GM

Australia will be saying farewell to Holden this year, spelling the death of locally developed rear-drive performance cars Down Under – and in the UK. The Vauxhall VXR8 GTS-R will be the last Aussie muscle car sold in the UK, but its 600 hp engine means it won't be going quietly into the night.

GM has come under fire for allegedly installing defeat devices on over 700,000 vehicles with Duramax engines. A class action lawsuit argues GM and Bosch knowingly sold cars tuned to emit illegal amounts of nitrogen oxide when outside the test environment.

GM Holden will close its manufacturing plant on October 20, but won't be going gently into that good night. Instead, the team at Holden Special Vehicles has created the GTS-R W1. It's powered by an LS9 V8, and just 300 examples will be built, providing a fitting farewell to the classic Aussie V8.

Hydrogen has long been thought of as an ideal alternative to petrol cars, because it fits in with our driving habits. Even so, battery electric cars tend to steal the headlines, with few hydrogen options on the market. That could change, with GM and Honda investing in mass production of fuel cells.

Is it possible for a volume car maker to develop a desirable luxury car? Many have tried over the years, but few have succeeded in convincing brand-sensitive buyers that their latest car is truly a match for the likes of Mercedes. Opel thinks it can buck the trend with its new Insignia Grand Sport.

The SS model comes with a muscular V8 that is very similar to that powering the Corvette, but which is surprisingly fuel efficient in the Camaro. Add in some excellent design for the new Camaro’s look and a fresh new interior and, well, you have a serious contender in the pony car field.

Manufacturing small, efficient cars is still a big, dirty business. Nissan was one of the first to make big changes in the hope of lowering its production carbon footprint, and now GM has promised to use only renewable energy in its global operations by 2050.

A robotic glove that was originally designed for use on the ISS has been licensed for use back home, where it could be put to work helping manufacturing workers. Developed in partnership between GM and NASA, the RoboGlove is designed to provide the user with extra gripping strength.

With the supercharged V8 under the hood of the 2017 Camaro ZL1 putting out 640 horsepower (477 kW) and 640 pound-feet (868 Nm) of torque, Chevrolet has designed a new 10-speed automatic transmission​ to handle all of that power going to the rear wheels.

Cylinder deactivation is nothing new, it’s been used in automotive for decades. A new system called Dynamic Skiip Fire from Tula Technologies takes this idea to a new level with significant fuel economy gains as a result – especially in heavy-duty applications.

A new study has examined a rare condition that makes people unable to feel pain, known as congenital insensitivity to pain. The effort represents a big breakthrough, pinpointing the key elements that cause the condition.

General Motors and the US Army are joining forces to put hydrogen fuel cell technology to the test in extreme military environments. The Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center will test on a Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck modified to run on a hydrogen fuel cell.