Audi did not disclose the details of the purchase of the Ducati from the Investindustrial Spa but according to sources, the four-ring car brand paid around 860 million to 1.13 billion euros.

Rupert Standler, the topman of Audi commented that Ducati is a premium motorcycle brand that is very popular across the globe and has a long history of building sporty bikes. Ducati also has expertise in using lightweight material construction and powerful engines, and is among the most profitable sport bike manufacturers in the world. And because of all these, Ducati will be an excellent part of Audi.

Experts though are questioning the purchase and doubt what Ducati can contribute for Audi or the Volkswagen Group as a whole. Some say that the Ducati brand does not warrant a good business case for the car manufacturer. The business forecasters also say that the Ducati will just be a trophy in the cabinet for Aud and will not improve its business model.

Ducati is another major Italian brand to be purchased by the Volkswagen Group following the acquisition of Italdesign and Lamborghini.

The Italian motorcycle brand is headquartered in Bologna but also has a production plant in Thailand. In 2011, Ducati delivered 42,000 units and has a revenue of about $361 million. It has an employee base of 1,100 people.

The S60 received 5 stars for the protection of its driver and its front passenger for the frontal crash at 35 mph test, protection of its driver and its rear passenger for the side impact test at 38.5 mph, and protection of the driver during the side impact test at 20 mph which simulates a slide to a tree or a pole.

The NHTSA has tested 73 cars released as 2012 models and so far about 21 of these vehicles have earned an overall grade of 5 stars for safety but aside from the Camaro of Chevrolet, only the Volvo S60 has perfected the ratings for each of the sub-section.

The safety standards of the NHTSA has been more stringent after a lot of 2011 model cars aced their standards. The crash tests of the NHSTA serves as a complementary test to the evaluations done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety which tests similar but not entirely the same crash scenarios.

Some newly posted scores on the NHTSA website tag the Hyundai Sta Fe and the Jeep Liberty with a low score of 3 of 5 stars. The compact SUV from Hyundai did not do well on the side impact protection for the rear passenger. The Jeep Liberty was got a ding for the side and frontal impact tests.

So far only six of the 73 tested 2012 MY vehicles have garnered three stars but four of these vehicles are scheduled for a redesign or for axing from their respective lineups. Most cars were given 4 stars like the Honda Fit and the Subaru Outback.

Check out the videos below to have an idea how these tests go:

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First in the pipeline is the X5 M50d 4-wheel drive and the X6 M50d which are set to arrive this June. The rear drive versions of the M550d saloon and the Touring M550d which are designed for the UK and other markets using the right hand drive setup will be released by October.

The four vehicles is a first for the M-Division of BMW with all of them running on the newly engineered 6-cylinder 3.0L that runs on diesel. The new engine has an induction system with triple turbo which according to BMW insiders will set the new bar for performance and efficiency for the combustion engines in petrol or diesel formats.

The new vehicles will be the basis for the range of M Performance models. These line up will be marketed in between the top of the line standard BMW models and the M models based on their dynamic ability, performance, equipment and pricing. Like the M550d saloon, for example, will be placed between the M5 and the 550i.

The new diesel engine developed for the range of M Performance vehicles outguns the in-line six 3.0L twin turbo engine that is already widely used. It can output 376 bhp while revving 4000 thru 4400 rpm and a torque of 5545 pound feet while revving at 2000 thru 3000 rpm.

These numbers show that the new engine is 74 bhp more powerful and 103 lb feet more potent than the existing 3.0L six twin turbo, and when fitted to BMW’s 740d it gives out 126 bhp and a torque of 182 lb ft which on standards for diesel engines are very good numbers.

Although the M5 4.4L V8 petrol engine is 176 bhp more powerful, the M550d has 44 pound feet more torque.

The new engine for the M Performance units are coupled with the improved version of the automatic gearbox with eight speeds. This set up brings the M550d xDrive from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in just 4.7 seconds which is just 0.3 second slower than the M5. The saloon has a fuel mileage pegged at 44.8 miles per gallon for a combined cycle and a 165 g/km of carbon dioxide.

The M Performance units will receive subtle changes in styling so they can be distinguished from their M-car and standard BMW siblings.

The highlight of the effort is on the V63RS kit which tunes the ECU of the 5.5L V8 engine and its Vmax chips resulting to an output of 649 horsepower and a monstrous torque of 708 pound feet. The team from Vath shared that the improved engine can get the CLS63 AMG running from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds. The top speed was improved to 202 mph.

The Vath V63RS kit has a tag price of $17,700 which also includes an exhaust system fabricated from stainless steel and a cooling system using charge-air.

Owners can also get the upgrades separately. The most basic of these upgrades is the suspension kit which lowers the ride by as much as 1.6 inches. Another option is to get a set of forged ally wheels hugged by 265/30ZR20 wheels in front and 305/25ZR20 for the rear.

To improve the aerodynamics of the car, you can get a deck-lid spoiler, front airdam, rear diffuser, and under-floor extension.

The interior upgrades involve a sport steering wheel in leather, wood, or carbon, accents made of carbon-fiber, and tachometer which has extended range.

According to the official statement that was issued by the Japanese car maker, the new model, Subaru XV will be the image of the new generation of the brand’s crossover product line. The statement also traced the model’s origin back to the concept car that was shown last April at the Shanghai Motor Show, where the concept was warmly received globally because of its trendy and distinct look. The concept car that was shown was recognized because of its urban-friendly but commanding and elegant look.

The brand new Subaru XV model is a five-seater crossover unit that comes with a 2.0-liter V4 Horizontally-Opposed DOHC engine. The power plant is attached to a Lineartronic CVT gearbox. No official word on the power train’s specifications, power output figures and performance yet. The same thing can be said with interiors and exterior details so we have to wait for the official technical details of its production.

