Chinese women buying disproportionate percentage of exotic cars?

The number of Chinese millionaires is growing rapidly, and women account for a third of that rising, affluent population. This is good news to exotic car manufacturers because wealthy Chinese women are snatching them up like Italian pastries.

Sales of high-end automobiles rose 60 percent last year and analysts are already pegging a 35 percent climb for 2011. Maserati reports that 30 percent of its Chinese sales are to women, compared against just 10 percent for European sales. China is now on track to pass Italy as the automaker’s second largest market.

It’s not just Maserati, either; Ferraris and Lamborghinis are being purchased in large numbers. The wealthy women of China account for 20 percent of local Ferrari sales, which is double the global average. The rise in exotic vehicle sales has even gotten the attention of Bugatti, and the Volkswagen Group is now discussing a potential sales plan for China.

Report Ford to Take Lincoln Global

Ford has plans to change that, but first Lincoln is due for a massive overhaul. As of October 2010, Ford is in the process of shutting down its Mercury brand, leaving it with a very health Ford brand and an ailing Lincoln brand. Lincoln has seen some new product in recent years, but it lacks the distinctive product line consumers want in a luxury moniker.

Speaking at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally noted that Lincoln isn’t where it should be. In 2009, just 83,000 units were sold, less than half the number it reached in the 1990s. Lexus, Infiniti, Acura, BMW, Mercedes and Audi have grabbed buyers and its American competitor, Cadillac, has done the same.

2011 Subaru Impreza WRX

One point three inches. How much difference can it make? That depends on what you’re measuring. If you’re comparing the 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX to the 2011, that small measurement makes all the difference in the world.

If you’re a Subie fan, you’ve already read our First Drive. The headline news for the 2010-to-2011 changeover is that the WRX gained the STI model’s widebody fenders and 1.3-inch wider track. Wanting to know whether the growth in girth made any difference to the affable and relatively affordable WRX, we decided to spend some quality time in the example you see here.

We learned plenty. Many things work well for the practical enthusiast. Others, not so much.

Find of the Day: 1999 Sbarro GT1 show car

GT1 road cars are hard to come by. Manufacturers are required by some motorsport sanctioning bodies to homologate their racecars with production versions, but these often fetch millions of dollars and are only made in extremely limited quantities. All the more so for Sbarro’s GT1 show car.

Built to celebrate Mercedes’ victory at Le Mans in 1999, the GT1 is a one-of-a-kind (well, two of a kind if you could the twelve-cylinder GT12 that followed the next year) concept built using many Mercedes components. The biggest is the 7.4-liter V8 engine producing 450 horsepower – which may not seem like much for such a big engine, but a huge amount of power by any other measure… especially over a decade ago.

The engine sits as a stressed member of the competition-style chassis, with a composite monocoque acting as its centerpiece, propelling the GT1 to sixty in 4.9 seconds and on to a 200+ mph top end. The cabin features two seats moulded directly into the body and covered in Alcantara (the pedals adjust to compensate) and are accessed through gullwing doors – another Mercedes tribute. And of course the styling is pure Sbarro. But the best part is that this one-off is up for sale. A million euros is the asking price, and if you’re interested you can check out the listing here.

Aston Martin releases updated 2011 Vantage GT4

The Aston Martin Vantage GT4 has only been racing for two years, but in that time has garnered notable accolades: Wins at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, Spa 24 hours and this year’s European GT4 Cup, just to name three.

The Gaydon firm has made revisions to the 2011 model, incorporating lessons learned from the roadgoing V12 Vantage, including better aerodynamics and greater downforce, as well as a new option that includes racing-tuned ABS and a new traction control system developed by Bosch. No specific numbers were released, but Aston Martin says that it has reworked the GT4′s 4.7-liter V8, as well, providing improved horsepower and torque numbers.

We’re sure these new changes will help the GT4 secure a few more wins in the 2011 racing season. You canfollow the jump for more details or just ogle it in the gallery of high-res photos below.

Audi shows off revised eTron Spyder

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler rolled onto the stage in the same eTron Spyder we saw in Paris, but for the crowd in Sin City, Audi swapped the silver paint for a more delectable red hue.

Aside from the color change, everything else remains the same, from the 300-horsepower twin-turbo TDI V6 churning out 479 pound-feet of torque to the front-mounted battery and wrap around windshield. It’s still a looker, although we’re generally in favor of something a little more subtle…

Rumormill (Yet Again): Lexus GS-F is coming

This certainly isn’t the first time we’ve heard rumblings about Lexus working on a performance version of itsGS sedan. The crew at Road & Track reports that the upcoming GS-F will serve as the range-topping trim in the GS model range, set apart from its siblings with not only a more aggressive appearance, but a serious increase in power, to boot.

Sources within Toyota have told the buff book that the GS-F will be powered by a 5.0-liter V8, just like the smaller IS-F, but that output will be increased to 465 horsepower for the larger sedan. The other key ingredient to making the GS-F a serious performer is a substantial reduction in weight. Through the use of aluminum and carbon fiber components, Toyota aims to have the GS-F weigh in at about 3,700 pounds, meaning it should be capable of ripping off 4.5-second 0-60 times.

Toyota is positioning the GS-F to compete with the likes of the BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, with prices to start somewhere around the $90,000 to $100,000 range. No official timeframe has been given on when we’ll actually see the GS-F, but R&T states that it could show up as early as 2012, after therefreshed GS range debuts.

2012 Nissan GT-R officially goes 0-60 in 2.9 seconds

What’s it take to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in just under three seconds flat? According to Nissan, it takes exactly 530 horsepower and 488 pound-feet of torque, coupled to a sophisticated electronic all-wheel-drive system and a dual-clutch transmission.

