Didn’t get your deposit down in time to secure a condo in ? Not to worry, because just across town – that town being Miami – Pininfarina has been contracted to design another building.
Developed by the Related Group, 1100 Millecento Residences (pictured) is being designed by Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott at 1100 South Miami Avenue. So where does Pininfarina come in? Aside from Ott citing the famed Italian automotive design house and coachbuilder as a primary influence in his work, the developers have brought Pininfarina in on the project to design the interior space of the building – the first such project it’s undertaken in America.
That includes all 382 apartments in the 42-story tower, along with the ninth-floor pool deck with club room, the rooftop infinity pool with private cabanas, the fitness center and the private theater. We’re told to expect a lot of exotic woods and Italian leather. But then we’d expect no less from any project Pininfarina might undertake, automotive or otherwise. See for the brief press release.
was the expected reason for us not getting the BMW X1 until the , when it would get a mid-cycle refresh. And at the time it was reported, few wagers would have been put on that timetable since U.S.-market delivery had repeatedly been delayed and the exact wording used was “postponed indefinitely.”
But in a press release announcing its wares for the , BMW slipped in this line: “The updated BMW X1 will be available in U.S. showrooms in summer 2012.” For now that’s all there is to know, although we’d expect more details to be given out at the Javits Center, perhaps even pricing. The model’s stying elicits strong opinion, but for those of you with X1 lust you now know what to circle on the calendar.
The New York Times reports the European Central Bank may have inadvertently helped buyers looking to take home a new Volkswagen Up! secure low-interest loans. Volkswagen Financial Services was one of many institutions that took advantage of the €1 trillion the central bank set aside to be loaned out at just one percent interest. borrowed €2 billion (about $2.6 billion USD) of that money, and plans to offer the cash to buyers in the form of loans with low three to four percent interest. While the goal of the low-interest loans was originally to stabilize uncertain markets, automakers and other industries are taking advantage of the effectively free cash.
Mercedes Bank has already taken advantage of the generous terms, and PSA Financing, a unit of Peugeot and Citroën, has made mention of doing the same in an attempt to stave off looming poor sales. According to The New York Times, the European auto industry may be facing down its second downturn since 2009. Registrations for new vehicles were down 8.3 percent between January and February of this year compared to the same period in 2011.
The BMW i8 plug-in-hybrid sports car is just the sort of crazy project that could help redefine the brand – and perhaps even the notion of what makes a car enthusiast – for the 21st Century. It’s the sort of out-of-the-box thinking we’ve been waiting for some automaker to deploy, so these new details are exciting.
To start with, according to Britain’s Car, the i8 will only be available as a plug-in hybrid – no conventional, internal-combustion-only version will be offered. That means no M version will be in the cards, at least not an M product in the way we currently define the BMW performance moniker. But the report says the i8 will have a more powerful gas engine than , with its 1.5-liter three-cylinder cranking out 223 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque through the rear wheels. The front-drive electric motor is said to be rated at 170 horsepower, giving the i8 a combined 393 hp and 406 lb-ft.
The report claims that the i8 will have a 20-mile all-electric range, a top speed of 156 miles per hour, and sprint from 0 to 62 mph in 4.9 seconds. Curb weight is said to be just 3,125 pounds, which is less than most models of the new , thanks to the i8’s carbon fiber body and aluminum chassis. Recharge time is said to be six hours, presumably on a 220-volt system. In all, a pretty amazing package.
But here’s the kicker: Car says the i8 will be priced above €100,000, which is $132,600 based on today’s exchange rates. We expect the i8 to hit the market as a 2014 model, and while that price is spendy by plebeian standards, the queue for the car will most certainly be long, at least initially.
has a history of offering performance models that would make any niche supercar manufacturer cower. The latest among them is the , but the gullwing coupe and its roadster counterpart aren’t the extent of what the German automaker’s skunkworks have in store. No, that place of honor at the top of the Mercedes-Benz lineup will soon be taken by an SLS AMG Black Series.
Following in the footsteps of the , CLK63 AMG Black Series, and (most recently) the , the new SLS AMG Black Series promises to eclipse them all with an anticipated 560 horsepower, reduced curb weight and aggressive aerodynamics package.
These spy shots, snapped while the vehicle was undergoing cold-weather testing in the frigid north, also show the tell-tale widened fenders to house the upgraded rolling stock and a new front bumper to feed the over-clocked engine with all the air it needs to breathe.
We’re told to expect the SLS AMG Black Series sometime next year, but you can check out the spy shots now in our high-resolution image gallery.
