Even as BMW’s Mini brand plans to start selling its new, beefed-up Countryman model in Europe in a couple of weeks — along with a refreshed line of existing models — there are reports that the brand is considering a Countryman “off-road” coupe.

Britain’s Autocar reported that the new 4-wheel drive model of the miniature S.U.V. could have two or four doors and go up against Land Rover’s new Range Rover Evoque, a compact, two-door S.U.V. that’s due to be shown at the Paris auto show later this month and arrive in the United States later next year.

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The second law of thermodynamics is a bummer. In the broadest sense, it says that everything is getting worse all the time. Things break, your coffee gets cold. Chaos eventually triumphs over order.Before you stick your head in the oven, there's a silver lining. The second law only applies to closed systems. An outside force can make things better. The intervening factor can be as simple as a waitress pouring fresh coffee to warm your cup or as profound as the human ingenuity that builds bridges and cures diseases.Honda was once an extremely ingenious automaker, but each of its recent hybrid cars is less impressive than the one that came before.

Granted, Honda set a high standard for itself. It introduced the first hybrid gasoline-electric car to America with the two-seat Insight hatchback in 1999. The revolutionary Insight would score 49 m.p.g. in the city, 61 m.p.g. on the highway and 53 m.p.g. in combined driving on the current EPA fuel economy test. The light and lively Insight was also fun to drive.

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Audi A1 Test Drives Start In Germany: Audi's little hatch, the A1 is now available for test drives at dealers in Germany. Deliveries of the car are starting in soon and the car will be available in most parts of Europe mid September. Following positive response to the design of the new car, Audi has decided to increase the production capacity of the car by 20 per cent.The A1 will be available with three engine options - the 1.2 TFSI, the 1.4 TFSI and the 1.6 TDI. Each of these engines feature direct injection, turbocharging and a start-stop system with braking energy recovery. The A1 is the only car in its segment that has a start-stop system together with an automatic transmission.

If the A1 does make it to Indian shores, it will be a niche hatchback that will come priced at around Rs 15 lakh, similar to the Fiat 500.

Strong results by BMW on Tuesday demonstrate recovery by German luxury car makers this year, with the firm reporting a seven-fold leap in quarterly profit keeping it ahead of Audi and Mercedes. Other automotive brands such as Honda of Japan and France's Peugeot have also benefited from the recent upturn in the global economy, as have heavy truck makers like MAN, Mercedes and Scania as logistics demand grows worldwide.

The industry nonetheless expects the fast lane will come to an end later this year as major markets such as China begin to slow. "We cannot say this will last for the next 12 months," automotive professor Willi Dietz from the German Institut fuer Automobilwirtschaft told AFP.

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Ford, General Motors and Chrysler all are showing positive signs in a challenging economy.

While the three are at different stages of their turnarounds with Ford clearly ahead of the pack based on profitability, sales.

And awards  there is little doubt Detroit-based auto makers have recognized the need to manage costs and build vehicles real customers want to own.

Here’s a look at some of the key vehicles coming from the three later this year. These are the offerings which will play a dramatic role in determining the success or failure of these restructured companies.

A little more than a year on from its last update, Mercedes-Benz has this week revealed the 2011 S63 AMG, now powered by the German giant's new 5.5 litre twin-turbo V8 engine. While Mercedes continues development of the all-new S-Class, expected to launch late next year as a 2012 model, this last update to the current-generation S63 AMG is nonetheless a significant one, thanks to that new engine.

Replacing the 390kW/630Nm 6.2 litre V8 currently doing service in the AMG line-up, the new smaller-capacity twin-turbo-charged V8 produces 400kW and 800Nm of torque. The 5.5 litre V8 engine's maximum power is available at 4400rpm, with the huge torque figure coming online between 2000rpm and 4500rpm.

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Mini is hard at work on a new entry-level model--dubbed the Mini Minor or “Mini Mini”--and it could be revealed in concept form at the 2011 Geneva motor show.

The first phase of building the prototype is under way at a BMW site in Munich, Germany. AutoWeek first reported plans for this small car last month (“Mini Minor?”

AW June 7, 2010). It would be based on a modified version of an existing front-engine/front-wheel-drive platform boasting a shorter wheelbase.

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French automaker Peugeot is in the midst of a design transition, having recently appointed new design director Gilles Vidal and revealing the SR1 concept car to showcase the stylistic design trends for its future models. Now the automaker has revealed one of the first models to adopt this latest design trend but sadly, the new look appears as though it could be a step backwards.

Set to make its world debut at this September’s 2010 Paris Auto Show, the new Peugeot 508 has a very basic look that doesn’t convey much of the detail featured on the stylish 5 By Peugeot HYbrid4 concept car. Additionally, as revealed today, both sedan and wagon bodystyles will be offered. The interior of the car combines hi-tech with the use of high quality materials, including plenty of leather and some suede highlights.

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It’s birthday time and the BMW M3 is blowing out a hefty 25 candles. To celebrate BMW released a special edition 2011 M3 Coupe which sold out in just 12 minutes, so demand remains strong for the iconic model. In the last 25 years the M3 has evolved from a lightweight scrapper capable of taking on heavy hitters of the sports car world to the quintessential sports sedan that the rest of the segment is measured against.

In the process, it has dropped its bulging, swollen fenders for much smoother sheetmetal and lost its four-cylinder engine for a fully aluminum eight-cylinder that brings serious heat, but it remains a well-balanced sports coupe. This transformation wasn’t always an easy one. BMW sent its various M3s through many trials on the tracks of the motorsports world, and the 3 Series quickly built a reputation as a dynamic machine not to be messed with.

Renault is breaking away from the angular styling favored by its former design chief, Patrick Le Quement.

The French company will show a concept car that highlight's the brand's more emotional design at the Paris auto show in October.

Called DeZir [pronounced Desire], the two-seat concept, which is powered by an electric motor, is the first project led by Laurens van den Acker, who succeeded Le Quement last October.

“DeZir stands out as an illustration of the brand's commitment to more emotional styling,” Renault said in a statement, adding that the concept marks the start of a sequence of cars that will provide an insight into the company's new design direction.

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