Put more simply in actual dollars and cents, that will cost you $89,950. For those unaware, that’s the sum Nissan is asking for its updated 2012 GT-R, which recently made its live American debut at the 2010 LA Auto Show. The Japanese automaker has kindly provided a digital readout from an electronic measurement device from Digitek to silence the doubters (above). As you can clearly squint and see, the GT-R hit 60 miles per hour in 2.9 seconds and 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) in exactly three seconds.

IIHS Obvious Conclusion of the Day: Mismatched bumpers cost thousands in repairs

As you’re likely aware, all cars must pass strict federal guidelines in order to be sold in America, and those regulations include specific bumper heights. What you may not know, however, is that trucks and SUVs aren’t required to meet the same guidelines as passenger cars. Factor in the huge numbers of SUVs and crossovers that are sold each year and you begin to see why can cause major problems.

Perhaps the best way to illustrate this conundrum is by way of a photo gallery, which the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has so thoughtfully provided. As is the Institute’s custom, it has gone ahead and crashed a small sedan head-to-head into a typical SUV from the same automaker at low speeds (10mph). The results are conclusive, and they mean big repair bills for the owner (or, naturally, their insurance company) of the smaller car. Despite the modest velocities, repair estimates ranged from $850 to a whopping $6,015.

Of the seven pairs of vehicles damaged-for-a-cause in this round of low-speed testing, the Honda Civic andCR-V performed the best, with bumpers that actually overlapped by more than two inches. By way of contrast, the Toyota Corolla and RAV4 performed the worst. Says Joe Nolan, the Institute’s chief administrative officer:

What are Canada’s 10 worst selling cars and trucks? Glad you asked…

The end of the year is typically ripe with all sorts of best and worst lists. Canadian automotive websiteWheels.ca has provided us with a look at the car buying habits of our friends to the north. The list ofCanada’s 10 worst selling new vehicles for 2010 is not exactly filled with surprises, but the actual sales volume for each model is quite interesting. Can you guess how many Lexus GS models left the lots of Canadian dealers in all of 2010? Just 215. That number is only good enough to earn the Lexus 5th place on the list.

Click through the gallery below to see how 2010 played out for 10 cars, trucks, wagons and SUVs on sales lots north of the border.

Tata Nano sales plunge to just 589 units in November

The Tata Nano was such a hot commodity when it entered the Indian market that Tata Motors felt compelled to hold a lottery to determine the first 100,000 customers. A reported 70,000 copies of the $2,500+ econobox have been sold to date, but November apparently didn’t budge that number much.

Bloomberg reports that only 589 Nano models were sold in November; a minuscule total for a mass-market car. Tata CEO Carl-Peter Forster reportedly blames a lack of financing options as the reason customers aren’t buying. Forster claims that the Nano is popular with customers who currently use a bike or motorcycle for transportation, and the feeling is that banks fear that extending a loan to a lower income buyer could bring increased risk of default.

But while bank loans are one problem, another issue could stem from the fact that the Nano has been in the news for catching fire. That’s definitely not a desirable feature, and we’re thinking that customers who plunk down their life savings for their first vehicle don’t want their low-cost car to turn into a pricey car-b-que. The ‘no loans’ theory sounds even less likely after hearing that overall Tata sales in November were 54,622, up one percent year-over-year. And the icing on the cake? Tata has also raised the price of the Nano twice over the past few months; $198 in October and four percent back in July. That’s about $300 more than the car sold for at launch.

2011 Mini Cooper S

Henry Ford, Ferdinand Porsche, Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler. All pioneers in the automotive world. But this list would be woefully incomplete without the inclusion of Sir Alec Issigonis, the man most responsible for the design of the original Mini.

Issigonis once famously said, “When you’re designing a new car for production, never, never copy the opposition.” Sage advice, we’d say, as the Mini – a true clean-sheet automotive design, with its transverse engine, front-wheel drive and sparse seating – went on to become one of the most successful vehicles in history. And its name and likeness continue to live on in the form of the modern-day Mini Cooper, Clubmanand, most recently, Countryman.

Despite the similarities from one modern generation to the next, the BMW-owned automaker is quick to point out the myriad of changes made to the Cooper for the 2011 model year, not the least of which are improvements to the engine and transmission options, resulting in more power and improved efficiency.

So, the logical question is: Do these changes make a better Mini, or are they so minor (or is that Minor?) you won’t even notice?

2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe caught uncloaked

Mercedes-Benz’s retouched C-Class will sprout an all-new coupe version for 2012, and our spy photographers have just captured a nearly production-ready prototype with no camouflage. In addition to the obvious removal of the rear doors, the coupe wears the new C-Class’ slightly refreshed front fascia, featuring the quad-foglamp design that is quickly spreading across the entire Mercedes-Benz range. LED running lamps will no doubt be available on higher-end trim levels.

The most robust changes will likely be found inside the C-Class Coupe, where a new interior design will be on hand. We’ve seen spy shots of the coupe’s new innards before, and the design mimics that of the larger E-Class range. Still, the current C-Class interior was beginning to feel a bit outdated, so any freshening is indeed welcomed.

Our spies report that powertrains will be carried over from the 2010 model, meaning we’ll get the same pair of 3.0-liter and 3.5-liter V6 engines, producing 228 and 268 horsepower, respectively. Will we see a C63 AMGCoupe with the automaker’s twin-turbo 5.5-liter V8 (or naturally aspirated 6.2-liter mill)? Mum’s the word on that one, but consider our fingers crossed.