Porsche has previewed its upcoming Le Mans-bound race car with a batch of official spy pictures.

Set to make its track debut next year, the yet-unnamed race car will compete in the LMP1 category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans that Audi has dominated with its diesel-electric racers over the past couple of years.  Eager to win, Porsche has invested a small fortune in the project and recruited famed Formula 1 pilot Mark Webber to drive its flagship car.

Porsche has not published technical details about the car but it might be powered by a gasoline-electric drivetrain similar to the one found under the skin of the upcoming 918 Spyder.

With 16 overall victories, Porsche is the most successful manufacturer in Le Mans history.  The Stuttgart-based automaker is hoping to update its resume with its new racing program.  

“Motorsport was always an essential part of the Porsche brand,” said Porsche Chairman Matthis Müller. “For us it was only a matter of time before we returned as a factory to the top league of racing. Porsche’s successes in Le Mans are unrivaled.  We want to follow up on this with the 17th outright victory.”

Porsche recorded its first overall Le Mans victory in 1970 with the legendary 917 short-tail. The 911 GT1 was the last Porsche to claim an overall Le Mans victory in 1998.<![CDATA[
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Peugeot has published the first official images of the facelifted 2014 5008 ahead of its scheduled debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month.  The seven-seater MPV has been on the market since 2009. �

Up front, the 5008 adopts Peugeot’s floating grille, new headlights inspired by the ones found on the second-generation 308 hatchback and a chunkier bumper that incorporates three air dams.  Save for slightly refreshed tail lamps, the back end of the van stays roughly the same.

The 5008′s cockpit gains a redesigned center console, an available heads-up display and an optional rear-seat entertainment system consisting of two seven-inch screens integrated into the front headrests and a pair of Bluetooth headphones.�

Mechanically, the 5008 is offered with a wide array of gasoline- and diesel-burning four-cylinder engines ranging from a 1.6-liter e-HDi oil-burner that generates 115 horsepower to a 163-horsepower 1.6-liter THP gas-burning unit developed jointly with BMW.  Power is sent to the front wheels only.

Following its unveiling in Germany, the facelifted 5008 will land in Peugeot showrooms across Europe early next year.  Pricing information will be published closer to its on-sale date.

In addition to the Botoxed 5008, Peugeot will debut the Golf-fighting 308, the 270-horsepower 308 R concept, the sleek RCZ R, the gas-sipping 208 HYbrid FE and the facelifted 3008 in Frankfurt. <![CDATA[
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Toyota has lifted the veil off of the redesigned Sai, a four-door sedan based on the Lexus HS 250h that exited the U.S. market after the 2012 model year.

The facelifted Sai falls in line with Toyota’s latest design language thanks to an angular front bumper, narrow headlights linked by a large chrome slat and a new radiator grille.  Out back, the sedan gains full-length tail lamps and a discreet trunk-mounted spoiler, while new alloy wheel designs and additional paint colors round out the exterior upgrades.

Inside, the Sai offers a redesigned two-level center console available with real wood trim and a touch screen mounted on the center stack that enables the occupants to control the infotainment system.  Toyota says 80 percent of the interior’s surface area is made from recyclable materials.

Like its Lexus-badged sibling, the Sai is powered by a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain consisting of a 2.4-liter gasoline-burning four-cylinder engine that makes 150 horsepower and a 187 lb-ft. of torque and an electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery pack.  The drivetrain enables the Sai to return 52.6 mpg in a mixed Japanese cycle.

On sale now in Japan, the Toyota Sai carries a base price of ¥3,210,000 (roughly $32,500).   The HS 250h is still sold in Japan, where it wears Lexus’ spindle grille and retails for ​¥4,100,000 (about $42,000).<![CDATA[
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A new report finds Volkswagen’s Audi division is mulling an entry into the lucrative premium pickup truck segment.

In order to cut costs, Audi’s upcoming pickup will ride on the same chassis as the Volkswagen Amarok, a mid-size truck sold mostly in Europe.  It will feature bespoke sheet metal all around, a copious amount of chrome trim and LED lighting on both ends in order to stand out from its Volkswagen-badged sibling and justify its higher price.

Available exclusively as a crew cab, the yet-unnamed pickup will boast leather upholstery on the seats, the dashboard and the door panels, wood trim on the center console and a touch screen-based infotainment system.

The truck will be powered by a wide array of four- and six-cylinder gasoline- and diesel-burning engines sourced from the Audi parts bin.  Power will be sent to all four wheels via a dual-clutch transmission and Audi’s famed quattro all-wheel drive system.

If the wild rumor proves true, more details about Audi’s upcoming premium pickup truck will emerge over the coming months.  The truck will be largely aimed at the Middle East and Russia, two markets where premium pickups have historically sold well.<![CDATA[
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Toyota will travel to next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show to unveil an evolution of the FCV-R concept that debuted in Tokyo in 2011.  The concept is powered by a hydrogen drivetrain that emits only water vapor.

Stretching 186 inches long, 59 inches tall and 70 inches wide, the Frankfurt-bound FCV-R will likely look roughly the same as the model that was presented in Tokyo but it will be completely different under the skin.  The show car will be powered by a close-to-production hydrogen-electric hybrid drivetrain consisting of a fuel cell, high-pressure hydrogen tanks and the same Hybrid Synergy Drive technology that is found in gasoline-electric Toyota hybrids such as the Prius.

By using a fuel cell with a high power density and a 21-kilowatt lithium-ion electric battery pack, Toyota engineers have managed to give the FCV-R a total driving range of 420 miles. �

The technology found under the skin of the FCV-R will reach showrooms in the United States, in Europe and in Japan in 2015.  Unlike the Honda FCX Clarity, Toyota’s yet-unnamed hydrogen-powered car will be a regular-production model available in all 50 states.  

Toyota sees the model as a stepping stone towards the widespread acceptance of hydrogen-powered cars all around the world.  Its first model will cater largely to a niche audience but the automaker expects to sell tens of thousands fuel cell-equipped cars a year in the 2020s.   <![CDATA[
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