Author: yoann besnard

Honda to launch the future CR-Z in Europe first

Honda has certainly lost the first battle in the hybrid war, but it isn’t over. The Prius eliminated the Insight and The Civic IMA, but Honda might have the eagerly-awaited answer to knock down the ubiquitous Toyota.
One of the direction taken by Honda will be to launch a sporty vehicle with a strong personality, something Toyota has never been able to do in eighty years, under the form of an affordable coupé. Honda hopes to conquer the heart of European customers in an attempt to boost the global sales of hybrid cars.
The upcoming coupé derived from the CR-Z will be lunched first in Europe and to this end Honda is currently developing the coupé at Offenbach in Germany. The future CR-Z would be sold at a competitive price between £19,000 and £22,000. However, if the demand for the hybrid powered CR-Z is not string enough, the Japanese carmaker is ready to build a normal version powered by a petrol engine.
February 22, 2008
Italian Fioravanti to unveil the Hidra coupé at Geneva

The Italian designer Fioravanti, famous for its roof featured on the Ferrari 575M Super America, will unveil a new concept car at the Geneva Motor Show. The concept car will be a five-door coupé called Hidra.
After the MPV, Fioravanti opens a new potential segment, the MPC, short for Multi Purposes Coupe. The car will be roomy enough for for passenger and will be equipped with a “revolutionary patented solution for the glass surfaces.” The car will also come with a next-generation alternative energy powertrain like the Pininfarina Sintesi.
With this concept car, Fioravanti also celebrates its twentieth anniversary. The design house was set up twenty years ago by Leonardo Fioravanti, a former Pininfarina designer. At the Italian coachbuilder, he had collaborated on the Ferrari Daytona, Ferrari Dino, Ferrari 512 Berlinetta Boxer, the Ferrari 308 GTB, and the Ferrari 288 GTO.
February 22, 2008
Third Tesla model to be built by a Big Three?

While the Whitestar is begine developed and a new American factory being planned, Tesl is seriously considering expanding its lineup with a third vehicle cheaper than the Whitestar.
The car would be a sports car with the size of a compact and would be sold at the competitive price tag of £18,000. Such a low price would oblige the company to go mainstream. Aware of the situation and its limited resources, Tesla might consider licensing the production to a carmaker used build 10,000s cars per day.
The company then turned its eyes toward Detroit and is very keen on getting help to build the future sports car. However, Tesla plans don’t imply the company to be bought one day by another giant carmaker in order to get access to the company’s technology. When asked about it, Tesla president Darryl Siry said “[being purchased] is not our desired outcome.”
February 22, 2008
Nissan to recall 130,00 Navarra

Nissan has announced it will recall 130,000 Navarra pick-up to modify the software that controls the deployment of the airbags during a frontal impact.
The new modification made to the airbag control unit aims at improving its efficiency during collision. The concerned vehicles have been built between January 2005 and May 2007.
The reprogramming work should take no more than 20 minutes for which there will be no charge and Nissan will contact owners and will ask them to return their vehicle to their nearest Nissan Dealer.
February 22, 2008
Spyshots: next-generation Hyundai Coupé

Here is a spyshot of the future Hyundai Coupé which which is expected to be launched later this year. The car has been previewed as a concept car at the last Los Angeles Auto Show.
The eagerly-awaited coupé will be powered by a turbocharged four cylinder petrol engine whose power is said to be near 215bhp. That engine will be featured on the entry-level while the topping versions is rumoured to be powered by the 3.8 litre V6 engine issued from the Hyundai Azera but boosted at 300 bhp. On the other hand, Hyundai’s U.S. product development chief, John Krafcik, has ruled out the rumour of a V8 engine in an interview with Automotive News.
On the inside, previous spyshots had revealed an interior similar the Japanese competitors’. However until now, only the manual gear stick had been shot and the new pictures bring more information about the automatic gearbox. It will offer a manual shifting capability although it appears that it won’t come with Shift paddles. The new pictures also reveal the rear passengers bench which is separated in the middle by a central console featuring a pair of cup holders and some storage.

