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Volkswagen kills planned 10-speed DSG

If there are two things in this wild and crazy industry that keep growing, they are the size of cars and the number of gears in their transmissions. It wasn't ten years ago that cars with six forward gears – either manually or automatically shifted – were a relative rarity. Now, there are a multitude of sub-$30,000 cars with at least a six-speed automatic. But while eight- and nine-speed automatics are becoming increasingly common, no automaker has delivered a production ten-speed automatic (which may be a good thing, considering the reception to most nine-speed gearboxes). Ford and General Motors were collaborating on one as recently as April 2013, and Hyundai has was allegedly working on one way back in 2011. Most recently, though, Volkswagen announced a ten-speed, dual-clutch automatic in November 2014. And now, less than two years later, the project has apparently been shelved. That's according to our Vegemite-loving friends at Motoring.com.au, which report that both the cost and complexity of project has proved unfeasible for VW. "In the end, we had to balance what our priorities were with our transmissions and other things are more important and more urgent," an unnamed source at the Frankfurt Motor Show told the Aussie website. The ten-speed DSG was slated for a number of three- and four-cylinder models from VAG's entire range of affordable vehicles. It was also, allegedly, to feature in the ultra-high-performance Golf R400, Motoring reports. It's unclear how its cancellation will impact the company's future projects, if VW will look elsewhere for its small-car gearboxes, of if there's another – perhaps conventional – new transmission in the pipeline. Currently, VW's highest gear-count dual-clutch is the seven-speed DSG, shown above with company CEO Martin Winterkorn.

Top Gear names BMW i8 Car of the Year, Corvette, Ferrari, Mercedes also win big

The lads at Top Gear have released their listing of the finest cars of the past year, handing the ultimate honor to BMW's revolutionary i8 plug-in-hybrid supercar. "The i8 is a milestone in the annals of automotive history and a glorious statement for an exciting and positive future. The i8 delivers - and then some," the British mag wrote. The i8, though, was far from the only hybridized car to take victories. James May and Richard Hammond both highlighted hybrids as their personal cars of the year, with May saluting the Ferrari LaFerrari and the Hamster, unsurprisingly, heaping praise on the Porsche 918 Spyder. Jeremy Clarkson, meanwhile, opted to shock many by selecting not only an American car as his best of 2014, but giving the honor to of all things, a Corvette. Clarkson wasn't the only person to honor the USA's iconic sports car, with the new, 650-horsepower Z06 variant being named TG's Muscle Car of the Year. Other big winners include Mercedes-Benz, which TG honored for S-Class Coupe (Luxury Car of the Year), the new AMG GT (Sports Car of the Year) and the not-for-US C-Class Estate (Family Car of the Year). The 458 Italia Speciale A snagged a second win for Ferrari. The best of the rest include the Citroen C4 Cactus, Renault Twingo, Volkswagen Golf R, Lamborghini Huracan and Audi TT. Take a look below for the celebratory press blast from BMW. The BMW i8 wins Top Gear Car of the Year The BMW i8 has been named as Top Gear magazine's global Car of the Year 2014. The plug-in hybrid performance vehicle beat off some stiff competition from a host of other premium and luxury manufacturers to win the overall award. The editorial team of Top Gear commended the BMW i8 for its breadth of abilities. Its 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine combined with an electric motor gives searing acceleration and driver enjoyment but all wrapped in a package that takes BMW's EfficientDynamics philosophy to the extreme courtesy of CO2 emissions less than 49g/km and a 135mpg combined cycle figure. Charlie Turner, Editor in Chief at Top Gear magazine, said: "The BMW is a milestone in the annals of automotive history and a glorious statement for an exciting and positive future. The i8 delivers – and then some. It's the kind of car we should celebrate, a beautiful vision of the future, delivered now.

German carmakers recall 630,000 diesel vehicles in Europe

Mercedes, Opel, Porsche, and Volkswagen will recall over 630,000 cars in Europe, according to reports Friday. No diesel car has been able to get under the legal emissions limit in real-world driving, according to a German government investigation. While only Volkswagen Group has been using a specific "defeat device", other carmakers have been playing with their exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems. Depending of the manufacturer, the systems have been cut off at a certain temperature. In a specific test cycle the systems operate to fulfill the legal requirements, but in everyday use the limits are exceeded. According to the magazine Der Spiegel, the supplier Bosch is behind this programming and has provided it to all German automakers. The mentioned carmakers have announced recalls, but many other manufacturers are also mentioned by name in the report, including Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Dacia, Fiat, Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Nissan, Renault, and Suzuki. PSA Group, which produces Peugeot, Citroen, and DS cars, declared yesterday that its offices were raided following an emissions investigation. Related Video: News Source: AutocarImage Credit: Getty Images Government/Legal Green Recalls Mercedes-Benz Porsche Volkswagen Opel Emissions Diesel Vehicles diesel emissions investigation