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Audi R8 Spider aired at the Superbowl XLII

Brodcasting an ad at the Superbowl XLII is the best way for a foreign car makers to show its devotion to the American market. Audi will join Toyota and will feature a 60-second ad at the event on February 3 2008.
This is not the first time for Audi as it aired an ad twenty years ago, but this is a serious attempt from the German manufacturer to boost its brand image. “It’s time for us to not only let the experts and aficionados know about Audi; we want America to know about Audi,“ said Scott Keogh, CMO of Audi of America in an interview with AdWeek
The R8 Spider is a clever choice, of course, as the coupé quickly became a symbol of Audi’s hard work to catch with BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Sales have been low with 104 vehicles in October and 67 units in November, but American motoring press unanimously acclaimed the Audi’s supercar. Audi will unveil the Spider at the next Detroit Motor Show and all car aficionados will hear about it. With the Superbowl’s ad, Audi will go mainstream. What a challenge for the German carmaker and a serious contender for competitors!
December 10, 2007
Ford F-150 tops the chart in the US while exclusive cars bite the dust

The American magazine Forbes unveiled the list of the Best- and Worst-Selling Vehicles of 2007 over the first ten months. Once again, the Ford F-150 tops despite a sales slump of 12.5% due to high gas prices. The Forbes list also emphasizes the hold of Japanese car makers which have six cars in the list. The humiliation is even stronger for the American car makers as five Japanese models increased their sales.
Among the worst sellers, you will find, of course, exclusive cars such as the Cadillac XLR but also cars at the end of their lifecycle like the Jaguar S-Type. Almost all listed cars recorded a sales slump due to the debt crisis occurring in the US.
10 best-sellers in the US
1. Ford F-Series: 588,952 units, -12.5%
2. Chevrolet Silverado: 526,575, -2.4%
3. Toyota Camry: 398,868, +6.4%
4. Honda Accord: 332,815, +10.2%
5. Toyota Corolla/Matrix: 317,796 -4.0%
6. Honda Civic: 278,764, +2.2%
7. Chevrolet Impala: 270,504, +12.6%
8. Nissan Altima: 239,800, +26.6%
9. Dodge Ram: 214,569, -9.3%
10. Honda CR-V: 184,003, +34.9%
10 worst-sellers in the US
1. Cadillac XLR: 1,525, -42.7%
2. Mazda B-Series: 2,363, -35.3%
3. Isuzu Ascender: 2,523, -40.3%
4. Jaguar X-Type: 2,599, -44.2%
5. Jaguar S-Type: 2,973, -44.3%
6. Audi A8/S8: 3,092, -27.2%
7. Porsche Boxster: 3,148, -21.5%
8. Lexus SC430: 3,311, -33.2%
9. Isuzu i-290/370: 3,575, +21.1%
10. Jaguar XJ: 3,637, -11.2%
December 10, 2007
Smart pre-orders exceed forecasts

In July I reported that the Smart ForTwo had generated 20,000 pre-orders. That was more than just good news. Actually, it was a big surprise. Due to go on sale on the American market next January, United Auto Group has already recorded 30,000 pre-orders according to Daimler CEO Dieter Zietsche in a interview with Automotive News. All customers made a deposit of $99 to ensure that they will be the first to be served when the city car hits the showroom. Moreover, 50,000 people visited the showrooms in order to try the ForTwo model.
Zietsche also said that Smart will not be able to meet the demand as US sales combined with European sales will exceed the production capacity. This statement should be taken with a pinch of salt as Daimler CEO likely wants to generate a sales effect. Indeed, the pre-orders are not definitive sales and a lot of potential customers will change their mind, especially with a deposit of $99. The first customers will get their Smart delivered at the end of next year or the beginning of 2009.
The Smart ForTwo generated a lot of interest in large American cities in California, but also on the East Coast in New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Boston. Surprisingly, the Smart also attracted buyers in Nebraska, Mississippi and Oklahoma.
Whether the US might be a sales success or not will likely seal the fate of Smart which hasn’t made a profit yet despite a launch which occurred almost ten years ago.
December 10, 2007
Future Bugatti Veyron already sold out

Bugatti is expected to launch the Veyron targa model at the beginning of 2008, enabling the supercar to become the fastest roofless car in the world. However, despite a price tag estimated at more than £900,000, all eighty cars already have buyers according to Pistonheads.
The Bugatti will be derived, of course, from the supercar, but its top speed will be limited to 217mph. In order to compensate the weight generated by the changes, the Veyron targa will receive carbon fiber doors while the current supercar has aluminium units;. The targa will also feature a unique grille and exclusive headlights. The glass roof will be built by Webasto which provides the metallic roof for the Volwagen EOS.
December 10, 2007
Spyshots: 2009 Ford Mustang

Expected to be launched in 2090, a face-lifted Ford Mustang’s development mule has been caught under winter testing. One does not expect to see a revolution as the current still meets a big success.
Ford designers will focus on modernising the current lines and making them a bit sportier to fight the future competitors such as the new Challenger. The front face and grille, and the taillights will be revamped. The interior styling will also be revamped.
Secrecy surrounds the pony icon’s specs at this early stage but it is thought that the car will remain the same with a small V6 4.0-litre petrol engine and the range-topping V8 4.6-litre petrol unit.
Source: Car & Driver
December 10, 2007
Spyshot: next-generation 7-Series

