Ford may be throwing a party for its new Fiesta at the 2009 Los Angeles auto show, but it's not the only automaker introducing a subcompact hatchback into North America. In fact, Mazda's using the same venue to launch its 2011 Mazda 2 into the New World.inline_mediumwraptextright31530639/features/news/0912_2011_mazda_mazda20912_06_z+2011_mazda_mazda2+front_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue

Despite the demise of minivan programs at other automakers, Toyota plans to press forward with the traditional people mover formula. For those of you who still enjoy a minivan, feast your eyes on the 2011 Toyota Sienna which debuted at the 2009 Los Angeles auto show. Toyota hopes to become the segment leader by introducing more technology, comofort, and economy in its new minivan.inline_mediumwraptextright31553715/features/news/0912_2011_toyota_sienna2011-toyota-sienna-motion-view.jpgTrue

The nameplate "Giulietta" resonates with generations of car enthusiasts in Italy and elsewhere in the same way that "Corvette" and "Mustang" do here in the States. It was used, quite famously, on a sedan and coupe between 1954 and 1965 and then again on a sedan from 1977 to 1985. Just affixing it to a new product, as Alfa Romeo is doing to its all-new five-door hatchback set to debut at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show in March, is making a big statement about the company's expectations for the car and for the expectations that potential customers should have for it. Alfa Romeo's press release states: "In the Centenary year, the name is a tribute to an automobile myth and Alfa Romeo. The Giulietta is a car that, in the fifties, caught the imagination of generations of car enthusiasts, making the dream of owning an Alfa Romeo and enjoying the high level of comfort and technical excellence accessible for the first time. The Alfa Romeo Style Centre has produced a new Giulietta, a sports car capable of expressing both great agility on the most demanding routes and providing comfort on everyday roads."inline_mediumwraptextright27361885/features/news/0912_alfa_romeo_giulietta0912_AR_Giulietta01.jpgTrue

Another year, another special-edition Scion. The 2010 Scion xB Release Series 7.0 will debut this week at the 2009 Los Angeles auto show, and it carries some interesting special equipment.inline_mediumwraptextright31553223/features/news/0912_2010_scion_xb_release_series_70912_03_z+2010_scion_xB_release_series_7+front_three_quarters_view.jpgTrue

Crack as many jokes about the name as you want, but the Personal-Neo Urban Transport -- or P-NUT -- concept is another take on an ultra-futuristic Honda coupe.inline_mediumwraptextright2009 Honda P-NUT Coupe Concept26109119/features/news/0912_2009_honda_p_nut_coupe_conceptHonda_P-NUT_Concept_01.jpgTrue

Hyundai claims to have spent a considerable amount of time tuning the suspension on the SE model to up the fun-to-drive factor. The last facelift for Sonata produced an SE model with considerably better handling than other Sonatas, though enthusiasts were still looking for a little more performance. Now SE models use stiffer springs and larger antiroll bars, which Hyundai says results in a 20-percent increase to roll stiffness. Unique dampers are part of the package as are 18-inch wheels. If the SE model doesn't quite live up to our expectations, there's still hope for the forthcoming 2.0-liter turbo cars to offer more excitement.inline_mediumwraptextright31527660/features/news/0911_2011_hyundai_sonata0911_10_z+2011_hyundai_sonata+rear_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue

If you were to merge Volkswagen’s L1 and E-Up! concepts shown at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show, you’d likely have something quite similar to the Up! Lite concept, which debuts at the 2009 Los Angeles auto show.inline_mediumwraptextright2009 Volkswagen Up! Lite Concept31552716/green/news/0912_2009_volkswagen_up_lite_conceptIMG_1885.jpgTrue

After nearly 12 years on the market, it’s time to say goodbye to the first-generation Volkswagen New Beetle. To do so, VW’s building a limited number of Final Edition models for 2010.inline_mediumwraptextright31554492/features/news/0912_2010_volkswagen_new_beetle_final_edition0912_04_z+2010_volkswagen_new_beetle_final_edition+front_three_quarters_view.jpgTrue

Jean Jennings interviews Cadillac general manager Bryan Nesbitt at the 2009 Los Angeles auto show. Nesbitt talks about his new job, the CTS Coupe, and how Cadillac will sell the new coupe.

While the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze went on sale in Europe some time ago, GM didn’t release much information on the U.S-spec car until this year’s Los Angeles auto show.inline_mediumwraptextright27360925/features/news/0912_2011_chevrolet_cruze0912_03_z+2011_chevrolet_cruze+front_three_quarters_view.jpgTrue

We've already driven the Ford Fiesta in Europe where the car has been on sale for more than a year, but the subcompact is just making its U.S. debut at the 2009 Los Angeles auto show. The new details and specifications of the U.S. model confirm that the Fiesta will continue the trend of moving subcompacts upscale while keeping fuel economy at the front of the discussion when it goes on sale in summer 2010.inline_mediumwraptextright26135000/features/news/0912_2011_ford_fiesta0912_06_z+2011_ford_fiesta+front_three_quarters_view.jpgTrue

Audi has undoubtedly raised its game in the 21st century, using all the wiles of the Volkswagen group to finally achieve its long-stated mission of being mentionable in the same breath as Mercedes and BMW, with no apologies or qualifiers necessary. In this fast company, however, there's no resting on laurels, putting all the more pressure on the company as it launches its new, third generation A8. Fine car though it was, the outgoing A8 never sold as well as the Mercedes S-Class or BMW 7-Series, and they've hardly been standing still.inline_mediumwraptextright26132030/features/news/0912_2011_audi_a80912_05_z+2011_audi_a8+rear_three_quarters_view.jpgTrue

