Author: yoann besnard

FAW unveils the Bentung A501
The Chinese carmaker FAW has unveiled the A501 saloon under its luxury brand Bentung.
FAW had announced its intention to launch a luxury brand last year. The initial plan was to launch a saloon and a compact model. If the saloon has been launched, the new car won’t be a compact model but a saloon called A501.
The new saloon has been designed by ItalDesign Giugiaro and confirms the good impression given by the other model. Details remain scarce on the car specification although it is known that is available with a choice of two petrol engines, a in-house 1.6-litre unit and a Mazda 2.0-litre unit.
Source: Chinacartimes
March 18, 2008
Tesla starts building the Roadster
Tesla has started to build the first units of the Roadster model after months of delays.
Tesla President Ze’ev Drori has announced the company has finally started to build the Roadster model and will roll off the first vehicles soon. The first cars are featured with a temporary gearbox as the company engineers didn’t succeed in building a reliable two-speed transmission essential for the car’s performance. The first units will be equipped with a one-speed unit that will guarantee greater liability instead of speed. Indeed, the first production cars called “P1’ run the 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds while the Roadster was expected to achieve the performance in 4 seconds.
The first models will be eligible to a free upgrade when the company engineers achieves resolving the problems encountered by the two-speed transmission.
March 18, 2008
Hyundai to launch a luxury brand in China
Hyundai has announced it will launch a luxury in 2010. The news doesn’t come as a surprise until you learn that the new brand will be launched exclusively in China.
"In 2010, we will officially launch our luxury brand name and logo along the lines of Toyota’s Lexus, Nissan’s Infiniti and Honda’s Acura. All of our luxury models will have the new badge," Young-Key Koo, chief representative of Hyundai Motor China for sales and marketing, told Gasgoo.com.
This is not the first time the Korean carmaker is considering launching a new luxury brand as it was rumoured that Hyundai seriously thought about doing it in the US for the new Genesis saloon. However, the carmaker had decided to sell under its name as launching a new brand in the US was too expensive.
Launching a new brand in China is an ambitious plan and a smart move as the current automobile market is still at an early stage where carmakers build their brand image. The news doesn’t mean Hyundai will focus on cheap models. Indeed, Koo said that Hyundai will pursue its goal to move upmarket in China by revealing more luxurious new models in the future. The cheap models will likely be sold under the Kia badge in China.
March 18, 2008
Daimler considers ending Maybach
Daimler is seriously considering ending the Maybach adventure as the luxury brand doesn’t meet success. The company executives will decide within two years.
After several alternatives, such as building a hyper luxury G-Class or the Exelero coupé, Maybach has still no plan to replace the current models, the 57 and 62, both derived from the former S-Class. The company was reported to work on a new saloon, less expensive, featuring a innovative design inspired from the Mercedes CLS Class but this project seems to be put on hold. Daimler CEO Dr. Dieter Zetsche has admitted that there are no future Maybach models in the works.
Maybach has sold 146 vehicles last year far from the forecasted numbers and far from Rolls Royce which delivered 1,100 models last year. Since 2001, 40 per cent of Maybach dealers have been closed.
March 18, 2008
New York Auto Show unveilings
The New York Auto Show looks rather far for us in the UK but the motor show gets more and more attention from carmakers which like the idea to have another American show with a national coverage, but still focused on American market while Detroit became the show of German carmakers in the past years.
The motor show will feature eight world debuts and three concept cars: Acura TSX, eagerly-awaited Dodge Challenger, Hyundai Genesis coupé, facelifted Mercedes ML-Class, new Nissan Maxima, Pontiac G8 GXP, Pontiac Solstice coupé, the 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck for the new vehicles and Kia coupé, Scion Hako coupé and Suzuki Kizashi 3 for the concept cars.
Acura
The new TSX saloon will debut in New York as a longer and wider vehicle then the current generation. The new TSX will be powered by the same engine that powers the new Accord in Europe, the 201bhp 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine hooked up to either a six speed manual gearbox or a five speed automatic gearbox.
Dodge
Without a doubt, the new Challenger will be praised by professionals and the public. Dodge will likely unveil the entry-level engine, a 3.6-litre V6 petrol unit.
Hyundai
The Korean carmaker will pursue its goal to move upmarket after the new Genesis saloon and the facelifted Sonata by unveiling the long-awaited Genesis coupé which will be powered by a 3.8-litre V6 petrol engine delivering over 300bhp.
Kia
Kia is expected to show a concept car that previews its future coupé whose launch date remains unkwown.
Mercedes Benz
The German carmaker will show its facelifted ML-Class and will also launch three new Bluetec diesel models, the R320, the GL 320 and the ML320 all powered by a 3.0-litre V-6 turbodiesel engine that also injects urea into the exhaust stream to clean emissions.
Nissan
Nissan will unveil the new Maxima. The company will try to differentiate the Maxima from the Altima saloon as the former suffers from the latter’s competitive pricing.
Pontiac
The American carmaker wants to lead the show and will unveil three new vehicles. Pontiac will show the G8 Sport Truck derived from the Holden Ute. Due to reincarnate the legendary El Camino, the new model will feature a 361bhp 6.0-litre V8 engine and will shuttle to 60mph in just 5.4 seconds. The carmaker will also unveil the G8 GXP which is expected to offer over 400bhp. Along with the two G8s, Pontiac will also take the wraps off the Solstice coupé.
Scion
The Toyota’s brand destined for young buyers will unveil a concept car called Hako which will be a sporty interpretation of a box shape.
