Many women drivers have aspirations to sit behind the wheel of a huge, stylish SUV like a Land Rover, overlooking their male peers on the road. The downside is that big SUVs can guzzle fuel and take up acres of space on the road. The Range Rover Evoque Coupe that I, as a woman, test drove on a recent weekend is a perfect compromise from the British carmaker. The three-door Evoque is the smallest, lightest and most fuel efficient Range Rover. But it is unmistakably a Range Rover, with a blend of

Just a couple of years ago, dealers like Scott Fink were benefiting from steady inroads made for more than a decade by Korean carmakers in the U.S. Now, the owner of three Hyundai outlets is buying a Chevy store. “The new Malibu and Impala are good-looking cars, the Fusion’s an excellent-looking car, and the customers are speaking with their wallets,” Fink, who owns three Hyundai stores in Florida and chairs the brand’s national dealer council, said in a telephone interview. Fresh cars from Detr

In the last few years it has become clear that the globe’s economic center of gravity is shifting toward Asia. As such, Asian companies are being looked at more closely than ever before ― as suppliers, buyers, partners, competitors, investment opportunities and as potential investors. Naturally, this means that their financial, structure, operations, products and services are increasingly coming under the microscope. One very important factor that influences the image and long-term potential of

Renault Samsung Motors has added a new vehicle with a 1.6-liter engine to the mid-sized model lineup for the SM5.Company officials said it will start the sales of the new SM5 TCE (Turbo Charged Efficiency) on June 3.SM5 TCE features the MR190DDT, Nissan’s 1.6-liter gasoline direct injection turbo-charged engine with GETRAG’s six-speed dual clutch transmission.  The officials said the MR109DDT engine has good fuel efficiency and high performance based on the GDI technology and turbocharged interc

Carmaker reveals secrets to its agile and lightweight i3

The beloved RAV4 was strategically reborn as a compact crossover this year, and Toyota is betting on capturing the hearts of SUV-loving Koreans by competing with Honda’s CRV, Volkswagen’s Tiguan and, more importantly, Hyundai’s Santa Fe. This year’s model is the car’s third facelift, and the Japanese carmaker expects to do some serious damage to its rivals, a pledge conscious of the fact that the RAV4, despite having sold more than 4 million cars elsewhere, has failed to become popular in Korea.

European Union car sales rose in April for the first time since September 2011, adding to signs that the 27-nation bloc’s recession may be short-lived. Registrations of new passenger cars in the EU increased 1.7 percent from the year-earlier period to 1.04 million vehicles, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, or ACEA, said Friday. Four-month sales fell 7.1 percent to 4.03 million vehicles. Consumer confidence in the EU increased in April to the highest level since

Designers at Kumho Tire strive to make tires more visually appealing

Korean chief expresses respect to quick rise of Hyundai and Kia

Toyota Motor Corp.’s half-decade of fighting the yen is over, at least for now. The weakening yen breached 100 against the dollar in U.S. trading on Friday, paving the way for Japan to emerge from an unprecedented and largely uninterrupted five-year stretch where the currency’s appreciation beyond that level roiled exporters and their ability to sell cars and televisions overseas. The yen had last traded at 100 four years ago. While its return to that level may usher in an era in which Toyota an

Ford Motor Co., seeking to challenge Toyota Motor Corp.’s dominance in gasoline-electric vehicles, said it will pass its full-year record for U.S. hybrid sales this month on demand for its Fusion and C-Max models. Hybrid deliveries for Ford reached a monthly record 8,481 in April, bringing the total this year to 29,561, said Erich Merkle, U.S. sales analyst for the Dearborn, Michigan-based company. Ford’s annual record for such sales was 35,496 in 2010. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally has r

Korean firm bets on Genesis against rising Japanese, German rivals

Tesla Motors Inc., the luxury battery-car company run by billionaire Elon Musk, is North America’s rechargeable auto sales leader so far this year as its Model S sedan passed General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Volt. Tesla expects to report at least 4,750 deliveries of the electric Model S in the U.S. and Canada when it releases first- quarter results on May 8, said Shanna Hendriks, a company spokeswoman, reiterating a March 31 estimate. That compares with 4,421 Volt sales in North America and 3,695