Author: yoann besnard

Fiat sets european record for emissions reduction
Among the 10 best-selling automotive manufacturers in Europe, Fiat recorded the lowest average CO2 emissions value for vehicles sold in 2007, according to a recent analysis by JATO Dynamics.
The JATO analysis placed the Fiat brand (137.3 g/km) ahead of Peugeot (141.9 g/km), Citroën (142.2 g/km), Renault (146.4 g/km), Toyota (148.8 g/km), Ford (149.1 g/km), Opel/Vauxhall (152.9 g/km), Volkswagen (161.7 g/km), BMW (176.7g/km) and Mercedes-Benz (188.4 g/km).
“The results of this important analysis reward Fiat’s ongoing commitment to finding innovative solutions to reduce levels of polluting emissions and CO2,” explains Lorenzo Sistino, managing director of Fiat Automobiles. “Fiat’s aim is always to stay as close as possible to people’s real needs, and its commitment does not end here. Irrespective of what is decided by European politicians, our aim is still to achieve the lowest average adjusted level of CO2 emissions for Fiat cars by 2012,” he added.
As it continues its quest for alternative fuels, Fiat will continue downsizing its diesel and petrol engine vehicles, as seen on the new 1.4 T-Jet and 1.6 MultiJet
families. In particular, the adoption of new-generation turbochargers, combined with smaller capacity engines, will likely allow the carmaker to achieve performance levels that are comparable to or even better than higher capacity power units, but with lower fuel consumption and emissions.
April 21, 2008
Volkswagen unveils “Park Assist Vision”
Volkswagen has unveiled the “Park Assist Vision” which independently guides the equipped vehicle, a Passat, into any parking space.
Imagine that you need to park the car, but are too lazy to do it. With the “Park Assist Vision”, get out of the car, slams the door, walks away and aim a remote control back at the car. Your car now proceeds to reverse park itself into the available space, it then independently cuts the engine and activates the door locks. You dreamt it, VW did it. Volkswagen is now presenting a concept system at the Hanover Fair which is capable of perpendicular parking – and of doing so fully automatically. The only thing the driver needs to do is select an available space on the monitor of the navigation system, set the selection lever of the automatic-drive vehicle (DSG) to “P” and alight from the car. The driver can, of course, choose to stay in the vehicle until the vehicle has been manoeuvred into its space.
Two cameras located in the left and right exterior mirrors are responsible for gauging the dimensions of the parking space. The video signals are transmitted to a 2-GHz high-performance computer which then analyses them and sends commands to the steering and drive systems. If the driver has himself initiated the parking manoeuvre, the “Park Assist Vision” will reverse the vehicle into the parking space in accordance with the previously computed course and using electromechanical power steering, the electronic parking brake, DSG and the engine power produced by the idling mixture. Two additional cameras at the front and rear of the vehicle as well as the system’s ultrasound sensors monitor the operation and will stop the vehicle if necessary. The driver may also interrupt the manoeuvre at any time using the remote control.
This new driver assistance system is still in the trial phase of development, and a date has not yet been set for introduction of the system to series production.
April 21, 2008
Beijing 2008: Geely Panda
Geely has unveiled a new small car dubbed Panda because of its front fascia similar to that of the eponym animal.
A five-door hatchback, the small car tries to hide its styling cues copied from the Toyota Aygo by featuring panda-like nose on the front end. However, the rear doors and the hatchback are a carbon copy of that of the Aygo.
The adopted name causes concerns. Initially, the car was known as Aoo, until the first information released by the carmaker revealed the Panda moniker. But then Geely discovered that an Italian carmaker had had the silly idea of registering the name for a small car. Will the current Chinese Panda keep its name?
The Geely Panda is powered by an in-house petrol engine which delivers 71bhp. The small car costs around £3,600.
April 21, 2008
Spyhots: BMW next 7-Series interior
A picture of the dashboard of the upcoming has emerged on the Internet.
The German car magazine, Autobild, has released a picture of a pre-production version dashboard of the next BMW 7-Series. The new dash keeps the overall shape of that of the current model, but adopts some curved lines and integrates the LCD screen. The pre-production dashboard mixes wood inserts and black panels on the central console.
As expected, the 7-Series inherits its gearstick from the X5 and keeps the controversial iDrive system. The gearstick will control the new eight-speed automatic gearbox.
April 21, 2008
Mitsubishi to build a low cost car
Mitsubishi has announced that it is currently working on a low cost model expected to be launched by 2010.
Mitsubishi is the latest carmaker to join the budget car battle by announcing its intention to sell its new model in 2010. While other carmakers have generally developed a new platform or used an all platform to build compact models, Mitsubishi is taking a different path which might also be riskier.
In order to cut cost, the Japanese carmaker plans to reuse a platform used to build the famous Kei car. Mainly available in Japan, those small vehicles are powered by a 660cc petrol engine. When exported, they come with a bigger engine. For its low cost model, it would likely be a 1.0-litre engine.
"The mini vehicle business in a sense is a weakness because they are only sold in Japan, but we can turn this into a strength by building a global car using the platform," company’s president Osamu Masuko said.
The car is rumoured to cost below 1 million yen/£4,800. At first glance, Mitsubishi’s project looks a bit clumsy. Indeed, the carmaker already offers the small Minica (pictured) for ¥765,450/£3,750 on the Japanese market. In the UK, the Peruoda Kelisa costs £4,812 while a proper Hyundai i10 only costs £6,495. In emerging markets, the famous Logan doesn’t ease Mitsubishi’s situation. In Romania, the entry level Logan only costs £5,100 and is much bigger and roomier than any Kei car Mitsubishi offers.
