Hyundai Motor America has announced prices for the all-new 2011 Sonata. The completely redesigned 2011 Sonata delivers best-in-class fuel economy, an EPA-designated Large Car interior, 198 horsepower and a starting price of $19,195 for the well-equipped GLS model. The 200-horsepower SE model starts at $22,595 and the top-of-the-line Limited model is available for $25,295.

“With the 2011 Sonata, our focus was a no-compromise engineering approach that would allow Sonata owners to have their cake, and eat it too.

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BMW is really testing our memory and powertrain-matching skills with its 2011 lineup. One of our favorite current engines is the N54 twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six, which produces 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque in nearly every model in which it’s installed.

But, as you probably know, it is being gradually replaced by an evolution of that mill, the N55 single-turbo inline-six, which still displaces 3.0 liters and produces identical horsepower and torque figures.

The new engine is showing up first in the 535i Gran Turismo, and also will appear in the 2011 135i, 335i, and 535i. Now there are plans to shuffle it into the 2011 X6 xDrive35i, too.

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The most spectacular Golf of all is fantastic but pricey. Will we get the chance to buy one?

Volkswagen sure knows how to please. The new, sixth-generation Golf is one of the better compact cars, a great-handling hatchback that’s comfortable, too. And we think the sportiest Golf, the 200-hp GTI, is even better—witness its inclusion on our 2010 10Best Cars list. (The previous GTI, based on the Golf V, made the 10Best roster the three years before that.) Now Wolfsburg is adding the Golf R, an all-wheel-drive variant that is the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive Golf ever.
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General Motors announced on Thursday a more confident forecast for U.S. industry sales this year and said it expects to end January with higher sales compared with a year ago.

GM projects the industry would sell 11.5 million to 12 million vehicles nationwide this year, up from the previous projection of 11 million to 12 million sales, according to Mike DiGiovanni, executive director of global market and industry analysis.

The Detroit automaker strengthened its forecast because of signs that the economy is strengthening, he said.

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