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A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.

2014 Audi S1 Quattro leaks ahead of reveal

Rumors have been swirling that Audi will unveil the next-generation TT at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, but now it seems as if European hot hatch fans will be getting a car of their own from the German automaker. Images of the S1 Sportback Quattro have leaked out today, giving us our first taste of the real thing after seeing the camouflaged version a few months ago.
Audi may be planning to release official details about the S1 and refreshed A1 tomorrow and debut them publicly in Geneva. The S1 is expected to use the Volkswagen 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder with about 230hp, all-wheel drive and a choice of six-speed manual or dual-clutch transmission. It is basically supposed to be Golf GTI in a tiny package with all-wheel drive.
While it is highly unlikely we are getting any version of the A1 on these shores, it's always fun to see the cars lucky European enthusiasts enjoy.

BMW considering building 3 Series in North America

There might be even more BMWs coming from North America soon. The company recently announced plans to build a flagship crossover called the X7 at its Spartanburg, SC, factory. Now, rumors are emerging that the Bavarians might be thinking about building a second North American factory that could build its quick-selling 3 Series.
According to Bloomberg, the German luxury giant is considering several possible locations for a North American factory, including two in Mexico, that may build the 3. "We will decide this in the next months. On the North American continent, there's still potential," said BMW production boss, Harald Krueger, in an interview meant for company staff obtained by Bloomberg.
If BMW decides to open a plant in Mexico, it would be following its rival Audi, which already announced construction of a factory there. Mercedes-Benz has been rumored to be working on a deal with Nissan to build its cars South of the Border as well. Rumors of Bimmer considering Mexican production have also cropped up in the past, so it wouldn't come as a total surprise to hear it made official.