The Detroit News is reporting that General Motors will replace the 120-volt power cords on the majority of models the company has sold since 2010. The new charge cords are said to be more durable than the old hardware and should provide “more consistency in charging,” according to the report. GM has sold around 10,000 Volt units since the plug-in hybrid went on sale two years ago, and while some of those vehicles have already shipped with the new charge cords, most still use the old design.
Volt owners may also contact their dealers to begin scheduling appointments to have additional crash structure added around the vehicle’s battery packs. The additional steel is designed to protect against severe side-impacts. Technicians are also expected to add a new sensor to monitor battery coolant levels. The changes are in response to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation into unlikely . GM will reportedly without the new structure and sensor, saying neither poses a safety issue.
How well is doing with its new made-in-America ? What if we told you that sales in February were up 14,523.2 percent? Okay, perhaps that isn’t the best measure of performance, given that there wasn’t actually a 2011 model year Passat. But VW moved 8,189 of the midsize sedans last month after selling 6,318 in January.
While that’s but a fraction of the 34,543 February sales for the , it’s enough that VW is adding another 800 jobs at its Chattanooga, Tennessee plant that builds the car. That’s the second ramp-up this year – VW already announced last month.
“Quite plainly, we need more Passats to meet the market demand and I’m glad that we can respond so quickly by adding staff in Chattanooga,” said VW’s U.S. President and CEO, Jonathan Browning.
VW currently employs over 2,700 people at the plant, though 500 actually work for a “staffing partner.” VW says the new jobs will be filled both by those contract employees already working at the plant and by new hires. Positions include production, supervisors, quality engineers, and other professionals roles. Click to read the full press release.
hiring 800 workers in Chattanooga to meet Passat demand
Demand for the extended-range plug-in hybrid vehicle in the U.S. has been up and down over the car’s first 16-odd months, but executives at General Motors’ Opel division in Europe are saying that the , the Volt’s European twin, is getting some good attention.
The Ampera has received more than 7,000 orders, leading Opel executives to believe that the Ampera will hit its 2012 sales target of 10,000 units, website Plug In Cars is reporting, citing Enno Fuchs, Opel’s e-mobility launch director.
Opel started shipping Amperas to customers last month, saying that most of those owners previously owning high-end cars from automakers like and . General Motors is hoping the Ampera will be better received in Europe than the Volt has been here in the States, where it has become a political lightning rod. Earlier this month, GM said it would – starting this week – in order to thin-out dealer inventory of the car. And last year, GM missed its sales goal of 10,000 units, selling just 7,671 units. GM makes both the Volt and the Ampera at the same plant in Hamtramck, MI.
Still, the Volt showed signs of more life last month when the model moved 1,023 units, up from 603 vehicles in January. The Volt and Ampera were also recently . Last October, Opel to at least 10,000 from 8,000 after Opel had received more than 6,000 paid reservations.
Earlier today, we showed you a brace of images starring that will make its debut at the next month. But upon closer inspection, the folks at CarScoop found something very interesting hiding in the back of one of the GLK photos: the revised .
It’s unclear exactly which G-Class model this is, though our best guess is that it’s the standard G550. (Those wheels look much too tame for an AMG model.) The G-Wagen’s overall design hasn’t changed (that’s fine, we like it just the way it is), but updates for the 2013 model year include LED running lamps under the headlights and redesigned mirrors.
Word on the street is that the G-Class will feature a reworked interior for 2013, including a new instrument panel, steering wheel and consoles. The big news, however, is that the G55 AMG found in the other AMG models, though it’s unclear if its nomenclature will be altered. You know, because G63 AMG absolutely makes sense.
Mum’s the word on when the official G-Class details will be released, but since the car appears to be finished and already posing for photos, we don’t expect Mercedes-Benz to hold off for too much longer.
There’s not a whole lot to say about the Nina teaser image that the company just dropped into our inboxes, it’s largely just a way to say the real thing will be unveiled at the in a few short weeks. In the thick, stylized lines offered here, we see hints of the and not a whole lot more.
So we went looking in the archives. We’ve heard the Nina plug-in hybrid will be and be . We’ve also heard and that three variants will be available by the end of 2014. Those are reports from the past and we know how things change in the green car world. We’ll have to see what Fisker tells us in New York when it offers up “a business update and a glimpse of our future” to know for sure. What are your thoughts?
According to reports citing Japan’s Nikkei daily, will be cranking up production at its Normal, Illinois plant, but not because the company expects a 100-percent increase in demand here to match the 70,000 units the plant will soon be cranking out. Instead, the plant will be making models intended for export from the U.S. to markets like Russia and Latin America. To make way for the increased Outlander Sport output, the slow-moving family sedan will leave the building. No replacement has been announced.
