Honda has announced two separate recalls for its luxury Acura TL sedan, one addressing potential fires under the hood and to fix issues with the windshield wipers.

The first recall affects 273,000 Acura TLs from the 2004-2008 model year. According to Honda, high-temperatures under the hood can cause the power steering hose to tear apart, which in result can leak power steering fluid onto a hot catalytic converter and lead to a possible fire. No injuries have been reported so far.

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Speaking to reporters in a talk sponsored by the Levin Institute, Chrysler’s Vice Chairman said that the every model will be offered as a hybrid. In a previous interview with The Detroit News, Press said that Chrysler “absolutely” expects to provide a hybrid or diesel variants of all their models.

Press said that every vehicle that Chrysler makes would be powered by a hybrid system. While Press did not offer a schedule for when this will take place, he did say that Chrysler will work hard to meet the government’s mandate to increase fuel economy by 40 percent by 2020. According to PopularMechanics Press’s statement was the first by an auto executive that talks of hybrid technology being implemented across-the board for all vehicles in a company lineup.

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Lotus will show the first glimpse of the much anticipated Project Eagle at the 78th Geneva Motor Show. While we won’t get to see what the car will look like until its full unveiling at the British Motor Show in July, Lotus will showcase the front module of the chassis next week. The exhibition showcases part of the advanced technology being used to build the Project Eagle and the latest development of the Lotus Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA).

Lotus said that development of the Project Eagle is ‘advancing rapidly,’ with prototypes already going through testing in Northern Europe at Lotus’ headquarters at Hethel, England. Yeah, we saw those “spy shots” earlier this week. What perfect timing to release this glimpse of the front module.

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Remember we showed you a teaser shot of the Kia SOUL Burner earlier this month? Well, the guys over at AutoWeek have leaked a full image of the concept ahead of its Geneva debut next week. The SOUL Burner is the ‘bad boy’ of the SOUL concept trio complete with satin black finish and gloss dragon tattoos.

Kia says: “The SOUL concepts will introduce ‘a world of possibilities’ for customizing and personalization to future Kia customers that will be delivered by the new model with its special appeal to the young-at-heart - whatever their age!”

More to come next week from Geneva.

Click through for more images.

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Mitsubishi today announced a new mid-term business plan called ‘Step-Up 2010′ for the fiscal years 2008 through 2010. Target sales volume in 2010 will be 1.42 million with expect growth in markets such as Russia and Ukraine, as well as expanded sales in resource-rich areas such as the Middle East and Latin America. This exceeds the 2007 forecast of 1.33 million units by 85,000.

Mitsubishi’s product strategy will be focused on the development of global products including minicars and small cars, medium-sized cars, and SUVs. The Japanese auto maker said that it will also focus on environmental-friendly vehicles with the pinnacle of its environmental strategy being the release of the next-generation electric vehicle i MiEV, which is currently under development. It will also concentrate on the development of clean diesel engines and its high-efficiency automated manual transmission Twin Clutch SST (Sport Shift Transmission).

In the U.S., Mitsubishi is hoping to expand sales with the new model of the Lancer Evolution released earlier this year. It also confirmed that it will add a sport hatchback Lancer model before 2010 based on the Prototype-S Sports Concept. However Mitsubishi still expects sales to drop by 15,000 units by 2011.

Click through for the press release for more on Mitsubishi’s Step-Up 2010 plan.

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Where else could you see a SLR McLaren powered Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG but in the land where license plates are sold for more than $14 million and home to one of the five $1.8 million Bugatti Veyron Pur Sang.

What are the specs? Well power comes from the 5.5 liter supercharged V8 engine producing 720 horsepower. 0-60 for this G55 comes in at 4.2 seconds while 0-100mph comes in around 10.

No idea who owns this baby or how much it costs, but of course you’ll never see this anywhere else than the land of the oil-rich folks, Abu Dhabi.

Click through for more images and a video.

Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG with SLR McLaren engine:

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Volkswagen announced today that its profit climbed about 50 percent last year selling a record 6.2 million cars worldwide. German’s largest automaker said it expects 2008 sales to be even better. Volkswagen said it sold 6.2 million Volkswagen brand cars and Audi, Skoda, Seat, Lamborghini and Bentley in 2007, an 8 percent increase over 2006.

Sales were up 4 percent to $165.2 billion making the company $6.2 billion in 2007. Official fourth-quarter figures are scheduled to be released on March 13th.

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An industry newsletter says that Porsche will introduce a diesel-powered car by the middle of 2009. Porsche is expected to offer a diesel variant for the Cayenne SUV taking the engine directly from Volkswagen in order to save it self some money on development cost.

According to the AID newsletter that cited Porsche sources, Porsche executives have overcome their long-time fear of offering diesel engines in their cars. CEO Wendelin Wiedking had previously told Automotive News Europe that because of the additional cost and the low sales volume of Porsche cars, he didn’t think it made much business sense to go diesel.

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Saab has been teasing us with teasers of the 9-1X Concept for some time now. But until now we had no other details on the car besides that it will fall into the Mini Cooper, BMW 1-Series, Audi A3 and the Volvo C30 segment.

According to a post made on WorldCarFan’s Finnish language site (that’s Finland for those of you that didn’t know), the concept will be powered by a 1.4 liter 200 horsepower BioPower engine mated with hybrid technology. Styling is heavily influenced by the 9X concept but with improved aerodynamics for better fuel-efficiency. You can also expect to see design cues from the AeroX concept.

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After giving us a bunch of teaser shots, Giugiaro has finally revealed its Quaranta concept car ahead of the Geneva Motor Show. Giugiaro says that the Quaranta is an ‘environment-friendly, 4WD super sports-car’ incorporates its sleek styling, combines a hybrid engine with solar energy to a mid-mounted rear engine.

According to AutoWeek, the four-wheel-drive Quaranta uses Toyota’s hybrid powertrain technology with an estimated 0-62 times of 4 seconds and a top speed of 155mph.

Giugiaro says that the Quaranta can accommodate three adults and a child, while providing a generous luggage compartment. So, after all the anticipation Giugiaro built up with teaser shots, what do you think of the Quaranta?

Click through for more images and a short video, as well as the press release.

Giugiaro Quaranta Gallery:

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With all the Geneva previews we’ve been showing you recently, it definitely seems like a lot is going to go down at the 78th International Motor Show. After showing us Vision GLK FREESIDE and the GLK TOWNSIDE at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, Mercedes will roll into Geneva with the GLK BLUETEC HYBRID.

Power comes from a 4-cylinder BLUETEC diesel engine mated with a hybrid module. This combination produces 224 horsepower with 413 lb-ft of torque and the ability to go from 0-62 in 7.3 seconds with a top speed of 133mph. Even with those performance figures, the GLK BLUETEC HYBRID gets 40mpg and achieves the world’s lowest CO2 emissions in the SUV segment.

While this is just a concept, Mercedes does mention at the end of the press release that this combination of outstanding performance and minimal fuel consumption ‘need not be confined to the new GLK-Class, which will enter the market in autumn 2008.’

Mercedes-Benz GLK BLUETEC HYBRID Gallery:

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Zagato will be unveiling its latest creation, the Bentley Zagato GTZ, at the Geneva Motor Show next week. Based on the Continental GT Speed the GTZ is powered by the same W12 engine that produces 600 horsepower giving the car the ability to do 0-62mph 4.3 seconds with a top speed of 202mph.

The GTZ gets a two-tone paint job, with a new front grille, new front bumper and a modified rear-end with new taillamps.

Honestly, we’re not impressed at all. We’ll still bring you more info on the GTZ when it is shown at Geneva next week.

Click through for the images.

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Word on the street is that the U.S. could be getting a Mazda MX-5 coupe variant in the near future. The fixed-roof MX-5 was previously available in Japan and due to a lower price point than the convertible, the MX-5 coupe could be a good addition to Mazda’s U.S. lineup.

While Mazda is pretty quiet about the matter, rumor has it that the coupe MX-5 could arrive in U.S. showrooms as early as 2010 along with a facelift to the model.

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