Author: yoann besnard

Hyundai has strong ambitions for 2008
Hyundai CEO, Chung Mong-koo has announced in a speech to mark the new year that the car maker wants to increase its global sales by 20% for this year. The Korean company expects to sell 4.8 million vehicles compared with 3.96 million over the same period last year.
Hyundai expects to sell 3.11 million vehicles this year while its subsidiary Kia Motors will target 1.69 million vehicles.This is not the first time Hyundai announces an ambitious target. Last year, the company planned to sell 2.735 million vehicles but only achieved to sell 2.6 million units. How does Hyundai plan to sell 830,000 more vehicles? The company expects a strong growth on its national market and expects new models to boost demand in the US and in China.
On the American market, Hyundai will soon sell the eagerly-awaited Genesis saloon which will mark the company’s serious attempt to take on Lexus in the luxury segment. Some observers believe that the subprime crisis will prevent Hyundai to succeed on the luxury market as demand will decrease and competition increase. But automobile history might repeat itself. Indeed, Lexus arrived on the American market during a recession but its low price and the Toyota’s brand image convinced people to buy the LS saloon at a time when driving a German car was too arrogant. Hyundai might benefit from the same situation as US is heading for a recession. Kia will also unveil its new Mohave SUV destined for the American market. The new SUV will be powered by V6 and V8 engines. Its lack of green credentials might become a disadvantage but its expected low price tag will likely convince consumers to make the jump.
On the other hand, China will be a tougher challenge as competition from domestic car makers increase and Toyota’s success is another threat for the Korean car maker. But Hyundai is confident and has recently opened its second factory in China.
Source photo: Korea Times
January 7, 2008
Spyshots: Lincoln Flex-based crossover

Ford has already announced that it will focus on developing the Lincoln brand and here is the first spyshots of a future crossover derived from the Ford Flex model. At this stage the final spec of the future model remains unknown although it is rumoured that it will be called MKF.
Like the MKZ which shares its underpinnings with the Ford Edge, the future crossover will share its inner structure, powertrains and suspension layout with the Flex and Taurus X models, but will have unique exterior and interior styling. The exterior design appears to be derived more from the Taurus X than the Flex. The front fascia will sport the corporate grille which looks impressive on the prototype. Like the Ford models, the MKF will be based on the Ford D3 platform and will likely be powered by the 265bhp 3.5-litre V6 Duratec petrol engine.
Will a re-badged Ford Taurus-X/Flex be enough to increase sales of the Lincoln. Nothing is sure as the company’s habit to clone vehicles between brands has never been a success. Perhaps Ford should also think at differentiating technically its brands

Click here to see all the pictures
Source: Autoblog
January 7, 2008
Chevrolet Camaro: spyshots and an official picture

The future Camaro continues revealing its charms with a unofficial pictures of the interior and an official picture of the exterior styling.
The unofficial pictures have been unveiled by Auto Express which scrutinised the future muscle car from every angle. While the exterior design was appealing on the first shots in December, the interior is disappointing by a dull design and a build quality that will likely never match the European standard. If the overall design can be acclaimed for its unique styling, the attempt to mix the ’60s design with contemporary plastic trimmings looks rather unappealing. Actually the gear-knob would fit perfectly in a Fiat Panda, but not in a sports car. Likewise, the ergonomic appears to be forgotten by designers who put gauges at the bottom of the central panel. But GM has recently proved that it could offer cars with an appealing interior. Let’s wait and see.
The other picture has been posted by Ed Pepper, Chevrolet General Manager, on the Fastlane blog owned by GM. This is an undisguised picture of the Chevrolet Camaro already revealed in a previous post. According to Ed Pepper, Bob Lutz asked the engineers to test the car without camo in order to evaluate the aerodynamics and cooling efficiency.

Click here to see all the pictures
January 7, 2008
Tata to lead the Jaguar and Land rover bid

It wasn’t a real secret but Ford has confirmed that Tata was leading the bid over the Jaguar and Land Rover sale. Lewis Booth, executive vice president – Ford of Europe and PAG, has declared that “Ford is committed to focused negotiations at a more detailed level with Tata Motors concerning the potential sale of the combined Jaguar Land Rover business.”
Until now three potential buyers were in the race to buy the two carmakers. One was the Mahindra & Mahindra car maker and the other bidder was OneEquity. This is a good news for Tata but there is still a large amount of work before both parties sign an agreement. Lewis Booth said that “there is still a considerable amount of work to do, and while no final decision has been made, we will proceed with further substantive discussions with Tata Motors over the forthcoming weeks with a view to securing an agreement that is in the best interests of all parties concerned.“
January 7, 2008
Mercedes-Benz to show the GLK at Detroit

Mercedes-Benz has unveiled the first pictures of the concept car it will display next week at Detroit. Called GLK Freeside Concept, the compact SUV is nothing else than the future GLK set to compete with the BMW X3, Land Rover Freelander and the future Audi Q5.

