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Volkswagen could outsell GM in China for the first time in nine years

As of the end of November, Volkswagen had sold 70,000 more cars than General Motors in China in 2013, making it appear inevitable that VW will outsell GM there. The feat would return the German brand to the top of chart in China for the first time in nine years, but even the second-place getter won't be complaining too loudly: both automakers sold more than three million vehicles in a market pegged to hit 16 million sales this year.
Volkswagen said it could have sold more cars if it had had more production capacity in China. The arrival of a new-to-China Audi A4, a China-built A3 sedan, the VW Bora and Skoda Octavia, as well as an $18.2-billion-euro investment in the country to construct new factories, means VW should see its numbers grow in 2014. GM's lineup is expanding next year, too, adding four Chevrolet nameplates and two vehicles to its Baojun brand as it tries to get to five million in sales by 2015.
Among other automakers, Ford benefited from good product and woes for Japanese automakers over a territorial dispute with China, outselling Toyota by almost 32,000 units through the end of November. The Ford Focus is China's best-selling vehicle so far this year.

Toyota unofficially teases TE-S800 plug-in hybrid roadster

We really want to party with the Toyota Engineering Society. With the mothership company showing a bunch of modifications at the Tokyo Auto Salon last month, that nutty engineering group used the event to unofficially show off its TE-S800 PHEV roadster, as you can see in the two-minute video below. The car is a plug-in hybrid that pairs the 115-horsepower gas engine that's standard issue on the Toyota Prius hybrid with a 102-horsepower electric motor. The right-hand-drive two-seat-vehicle also sits on the platform of the little-bitty MR2 (remember those?) so it weighs in at less than 2,000 lbs. And, as you can see, the car's also painted bright green (now there's a hint) and kind of cool-looking. Do the math of combining more than 200 horsepower with a featherweight car, and you've got a rather sporty vehicle that can sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than six seconds, all while getting outstanding fuel economy. Yippee! Engineering Society aside, the Japanese automaker brought more than 30 customized vehicles to the Salon. Those included the Harrier G Sports Concept, a modified version of the Toyota's new crossover, and the Vitz RS G Sports Concept, which is a sported-out Yaris. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: Gas2Image Credit: YouTube (mikichan1984) Green Toyota Electric PHEV roadster

Toyota previews next Lexus RX with Tokyo-bound JDM Harrier

The Lexus RX shares much with the Toyota Highlander, but its more direct counterpart is the Toyota Harrrier. Never heard of it? That's because Toyota only sells it at home in Japan, and now it's revealed a new one. So if the Harrier is essentially a Toyota-badged version of the RX, then what's the big deal, you ask? The big deal is that the new Harrier which leaked in July, set to debut at the Tokyo Motor Show next week and which you see here isn't quite the same as the Lexus, and those differences could (and in most cases likely will) make their way over to the RX as well.
For starters, the styling is different. Granted that the Lexus version will almost certainly get a spindle-shaped grille, but even so, the Harrier's nose seems to protrude further than the RX's and the headlamps are a notably different shape. The greenhouse is also a different shape, coming to a sharper point at the back, and the mirrors are fixed to the A-pillar not to the door panel. The taillamps are revised, the tailgate has a new profile and there's a pseudo-diffuser at the bottom of the rear bumper. Subtle changes, to be sure, but then Toyota and Lexus are known for their evolutionary approach to styling. The interior has apparently undergone some updates as well, with a more dynamically styled dashboard, a more symmetrical center stack and different seats, steering wheel, door panels... the works. The infotainment display screen has also moved further down from its position in the current RX.
Toyota will offer the new Harrier with a 2.0-liter four mated to a CVT and driving either the front wheels or all four, and a hybrid setup with a 2.5-liter married to a 140-hp electric motor. The RX is offered here with a 3.5-liter V6 either on its own or with an electric assist. We wouldn't expect Lexus to go swapping the larger engines for the smaller ones, at least not for the US market. There's plenty more to the Harrier, of course, than the similarities and differences to the Lexus RX, and if you're buying a premium crossover in Japan, you can delve into the full details in the press release below, together with the images in the gallery above.