It's got the look
The 2012 Mazda CX-9 is far better looking up close than it is from far. Unlike many cars on the road, the CX-9 requires an extra moment of attention to be fully appreciated. This may be one of the reasons why the take rate is lower than it should be.

The right colors and shadows accent the vehicle's voluptuous curves and highlight the handsome 20” wheels. The cabin is nothing but elegance and proper modern design.

Well appointed and crafted, it'll accommodate up to seven passengers without batting an eyelash. The seats are fairly comfortable, good for the long haul. Fit and finish are without reproach and the overall build quality is superior to most other Mazda products and a number of the players in the category as we found out first hand in the course of last year's seven-passenger SUV comparison test.

The right colors and shadows accent the vehicle's voluptuous curves and highlight the handsome 20” wheels. (Photo: Mazda)

It's got the power
Every competitor in the segment offers up a V6 engine. The CX-9 follows the trend and proposes one of the largest-capacity V6s with a 3.7L. Its 273 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque do not make it the most powerful; however, the big ‘ute has the get up and go to keep things interesting.

Handling is actually one of the 2012 Mazda CX-9's fortes. The fully independent suspension and meaty tires keep the large galoot on the straight and narrow, all the while allowing for more fun times behind the wheel than would be expected from a seven-seater vehicle with a curb weight of 4,550 lbs (or 2,068 kg).

With girth and grunt comes fuel consumption. On a long, mostly highway travelled road trip, the CX-9 gulped 12L/100km. At an average cruising speed of 110 km/h, the 6-speed autobox keeps engine revs low but, unfortunately, it's not enough bring the number anywhere near the 9.0L/100km mark predicted by Mazda.

Handling is actually one of the 2012 Mazda CX-9's fortes. (Photo: Mazda)

It's got cosseting power
The 2012 Mazda CX-9 caters to just about every need a family could have, including keep everybody on board sane on a long road trip.

Not only are the seats cozy but the ride is smooth enough not to wake those that may have dosed off. The well insulated cabin remains quiet well into highway velocities.

Take it for a test drive
Once more, although not an obvious pick in the segment, the CX-9 really deserves more attention than it gets.

Even if I repeat myself until I'm blue in the face, the fact remains that Mazda's big crossover will never be a sales leader in its segment. I suspect that, now that the CX-7 will see its plug pulled thanks to the ever-increasingly popular CX-5, the next CX-9 will be a very different beast.

Regardless, at $36,395, the 2012 CX-9's pricing is smack-dab in the middle of the pack. The tested GT with all-wheel drive and the Navigation package chimes in at $48,420, and ends up being a relative bang-for-the-buck bargain. With the same level of kit, some competitors are nearly $4,000 more.

Next stop for the American Le Mans Series: Canada.

The Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, or Mosport as it is formerly known, is the only Canadian stop on the ALMS calendar. For more than 40 years, the track has hosted several high profile series, the ALMS being only one of them.



Formula 1, IndyCar, Can-Am and World Endurance Championship and Trans-Am cars brought with them drivers such as Gilles Villeneuve, Jacky Ickx, Jacky Stewart, Frank Biela and A.J. Foyt.



The facilities, located in Bowmanville (Ontario), nowadays also feature a karting facility and an oval.

Opel interim CEO Stephen Girsky said changes have to be made at the carmaker to revitalize it, a German newspaper said, citing his e-mail to staff.

Toyota announced pricing for several 2013 models, with stickers for most models increasing -- including the Corolla, which saw a price increase of about 1.3 percent from the 2012 model.

President Francois Hollande said PSA's decision to close a factory and cut an additional 8,000 jobs is unacceptable and that he will lean on Europe's second-biggest carmaker to renegotiate the plan.

The Center for Auto Safety filed a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration calling for an investigation into nearly 85,000 Mazda Tributes at risk of sudden acceleration because of faulty recall repairs on cruise control...

Small, budget-friendly cars with miserly engines and mid-sized sedans are hot. So are hybrids, minivans and traditional mid-sized SUVs. But big SUVs -- luxurious or not -- aren't so must-have these days when gasoline prices seem volatile. A U.S.

The fastest in practice, Busch was the last driver to take the track on Friday afternoon. Busch zipped the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota around the 1.058-mile in 28.548 seconds (133.417 mph), followed by Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer.

It was Busch's first pole this season and his second-career at NHMS, his only other coming in September of 2008. It was his ninth pole in 276 career starts.

At first it appeared that Busch had brushed the wall, but, he denied it. “I didn't feel it, so if anything it was really, really close. I just knew that I got in the throttle really early in (turns) three and four trying to make speed and was able to finish it, but the car slipped right at the last second.

“When you get to that older asphalt, it seems like this tire is different than the older tire where you lose just a touch of grip. Slid out right to the cushion part you would say. There's no mark on the car so all is good there,” Busch said.

“We definitely had a great day, we had a fast race car right off the truck,” said Busch. “(Watching other drivers qualify) screws me up more than anything. I just tried to hit the same marks that I hit in practice and have that time - that would have given us second.”

Kahne, who has started from the front row twice previously this year (Las Vegas and Martinsville), tried to get the most out of his No. 5 Farmer's Insurance Chevrolet - especially given how tight the times were. The top eight qualifiers are within .047 seconds of one another.

“It was really close, as far as the times, everyone is really close, so you have to go for all you can get,” said Kahne. “The car felt really good and I didn't waste any time in that first turn, knowing how tight the times were. I was aggressive on the first lap.”

Hamlin echoed Kahne's thoughts.

“We were just really on the edge out there on the track,” said Hamlin. “That was all it had speed-wise - the conditions were tight.”

Mike Bliss failed to make 43-car field.