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TH!NK wants to conquer Australia
After Norway, Sweden, England, France and the US, TH!NK will start selling its City model in Australia.
The TH!NK City is an interesting electric car far from the clichés. Compared to the G-Wiz well, it can’t be compared to the Wizz because it’s not a quadricycle. The TH!NK city is a true, modern urban car which accelerates from zero to 30 mph in just 6.5 seconds and 50 mph in 16 seconds and can travel for 124 miles in city driving on a fully charged battery. The two seater has a top speed of 65 miles per hour and a full charge from a domestic electricity socket takes just ten hours. However the City has a hefty price. The expected retail price of TH!NK City is £14,000.
To sell at large scale, there is no better way than selling in the world. TH!NK’s founder Jan Olaf Willums also professor or management, has decided to sell the car everywhere where governments encourage alternative energies.
April 6, 2008
Tata Motors buys Nissan’s South African plant
Tata Motors has acquired Japanese auto giant Nissan’s Pretoria-based manufacturing plant for an undisclosed amount.
What will stop Tata’s frenzy? After unveiling the Nano, buying Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, the Indian carmaker has bought Nissan’s South African plant as part of an ambitious plan to manufacture its models in its important export markets. At this stage Tata hasn’t confirmed whether it will use this South African unit to manufacture trucks and cars like Indica and Indigo
“South Africa is a major market for us and we cater to a number of markets like Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Namibia, Mozambique, Uganda and Ghana,” said Tata Motors ED, commercial vehicles, Mr Telang.
Little by little, The Indian carmaker spins its web around the world by acquiring existing assets that other carmakers don’t want anymore. Ford wanted to sell Jaguar and Land Rover because of its financial situation. The Nissan plant had been unused for a while and the Japanese was happy to find a buyer. Maybe, they will regret their decision one day or maybe they hope that Tata will get into trouble by buying too much.
April 6, 2008
Audi A4 voted Germany’s most popular car
The Audi A4 has been elected at the most popular car in Germany in a vote organized by more than 100 regional weekly newspapers.
More than 100 regional weekly newspapers in the former East Germany invited their readers to vote for “Our Car.” The selected cars had to be launched during the past year. Among the 56 models, the Audi A4 ranked first. Two other Audi joined the top ten. Audi A5 took third place, Audi R8 seventh. The Audi A4 has already received numerous major awards – including the “Golden Steering Wheel” from Bild am Sonntag and the “Auto 1” trophy from AutoBild naming it the best new car in all of Europe.
This was in fact the fourth time that the brand with the four rings has won this readers’ poll. In 2001, the old-generation Audi A4 took first place, a feat later achieved by the Audi A6 in 2005 and the Audi TT last year.
April 6, 2008
Tatras might come back as retro cars
Tatra’s main shareholder and CEO, Ronald Adams has announced that the company might bring back Tatras of the past as retro automobiles.
Tatra vehicles were probably the most incredible cars from Eastern Europe with their unique features: four headlights, dorsal fin, tear-drop shape and rear V8 engine. They were ideal for spy or futuristic movies like Gattaca. Unfortunately, they disappeared due to new order in the 90s. The carmaker would take two or three historic models like the 87 or the 603 and built them on modern platforms and powertrains outsourced from bigger carmakers. The first models might appear in 2009 or 2010.
The statement raises questions regarding the engine. Where will the company find a air-cooled V8? The answer is probably nowhere, but we know a carmaker that makes a great air-cooled boxer six cylinder unit, Subaru. The latest T613/5 was powered by a 3.5-litre V8 which delivered a power output of 220bhp. With its power output of 242bhp, the Legacy’s engine would be a a great choice.
April 5, 2008
L200 greener to avoid Congestion Charge
Hit by the new Congestion Charge scheme, Mitsubishi has launched a greener L200 often used by builders in London.
Mitsubishi has announced that the new L200’s manual transmission variants will come with a 225 g/km CO2 emissions rating, placing them in the lower Congestion Charge band and saving drivers £17 per trip in London.
Jim Tyrrell, Mitsubishi’s Managing Director, said that “the vast majority of our customers run a 4×4 for a specific purpose – not simply as a fashion item. We have worked hard to reduce the emissions levels wherever we can to help minimise any negative financial impact on the thousands of businesses that have chosen to use our pick-ups.”