Due to be unveiled at the next Paris Motor Show in September 2008, the spyshots of the next-generation 7-Series are starting to emerge on Internet. With its future flagship, BMW will make a return to normality with a sportier design, but will innovate with a differentiated long wheelbase version.
Internally known as ‘F01’, the standard version will be focused on sports and will adopt a more classic look abandoning the controversial current boot design. Dubbed ‘F02’, the long wheelbase version will offer a different style expected to be more conservative than the standard 7-Series. The two cars will be powered by the current engine range and will feature the 4.8-litre V8 petrol engine and the 6.0-litre V12 petrol unit.
The 7-Series will also provide the underpinnings of the future small Rolls Royce saloon.

Click here to see the whole picture
December 10, 2007
Future Tesla saloon to be powered by petrol engine

Recently, the new car maker made the news with its founder being fired and with any new CEO come new ideas. According to the rumours, the future Tesla saloon might feature a petrol engine which wouldn’t power the vehicle but would be used to recharge the batteries, an architecture similar to the Chevrolet Volt’s.
Thanks to this technical move, the Tesla saloon would require less batteries which, of course, would reduce the production cost. Also, the petrol engine would allow to increase the saloon’s autonomy as it would permanently recharge the batteries. The car would then reach an autonomy of around 400 miles, which is a strong sales argument when you want to sell electric cars at a high scale. Indeed, new management also decided to go mainstream as the future saloon won’t cost the initial £25,000 but closer to the price of £15,000 announced for the future Chevrolet Volt.
The Tesla saloon which will be dubbed Whitestar will be on sale in 2010.
December 10, 2007
Audi’s future plans until 2012

Here is a highly valuable information as a document revealing the Audi future plans until 2012 has been revealed by Quattro Quarterly, a publication released by the Audi Club of North America. Most of the cars are already known but some rumoured models are also confirmed such as the mysterious R4. Click to read the full list.
– September 2007 – B8 A4
– September 2007 – C6 RS6
– January 2008 – A3 Cabrio
– March 2008 – B8 A4 Avant
– June 2008 – A3 Facelift
– July 2008 – Q5
– August 2008 – TT-S
– September 2008 – R8 V10
– December 2008 – Q7 Hybrid
– January 2009 – A5 Cabrio
– February 2009 – RS5
– March 2009 – R8 Targa
– June 2009 – A7 Coupe
– July 2009 – Q3
– August 2009 – TT-RS
– September 2009 – A5 Sportback
– December 2009 – A1
– February 2010 – Q5 Hybrid
– June 2010 – New D4 A8
– October 2010 – New A3
– January 2010 – A7 Cabrio
– January 2011 – New C7 A6
– May 2011 – C7 A6 Avant
– June 2011 – R4
– October 2011 – A1 Cabrio
– January 2012 – A4 Facelift
December 10, 2007
Suzuki pickup to be unveiled at the Chicago Motor Show

Suzuki will release a pickup at the next Chicago Motor Show in February 2008. Dubbed Equator, the Japanese pickup will be derived from the Nissan Navarra named Frontier in the US.
At this stage, details regarding the final spec of the pickup remain unknown. Perhaps Suzuki will focus on a new design in order to appeal to the current brand’s customers although the pickup will likely be a re-badged Navarra in order to cut cost. As the Navarra is currently being built in the Nissan Tenessee factory, the future Suzuki pickup will avoid the traditional custom tax of 25% applied to imported pickups.
This is not the first time, Suzuki wants to sell a pickup model in the US. Indeed, it unveiled a Grand Vitara pickup concept car at the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show but it never went into production as it would have been tooo expensive on the American market. But Suzuki has signed an agreement with Nissan since then. Suzuki provides Kei car models to Nissan on the Japanese market while Nissan provides bigger vehicles like the Nissan Serena re-badged Landy and soon the Navarra.
December 10, 2007
Citroen ZX Fukang to be revamped
This is not a dream. Citroen sells its ’90s compact ZX model in China and has announced that it will revamp the car next year. PSA Peugeot Citroen CEO Christian Streiff has declared that the group has strong ambition on the Chinese market. From 200,000 vehicles in 2006, PSA plans to deliver 450,000 vehicles in 2009. Fortunately, Fukang means health and prosperity in Chinese.
Secrecy surrounds the future specs of the car, but PSA CEO said that car will be offered for less than £5,000. Is the ZX the right model to succeed on the Chinese market? Nothing is sure. History proved that the ZX Fukang has never been a success. Originally sold in China in 1992, the sales suffered from a market which grew slower than the expectations. When it finally started its boom in 2000, the Citroen model was to old to seduce Chinese consumers eager to buy the latest models. Citroen quickly launched a more modern ZX called Elysée, but sales still slumped. PSA increased its sales thanks to new introduced Peugeot models in 2004.
December 10, 2007