The Subaru XV will make its debut appearance at the Frankfurt Motor Show this year so keep your eyes and your ears tuned for more details about this Subaru newbie that will redefine the crossover product line of the Japanese car brand.

The previous Ford Focus RS has an output of 305 horsepower on a front wheel drive. The car pretty much fits into the World Rally Championship thanks to its excellent handling attributed to the RevoKnuckle suspension setup.

The team developing the Ford RS will most likely stick with the front wheel drive configuration for the new version according to Hermann. He also denied earlier speculations that the Ford RS will be made into a hybrid vehicle that will use electric motors for the rear wheels.

Ford will also stick with the two wheel drive setup for the new Ford RS which worked well for its older sibling.

The Ford executive also added that the the new RS will be more powerful than the previous release and that power will be sustainable. He pointed to the RS500 limited edition for the UK that has 350 horsepower and the more potent ones even reaching 380 horsepower.

The vehicle is expected to roll out the Ford factories by 2014. It will retain the current RevoKnuckle suspension system and will make use of the 2.0L 4-cylinder Ford EcoBoost powerplant.

The Ferrari’s two-seater hybrid supercar was spotted on a driving test site in Germany. The car has a red-and-white pre-reg Germnan plates, which sort of revealed its secret identity to the spy photographers who were on the scout for the Prova ID plates that other Ferrari prototypes carry. While Ferrari is adamant about confirming any rumors, the alleged prototype also carries an “S” on its plate, which suggests a Stuttgart registration where Bosch is located. Bosch is the high-end automotive technology works with Ferarri in the software and engineering aspects of the hybrid supercar.

The 599 Hybrid Concept car that was presented last year had an additional 100kg to its curb weight due to the electric equipment. However, the Italian brand has no doubt that the 599’s performance remains at 0-100mph in 10.4 seconds. A wickedly fast Traction Control System” is also in the works. With this on board, it helps reverse the torque of the electric motor. An “Electric Torque Shaping” system is also in production.

Brabus is known to be luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz’s tuning company and has enjoyed a great deal of renowned works. Today, it has added another badge to its belt with the ECO PowerXtra D6S, a performance kit that is made specifically for the Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTec model. With this, the tuning company has claimed that it has tuned the very first diesel automobile that successfully meets the emission requirements of the new Euro 6 regulations. These regulations are expected to go in effect by year 2014.

The ECO PowerXtra D6S is compatible with the 4MATIC all-wheels drive and rear-end drive models. The performance kit adds 55 horsepower and 52 lb-ft. of torque to your machinery. It powers the Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTec with up to 313 horsepower and an amazing 509 lb-ft of torque.

The ECO PowerXtra D6Shas been designed to work with no fuss. The installation of the performance kit is expected to work easily like a plug-and-play hardware system while it adds power to the 3.0-liter V6 diesel engine through the 7G-Tronic Plus automatic gearbox. When you’re in “Eco Mode”, the torque is raised but the engine still has 258 horsepower. But when you’re in “Sport Mode” or “Manual Mode”, the engine’s maximum power level is raised. Therefore, the S350 model covers 62mph in 6.5 seconds and has a maximum speed of 155 mph.

The ECO PowerXtra D6S can also be attached to both Mercedes-Benz’s lines of E350 CDI BlueEfficiency and the CLS 350 CDI BlueEfficiency with the same results.

The planned release of the new variants is a step to help Porsche answer the demand for fuel-efficient vehicles that is growing even in the luxury vehicle segment.

According to insiders, the executives of Porsche are still discussing the possibilities of bringing in the diesel version of the Cayenne and Panamera to the U.S. Maket this 2011.

Diesel Porsche Panameras have been rolling on the streets of Europe since 2009. The US and European markets have been seeing the hybrid Cayenne that depends on gasoline and electric motors.

Sources say that the hybrid Panamera may be introduced to the European consumers by summer.

The deliveries of Porsche jumped by 27% to about 97,000 unites while the order intakes grew by 49%. Porsche is enjoying a good start for 2011 and foresees rolling out more than one hundred thousand units this year. Asia is the biggest growth region among the 113 markets of Porsche across the globe.

On a wider scale, experts predict that the market for passnger cars will be improving by as much as 8% to around 65 million vehicles this year with China possibly leading the way holding 20% of the market pie.

The recent news states that there are going to be about 75% of these Saab 9-4Xs that are going to be produced and head towards the US. This is the new car that has been developed by General Motors and works out to be the perfect crossover.

According to Jan Jonsson, the CEO of Saab Automobiles the Saab 9-4X will be produced at a conservative figure of about 12,500 units per year. That is when the manufacturing unit reaches its optimum level. At the moment the car manufacturer expects to manufacture about 9,400 vehicles of this range and most of them will be headed to the US.

The Saab 9-4Xs is quite similar to the Cadillac SRX as it has several features that are similar to it. These are the use of the engines, front wheel drive, all of the components and the kind of all wheel drive that is available.

The US sales are going to begin soon enough once the car is ready to be rolled out according to the experts at Saab-Cars.org. After the US market, the next phase for the Saab 9-4X is going to be the markets of Europe, Taiwan, Australia and the Middle East.

The Saab 9-4Xs is supposed to be the perfect car to fit customer expectations from this particular brand. This was stated by Mike Colleran, Saab Cars North America COO. There was a need that was felt for a crossover car and one that fits in perfectly like the Saab brand and exactly what the customers wanted. The new redesigned version of the Saab 9-4X is just that and much more.