In days gone, muscle car wars revolved around jamming as much power under the hood as possible or setting a scorching quarter-mile time at the strip. Today, fuel economy plays an equally important part. Chevrolet fired an opening salvo by installing a potent yet thrifty V-6 into its 2010 Camaro, but Ford's firing back with its tweaked 2011 Mustang.inline_mediumwraptextright27361093/features/news/0911_2011_ford_mustang_v60912_05_z+2011_ford_mustang_v6+rear_three_quarters_view.jpgTrue

On September 8, 1994, BMW built its first car in North America. The event, in a new BMW Manufacturing Company (BMWMC) plant located in a former peach orchard between Spartanburg and Greenville, South Carolina, marked an early milestone on its road to becoming the first European carmaker to establish a lasting manufacturing presence in America.inline_mediumwraptextright25690844/features/news/0912_bobby_hitt_bmw_manager_of_media_public_relations0912_01_z+bMWMC_plant+south_carolina.jpgTrue

The technology-laden sixth edition of the BMW 5 Series sedan is perhaps the finest distillation of all that makes enthusiasts love BMWs as driver's cars, incorporating as it does myriad features intended to improve both its environmental credentials and its sporting performance qualities. Indeed, model for model, every new 5 will surpass the ability of its immediate predecessor, whether powered by gasoline or diesel fuel. Even more important, it's a good-looking machine, with beautifully refined surfaces, elegant detailing and, above all, no "funny stuff." No flame surfaces, no sow-belly side treatments, no awkward bustle back, nothing to cause a paroxysm of apoplectic fury in potential clients.

The good news for Subiephiles is a very limited edition of 125 WRX STI Special Edition models will be available in Aspen White paint with spec C JDM wheels next spring before the Special Edition becomes another STI trim level. The bad news is the car won’t be getting an upgrade from the 305 hp and 290 lb-ft of torque that a regular STI produces. Instead, the Special Edition gets a variety of suspension stiffening components to improve handling.inline_mediumwraptextright26062904/features/news/0911_2010_subaru_impreza_wrx_sti_special_edition0911_01_z+2010_subaru_impreza_wRX_sTI_special_edition+front_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue

Hybrid? Electric? Hydrogen?inline_mediumwraptextright30972135/features/news/0912_frankfurt_declares_battery_power_the_winner_for_20090912_01_z+2009_frankfurt_auto_show+audi_e_tron.jpgTrue

With conspicuous consumption suddenly out of vogue, 10,000 sales a year is no longer a realistic goal for Bentley - today, anything beyond 6000 units is considered optimistic. The only way out of this dilemma is down - down in size, down in price, and down in ostentatiousness. For a brand like Bentley, down means the $110,000-to-$130,000 bracket, a curb weight of less than 5000 pounds, and no more than eight cylinders under the hood.inline_mediumwraptextright30991782/features/news/0912_new_compact_bentley_continental0912_01_z+bentley_continental+new_compact_bentley.jpgTrue

Cadillac surprised many people with the introduction of a CTS Coupe concept at the 2008 Detroit auto show. Now we're getting a look at the production car and not much has changed. Design has been Cadillac's focus for the past few years and the CTS Coupe is the ultimate expression of Cadillac's current design language.inline_mediumwraptextright27361054/features/news/0911_2011_cadillac_cts_coupe0912_03_z+2011_cadillac_cTS_coupe+front_three_quarters_view.jpgTrue

Porsche is known for producing sublime road cars, many of which have a racing heritage. Porsche's latest model, the 2011 Boxster Spyder, is no exception.inline_mediumwraptextright26016011/features/news/0911_2011_porsche_boxster_spyder0911_06_z+2011_porsche_boxster_spyder+profile.jpgTrue

Despite encompassing 143,000 square feet, Bentley's parts warehouse in Crewe, England, apparently was bursting at the seams. That's perhaps not surprising, since the company stocks more than 55,000 parts lines for all Bentleys built since 1955 (and for Crewe-built Rolls-Royce cars assembled there through 2002). With seven million items on hand, and new models like the Continental Supersports and the Mulsanne coming onstream, Bentley needed to make some space. The solution? A giant, two-day garage sale.inline_mediumwraptextright25637954/features/news/0912_bentleys_big_garage_sale0912_01_z+bentleys_parts_warehouse_sale+crewe_england.jpgTrue

Forty years ago, Matty Holtzberg, a young car enthusiast with a burning curiosity, visited the Hackensack, New Jersey, public library for a little light reading. His discovery - a technical journal article about a new plastic so robust that it could be used inside a car engine - set the course for his life's work. And thanks to Holtzberg's perseverance, the way car engines are produced may be drastically changed.

Hybrid? Electric? Hydrogen?inline_mediumwraptextright25716713/green/news/0912_frankfurt_declares_battery_power_the_winner0912_04_z+2009_frankfurt_auto_show+mercedes-Benz_sLS_aMG.jpgTrue

Thirty years ago this month, a Hollywood stuntman with balls the size of celestial objects lit the fuse of his Budweiser rocket car on a dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base and blasted off into the greatest controversy in land-speed-racing history. Driver Stan Barrett insists that he broke the sound barrier eighteen years before Andy Green officially managed this feat in the ThrustSSC. But for various reasons, Barrett's one-way run wasn't recognized by the FIA, so it's been relegated to a footnote in the annals of LSR racing.inline_mediumwraptextright30994305/features/news/0912_stan_barrett_greatest_record_never_set0912_01_z+stan_barrett+breaking_sound_barrier.jpgTrue

Less than a week after General Motors announced its decision to retain full ownership of Opel, we're getting our first close look at the European brand's best contribution yet to our market -- the 2011 Buick Regal.