Author: yoann besnard

Three million holes in roads
Drivers are having to dodge more than 3 million holes in the road.
In a report, the Asphalt Industry Alliance reveals that around 1 million are potholes left unfixed by local councils, while holes dug by utility companies account for a further 2.5 million road openings. The poor state of roads in England and Wales is caused by a shortfall of more than £1 billion in road maintenance budgets and £53 million was paid out in compensation for damage to vehicles or road traffic accidents in 2006/07.
"Despite some increase in central Government funding over recent years, it seems that highways maintenance is still suffering from historically being treated as the Cinderella service, " said Asphalt Industry Alliance chairman Jim Crick.
There is an 11-year backlog of maintenance work, while some roads faced a 65-year wait for resurfacing.
April 3, 2008
Toyota may increase its stake in Subaru
The Japanese carmaker plans to spend £152 million to increase its stake in Subaru form 8.7 per cent to 17 per cent according the Nikkei newspaper.
Toyota wants to increase its stake in Subaru by buying 64.25 million shares for a total amount of £152 million. However the carmaker has no intention to go beyond 20%. Toyota had bought the current stake from GM in 2005 when the American carmaker sold some assets to reduce its debt. Since then, Toyota has launched the Camry production at Subaru’s American facility located in Lafayette, Indiana, and the first vehicle rolled off lat year. Both carmakers are currently collaborating on a new affordable coupé based on the Impreza underpinnings and intended to be sold under the Toyota label. With its 17 per cent stake, Toyota wants to produce subcompact cars in the Subaru’s Japanese factory.
The increased stake won’t change Subaru’s affairs as the carmaker is used to having another carmaker among its shareholders. General Motors bought 20 per cent of Subaru in 1999 to increase its presence in Japan. Their collaboration gave birth to the Saabaru 9-2X while Subaru sold the Zafira in its domestic market. Before that, the stake owned by GM was owned by Nissan, who acquired the stake in 1968 during a period of government-ordered merging of Japanese auto industry to merge in order for improved competitiveness .
April 3, 2008
One million Nissan Tiida in the world
Nissan has sold the millionth Tiida in March of this year less than four years after its launch.
Often considered as the Japanese Megane, the Tiida is a compact car you won’t notice in the streets but still achieves top sales numbers despite lack of media spotlights. The one million milestone has been reached after launching the compact model in key markets such as the US or China. The Tiida is also sold in Europe since last year.
The compact car was facelifted in Japan in January of this year.The Tiida is available with three petrol engines, a 1.5-litre petrol engine, followed by 1.6-litre unit and a 1.8-litre engine. There is also a 1.5-litre diesel engine. The engines can be hooked up to a four-speed automatic, CVT or a six-speed manual gearbox.
April 3, 2008
Tesla boss confirms 2009 European launch
Tesla has announced that it will start selling the roadster in Europe at the end of 2009 at a price of £79,000/€100,000, but don’t rush for your chequebook as the Roadster won’t be available in the UK.
Tesla has decided to boost its sales by exporting its cars to Europe. With the help of the weak dollar, one did expect the roadster to be sold at a competitive price, but it seems that Tesla executives don’t really known anything about exchange rate. Indeed, if a Euro is roughly $1.5, a Euro is equal to $1 for them. While the roadster was expected to cost around €80,000, European customers will have to pay €100,000 to own a Tesla car.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Tesla boss Ze’ev Drori justifies the higher price with laughable reasoning such as shorter average driving distances and higher fuel prices. The car will be sold in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway.
April 3, 2008
Audi RS8 to debut in 2009
Audi has announced that it will launch a V10-powered R8 in the second quarter of next year.
Audi executive director of engine and powertrain, Wolfgang Hatz, confirmed that the carmaker will launch the eagerly-awaited V10-powered R8 next year after solving the cooling problem generated by the twin-turbocharged engine. “The cooling is no problem now. The car is now signed off, and will appear during the second quarter of 2009. I can’t say much about it until then,” he said. He also confirned that the engine will be an updated version of the 5.2-litre petrol unit. “Why would we spend money developing a whole new engine for this car, when we already have such a good one,” he added.
