Skoda will be unveiling a new concept car at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, called the Mission L.
This C-segment sedan is based on the car maker’s new design language, and appears to be a more production-ready version of the Vision D revealed before in the year. When you consider the car from the side you clearly find the cues inherited from the D, especially the taillights, and the rear hatch.
The unique shape of the body gives it the profile of a sedan but with added practicality, as the rear window opens with the trunk lid, like the old Citroen Xantia.
Distinctive design features include the signature grille, and the LED headlights, which will likely make it into production entire.
No words on the technical specs yet. For that we should wait for the Frankfurt show.
The third generation of the admired Panda model in its 31year history has just been officially revealed by Fiat and it has a more flexible exterior design with rounder lines but its power still remains under the 90 HP barrier.
According to the automaker, the new Panda model comes with four airbags, anti-lock, daytime running lamps, sunroof and electric power steering, some of them as standard, a few available as an alternative, Fiat didn’t say which is what yet.
The 2012 Panda is powered by Twin Air two-cylinder petrol engine delivering 64 BHP in the 0.9 Aspirated TwinAir form and 84 BHP in the 0.9 liter Turbo. A larger 1.2 liter and 68 BHP petrol unit is also existing, along with the 1.3 liter Multijet diesel which is developing 74 BHP.
The engines will be affiliated to Fiat’s Dualogic robotized manual transmission and the stop/start system will also be available.
The building quality of the new Panda generation will be enhanced by using 603 state-of-the-art robots and the new 2012 model will come in production in winter 2011 at the Giambattista Vico plant in Naples.
Maruti Suzuki doesn't anticipate cutting vehicle production in September as the forthcoming festival season and an upgraded version of the Swift hatchback will likely drive more customers to its showrooms.
"I don't think we'll involve to cut production beyond August," Mayank Pareek, managing executive officer for sales and marketing at Maruti, said at the introduction of the upgraded Swift hatchback.
Two month long festival season, which begins in the last week of September, is considered auspicious to make new purchases in India.
India's largest car maker Maruti by sales, fell 5% in the April-July period to 317,187 autos. That compares with a 4% arise in total sales of cars and sport-utility vehicles in India to 785,204 autos.
"The Swift has been a bestseller since it’s established. We wait for even better demand for the new Swift," said Shinzo Nakanishi, chief executive and managing director.
Maruti introduced Swift small car in May 2005, and since sold more than 600,000 units of the model. The Swift is one of the Maruti's bestselling models with a waiting period of up to six weeks.
Maruti has already got orders for 50,000 units of the upgraded Swift, Mr. Pareek said, adding that the company will lift production capacity for the car because of the strong demand. Also he added that Maruti will raise Swift's production to 17,000-18,000 a month by November from about 12,000 currently.
BMW has fully dedicated itself to the battery-electric driving revolution by setting up a whole new sub-brand - BMW i - devoted to emission-free motoring. Now, the i group has released details of two concept cars that appear set to become production models within a few years.
The i3 concept is a fully-electric city car with an everyday driving range of about 160 km (100 miles) per charge, and the i8 is a sporty 4-seater plug-in hybrid that combines electric and petrol drive to give a good compromise among emission-free commuting and petrol-powered range and performance.
Both cars make widespread use of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) to keep weight down, and both offer a raft of fascinating new driver assist and efficiency initiatives that look likely to make it throughout to the real world.
The BMW i3 - all-electric city boy
First up is the town car getabout - the i3. As a fully electric car, it's mainly aimed at urban commuting, but its battery range is conditioned to a level a little beyond that. On the FTP72 cycle, it's rated for 225 km (140 miles), but BMW says the car's everyday range, being driven by regular lead-foot clowns like you and I, is more like 160 km (100 miles).
Acceleration is in the range of 8 seconds to 100 kph (62 mph), but it should be fairly zippy off the line, as it develops 100 percent of its torque from a standstill. Top speed should be about 150 kph (93 mph) - but that's electronically limited, because autobahn speeds can be brutally draining on most electric vehicles.
The i3's large battery pack sits under the floor of the vehicle in a slab that's protected from crash damage by a number of buffer zones in the structure. As batteries are typically the most expensive part of an electric vehicle, you'd surely want to protect them.
The 170 hp electric motor, single-gear drive system and differential are located over the driven rear axle, and there's room there for an optional range extender - a high efficiency petrol engine that putts away and brings forth electricity to charge the batteries. With the range extender on board, you can roughly double the i3's range, and fill up at any petrol station.
The BMW i8 - a clean, hybrid all-rounder
While the i3 is best suited to round-town usage, the i8 has broader dreams. It uses the same electric motor as the i3, this time mounted over the front axle, in conjunction with a three-cylinder, 220 horsepower petrol engine over the rear axle. Blended, you're looking at a 354 horsepower all-wheel-drive with 550 Nm of torque.
All wheel drive isn't altogether accurate though - the i8 constantly proportions the power between the front and rear drive systems according to how the car is being driven. With a much smaller battery system than the i3, the i8 can only manage around 35 km (20 miles) in full electric drive mode - but then, that would cover an emission-free commute for the majority of people.
The true value of the hybrid system comes with longer range driving, where on the EU cycle, the i8 carries off a banging 104 miles per gallon (2.7 liters per 100 km). Driven hard, the fuel consumption will double, but don't forget that the Toyota Prius is advertised as a 50 mpg hybrid and is nowhere near as much fun.
Like the i3, the i8's top speed is electronically governed, but this time at a very sporty 250 kph (155 mph), so it'll hold its head high on any autobahn. The i8 will hit 100 kph (62 mph) in a brisk 5 seconds or less, decent sports car territory there, and the car's entire underbelly is totally enclosed to boost aerodynamic efficiency and cut down fuel consumption.