Suzuki
After the Kizashi 1 and 2, Suzuki will show a third iteration of the Kizashi family simply called Kizashi 3. The concept car will be a saloon that previews a future model the carmaker plans to launch in the future although to launch date has been revealed.
March 18, 2008
Vauxhall fights against papparazi
Vauxhall has released some official spyshots of the future Insignia under the form of an unexpected press release called ‘Camouflage and disguise: fight against prototype paparazzi’.
Vauxhall is teasing us with a rather humourous press file describing how hard its engineers work on camouflage to hide the future models from the prototype hunters. Vauxhall takes the problem very seriously and explains how designers and engineers develop a “facelift” for the upcoming model that will disguise the prototypes as much as possible.
For this part of the camouflage operation, experts use special adhesive and foil, which ensures a smooth surface and remains flexible and tear-proof at temperatures ranging from minus 40 to plus 70 degrees Celsius. In other areas, the foil is shimmed with foam to change the car’s contours. This adhesive material is also used to camouflage characteristic window lines. Small, highly contrasting covers are fitted to obscure other prototype body surfaces. For years, the practice at Vauxhall/Opel was to use a black and white chessboard pattern, but this has now been replaced by “Fishies”, rounded, fish-shaped diamonds designed to confuse camera lenses and spying eyes. This disguising job will soon be done even better by Flimmies, a new type of camouflage whose pattern creates a flickering effect.
The company also explains that one of the major weakness is always the technicians associated with the test car, which is why Vauxhall has a strict set of rules concerning prototypes. For example, the serious Rule 531 states that no camouflaged test car may stop in a public place, for instance, while the driver has a quick snack. A tarpaulin must also always be on board, as even Vauxhall prototypes sometimes break down during their test phase and must then be quickly covered over.
To protect plant secrets, prototypes are always accompanied by a second car on public roads, so help is always at hand if needed. Over long distances prototypes have to be transported in closed trucks, such as for test driving in Finland. In the past, resourceful photographers would all too often quickly lift up the truck’s tarpaulin and snap some shots while the driver was taking a well-deserved break.
March 18, 2008
Mahindra & Mahindra interested in buying Bertone
Mahindra & Mahindra is reported to be interested in buying the troubled coachbuilder Bertone. The final winner will be announced within three months.
In last November, the Italian coachbuilder filled for bankruptcy protection, and the future looked rather blurred after Domenico Reviglio, founder of Gruppo Prototipo, walked away in January. Since then the company has placed under administration and the current administrator has received seven offers, including one from Mahindra & Mahindra, the Indian carmaker who lost the Jaguar and Land Rover bid.

Mahindra & Mahindra bought another Italian designer, GRD, in January. If Grafica Ricerca Design doesn’t have the prestige of a Bertone, it will help the Indian carmaker to increase its research and design skills. GRD has been renamed Mahindra Graphic Research and Design.
Adding Bertone to its portfolio would boost Mahindra & Mahindra in terms of production capacity in Europe and in technology but also in terms of design. Without a doubt, this acquisition would enable the carmaker to offer stylish models quickly. With the future factory in the US, the Indian giant will need an attractive range. With Bertone, it would get talented people in hand to succeed.
March 18, 2008
Land Rover to fit the LRX’s interior on the final model
According to some sources, Land Rover plans to keep as much of the concept car’s interior intact as it can for the future final model.
The vast majority of concept cars lose their interiors during the transition to the production version and one did expect the LRX to follow the trend. But this time, the future small Land Rover might keep its interior as close as possible to that of the concept car. The interior was highly praised by the professional and by the public pushing the company executives to work hard on keeping the interior of the concept car.
Details remain scarce at this early stage and we will have to wait until the launch of the baby Land due in 2010 to know how close the interior will be. However, the news comes as a good sign for the future of Land Rover. By taking this smart move, Land Rover understood how the potential buyers of the future model will be different from the traditional buyers of Land Rover models. Instead of promoting a traditional brand image, the production version will have to go wild and funky as it will likely compete with the BMW Mini and Fiat 500.
The Land Rover LRX debuted at Detroit in last January and was displayed under another paint scheme at Geneva this month.
March 18, 2008
Lincoln works on a production version of the MKT Concept
According to company sources, Lincoln is currently working on bringing to production the MKT Concept unveiled at the last Detroit Auto Show.
No green light has been given yet, but Ford engineers have already started to work on the design of the final model codenamed D472. Ford executives will take a decision after showing a prototype to a consumer panel.
The MKT Concept shared its underpinnings with the Ford Flex crossover, but featured unique exterior and interior styling. With most of the engineering work being done, design is the last stage to be completed.
The carmaker offers another crossover in its range, the MKX model.
March 18, 2008
Porsche set to miss 2012 EU regulations
In an interview with Automotive News Europe, Porsche’s manager for energy and the environment, Herbert Ampferer, has revealed that the carmaker won’t meet the future CO2 emission regulations applicable from 2012.
"The model for CO2 burden-sharing among individual companies being discussed leads to outcomes that Porsche could never meet or could only meet by abandoning its market identity," told Herbert Ampferer, to the paper.
The European Union wants the carmaker to have a CO2 fleet average below 130g/km. Porsche’s fleet average was currently 242g/km in 2006 and the company would have to go below 144g/km for its future model, which is technically impossible at a time when the carmaker has only V8 or V10 in the pipes and when the hybrid solution has been delayed.
When the 2012 regulations are applicable, every Cayenne S sold in 2015 will generate a fine of £7,650/€9,702 as each gram over 130g/km will cost £75/€95.
March 17, 2008