Ignore the dual tone paint scheme, the specific wheels and the integrated exhaust pipes, and you will get the GLK production version. With the GLK, the company is not a pioneer in the compact SUV segment. Thus designer’s task was to ensure that the GLK wouldn’t be mistaken for any competitors and to remind consumers that Mercedes was a pioneer in off-road vehicles. There was no better way than taking design cues from the iconic G-Class. Combined with latest company’s design DNA, the GLK features a overall shape made of taut lines and expansive surfaces.

The interior of the concept car is also very close to the production version. The dashboard features an unsuccessful attempt to mix the traditional panel instruments seen in the ’80s company’s models with the latest technologies. At 4520 mm long, the GLK will sit below the M-Class and will likely be roomy enough for five passengers.

Despite an attempt to revive the G-Class’ filiation, the GLK will likely be road-biased although Mercedes-Benz says it will “perform exceptionally in all conditions”. The GLK features the in-house 4Matic transmissions which has a 45:55 percent basic distribution. Under the hood, as reported in a previous post, the GLK will offer a complete engine range. The GLK Freeside Concept is powered by a turbocharged 2.2-litre diesel unit which comes with the Bluetec technology. It has an output of 168bhp and its NOx emissions are cut by 80%. It is hooked up to a seven-speed automatic gearbox.

The GLK will go on sale in Europe at the end of 2008 and will cross the ocean in 2009. Unfortunately, we won’t see the GLK in the UK as Mercedes doesn’t plan to build a right hand drive GLK.
January 7, 2008
2007 sales analysis for the French market

The French market increased it sales by 3.2% for the year 2007 with 2 064 633 sold vehicles compared to 2,00,549 units over the same period in 2006. The performance is slightly worse than 2005 when 2,067,789 were sold. Despite its planned replacement due to appear next year, the Renault Megane model topped the sales chart with 155,336 vehicles.
The Renault Clio ranked second with 145,345 delivered vehicles while the recently launched Twingo took the seventh rank with 52,134 vehicles. Globally Renault’s sales decreased by 6% in 2007 which contrasts with Dacia. Indeed, its Romanian subsidiary recorded a 74.1% increase with 32,635 vehicles compared to 18,742 in 2006. Dacia sold more vehicles than Nissan which recorded a slight increase of 4,2% to 32,263 units.
PSA Peugeot Citroen recorded a 2% increase with 626,798 vehicles compared with 614,728 units over the same period in 2006, but situation differs between its two brands. Citroen recorded a strong 7.5% increase while Peugeot scored a 2% decrease. 2007 was a good year for Citroen whose best model, the C4, ranked fourth with 119,345, a 5.8% increase compared to 2006. Despite ist old age, the C3 performed well by taking the sixth rank with 61,522 units. Peugeot models still topped the chart with the third rank for the 207, 131,623 units and a 6.4% increase. The outgoing 307 took the fifth rank with 65,800 vehicles. Surprisingly, the 407 family ranked eighth with 41,710 vehicles. 2008 will likely be a tougher year for the French saloon as the recently launched Laguna will iikely increase its sales.
Overall, the French car makers had a 51.84% market share in 2007 compared with 53.34% over the same period in 2006. December sales have been difficult for the French brands due to the new CO2 tax that has started this year on January 1st. Indeed, foreign brands, especially premium’s, tried to sell as many cars as possible. In December, Porsche recorded a 319% increase while Land Rover increased is sales by 300%! The first foreign model is the Ford Focus with 40,652 vehicles while Volkswagen sold 39,559 vehicles in 2007.
Volkswagen took the first rank among imported brands with 142,600 units while Ford replaced Opel at the second rank with 103,000 units thanks to a 7.2% increase over the same period in 2006. Opel fell at the fourth rank with 99,732 units behind Toyota which recorded a 6.3% increase to 100,732 vehicles. The Fiat 500 didn’t have an impact on Fiat’s sales as the Italian group sold 53,113 vehicles. The future small Alfa Romeo and Lancia Delta will likely increase the company’s sales in 2008.
Among the premium car makers, Mercedes-Benz took the first rank with 61,632 units. BMW took the second rank with 49,548 vehicles and achieved its 2007 target to overtake Audi. With 48,235 vehicles, the third German brand still recorded a 9.6% increase but could not resist to the 21.8% increase performed by BMW. The next years promise to be better for Ingoldstadt.
Smaller car makers also performed well. Suzuki recorded a 20.8% increase with 30,841 vehicles compared to 25,523 units over the same period in 2006. Honda recorded a 33% increase to 15,631 vehicles.
For 2008, the new CO2 tax will likely penalise premium brands and favours French car makers and Fiat models as smaller models will be less taxed. January sales will give a first glimpse at the trend for this year.
January 6, 2008
Lamborghini built the 3000th Murcielago