The Japanese carmaker had no other choice than working on the problem. Otherwise, Mitsubishi would have lost a large number of potential customers.
April 5, 2008
New Tiguan TDI goes on sale
The Tiguan meets a strong demand and the new engine, the 168bhp 2.0-litre TDI will likely boost its credential in terms of brand image when the Kuga only comes with a 136bhp 2.0-litre diesel unit.
The most powerful Tiguan yet raises the challenge for the Ford Kuga as it features the 168bhp 2.0-litre TDI common rail diesel engine. The new engine is capable of returning 40.4 mpg on the combined cycle while emitting 185 g/km of CO2 claims the carmaker. The Tiguan can accelerate from rest to 62 mph in 8.9 seconds before reaching a maximum speed of 125 mph.
As with the rest of the Tiguan range, the new model is equipped with six airbags, ESP, semi-automatic air conditioning and the RCD 510 touchscreen entertainment system with six-disc CD autochanger. The new engine will be available in either SE or Sport trim levels. Prices for the new 2.0-litre TDI start at £22,670 for the SE, rising to £23,370 for the Sport model. The new Tiguan is competitively priced as the 138bhp SE version starts at £21,800. By comparison, the Ford Kuga 2.0 TDCi Zetec starts at £20,495.
April 5, 2008
Mercedes to offer four-cylinder C-Class again?
Mercedes-Benz is seriously considering launching a four-cylinder-powered C-Class on the American market.
According to company sources, the German carmaker is currently working on a new downsized four-cylinder petrol unit. With a displacement of only 1.4-litre, the new engine might deliver around 160bhp which is similar to that of the current 1.8-litre petrol unit available on the C180 Kompressor SE. The current 1.8-litre delivers a power output of 154bhp at 5,200rpm and a torque output of 170 lb ft between 2800 and 4600rpm.
There is no doubt that the new engine will be powerful enough to power the C-Class entry level. However will the carmaker’s brand image be strong enough to convince American consumers to buy a Mercedes powered by a 1.4-litre engine.
April 5, 2008
Nissan releases a teaser of the next Teana
After being surprised in the streets of Beijing, Nissan has released a teaser of the saloon the carmaker will unveil at the Beijing Motor Show.
The teaser doesn’t reveal much, but at least the headlights are now a bit less mysterious. However commenting on it will be a difficult exercise, but it confirms that Nissan will debut a new executive saloon at Beijing.
In a previous post, Petrol-Head reported the known details about the future model that Nissan will sell as a flagship on the Chinese market.
April 5, 2008
Audi cancels the hybrid-powered A4 in the US
After the Q7 hybrid, the plummeting value of the dollar makes another victim among the Audi future hybrid lineup. The carmaker has announced that the Audi A4 hybrid won’t cross the Atlantic ocean.
The Q7 was canceled due to its price expected to be too high in the US. The A4 gets the same fate, but Audi USA communications director Jeff Kuhlman also explained that cost of homologating the hybrid system on both vehicles would likely not be offset by the sales expectations.
Instead, Audi plans to sell a diesel-powered A4. The selected engine would be the 237bhp 3.0-litre V6 unit also available on the Q7. What’s interesting about this news is the trend followed by the market. It seems that there will be two schools. One one side, there will be Japanese and Americans promoting hybrid technologies. On the other side, there will be the German clique with its diesel engines. How will the American market react to both offers. Generally recalcitrant to diesel engines, will the German brand image be powerful enough to convince consumers to switch?
April 5, 2008
First Superb rolled off and will be built in India
The production line of the new Superb started rolling on Wednesday in Kvasiny, Czech Republic. The first model is a ‘Rosso Brunnelo’ 2.0 TDI.
The Czech carmaker ha started to build its new flagship. Left-hand drive vehicles will be produced first with right-hand drive production following in July. The company executives changed their mind and announced that the Superb will also be built in Ukraine and India. The Indian market is crucial to the company as it enjoys a premium brand image there and sales are growing.The carmaker has registered 27.2 per cent growth in sales with 2,050 units in March 2008 as compared to 1,612 units sold in March 2007. Since its introduction in November 2001, over 51,000 cars have been delivered.
The previous generation was not only manufactured in the Kvasiny plant, but ultimately saw production in the Ukraine, India, Bosnia and Kazakhstan. In total 133,955 examples were built.
April 5, 2008