Author: yoann besnard

Rendering of the five-door Fiesta

Ford has unveiled the pictures of the new Fiesta under its three-door body, but the five-door is yet to be revealed. MotorAuthority has released a rendering of what the five-door Fiesta would look like.
It is not a secret that the five-door will keep the exterior styling of the three-door; however one question remains answered. How will the designers integrate the two rear doors. The interpretation realized by Schulte Design looks convincing and the Fiesta five-door would be appealing enough to take on the French stars of the segment in Europe, Peugeot 207 and Renault Clio.
Will Ford expand its lineup like French carmakers did. Indeed, the Peugeot 207 comes with several variants: three-door and five-door hatchbacks, folding roof CC, estate SW and a crossover. There was the Fusion model, but it was rather a failure in Europe. The car suffered from a tame design and unconvincing off-road manners. Mazda plans to release other variants in the future and as the 2 and the Fiesta models share the same platform, the Blue Oval brand might make the jump.
Click here to see all the pictures
February 19, 2008
Second teaser of the Saab 9-1

Saab has released the second teaser of the 9-1 concept due to be unveiled at Geneva in a few weeks.
The second teaser gives some clues about the overall shape of the compact model. The car features a long nose and small windows. Despite being based on the Vauxhall/Opel Astra, the concept car comes under a three-door form. Likewise the long wheelbase promises a roomy interior but the windshield seems to be very low. With this model, it seems that Saab plans to take on the German clique by offering a bold design to the detriment of practicality.
At this stage, information is scarce. The engine range remains unknown although some observers think the compact Saab might be powered by a downsized engine, a turbocharged 1.4-litre unit.
February 19, 2008
Beijing to be stricter with pollution

Beijing which will organise the next Olympic Games this summer has announced a new emission regulation called “China IV”, inspired from the “Euro IV”.
Pollution is a major problem in Beijing. It it’s difficult to solve such a complex matter, there is one figure to help prioritizing the actions: there are 3.1 million motor vehicles in Beijing and about 1,000to 1,200 vehicles are adding to Beijing’s roads every day.
“All the new light petro vehicles that are on sale in the Beijing market shall have to meet the new China IV standards from the beginning of next month,” said Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau.
The new standard for Beijing cars is estimated to bring emission of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides further down by 48,000 tons, 5,300 tons, and 4,100 tons this year.
The new emission standards equivalent to Euro IV will start from March 1 and requires that gasoline and diesel sold at all outlets in the capital city must meet the new China IV standards.
February 19, 2008
Renault may revive Alpine

The French carmaker might relaunch the Alpine brand and it is rumoured that the company might unveil a small roadster to spearhead a revival of the French marque.
In an interview with AM-Online, Renault’s product executive vice president, plan, product planning and programs Patrick Pelata said that “we[Renault] are working on a sports car project and you will see this within the next few years. We still have the Alpine name which we would like to use again and ideally we would like to have an affordable sports car on a RWD platform that is great fun to drive.”
He described the affordabel sports car as future rival for the Mazda MX-5. “Think Mazda MX-5 or even Smart Roadster and you are on the right lines,” he explained to AM-Online. This roadster would be the first model of an ambitious plan to launch several models under the Alpine badge.
The planned roadster would likely get its own platform as there is no rear-wheel drive platform in the current lineup. Unless Renault decides to reuse the Twingo 2 CC base to curt cost. The future Twingo 2 CC will likely be powered by the 99bhp 1.2-litre petrol engine and will be sold at the competitive price of around £10,000.
Renault recently displayed a few Alpine models at his restaurant in Paris.
February 19, 2008
Tesla to raise £125 million

Tesla chairman Elon Musk, who has just been delivered the first car, said in an interview with the Financial Times that the start up plans to raise £125 million to build the upcoming WhiteStar electric saloon model.
With the Whitestar, Tesla wants to go maintsream and is the company’s serious attempt to take on established rivals such as BMW 3-Series or Mercedes C-Class models. The saloon is expected to be sold at a price tag of £25,000, about half the price of the roadster.
With such an attractive price, the company expects to sell 20,000 unites per year. wants to build a factory in the US to produce the saloon and is applying for a loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy for debt finance. The roadster is currently being built by Lotus in the UK. The most likely location for the future facility would be either New Mexico or California.
Tesla Motors was launched in 2003 and has raised £72 million in venture capital financing, including a £20 million round completed last week. It has taken deposits from more than 900 customers for its roadster and plans to sell 1,000 to 2,000 next year.
February 19, 2008
Karmann to stop producing the Audi A4 convertible

Karmann will stop producing the Audi A4 convertible as its contract will later this year. The coachbuilder won’t build the upcoming A5 convertible. To commemorate the partnership, Audi will launch a limited edition called “Advance”.
This special edition will include a metallic paint, pearl nappa leather, parking sensors, steeling wheel mounted controls, alarm system, xenon headlights, Bose stereo and a navigation system for an extra €2,950.
Karmann has started to build the A4 convertible in 2002 and has built 200,000 cars since then. The loss of the Audi A4 convertible contract is a real blow for the German coachbuilder which suffers from Indina and Chinese competition.
February 19, 2008
First video of the Fiesta

Here is the first video of the all-new Fiesta that Ford will unveil at the Geneva Motor Show. The new Fiesta offers an appealing design, outside and inside, and will go on sale from next autumn under a three-door and five-door variants.
The Fiesta will offer a wide range of petrol engines from a 60bhp 1.25-litre to 115bhp 1.6-litre and two diesel units, a 68bhp 1.4-litre and a 90bhp 1.6-litre.
February 18, 2008
Webasto to unveil a concept car with an innovative heating and folding roof systems

The German parts supplier will unveil a concept car at the Geneva Motor Show called Light Concept.
Like Faurecia and its concept car, the Light Concept will aim at showcasing the expertise of the company’s technologies. The concept car will show the new “Webasto LigHT Concept”, a roof concept featuring a hybrid top with a new material mix and he Liquid Heat Generator (LHG), a newly developed auxiliary heating system which generates heat, which occurs through turbulence in the engine coolant, and is regulated by an intelligent hydraulic performance control.
Webasto has previously displayed concept cars such as the Welcome2 Concept unveiled in 2003. It was based on the Mercedes CL500.
February 18, 2008
Vauxhall unveils the facelifted Zafira

Vauxhall has unveiled the revamped Zafira that will be introduced with the new 08-plate.

In addition to the current trim levels, Vauxhall adds the new Exclusiv trim which comes with air conditioning, a CD stereo, remote central deadlocking, electric front windows, side, front and curtain airbags, 16-inch Structure wheels, roof rails and body-coloured bumpers.

The 2008 range gets more equipment as curtain airbags come as standard while Design, Elite and VXR models also get new piano black interior panles around the audio and ventilation controls.

Vauxhall sold 47,813 Zafiras last year, giving the model a total of 27.7 per cent of the compact MPV segment.
February 18, 2008
Nissan Tino hybrids tests in the US

Nissan has been testing a fleet of 20 Tino hybrids equipped with Li-ion batteries for the last three years in the US. One of the vehicles reached 150,000 miles.
The Li-ion rechargeable batteries have been developed by Nissan with the help of NEC. Both companies started in 2000 to develop the new batteries and equipped the 20 Tino in 2005 for real-world testing. One purpose of the test was to confirm the data forecasted by the simulation.
The real-world results of the Li-ion packs has proven to be very close to predictive simulations. The prototype battery packs have also proven to be more efficient than comparable nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) packs.
February 18, 2008