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5 stars in Euro NCAP crash tests for 5 new cars available in U.S.

Seven new cars have received a full five-star rating in the latest Euro NCAP crash tests. Of these, five are available in the United States: the Audi E-Tron, Lexus UX, Toyota Corolla, RAV4 and Mazda3. The Renault Clio and the Volkswagen T-Cross also took part, also receiving five stars. The Mazda3 hatchback was the fourth car in Euro NCAP history to reach an adult occupant protection score of 98%, after the Volvo V40 and XC60 and the Alfa Romeo Giulia. No NHTSA ratings for the Mazda3 or the Audi are yet available, but the Lexus and the Toyotas have all received five-star NHTSA safety ratings as well. Those three were tested as hybrid variants by Euro NCAP. Audi's first fully electric vehicle, the E-Tron, scored 91% in Euro NCAP's adult occupant rating, with unavailable knee airbags bringing down the score. The Mazda and the Toyotas offer them for the driver only, and the Lexus has the passenger's knees covered as well. The Lexus UX managed a 96% adult occupant score, close to the Mazda, and it provided better pedestrian safety (82%) than the Audi (71%), despite neither, or none, of the test vehicles having an active hood to catch pedestrians. As for the Toyotas, the Corolla, tested in both sedan and hatchback guises, scored 95% for adult occupant safety, with the RAV4 a couple notches down at 93%. Still, the five-star rating means all these vehicles are a very safe choice in their respective classes. Michiel van Ratingen, secretary general of Euro NCAP, states how important it is that even family hatchbacks perform well and have the latest safety tech available. "It is encouraging to see that all manufacturers did well, regardless of type of powertrain or class of vehicle tested," said van Ratingen. "New cars on the market continue to offer more advanced technology as standard, systems that were not even considered an option a few years ago." More crash test videos are available on Euro NCAP's YouTube channel. Audi Lexus Mazda Toyota Car Buying Safety audi etron lexus ux

2016 Audi A3 Sportback headed to US under diesel power [w/video]

Every get the feeling that automakers aren't really listening to what it is that you want in an automobile? Well, Audi is. Following what it calls "an outpouring of enthusiasts' support," the German automaker has announced that it is bringing the new, 2016 A3 Sportback to the US under diesel power, in the summer of 2015.
Unveiled today at the New York Auto Show, the new A3 TDI Sportback joins an expanding range of A3 models available Stateside. Whereas the Sportback hatch was until now only slated to be offered in E-Tron hybrid form, and the TDI only as a sedan, this model combines the bodystyle of the former with the power of the latter. The new TDI slots into the family alongside the gasoline-powered A3 and S3 sedans and A3 Cabriolet as well.
Power comes from a 2.0-liter turbodiesel four with 150 horsepower and mated to a six-speed S tronic transmission. Because it's still a year away from launch, Audi tells us it hasn't determined figures for performance, fuel economy or carbon emissions numbers, but when it joins the company's considerable diesel offerings (which already include the A6, A7, A8, Q5 and Q7) as part of the new A3 rollout over the course of the next 18 months, you can bet it'll provide that combination of low-end grunt and long-range capability that diesel enthusiasts crave. In the meantime you can scope out the details and b-roll footage below for a closer look.

Porsche says half of its sales will be electric by 2023

Porsche, whose presence in the plug-in vehicle market has been pretty minimal, now plans to substantially boost its commitment to electric vehicles in the next few years. The German luxury automaker intends to dedicate up to half its annual production to electric vehicles by 2023, Electrek reported, citing comments CEO Oliver Blume made to German publication Manager Magazin. Specifically, the company says it will be able to produce as many as 60,000 EVs annually from its Zuffenhausen factory in Germany. First and foremost will be Porsche's Mission E, which is slated to debut in 2019. That model will be able to go about 310 miles on a full charge (via the more generous New European Driving Cycle, or NEDC). Porsche first showed off a concept version of that 590-horsepower beast at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2015. The company hasn't hinted at pricing for the car, which will have a 90-kilowatt battery and will jet from 0 to 60 miles per hour in a tidy 3.5 seconds, but expect it to be well into six figures. Porsche also plans an all-electric version of the Macan, its biggest seller. But Porsche's math indicates bigger plans than that. Porsche delivered nearly 238,000 vehicles last year, so an output of 60,000 EVs at Zuffenhausen is only a quarter of the total, not half. You can assume then that Porsche has plans to electrify other models that it hasn't announced yet, built at other factories. It might also be counting hybrids in its "half" projection. Last month, Porsche decided to discontinue its plans for a plug-in hybrid variant of its iconic 911 model, suggesting a temporary pullback of sorts. Then again, in April, reports surfaced that Porsche and Audi, both owned by Volkswagen, were collaborating on vehicle-electrification technology as well as autonomous driving advancement. Porsche's green-car sales have been so thin that Autoblog last year officially pulled the German automaker off of its monthly green-car sales tally. For 2015, the most recent year we tracked, Porsche sold 1,738 plug-in vehicles, about the same as 2014. Related Video: Featured Gallery Porsche Mission E Concept: Frankfurt 2015 View 37 Photos News Source: Electrek, Manager MagazinImage Credit: Drew Phillips Green Audi Porsche Volkswagen Electric mission