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China's auto sales continue to drop

The days of unending growth of carmakers in China look to be over, and some analysts are even forecasting a net drop in volume this year, The Detroit News reports. After falling numbers in June and July, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers tallied total sales, including trucks and buses, in August to 1.7 million, down 3 percent from 2014. There were some tiny specs of good news in China, but there's no turnaround in sight. Total vehicle sales from January to August are actually still up but only 2.6 percent. Like the rest of the world, SUVs are booming with numbers up 45.6 percent from the previous year. Honda managed a very impressive 50.7 percent gain on the strength of the CR-V and Vezel (the HR-V here), according to The Detroit News. Also, the country's domestic automakers, which generally offer less expensive products, posted a 2.5 percent growth in sales. The news continues to look bad for Detroit's automakers, though. Volume from General Motors dropped 4.8 percent in August, and Ford fell 3 percent in August. Both of them have invested significant amounts there in the past years. The vehicle industry in China grew last year, but there was burgeoning evidence of weakness. At the end of 2014, dealers there pushed back against huge inventories pushed by automakers. Even before the big drops began in June, GM saw the writing on the wall and started cutting prices. BMW responded to the slump by cutting back production to deal with the changing demand. News Source: The Detroit NewsImage Credit: Mark Schiefelbein / AP Photo BMW Ford GM Honda Car Buying

Watch these Australian Ford and Holden muscle cars duke it out

Australia's Motoring has put together a little video on two of the great performance vehicles available down under - the Holden VF Commodore HSV GTS and the Ford Falcon FPV GT R-Spec. And while both FPV and the Falcon might be on their way out, there's still plenty of time for a little head-to-head comparison between the two.
The cars aren't all that well evenly matched, though. The Ford boasts a 5.0-liter, supercharged V8, which the Aussies measure out at 449 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. The HSV, though, with its Corvette-derived, 6.2-liter, supercharged V8 is just too powerful - 576 hp and 545 lb-ft of torque.
Predictably, it doesn't end too well for the Ford. As the guys from Motoring point out, the new VF Commodore is just too new and too good, with its extra power and its adaptive dampers (GM's excellent MagnaRide). Interestingly, Motoring did point out that the Holden's electric steering is better than the Ford's hydraulic steering, which is a lot like a Porsche purist saying they prefer water-cooled engines to air cooled.

Ford Fusion spied in souped-up ST trim

Ford produces a wide array of performance machinery, but it's traditionally reserved the letters ST for hot hatches like the Fiesta ST and Focus ST. That changes with the vehicle you see here: the heavily camouflaged Fusion ST. This prototype is wearing bigger wheels and tires, upgraded brake rotors and calipers, enhanced bodywork, and quad exhaust tips – all the telltale signs of something more potent and capable. The performance version of Dearborn's midsize sedan is tipped to pack a version of the company's 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6. That's anticipated to channel upwards of 300 horsepower to all four-wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission, but we can hold out hope that maybe, just maybe, Ford will offer a three-pedal manual. One way or another, the Fusion ST will make a worthy successor (and then some) to the old Contour SVT. That model was offered in the late 1990s with a naturally aspired 2.5-liter Duratec V6 packing 202 horsepower, which may have been solid by yesterday's standards, but promises to be left in the dust by this new model. Look for the Fusion ST to accompany the facelifted Fusion sedan early next year. Enthusiastic customers in other markets can also hope for a Mondeo ST to be offered overseas as well. Related Video: