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2015 Green Car Of The Year finalists announced, run alt-fuel gamut

The 2015 edition of the Green Car of the Year award is following right in the footsteps of previous years with a variety of alt-fuel powertrains making the just-announced finalists list. You've got your plug-in vehicle (the BMW i3), your compressed natural gas (the Chevy Impala Bi-Fuel), your high-efficiency diesel (the Audi A3 TDI), your 40+ mile-per-gallon gas engine (the Honda Fit) and, finally, a car that can do a little bit of everything (the VW Golf). The Golf is available – at least in some parts of the US – with three different powertrains: a 2.0-liter diesel, a gasoline engine and all-electric drive. The Impala can burn either natural gas or gasoline in its 3.6-liter engine. The A3 is an efficiency champ, able to get 73.5 mpg on some European tests. The i3 can be a pure electric vehicle or come with a short range extending engine. And the Fit brings 41 miles to the gallon in a practical, affordable package. The GCOY award is announced every year at the Los Angeles Auto Show by Green Car Journal. The committee doesn't just take the fuel-saving technology into account, but also a vehicle's "availability to the mass market." Last year, the Honda Accord Hybrid/Plug-In Hybrid won top honors, following up on wins from the Ford Fusion models (plug-in hybrid and hybrid) for 2013, the Honda Civic Natural Gas for 2012 and the Chevrolet Volt for 2011. FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2015 "GREEN CAR OF THE YEAR"" Green Car Journal to Reveal Winner of 10th Annual Award at LA Auto Show" Press & Trade Days, November 20 LOS ANGELES, CA (October 21, 2014) – Green Car Journal has announced its five finalists for the magazine's high-profile 2015 Green Car of the Year® program. The 2015 models include the Audi A3 TDI, BMW i3, Chevrolet Impala Bi-Fuel, Honda Fit, and VW Golf. The Green Car of the Year® award, an honor widely recognized as the auto industry's most important environmental accolade, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. An increasing number of vehicle models are considered for the Green Car of the Year® program each year, a reflection of the auto industry's expanding efforts in offering new vehicles with higher efficiency and improved environmental impact. Green Car Journal has been honoring the most important "green" vehicles every year at the LA Auto Show, since its inaugural award announced at the show in 2005.

China’s Great Wall looking to partner with BMW to sell cars in the West

The Chinese automaker Great Wall seems to have moved on from courting Fiat Chrysler. According to Reuters, the company announced in a stock exchange filing that it's looking to collaborate with BMW's Mini brand in some way. Reuters also reports that BMW is open to discussion. We reached out to a BMW representative, and he provided us with an official statement regarding the news. The company didn't specifically say it is talking with Great Wall. What it did say is that it has had success with its current partnership with another Chinese automaker Brilliance, but also that the company is interested in expanding the Mini brand worldwide and in China. The statement says that Mini's future strategy and expansion will include "diversification of partnerships and new cooperation models." It also said that expanding in China "is only possible with a local partner." That sounds to us like BMW is pretty interested in working with Great Wall. This move comes about a month and a half after Great Wall attempted to purchase parts of Fiat Chrysler. The company was reported to be talking to FCA to purchase the Jeep brand, and it later confirmed that it was interested in that brand, a few, or the whole company. But things seemed to fall apart when Fiat Chrysler's CEO Sergio Marchionne announced it hadn't received any offers and wasn't working on any kind of deal with another company. Now it may seem a little odd that Great Wall would shift from trying to buy an SUV brand, or a company that is beginning to concentrate on crossovers and trucks, to one that specializes in compact cars. After all, they're fairly different segments. Our theory is that Great Wall isn't necessarily interested in the specific products, but more that it's looking for a gateway to Western car markets. It's not something new for the company. As far back as 2013, the company made it clear it was looking to start selling cars in America. It also started looking into a manufacturing facility in Mexico earlier this year, which would supposedly supply vehicles to both Mexico and the U.S. Now when Great Wall announced its American sales intentions, it was targeting a date of 2015. That obviously didn't happen, and it probably has something to do with the company's products. Most of the cars under the Great Wall and Haval brands bear an uncanny appearance to discontinued models from other companies that compete in the West.

Mazda Turnpike in Japan shut down for racing

The people behind Motorhead Magazine in Japan clearly have some friends in high places. Not only did they manage to shutdown eight kilometers of the Mazda Turnpike up the Hakone mountain, but they invited some of the country's premiere racers to take a drive up the hill. This wasn't just a Sunday cruise either. Featuring a BMW Z4 from the Super GT series, a classic Ford GT40, two flavors of Nissan GT-R and two takes on the Subaru Impreza WRX STI, these guys came ready to run. When an opportunity to let racecars challenge a curvy mountain road presents itself, you don't squander it. Thankfully, the folks at Motorhead knew that and outfitted the course with a plethora of cameras and high-quality sound equipment to capture the action. The result is nothing short of sublime. Take the video's urging to turn up your speakers for this one, and watch as these racers hit ludicrous speeds in a beautiful place never meant for them. News Source: japanmotorhead via YouTube, Jalopnik Aftermarket Motorsports BMW Ford Nissan Subaru Racing Vehicles Performance Videos ford gt40 super gt