Expected to be dubbed RS8, the top of the range will feature the V10 seen in the RS6. Final specs remains unknown. The RS6 engine delivers 580bhp, so the RS8 will likely be more powerful. The RS8 is rumoured to reach a top speed above 200mph and run 0-60mph in less than four seconds.
April 3, 2008
Ferrari to debut in India by 2010
With its 83,000 millionaire, the Indian market can not be ignored by Ferrari which has announced it will debut sales there by 2010.
Initially, the carmaker planned to enter the Indian market this year, but the gloomy worldwide economy made Ferrari to postpone its arrival for a few years in order to check if there is a chance to succeed there.
“Ferrari is looking at India and we may enter the country by 2010. Before which, the company needs to set up a sales and marketing network in India. For us, customer satisfaction is of prime importance. Hence, we will also have to take care of these aspects before we enter India. We are looking forward to India.” Said Gabrielle Lalli.
Ferrari also wants to ensure that the growing number of millionaire won’t collapse this year as a result of the credit crisis.
April 3, 2008
Peugeot rolls out the millionth 207
Peugeot rolled out the millionth 207 two years after its launch in April 2006.
At a rate of 2,500 vehicles per day, the 207 reached the million mark two years after its launch in three-door and five-door hatchbacks. Last year, 521,000 cars have been delivered which enabled the small Peugeot to lead the segment in Europe with 440,000 delivered vehicles despite 70 competitors. The CC variant follows in the tracks of the 206 CC by also taking the top position of its segment, with almost 45,000 vehicles sold in 2007.
The 207 is built at three sites spread throughout Europe. The three and five-door 207, the 207 RC, the 207 SW, and the 207 variants Outdoor and RC are produced in the Poissy factory, located in the Paris region.
Since 2006, the factory of Trnava in Slovakia has been producing the three and five-door 207 body styles; the factory at Madrid in Spain builds the 207 CC as well as the three and five-door versions of the 207.
April 3, 2008
Franck Stephenson quits Alfa Romeo
In an interview given to Autoweek, Alfa Romeo head of design Franck Stephenson confirms he quits the carmaker. The news doesn’t come as a surprise. Former head of design at Fiat, he had been nominated at Alfa Romeo after being replaced by Lorenzo Ramaciotti. Observers were wondering how long it would take him to resign.
The designer refused to comment on his reasons. However he denied there was a link between its resignation and its forced move to Alfa. "There are no problems with Lorenzo. He is a fun guy to work with, and we worked very well together," he told the newspaper.
Despite moving inside the Fiat Group to head different brands design studio, the American designer succeeded in designing memorable cars such as the Cinquecento, the Bravo, the Quattroporte and the NC12. Before joining Fiat, Stephenson worked for BMW where he designed the first X5 and the Mini.
Franck Stephenson will be replaced 40-year-old Austrian Christopher Reitz.
April 2, 2008
Toyota denies having received government funding to develop hybrids
Toyota has denied it received government funding to develop its successful Prius model.
The company rejected allegations published in a Business Week article that quoted Jim Press, former board member at Toyota, as saying, "The Japanese government paid for 100 percent of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius."
Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said: "I can say 100 percent that Toyota received absolutely no support — no money, no grants — from the Japanese government for the development of the Prius".
Bringing the truth on this story is rather difficult as Toyota is rather secretive. As former board member of Toyota, Jim Press also gives some credentials to its statement. Moreover, the Japanese industry has always had and still has strong link the powerful MITI which promotes some private-sector projects, especially those for clean energy. However, this is the first time that Toyota is mentioned in such a case.
April 2, 2008
Proton to boost export
The Malaysian carmaker is currently working on a new engine range that includes diesel units as part of a plan to increase its global sales.
The small carmaker has no other solution than increasing its export if it doesn’t want to disappear in the future. Aware of the problem, its engineers hae been orered to develop a new in-house engine range to replace the Mitsubishi engines. The new range will include diesel units in an attempt to boost sales in Europe where the carmaker owns Lotus. The diesel engines will also help the company to boost its sales in the growing Indian market.
Along with the new engines, Proton will unveil new models next year. The company will launch its first minivan. Details remain unknown at this stage although the new model will likely be a people carrier like other Asian players. Proton will also launch facelited Persona and R3 Satria which suffers from poor qualities to compete on the European market.
April 2, 2008