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The sporty hatchback loses its two-door body Volkswagen plans to kill the cool, less-expensive two-door version of its GTI. Announced at the same time as the Subaru-fighting Golf Alltrack, VW says it doesn’t think the GTI two-door makes enough sense to see it live through the short-term future. To some, it might come as a surprise that VW still makes the two-door GTI, as it isn’t exactly commonplace on the street or at VW dealers. Ordering a two-door VW GTI involved, well, doing just that -- ordering one. The less-useful GTI was rare enough on dealer lots that you probably had to talk to a salesperson and get one built. It makes sense that the four-door GTI takes the reins, as it follows the utilitarian hot hatch trend. More so, it closely follows the product planning for the top-Golf -- the Golf R. Unlike the Golf R, we doubt the GTI will ever ditch its manual gearbox. While we’re sad to see VW GTI lose its two-door body, we can’t say we’re surprised. Sure, the two-door hot hatch shaved about $600 off the GTI's price tag, and added a bit of cool, but it sacrificed a lot of rear-seat convenience.

Retired and restored 1962 roadster is on sale through Petrolicious When we think about classic British police cars (which we constantly do), we typically picture the old Rover P6 slowly navigating foggy London streets at bicycle speeds. What we don't picture is a Triumph roadster chasing down bank robbers piloting the obligatory British Ford Transit van. Despite their reputation for using words alone to shame criminals into surrender, Britain's finest have occasionally had to put some pedal to the metal and chase down some baddies. Back in the '60s, if you and your mates nicked some antique shotguns ("That's right, guns that fire shot") and took off in something British Leyland cobbled together from rusty steel left over from the war effort, you might have seen a Triumph TR4 in your rearview mirror.

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Fiat-Chrysler will recall 1.9 million vehicles built from 2010 to 2014 equipped with faulty airbags and seatbelt pre-tensioners, and that the problems are responsible for three deaths and five injuries. Chrysler did say that the conditions for a problem to occur are specific, and require a “vehicle equipped with a particular occupant restraint module and front impact sensor wiring of a specific design” to be involved in “certain collisions.” The recall does spread outside of the United States, hitting 142,959 cars in Canada, 81,901 cars in Mexico and 284,051 outside the North American continent. The affected cars in Mexico are examples of 2010 Chrysler Cirrus compacts, and the affected cars outside North America are 2012-13 Lancia Flavia sedans.

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Volkswagen today released teaser pictures of an electric car that it hopes will lead the automaker out of its diesel scandal and into an electrified future. The near-production concept previews a compact EV with a long range that VW brand is expected to launch in early 2018 or 2019. The EV will have a distinctive design to differentiate it from VW’s non-electric cars. The production version will be the first VW to enter the market based on the automaker's new MEB (modular electrification kit) platform, the company said in a statement. VW did not reveal any more information ahead of the concept's debut at the Paris auto show later this month. The concept "signals VW brand's entry into a new era," it said. "The vehicle is as revolutionary as the Beetle was seven decades ago," VW said. Last month VW brand CEO Herbert Diess told the German news magazine WirtschaftsWoche that the EV will be the size of a Golf compact hatchback but with the interior space of the Passat midsize car. The extra room comes from the way the batteries have been packaged in the floor of the car.

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Mobileye chairman highlights gap between perception and capabilities Mobileye, the company that supplies sensors for Tesla's semi-autonomous Autopilot driver assist system, is publicly criticizing Tesla's use and advertisement of the system in the marketplace, Reuters reports. In comments to Reuters, the Israeli tech company's chairman suggested that Tesla is "pushing the envelope" when it comes to safety, after a string of crashes in 2016 in which the system was confirmed to had been used or was suspected. "It is not designed to cover all possible crash situations in a safe manner," Amnon Shashua told Reuters. The executive's comments address an apparent gap in some drivers' use and understanding of the limitations of the system and Tesla's advertisement of the system in official company literature and in company stores. The tech company parted ways with Tesla shortly after a fatal crash in Florida in May of this year, though Tesla CEO Elon Musk blamed the split on Mobileye's inability to keep up with the automaker's product changes, according to Reuters. "Long term this is going to hurt the interests of the company and hurt the interests of an entire industry, if a company of our reputation will continue to be associated with this type of pushing the envelope in terms of safety," Shashua added.

Next time respect the model , + this is not (Borders) section but (Problems) section. T/C

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Fifty years ago last month the Mercedes-Benz Universal, a station wagon built in Belgium by Benz contractor IMA, debuted. The Universal was based on Mercedes’ 200 D and 230 S fintail sedans and boasted a split rear-seat backrest, a self-leveling rear suspension and an optional third row -- all ahead of their time. Even with those innovations, Benz only sold 2,754 of them, putting a bullet in the poor thing's head after 1968. Undaunted, Mercedes tried the wagon idea again in 1978, launching the Wagon 123. This time, the idea took: Well over a million E-Class station wagons have been built, and, especially here in the U.S., their blend of elegance and practicality have helped them carve out their own niche. As Benz notes, U.S. E-Class Wagon buyers have among the “most affluent customer profiles of any vehicle in the Mercedes-Benz portfolio,” joining the S-Class Coupe as Mercedes-Benz USA’s demographic leader. So next spring a new E-Class wagon arrives: the E400 4Matic Wagon, based on the E sedan launched six months ago. Mercedes’ 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 powers the wagon, producing 329 hp and 354 lb-ft with the new 9G-TRONIC nine-speed automatic transmission standard. So is all-wheel drive, as the name implies. Like the E-Class sedan, the new wagon’s long hood, steep rear window and short overhangs make it look more modern and dynamic than the outgoing car. The higher beltline makes the ’17 look stretched -- it’s also an inch longer and an inch lower overall. The interior is straight-up E sedan, so fit and finish is among the best in all of automobiledom with rich woods and excellent fit and finish. Where it diverts from the sedan, of course, is the Wagon’s standard third-row folding bench seat -- yup, the E400 seats 7!

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Second Chinese-market import will let buyers stretch out Volvo will sell the long-wheelbase version of its S90 sedan in the U.S. and Europe, Automotive News China reports. The Chinese-market S90L, which will likely be badged S90 Inscription stateside, will be Volvo's second China-made model to be offered in the U.S. after the S60L made its way here as the S60 Inscription. The standard-wheelbase S90 sedan debuted earlier this year reviving a nameplate dormant since the late 1990s to replace the long-serving and somewhat stale S80 sedan. The outgoing S80 itself was offered in China in long-wheelbase form, though that version never made its way to the States. It remains to be seen just how far upmarket the S90L will go; the model is still intended to be a competitor to the BMW 5-Series and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class rather than a challenger to the 7-Series and the S-Class. Volvo has studiously avoided taking the large German sedans head on in size and price, a stance that has been seen as a compromise since the debut of the first-generation S80 sedan in 1999.