Common features
The i3 and i8 share a contrive philosophy and a number of characteristics worth talking about.
LifeDrive component separation and CFRP
Both cars are built on the LifeDrive philosophy, which separates the drive and passenger components and treats each differently. The Drive components, including engines, suspension, structural and crash protection functions, are chiefly housed in aluminum structures, while the Life elements - effectively the passenger cell - are designed using high strength, featherweight, carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP).
Accelerator/Decelerator pedal and regenerative braking
Even as they incorporate it in different ways, both cars feature a regenerative braking system to hold the battery topped up and cut down wear on the conventional brake system.
On the i3, this comes in the form of an accelerator/decelerator pedal, with which you're either on the gas, coasting, or braking depending on how far the pedal is pressed down. BMW approximations that around town, you can do as much as 75 percent of your braking this way - that is,without lifting your foot and hitting the brake pedal at all - and in our experience with other regenerative braking systems, that's not far off the mark. The regenerative braking system can contribute back up to 20 percent extra range to the battery charge, and it's very sensitive to use.
The press release is less clear about how the system works on the i8 - or how it works in with the petrol engine - but we assume it's somewhat similar, including a brake pedal which seems to use the regenerative system for the first part of the pedal travel, and the conventional disc brakes beyond that.
Intelligent Electronics: Proactive Front Protection, Parking Assistant, Traffic Jam Assistant
Driver aids abound on the i3 and i8, including frontal collision warning systems that flash, beep and eventually hit the brakes for you if they find out you're going to hit something.
Parking Assistant is a press-button parallel parking system that not only manages the steering to lead you into your parking spot, but also handles the accelerator, brake and gear changes for you, even if the park takes a few moves.
Traffic Jam Assistant is a wonderful stress-saver that holds a constant distance from the car in front, all the way from standstill to 40 kph(25 mph), and actually provides active steering input as well to keep you inside your lane. You just need to keep one hand on the steering wheel as you drift off to sleep.
Smartphone integration
Equally with all things in the future, the i3 and i8 will be highly integrated with your smartphone. You can use your phone to find your car,lock it, unlock it, make it beep its horn or flash its lights.
Your smartphone can also tell you where the nearest charging stations are, and through integration with the navigation system, it can tell you where to walk once you've parked your car to get to your destination.
ECO PRO mode
ECO PRO mode immediately changes the accelerator response characteristics so that you're constantly using less power for a given throttle application. It caps top speed at anywhere between 90 and 120 kph (56 and 75 mph), and it reduces the effectiveness of heating and cooling systems so they consume less too.
Whenever things get really scary, ECO PRO+ mode sets in and basically closes down everything except the absolute essentials, like demisters and whatnot. Top speed is reined in to 90 kph (56 mph) and you can be certain you're getting maximum mileage.
It'll be fascinating to see what alterations on these two concepts if and when they hit the market - but it looks fairly clear that through its i division, BMW is serious about emission-free motoring and ready to get into the game with some pretty competitive products.
In an unstoppable race to cut down the number of car accidents, united with the newest achievable technology, the Japanese auto maker Toyota is working on an unusual safety system which will take control of the car’s steering to avoid accidents so the vehicle can veer away when it isn't able to stop before impact.
New Pre-Collision System (PCS) from Toyota will use a super sensitive radar called “millimeter-wave” radar and two cameras with infrared night vision and, according to the manufacturer, it will take control of the steering wheel and “change the direction of the vehicle” to avoid hitting an object.
The vehicle computes how braking and steering must be applied to avoid a crash, said chief safety technology officer Moritaka Yoshida.
"We must learn from accidents and keep making improvements in safety features," he said.
Toyota said it was aiming for zero fatalities and injuries, although it did not say when that goal would be attained.
Another system on which the Japanese car manufacturer is working is an advance of the automatic high-beam headlights, where the technology can partially shade the high-beam lights to prevent blinding.
And if this wasn’t sufficient, Toyota is also working on a system which will notice the driver’s heath and in case of a sudden cardiovascular irregularity it can warn the driver or stop the car.
Vauxhall's latest deal sees almost all of its new models greatly reduced in price as it competes with Ford to become the bestselling car manufacturer in Britain.
Buyers of brand-new cars can look forward to a price war in the showrooms this summer, with numerous top-selling models being formally discounted by a fifth before the haggling even starts.
As I reported lately, Vauxhall dealers have set the price agenda by taking it upon themselves to offer selected fresh-from-the-factory models discounted by thousands of pounds. But now the manufacturer has bigheartedly stepped in and instructed them to slash the price of new cars by 20 per cent across the board, for at least a month. Even already reasonable models such as Agila are cut by £2,000-plus, while the Corsa and Meriva both have more than £3,000 off. The saving is nearer £5,000 on the British-built Astra Sports Tourer, and customers who choose an Insignia VXR Nav 2.8i V6 24v Turbo 4x4 auto will enjoy savings starting from £7,165.
Under the terms of the "Vauxhall Countdown" programme, the vast popular of the company's most popular models come with 20 per cent off – but only when a car is ordered or registered between June 17 and July 18 2011. Cars ordered prior to the 17th of this month but still not delivered will also be eligible – but only if registered between the particular dates. It's worth noting that the industry-leading 20 per cent reduction applies to the list price only and excludes factory-fitted options, delivery and other on-the-road charges, and that bottom-of-the-range Expression models, plus ES/Tech, Zafira Exclusive and Astra GTC, are excluded.