Lamborghini has celebrated its 3000th Murcielago. When you know that the supercar costs £192,000, one does call it a big success. The 3000th Murcielago was a pale Telesto grey LP640 heading to the United States.
It took six years to sell the 3000 cars while the previous model, the Diablo, took 11 years to sell 2,903 units. While 2006 was a record year with 2087 delivered cars, 2007 promises to be better with 2,400 vehicles already been sold. But the main question is what will Lamborghini do in the future. Will it expland its range and focus on just two core models, the Gallardo and Murcielago supercars. Expanding the lineup is a difficult exercice as the company can’t sell a smaller model. Indeed, a smaller would likely compete with the Audi R8 sold by its parent company. The company CEO has ruled out the rumoured SUV.
Lamborghini appears to have chosen to focus on expanding its models’ range. The Gallardo will likely be launched with a smaller engine, a V8 instead of a V10 while the car maker has launched an exclusive model, the Reventon derived from the Murcielago.
December 24, 2007
More powerful Range Rover Sport on the horizon
A new Range Rover Sport version has been spotted by spy photographers during testing. According to Car magazine, the engineers were testing a new topping engine 5.0-litre V8 petrol engine.
Secrecy surrounds the exact spec of the engine but the new bigger engine will likely has an output of 450bhp as the current supercharged 4.2-litre V8 delivers 400bhp. It might also be more powerful. Indeed, the ML 63 AMG has an output of 503 bhp while BMW is rumoured to develop a sportier X5 whose current power culminates at 350bhp.
With such a new top of the range engine, Land Rover is trying to meet a demand and follow the German’s power frenzy. Unfortunately, it also becomes harder to comply with the stricter emission regulations. The LRX will likely not be enough of Land Rover continues unveiling bigger engines for its top models.
December 24, 2007
Volvo to reshuffle its range by 2010

The current Volvo range is a mess but it’s hard to blame the company as it tries to satisfy its two biggest markets without having the money to build a range similar to German carmaker’s. The Swedish has decided to take the bull by the horns and plans a reshuffle by 2010.
Historically, the current likely started with the revolutionary 850. Launched in 1991, the Saloon was too large to compete with BMW 3-series and Ford Mondeo but was also too short compared to Mercedes 200/300 or Audi 100. The launch of the S80 complicated the perception of the range by the public. With dimensions targeted for the US market , the car was bigger than a BMW 5-series while offering a engine range similar to the 850/S70’s. In 2000 with the launch of the S60 replacing the outgoing 850/S70, Volvo just wanted to surf on the success generated by the 850 and unfortunately got itself into a corner which is unsustainable nowadays.
The reshuffle is vital for the company it it wants to increase its global sales. The first victim will be the future V60 estate which has been cancelled in order to avoid taking sales from the successful V70 model. But the 60 range will get a SUV. Dubbed XC60, it will be unveiled at next March’s Geneva motor show. The next-generation S60 will replace the current S40 and S60 to become one model set to be positioned as a rival for the Mercedes C-Class and Audi A4. Concerning the V50 estate, it will likely disappear as Volvo plans to fill the S40 segment with the future V30, a five door C30, and the XC30. By 2010, Volvo will have then solved the current mess for the low range.
However, questions are being raised over the S80, V70 and the C70. What will they become? Compared to German competitors they appear a bit weak on paper, but could find its salvation in stricter emission regulations. Perhaps German manufacturers will be obliged to stop the power race and start selling smaller cars. In this case, the Swedish brand has a playing card. The C70 is another consequence of the former 850 model. What will Volvo do? Will the next-generation C70 be cancelled or move upmarket to compete with the 3-Series and CLK?
December 24, 2007
The future Lancia Delta will hit showrooms in June 2008

The eagerly-awaited Lancia Delta will hit the showrooms in June 2008 and will be Fiat’s serious attempt to spearhead a revival of the Italian brand. But one does not expect Lancia to come back to sports soon as it will focus on luxurious models.

The compact car’s design will be close to the Delta HPE concept car unveiled at the last Paris Auto Show in September 2006. The concept car itself took its inspiration from the concept embodied in the Lancia Beta HPE during the second half of the Seventies to offer an up-to-date take on the idea of a sporty yet practical saloon. The production version will keep the concept’s dimensions. At 4500 mm long and with a 2700 mm wheelbase the future Delta will be the biggest car on its segment.

The company has hesitated on the name between Delta and Beta for a long time, but a recent newsletter sent by Lancia France to potential customers confirmed that the company chose Delta. Sharing the platform with the current Fiat Bravo and future Alfa Romeo 149, the Dalta will also share powertrains with power ranging from 118bhp to 200bhp.
The compact will be quite conservative but will come equipped with a unique roof whose details remain unknown and will feature a dual colour pain scheme. The car will be officially unveiled at Geneva.
December 24, 2007