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U.K.: Toyota Auris SR180
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Toyota Auris SR180 gets a 175-horsepower diesel engine, lowered suspension, 17-inch alloy wheels and a rear spoiler. (Photo courtesy of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.)
LONDON — The Toyota Auris, a hatchback that the U.K.’s Autocar magazine calls “notoriously dull,” is getting a more exciting version added to the lineup.
The Auris SR180 is powered by a 2.2-liter common-rail diesel engine that makes 175 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque.
The Auris SR180 goes from zero to 62 mph in 8.1 seconds. Both three- and five-door hatchback versions are available. Among the amenities are a lowered suspension, 17-inch alloy wheels and a rear spoiler courtesy of Toyota Motorsport. It also has vehicle stability and traction control, and dark-tinted rear windows.
Priced at the equivalent of $35,990 for the three-door and $36,990 for the five-door version, the Auris SR180, goes on sale on New… Read the rest of this entry
Zastava, the Yugo Company, Is for Sale
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Zastava still makes the tinny little hatchback, known at home as the Koral (pictured). (Photo courtesy of Zastava Automobili)
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — Zastava Automobili, the Eastern European auto company that assembles the Fiat Punto but is best known in the U.S. as the company behind the unlamented Yugo economy hatchback, is up for sale. The Serbian government announced on Thursday that potential buyers have until the end of March to submit bids.
Auto companies with at least $725 million in revenue for 2006 are eligible to make offers, according to the Reuters news agency. Despite the Punto and a deal with General Motors to start building the Opel Astra in 2008, Zastava has only been working at one-quarter of its 60,000-unit capacity. It is scheduled… Read the rest of this entry
U.K.: Nissan X-Trail ARCTIX Sports Adventure Edition
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The U.K.-market Nissan X-Trail ARCTIX, out in January, is intended for people who enjoy an “active winter lifestyle.” (Photo courtesy of Nissan Motors Corporation Inc.)
LONDON — Nissan has introduced a special “winter lifestyle” edition of its X-Trail SUV in the U.K. The X-Trail ARCTIX Sports Adventure Edition trim package adds a ski hatch, while the ARCTIX eXpedition package adds DVD navigation and “eXtreme” roof rails, among other items.
The ARCTIX Sports Adventure version of the X-Trail comes with a 148-horsepower 2.0-liter engine mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. The ARCTIX eXpedition version is also available with a 2.0-liter engine making 170 hp, paired to a manual transmission. The ARCTIX models have front foglamps, roof rails and “snowstorm” side steps, and a double-floor trunk with… Read the rest of this entry
Detroit Auto Show Preview: Mazda Furai
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Team Mazda smiles proudly alongside the Furai at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California. (Photo courtesy of Mazda North American Operation)
DETROIT — Mazda is set to introduce its fifth concept in the “Nagare” design series, the Furai, at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. Translating to “sound of wind,” the Furai is based on a 2005 Courage C65 chassis that Mazda reskinned for the Nagare concepts.
Penned by North American design boss Franz Von Holzhausen, the Furai was developed at Mazda’s Southern California design studio in collaboration with Swift Engineering.
Most concept cars don’t have a working engine, but the Furai is powered by a 450-horsepower mid-mounted three-rotor 20B rotary engine fueled by E100 ethanol. Swift worked concurrently with Mazda’s design team and performed computational fluid dynamics to ensure proper cooling of the hot-running rotary.
No word yet from Mazda indicating whether the… Read the rest of this entry
First 2009 Corvette ZR1 To Be Auctioned for Charity
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Ford Shelby GT500KR. (Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company)
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 will join the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 and 2008 Detroit Auto Show just one week prior to the auction.
The trio of legends will be auctioned for charity. Proceeds from the ZR1 sale will benefit the United Way, and the Challenger and GT500KR sales will go to Not My Kid, Inc. and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation respectively.