Mitsubishi has plants worldwide, but those in closest proximity to strengthening markets are reportedly running at full tilt, so the move makes use of plants in markets where demand is slack. Mitsubishi has seen its fortunes in the U.S. atrophy, and even though sales improved somewhat last year, this production shift shows that turnabout is fair play, with the offshore parent using its American assets to make cars for markets that would typically be producing the goods, not consuming them.
The highly anticipated – the sister car of the and – goes on sale this spring, and the automaker’s website now shows that the cost of entry will be $24,930 including destination. That base price gets you an FR-S equipped with a six-speed manual transmission, though Scion’s site doesn’t yet say what the cost will be for cars equipped with the six-speed automatic.
As we already know, the FR-S is equipped with a 2.0-liter boxer four that sends 200 horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque exclusively to the rear wheels. And just yesterday, we learned that the (city/highway) with the manual transmission, or 25/34 mpg with the automatic ‘box. We’ve already Scion’s new sport coupe, and while it’s certainly not the most powerful vehicle in the class, we found it to have excellent balance and declared it a more engaging steer than vehicles like the and .
Ferrari has been known to produce one-off vehicles for customers, most notably the F430-based created for a wealthy Japanese collector in 2008 as well as the created on the 599 FTB Fiorano platform in 2009.
Now, if the Ferrari afficianados over on are correct, Ferrari Special Projects program has built a third vehicle, this time for musician Eric Clapton, who is known to be a .
The car looks to be based on the 458 Italia and has distinct styling references to the 12-cylinder Ferrari 512 BB built in the late 1970s and early 1980s with a large lower grille, hood slats and flying buttresses at the rear. Judging from the photos, the interior appears to be relatively unchanged from the 458 Italia, and the mid-mounted 4.5-liter V8 is likely still in place as well.
We will try and find out more details about this special Ferrari, but until then, check out the photos of the car in the gallery above.
Mazda’s new compact crossover is coming out of the gate strong, with the garnering generally good reviews that include . Now, can tout a Top Safety Pick designation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, as well. The CX-5 snagged “Good” ratings across the board, including front, side, rollover and rear crash tests.
The CX-5 joins its stablemate, the , on the 2012 Top Safety Pick list, which is growing rapidly. Just in the small SUV class that the CX-5 is categorized in, eight models are now listed, including the , , (with optional side torso airbags), , , and .
Click to read the full press release from Mazda, as well as watch the CX-5’s IIHS crash testvideo.
News of an impending automotive debut, especially one as big as the next , generally come straight from the mouths of the automakers. Interesting, then, that the is the first bit of confirmation we’ve seen that the 2014 Impala will be making its worldwide debut in The Big Apple.
All we have to go along with that confirmation is the teaser image you see above (click on the pic to enlarge), so we can’t glean too many details just yet. We can see a Hofmeister-esque kink in the C-pillar, strongly accented in chrome trim, along with the well-known leaping impala emblem.
Past that, have revealed that the front-wheel-drive Impala will boast plenty of passenger room from its Epsilon-II architecture, the same guts that underpin the and . We’re also expecting GM’s well-regarded 3.6-liter V6 underhood, along with a possible turbocharged four and e-Assist hybrid setup.
This news comes on the heels of by General Motors that it plans to replace the Impala in its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series effort with a new nameplate that will also see a production model offshoot, leading to renewed speculation that the automaker will not only sell a new full-size Impala, but potentially a large rear-wheel drive sedan to offer as well, possibly based on the company’s Zeta platform that underpins the Holden Commodore and recently introduced law enforcement special.
The is slated to kick off on April 4, but in the meantime, feel free to go over the teaser above with a fine-toothed comb, and stay tuned for any more details we find ahead of its debut.
UPDATE: GM has confirmed the Impala with the issuance of a press release and official image. In addition, it has confirmed that a revamped crossover will also bow in New York. The Traverse will be available with GM’s new front, center-mount airbag first revealed in the updated , the Traverse’s twin. See the official release after the jump and note the addition of a Traverse interior image above.
confirms 2014 Chevy Impala debut via Facebook [UPDATE]
The Citroën DS6 Concept may have slipped out ahead of the showcar’s planned debut later this year. What is believed to be the big DS was seen lounging on the streets of Paris during a recent photo shoot, and while initial photos like the one above show the car covered by a well-placed cloth, new shots from have come out that show the concept in its entirety. The massive alloys shown above look to be the same as the ones we’ve already seen poking through the lens-flare-riddled teasers. Details are still scarce about what the DS Concept will bring to the stage in terms of drivetrain, but the French automaker has made it clear it has its eye on creating a new, large cruiser aimed squarely at the large-sedan hungry Chinese market.