Click he to see all the pictures
Source: Autoblog
February 22, 2008
Suzuki to build a Mondeo/Vectra competitor

Suzuki decided to focus on small cars at time when competitors were building bigger models like SUVs. Once again, while carmakers abandon the traditional saloon market to produce crossovers, the Japanese carmaker will launch a new saloon in the coming years set to compete with the Mondeo.
In an interview with Ward’s Auto, American Suzuki vice president Gene Brown has revealed that the company will launch a saloon derived from the Kizashi 1 and Kizashi 2 concept cars unveiled at Frankfurt and Tokyo respectively. However, the future model won’t compete directly with the segment best sellers. Doing so would likely be a bottomless pit. The car maker would go on its own to develop a smaller car with a roominess matching the best in segment.
Suzuki sold a Mondeo competitor in the US which was are-badged Chevrolet Epica but the car never met any success there. The company will unveil the Kizashi 3 at the next New York Auto Show in April.
February 22, 2008
A new British sports car under development

A new British sports car is being developed by a former McLaren engineer, Jim Dowle, who expects to launch a prototype within the next 18 months.
The future sports car will aim at taking on the established Lotus Exige model. It will be powered by a mid-mounted powertrain whose power output will be around 200bhp. At this moment Dowle is reviewing several engines that could match the car’s requirements. Following the example of Lotus, the future Exige challenger would focus on weight reduction and will weigh 870kg. Doyle wants the car to be offered at a competitive price tag of £35,000 although he didn’t mention how many units would be built every year.
Jim Doyle brings a proven expertise to the project as he worked on the F1 road car and the SLR under the leadership of Gordon Murray. I think readers will agree that there is no better classroom than that!’
Source: Pistonheads
February 22, 2008
Ford, Mazda and ChangAn to invest £29 million

Ford has announced it will invest £29 million in China with the help of Mazda and ChangAn to boost sales on the Chinese domestic market.
The investment will boost the joint venture’s registered capital to more than £175 million. Ford will provide £10 million, ChangAn £14 million and Mazda £5 million. As usual in China, the Chinese partner holds 50 percent of the joint venture. Fold and Mazda holds 35 percent and 35 percent respectively.
Chang’an Ford Mazda’s sales rose by 60% to 271,100 vehicles last year. After opening a new factory in last September, the three-way joint venture production capacity jumped to 410,000 units. Despite the recorded growth in 2007, Ford is far behind other carmakers. The carmaker’s rivals broke into the market earlier and have already established their brands among China’s growing consumer class.
Ford’s Focus compact became one of the 10 best-selling cars in China last year, but the company’s profit margins were slimmer than some of its competitors’ because many of the parts used to build the Focus are still made outside China.
February 21, 2008
Nissan to lay off designers in the US

In a surprising move, Nissan has decided to lay off a part of its American design team in an attempt to boost productivity among the remaining team and cut costs.
Of the 100 designers working in the US, 12 have accepted the buyout. most of them work at the San Diego Office specialized in concept cars. In the meantime, the company wants to reduce the development time from 24 months to 12 months. The Japanese carmaker has already shortened the development time from 48 months to 24 month a few years ago.
Nissan is not the only carmaker to plan such a goal. Fiat has led the way by developing the Bravo compact model in less than 18 months from from the first sketches to the official launch. Fiat CEO has similar plans for Lancia as he wants to shorten the development time to 12 months.
February 21, 2008
Smart ForTwo starts strongly in the US

Penske Auto Group, distributor of the Smart ForTwo in the US, has announced it had delivered 1,400 cars in January of this year.
This is good news for the carmaker as the ForTwo was launched last month. The distributor plans to sell 1,500 more vehicles this month and another 2,000 in March. It expects to sell between 20,000 and 25,000 this year. Roger Penske said. “We think it’s the right car at the right time ” and “we’re really excited about the smart business.”
He also said he was pushing Daimler Benz to send more vehicles in order to satisfy a growing demand. He shouldn’t have any problems to be heard in Stuttgart as Daimler CEO Dieter Zietsche hopes the American market will save the Smart brand. Indeed, the company hasn’t made a profit yet despite a launch which occurred almost ten years ago.
February 21, 2008