Christmas Day Hail Storm Damages More than 10,000 Cars in Melbourne, Australia

Several Melbourne car owners may be experiencing the holiday blues these days - the reason being the severe hail storms that hit the capital of Victoria on Christmas Day, causing damage to thousands of buildings and vehicles.

Insurers are bracing themselves up for the claims that will follow, with the Insurance Council of Australia declaring the event a catastrophe.

Read more »

China to Withdraw Support for Foreign Investments in the Auto Industry in 2012

The new year will bring some significant changes for carmakers that had plans to invest in China as the world's most populous country will stop encouraging foreign investment in the auto industry putting an end to seven years of benefits that included reduced tariffs on imported equipment.

China's National Reform and Development Commission (NRDC) and the Ministry of Commerce made a joint announcement on the move that is due to come into effect on January 30, 2012.

Read more »

BMW Factory Tour Shows us what it Takes to build the New 1-Series Hatch

Modern automobile plants are an impressive sight to watch in action, but few outsiders actually get the chance to see one in person.

BMW wants to give us a taste of how one of its main factories in Germany located in the city of Regensburg works to produce the latest 1-Series five-door hatchback through a quick video tour of the plant.

Read more »

Rumors: Proton May be Forced to Sell Loss-Making Lotus Brand

Four centuries ago, they used to say that “the sun never sets on the British Empire”. Today, the Brits are content with much less – and the sun has more or less set on their local automotive industry after many decades of bad management and even worse products. As a result, foreign car groups own all major carmakers that managed to survive.

Lotus Cars, which was founded by the ingenious Colin Champan in 1952, was acquired in 1996 by Malaysia's Proton. Since then, it has introduced many variations of the lightweight Elise, its first new car in 12 year, the Evora, and showed no less than five new models in concept form at the 2010 Paris Motor Show.

Read more »

Man High on Crack Steals Police Cruiser in his… Undies Leading Officers on a Wild Chase [Video]

If you are high on drugs, you can do some pretty foolish, and ultimately very dangerous stuff – like stealing a police SUV wearing nothing but your underwear, which is precisely what Ryan Elliot Cunningham did last Friday, December 23.

It all started when Blackman-Leoni Township police arrested the 34-year old drug addict at the Colonial Inn Motel on Ann Arbor Road.

According to a report from MLive, the officers handcuffed Cunningham and placed him on the rear seat of their Chevrolet Tahoe SUV patrol car, while they went inside the motel to check his room.

Read more »

An Alternative Concept for a Bugatti Super Sedan by Dejan Hristov

We'll probably have to wait for a major international motor show to see what kind of "significant" design changes Bugatti has made to its original Galibier concept, as confirmed earlier this year by the brand's new CEO, Wolfgang Duerheimer, but in the meantime, here's a new design study for a Bugatti saloon that was sent to us by Dejan Hristov.

While a little rough on the edges, Hristov's Bugatti Super Sedan design concept proposes a different look that draws closer to the firm's Veyron 16.4 coupe than the Galibier showcar.

Read more »

Meet Qatar's Police Fleet of Porsche Cayenne SUVs and Panamera Sedans

When you have the world's largest per capita production and proven reserves of both oil and natural gas, you can afford a little luxury for your police officers.

Case in point, Qatar's police fleet of Porsche Cayenne and Panamera cruisers, which along with several Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs, came together to celebrate the Arab state's National Day parade on December 18.

A video waits to satisfy your curiosity just after the break.

Read more »