What this means to you: Dodge, Ford and Chevy use the popularity of these legendary nameplates to give to people in need. — Kelly Toepke, News Editor
Pininfarina Signs On to Electric-Car Joint Venture
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A legendary name in Italian automotive design plugs in to the coming age of alt-energy vehicles. The Pininfarina brand name will be on an all-new electric car by decade’s end. (Photo courtesy of Pininfarina)
TURIN, Italy — Famed design house Pininfarina has signed on with a private French firm to build a four-seat electric car that will be marketed under the Pininfarina brand name.
The project will cost about $215 million and will be a 50/50 joint venture between the design house and Groupe Bollor? of France, headed by financier Vincent Bollor?. Pininfarina will design, assemble and market the electric car, while the lithium-metal-polymer batteries it uses for power will be supplied by the French company. Groupe Bollor? is already at work on another electric-car project with the French electrical utility, Electricit? de France, and has plants in Brittany in northwestern France as well as in… Read the rest of this entry
China: Mazda2 Goes on Sale in January
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The Mazda2 comes out in hatchback form first, then as this sedan version in the spring, in China. (Photo courtesy of Mazda North American Operation)
TOKYO — Mazda has launched the Mazda2 five-door hatchback and four-door sedan in China, with the first deliveries set for early 2008. The hatchback version comes out in January, with sales of the sedan to start later in the year. The new model was introduced in China in November at the Guangzhou motor show.
The Mazda2 is built in Nanjing by Mazda parent company Ford’s joint venture, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile, a new plant completed this past September. Mazda is targeting sales of 55,000 or more Mazda2 hatchbacks per year in the growing China market — and overall Mazda sales of at least 180,000 units there. Mazda has said that it targets 300,000 sales in China — and 300 dealers —… Read the rest of this entry
Back to the Future, Bullitt added to National Film Registry
Judging from how a generation of thirty-somethings have images of a flying, fusion-powered DeLorean imprinted in their DNA, we’d say that Back To The Future has left its mark. Likewise, Highland Green ‘68 Mustang fastbacks only look appropriate wearing American Racing Torq-Thrust Ds and flying through the air. Bullitt might not have quite as broad an influence since it wasn’t a comedy, but it’s touched at least two generations of car nuts and sparked two commemorative edition cars. Because of the cultural significance of these films, they’ve been named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for preservation in perpetuity.
BTTF and Bullitt are but two of a total of 25 great films that the National Film Preservation Board and the Librarian of Congress have chosen as “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” The list this year includes greats from a variety of genres,… Read the rest of this entry
High-mileage Loremo convertible in the works
The Loremo sedan (LOw REsistance MObile) isn’t even here yet — it’s slated for 2009 — and already the convertible has been announced. The coupe made its debut last year at the Geneva Motor Show, and the claims were grand: 20-HP in the 2-cylinder turbodiesel LS version, 0-60 in 9 seconds, a top speed of 122-MPH, a weight of 990 pounds, a Cd of .20, and 150-computer-simulated-MPG.
Of course the Loremo — coupe or convertible — isn’t for everyone. The point of the car is to offer style (take that any way you wish), a modicum of luxury, and fuel-sipping economy at a prices between $13,000 and $18,000. The convertible would probably have a slightly higher Cd and therefore slightly worse gas mileage, but if you just get 100-MPG, that’d be all right, no? The convertible version would also probably be easier to get into than… Read the rest of this entry
Mercedes/BMW collaboration gaining steam
Reports out of Munich are that BMW and Mercedes will be getting very cozy when it comes to cooperation. Earlier this year, Mercedes said “nein” to some sort of tie-up with BMW, even as Daimler was eying MINI motors for its upcoming A- and B-Class cars. Unnamed sources, though, have told the Financial Times Deutschland that BMW and Mercedes are not only looking at cooperating on engines, but they could also be open to developing assemblies like “axles, steering gear or drive systems.”
BMW is being driven by the desire to cut costs. One can only assume that Mercedes, for all of its protestations, has the same thing in mind. Every carmaker is coming out with a raft of smaller cars to serve multiple purposes, among them: meet CO2 emissions and CAFE standards, put on a green face on for the public, and, of course, increase… Read the rest of this entry
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