New China Market Volkswagen Lavida Draws its Inspiration fro

Four years and some 700,000 sales after Volkswagen debuted the Lavida at the 2008 Beijing Auto Show in China, the German automaker is returning to this year's venue to present the successor to its widely popular family sedan.

Though you would be forgiven to mistake it for a Passat, the New Lavida is in fact a compact-size sedan that draws its styling inspiration from Volkswagen's larger saloon model.

Chinese buyers will be able to choose from three petrol engines including a 2.0-liter four-cylinder, a 1.6-liter four-pot and a 1.4-liter turbocharged TSI unit with 140-horses. Power is transferred to the front wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox or seven-speed DSG dual-clutch transmission.

Volkswagen says it has improved the standard comfort and safety equipment on all trim grades with the base model offered with ABS, ESP and front airbags.

2013 Ford Focus ST U.S. Pricing Leaked, Starts from $23,700

We are not sure when Ford is planning to release official pricing for its U.S. market 2013 Focus ST, but a leaked dealer document discovered on the FordSTNation forums by the team over at Jalopnik tells us that the hot hatchback will start at $23,700 when it arrives in dealerships across the States within the next few weeks.

The aforementioned MSRP does not include a destination and handling fee (*), which should be the same as the rest of the Focus lineup at $795, bringing up the price to $24,495.

We also see the cost of some options including the moonroof at $895, the navigation system at $795, the Tangerine Scream Tricoat Paint at $495, and the engine block heater at $35. There are also two equipment packages named 201A ($2,505) and 201A ($4,840), though we don't get any details about their content.

As a quick reminder, a 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbocharged inline four-cylinder gasoline engine rated at 250-horsepower and 265 lb-ft of torque, propels the Focus ST. The standard transmission is a six-speed manual gearbox that drives the front wheels only.

The Focus ST's closest competitor in the hatchback segment is the 200-horsepower Volkswagen Golf GTI that starts from $23,995 in three-door guise and $24,495 in five-door trim, excluding a destination and handling fee.

Another vehicle that will compete with the Focus ST in the States is the 201hp Hyundai Veloster Turbo, which will launch this summer, with pricing still pending.

Audi Releases UK Pricing for New TT RS Plus Coupe and Roadst

For those that find the regular TT RS models not fast enough, Audi has announced that the new and more powerful TT RS Plus editions of the Coupe and Roadster will go on sale in Britain in early May, with first delivers expected in the summer.

The Plus package represents a £3,085 premium over the standard RS with prices ranging from £48,945 for the manual Coupe to £52,265 for the dual-clutch transmission Roadster.

What you need to know about the Plus models is that Audi's engineers have squeezed another 20hp (20PS) and 15Nm (11.06 lb-ft) of torque from the turbocharged inline-five nudging output to 355hp (360PS) and 465Nm (342.97 lb-ft), which are channeled to the quattro all-wheel-drive system through either a 6sp manual or the 7sp S tronic twin-clutch transmission.

With the S tronic, the TT RS plus Coupe reaches 62mph (100km/h) in 4.1 seconds (manual: 4.3 seconds), while the Roadster needs 4.2 seconds (manual: 4.4 seconds). In all cases, top speed is limited to 174mph (280km/h).

Audi also quotes a combined economy test figure of 33.2mpg UK for the coupe and 32.8mpg UK for the open-top model.

The most potent edition of the TT series gets a new set of 19-inch alloys (instead of the regular model's 18-inch rims) wrapped in 255/35 rubber, a standard sports exhaust system with black tail pipes, a matt aluminium surround for the revised grille and carbon fiber mirror caps.

The Plus package also adds more cabin equipment, including satellite navigation, Bluetooth phone preparation and Audi Music Interface iPod connection, all of which are part of the normally optional Technology Package.

Volkswagen U.S.A. Wants to Know What You Think About the All

Volkswagen continues to solicit ideas and views from the American public about the European Passat-based Alltrack concept it exhibited at this month's 2012 New York Auto Show.

This time, the German brand has released a new video with Serban Boldea, Product Manager for Volkswagen, walking around the Alltrack and asking viewers to tell the company what they would like to see on the tall estate model if it were to be offered in the United States.

Even though Volkswagen hasn't clarified if the production model it has in mind will be imported from Europe or if it will be based on the North American-built version of the Passat, which is a different car from the one offered across the pond, the first option sounds more plausible given the (comparatively) small sales potential of the Alltrack.

Toyota to Debut New RAV4 EV at Next Week's International Ele

The production version of the pure electric Toyota RAV4 that we first saw in prototype guise at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show will make its world premiere at the 26th edition of the International Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS26), which takes place on Monday, May 7 in the City of Angels, the Japanese automaker announced today.

The new RAV4 EV has been developed in cooperation with Tesla that provides the electric driveline including the battery, motor, transmission and power electronics. Tesla will build the e-powertrains at its production plant in Palo Alto, California and then ship them to Toyota's Canadian facility for final assembly into the RAV4.

Toyota previously said that the electric version of the RAV4 weighs about 220 lbs more than a comparably equipped V6 model, but keeps similar acceleration figures.

At the EVS26, the Japanese carmaker is expected to announce the final product specifications of the RAV4 EV as well as the markets in which it will launch and possibly even pricing.

For now, Toyota has provided a cropped image of the production RAV4 EV showing the 'electric' badge on the lower part of the front door.

This is not the first production RAV4 EV as Toyota had marketed an electric version of the first generation RAV4 in the U.S. back in 1997. Around 1,500 examples of the electric SUVC were sold and leased in the States with nearly half of those units still in operation today.

Below you will find a video and a photo gallery of the 2010 Toyota RAV4 EV prototype model.

Is This the First Official Teaser of the New Renault Clio IV

A cropped image allegedly showing the rear quarters of the next generation of the Renault Clio titled "Nouvelle Renalt Clio, Mondial de Paris 2012" has been making the internet rounds today after it was first posted on the Planeterenault forums.

The snapshot was reportedly taken from Renault's general shareholder meeting in Paris on Friday, April 27.

The shape of the rear passenger window with the hidden door handle and the lines around the lights match those of the prototype models we have seen testing in Europe over the past few months, so it is very likely that the picture is indeed the real deal.

We got a hold of some documents from the shareholder meeting, where amongst other things, Renault placed the European launch of the new Clio this fall, which means the world premiere will take place at the 2012 Paris International Motor Show in September.

The new iteration of the French supermini will sport a more chic exterior look while Renault sources state that the interior will boast a more emotional design as well as higher perceived quality with better materials.

The Clio 4 will launch with downsized turbocharged petrol and diesel engines, while further down the line, Renault will introduce a high-performance replacement for the RS model.