By taking the easy path, Mitsubishi might meets failure.
April 21, 2008
Beijing 2008: Brilliance BS4 Estate
Here are the pictures of the new BS4 Estate that Brilliance launched at the Beijing Motor Show.
Two weeks ago, Petrol-Head had released a few spyshots of the unexpected BS4 Estate. The spyshots were pictures of a prototype likely to be made in Italy. However, there was some doubt whether the car was real or not. Information remain scarce. Like the BS6 and BS4m the estate variant might be designed by Pininfarina. The exterior is rather appealing and there is no doubt that Brilliance wants to move upmarket thanks to the help provided by BMW.
The new estate will join a market segment which still needs to mature in China. Chevrolet and Peugeot sell the Sail and the 307SZ respectively there. Soon, Chery will launch the A5 estate.
April 21, 2008
Beijing 2008: Audi Q5
Audi took the wraps of the long-awaited Q5 at the Beijing Motor Show. The hot SUV will reinforce Audi’s lineup and help to boost it sales to achieve its 2018 target.
Despite spy-photographers working hard on spotting the Q5, Audi will have almost succeeded to keep its latest model in the dark. Pictures had emerged recently, but interior details had remained unknown. The new A5 is exactly what was expected, a small Q7. At 4630 mm long and 1880 mm wide, the Q5 is shorter than the Q7 by 450 mm removing the ability to add a third seat row in the future. Like the Q7m the A5’s exterior styling doesn’t have the grace of the saloons, but at least, the new model will fit better on our British roads.
The Q5 is based on the company’s MLP platform also used by the A4 and A5. As expected the Q5 is only equipped with the in-house Quattro transmission unlike the new GLK. In normal running conditions, the transfer case distributes the power to the front and rear axle in a 40:60 ratio for a rear-focused style that enhances driving pleasure. When needed, the quattro driveline can deliver up to 65 percent of the power to the front axle and a maximum of 85 percent to the rear axle. In addition to the in-house transmission, the topping engines, 3.0 TDI and 2.0 TFSI, will be available the S tronic, a new twin-clutch transmission with seven speeds. The 2.0 TDI transfers its power to a six-speed manual transmission.
The engine range will offer three engines, one petrol unit and two diesel units. The entry level will be powered by the 2.0 TDI seen in the other brand’s models. Drawing on four cylinders and two liters of displacement as well, it delivers a power output of 168bhp and a torque of 258 lb ft between 1,750 and 2,500 rpm. Average consumption reaches 35mpg. The other diesel engine is the powerful 3.0 TDI. This V6 diesel engine delivers 240bhp, with 369 lb ft of torque available between 1,500 and 3,000 rpm. Audi claims this three-litre engine achieves 31mpg. The only petrol unit is the The 2.0 TFSI which has been entirely redesigned for the Q5. The power jumps to 211bhp and the torque is of 258 lb ft at 1,500 rpm and remains constant up to 4,200 rpm. The Q5 2.0 TFSI achieves 28mpg.
With the unveil of the Q5 and the GLK, the fight to dominate the premium small SUV is launched.
April 21, 2008
Beijing 2008: Mercedes GLK
After two concept cars in Detroit and Geneva, Mercedes has finally unveiled the official GLK at the Beijing Motor Show.
There was no better way to tell Europeans that Mercedes doesn’t care anymore about them after unveiling the GLK in China. It is also a clumsy attempt to steal the media coverage from the new Audi Q5. As predicted the production version is almost identical to the previous concept cars. The GLK features the latest brand’s design with sharper lines and an interior which comes with a new dashboard styling also seen on the future E-Class.
Mercedes has only released the final specifications of the American version, the GLK 350. The small SUV is powered by a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine which delivers a power output of 268bhp. The GLK will be available with a choice of two transmissions, a rear-wheel drive system and the in-house four-wheel drive system called 4MATIC. The GLK sits on 19in wheels in standard which can be upgraded to 20in wheels. The SUV runs 0-62mph in 6.5 seconds and achieves a low 23mpg.
April 21, 2008
Smart ForTwo to be sold in China
Daimler has announced it will start selling the ForTwo in China from next year.
Daimler CEO, Dieter Zietsche has announced that the Smart brand will start exporting the small car to China from mid 2009 in an attempt to boost its global sales and turn its business into a profitable one. China will become the second large market outside Europe to get the ForTwo city car after the US where the car has been on sale since the beginning of the year.
The success met on the American market likely convinced the company’s executives to take the opportunity to launch the city car on the fast growing Chinese market where famous traffic jams and high pollution levels are favourable to smaller cars.
However, the path is far from being easy as Smart will meet a strong competition from local players such as Shuanghuan which sells a ForTwo’s carbon copy called Bubble.
April 21, 2008
Next Saab 9-5 to offer 350bhp
A Saab executive has announced the carmaker will launch the next-generation 9-5 saloon before the end of this year at a major motor show.
Saab general manager Steve Shannon has told dealers that the Swedish carmaker will unveil the eagerly-awaited 9-5 at a major motor show which is likely to be the Paris Motor Show. With this new generation, Saab wants to make a return into the premium market segment and this time the carmaker might have its chance.
The future saloon is believed to grow in size to match the competition. The next 9-5 will also get bigger engines. Although secrecy surrounds the specifications, it is said that the topping version will offer 350bhp. This number will put the topping 9-5 in competition with the Audi 4.2 FSI, the BMW 550i SE and the Mercedes E-Class 500 and the Volvo S70 V8.
April 21, 2008