Citroën is likely to unveil the DS6 Concept at the Paris Motor Show in September, and may borrow more than a few elements from the built just for the Shanghai World Fair. While the exterior elements may vary considerably, both vehicles are expected to carry approximately the same dimensions. That means the DS6 may be over 17 feet long and more than six feet wide.
For more shots of the car uncovered, head over to .
has resurrected its Twitter campaign to put lucky fans behind the wheel of an for a day. The program generated a massive amount of attention last year, spurring the company to bring it back for Round Two. It all got started when Joanne McCoy tweeted using the hashtag #WantAnR8 in early 2011. with a brand-new mid-engined sports car for the day, and the company went on to share the love. So far, the hashtag has been used over 75,000 times since its inception, but that number is expected to skyrocket.
The new contest is available for entry until October 29. For 2012, Audi is splitting the campaign into four entry periods, with two winners from each period. That means there will be a total of eight winners this go around. Those who take the top prize will have the choice of either driving the R8 on a track at the company’s Audi Sportscar Experience in Sonoma, CA or have the car delivered to their house. Tough call.
Audi has released a new commercial to announce the return of the campaign. Click for a look see.
So a new isn’t as exciting as a new , but given the enthusiasm the current midsize sedan has generated around these parts, musing about what might be coming down the pipeline is worth at least a few minutes. Hyundai’s Korean CEO Kim Choon-ho has told Reuters that a “revamped” Sonata is due in just two years, following closely on the heels of a new in late 2013.
In case you haven’t been paying attention, and its cousin from ever since they first hit our shores back in 2010. This pair is the class of the midsize class, and we can only wonder what Hyundai has planned to keep them on top, given the fierce competition.
We’d suspect the new Sonata will be launched here as a 2015 model, which would make some sense. Though we haven’t driven it yet, the new-for-2013 looks poised to bring the goods, and the next generation of the hot-selling at the .
We saw the 2013 last fall , but today we get the real thing – in pixelated, jpeg form, that is. Indeed, this is about as close as U.S. buyers will probably get to the new Trailblazer. While we weren’t expecting General Motors to change its tune about bringing the diesel-powered, seven-seat SUV stateside, we called and asked anyway. spokesman Tom Wilkinson told us, “There are currently no plans to bring that vehicle to the U.S.”
While the good-looking TrailBlazer would certainly look right at home sitting next to the 2013 on dealer lots, Chevy already has a three-row utility vehicle in the . Buyers in Thailand, where the vehicle debuted ahead of the Bangkok International Motor Show, are more apt to need a real body-on-frame SUV like the TrailBlazer. And U.S. buyers looking for a three-row truck can still roll in a . Either way, The General has to figure it doesn’t really want another burly three-row utility vehicle sitting on its CAFE ledger.
Still, there’s much to like about the 2013 TrailBlazer, especially underhood. GM is offering two turbo-diesel four-cylinders in 2.5- and 2.8-liter displacements. The smaller engine is rated at 150 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque, while the extra displacement bumps horsepower to 180 and torque to a particularly impressive 346 lb-ft. A five-speed manual and six-speed automatic will be offered. GM says the engines are designed to last for 240,000 kilometers – nearly 150,000 miles.
The TrailBlazer will hit dealers in Thailand in June, with much of the rest of the world – minus the U.S. – to follow. Don’t thing this is some stripped out truck for developing economies though, as the TrailBlazer is sporting a pretty long list of standard features, including lots of safety equipment – stability control, ABS, traction control, electronic brake-force distribution, and hill descent control – that we take for granted here.
Click to read the full press release, and be sure to check out our .
has announced it will debut a concept version of the at the New York Auto Show next month. Details are scarce at the moment, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the vehicle turns out to be a thinly veiled look at the next version of the funky crossover. Honda has a long and storied history of rolling out concepts with more than a passing resemblance to its production models. Given that the Crosstour has only been on the market for a couple of years, we aren’t anticipating an all-new model, or perhaps even a heavy redesign.
Back in December, Honda President and CEO Tetsuo Iwamura told Autoblog that he was “really disappointed” with sales of the Crosstour, which he maintained has “.” Even so, Iwamura acknowledged that Honda would further refine the vehicle’s styling and performance. As to the latter, Honda now offers buyers the ability to with a more fuel-efficient four-cylinder. The move was largely thought to be in response to the fact that competitors like the are available with four-pot motivation.
Still, all the engine options in the world won’t save the Crosstour from its inherent design issues. Specifically, the Crosstour offers compromised rear visibility and cargo area, not to mention its highly controversial appearance. Will the concept headed to New York address those ails? We certainly hope so. for the brief press release.
