Motor News

Leaked images of a camouflaged prototype seem to show a new version of the Ford Fusion with a station-wagon shape.
This fuels the rumor that the Fusion nameplate will return on a new model that will be a Subaru Outback rival.
Possibly called the Fusion Active, we expect this car to debut sometime in 2021.

Ford Fusion Active Wagon Set to Replace Sedan

Next Ford Fusion Takes Shape as a Lifted Wagon

The Ford Fusion is dead, long live the Ford Fusion. While the mid-size sedan as we know it is gone, it seems that there’s credence to the speculation about a new Fusion that will take a different form. If these leaked photos are to be believed, this is our first look at the next Fusion (called the Mondeo in other markets), which will be marketed in the U.S. as a lifted all-wheel-drive station wagon in the vein of the popular Subaru Outback.

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We’re not sure where the camouflaged images originate from, but they’re circulating on various Instagram accounts and Chinese websites. A few important clues point to its identity as a Ford. The front grille looks like many other current Fords, and there’s a cutout perfectly shaped for the blue oval logo. And around back, this version has a clear station-wagon profile, with a small window aft of the C-pillar and a gently sloping rear hatch.
The slim headlights create a much more futuristic face, and they’re connected by a metallic bar that runs across the width of the car. And the interior will benefit from a modern makeover as well, with a set of screens that stretches across the entire dashboard. We’ve seen big touchscreens from Ford, but nothing quite like this, as it almost looks like a single piece of glass that extends all the way onto the passenger’s side of the dashboard.
While these photos don’t reveal the car’s height or body cladding, we’re expecting the Fusion to have a lifted suspension and black plastic cladding to give it an SUV-esque stance. It will likely have standard all-wheel drive to best compete with the Outback.
Ford has yet to say anything official about the new Fusion, but we expect it to arrive sooner rather than later. A debut sometime in 2021 isn’t out of the question, meaning the Fusion Active may go on sale by the time the 2022 model year rolls around.
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In a bid to boost end-of-quarter sales, Tesla is offering the free FSD on vehicles delivered by midnight December 31. More

Loujain al-Hathloul was sentenced to five years, eight months in prison, two years after her initial arrest. More

The lightweight M5 “Competition Sport” is coming soon with an even more powerful twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8. More

Subaru revealed its second-gen BRZ Super GT race car during a motorsport fan appreciation live stream.
Super GT is the top level of racing in Japan, and everything from the Toyota Prius to European GT3 cars from Audi and BMW race in it.
The 2022 Subaru BRZ road car is powered by a 228-hp 2.4-liter flat-four and will go on sale in the U.S. in fall 2021.
The 2022 Subaru BRZ sticks to the purist sports-car formula with a naturally aspirated engine, a standard manual transmission, and rear-wheel drive. Like the first-generation sports car, the second-gen BRZ will race in Japan’s Super GT GT300 series. The new race car was revealed during a Subaru Motorsport fan appreciation live stream. If you’re here just to see and listen to the new race car, we’ll help you out: it’s shown in the video below at 1:54:47.
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Super GT is the top level of grand-touring auto racing in Japan, and it’s split between two groups: GT500 and GT300. In the GT300 series, where the cars are less powerful, Japanese automakers race everything from the Toyota Prius to the Subaru BRZ. GT3 cars from European manufacturers such as Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz also participate.
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A naturally aspirated 228-hp 2.4-liter flat-four powers the 2022 BRZ, while the Super GT car should use an upgraded and more powerful four-cylinder engine. Subaru didn’t share many details on the new race car’s powertrain, though Car and Driver has reached out to the automaker for more information. The previous-gen road cars were powered by a 2.0-liter unit that produced 205 horsepower and 156 lb-ft of torque, although the first-gen BRZ GT300 car used the EJ20 engine from the Subaru Legacy.

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The new race car’s bodywork looks similar to the previous-gen’s, huge wing and all, but it also sports the 2022 BRZ’s chunkier headlights and sleeker taillights. The new road car is only just over an inch longer and half an inch lower than the first-gen car. It’ll go on sale in the U.S. in the fall of next year, and pricing is expected to start around $30,000.
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General Motors is recalling 624,216 of its 2019–2021 trucks and SUVs to fix a problem with the front center seatbelt bracket.
Included are 2019–2021 Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra 1500 and 2020–2021 Silverado/Sierra 2500 and 3500 pickups, as well as 2021 Chevrolet Suburban (pictured) and Tahoe and GMC Yukon XL SUVs.
The problem affects vehicles with the 40/20/40 split-folding front bench seats, not those with front bucket seats, according to the NHTSA defect report.
General Motors has announced a recall for 624,216 trucks and SUVs with split-bench front seats from the 2019 through 2021 model years. According to the report filed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the problem is improperly installed seatbelt brackets in the center of the front row. It could cause a person sitting in the center of the front row to be incompletely restrained, which could lead to injury in case of hard braking or a crash, NHTSA said.

Get Recall Notices to Your Phone with NHTSA App

The problem affects 2019–2021 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups, 2020–2021 Silverado and Sierra 2500/3500 pickups, and 2021 Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe and GMC Yukon XL SUVs. The issue does not affect 2019 Silverado and Sierra Limited models built on the previous-generation platform, GM siad.
The defect report states that occupants of the vehicles could hear a rattling noise from the center seat or console area, or they could notice that the center seatbelt in front has become loose or even detached. GM will begin notifying owners on February 1 and will inspect and reassemble seatbelt brackets that are improperly installed.
Meanwhile, owners of Chevrolet and GMC trucks or SUVs from the affected model years can check the NHTSA recalls website to see if their vehicle is included in the recall.
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Starting at $36,695, the 228i sedan is still a few hundred dollars more than the cheapest Bimmer, the X1 crossover. More

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Volkswagen is teasing an autonomous robot that charges EVs in parking lots.
The robot would tow batteries to individual vehicles and hook them up to begin charging.
No word on when this will become a reality, but it does solve the issue of adding charging to a garage without placing individual charging stations at parking stalls.

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Robots typically fall into two categories: a helpful friend like R2D2 or a killing machine like the T1000. While Volkswagen begins its video of its mobile charging robot with the percussion associated with the Terminator movies, it quickly pivots to R2D2-esque noises as it teases its rather cute solution to charging EVs in parking lots without installed charging stations.
This prototype for the mobile charging robot is one of the concepts the Volkswagen Group is developing to help bring the charging infrastructure up to par with the number of electric vehicles the automaker is hoping to sell over the next few years.
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This technology uses car-to-x (a.k.a. V2X vehicle-to-everything) communications. In a second video, VW shows a driver pulling into a spot in a garage and using an app to tell the charging robot that their vehicle needs juice. The robot grabs the so-called “mobile energy storage” unit, which is essentially a battery on wheels, and tows it over to the vehicle and plugs it in to begin charging.
The robot will then either return to its home base and wait to remove the rolling battery or grab another mobile energy storage unit and attach that to another vehicle. All of this is done without the need for a human attendant, according to Volkswagen. It’s less terrifying and more practical than the autonomous metal snake Tesla showed off in 2015.
These types of systems could allow parking garages to have a charging infrastructure without the need to place a charging station at individual parking stalls. Instead, the rolling battery packs can be charged at a single location and deployed as needed.
There’s no word on when the adorable robot car butler will become a reality. But in its release, Volkswagen stated, “The mobile charging robot has successfully reached prototype status and will now be comprehensively further developed.”
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