The Auto Blog .ru

Ladies and gentlemen, those of you preparing to leave the theater because you thought the Saab opera was over, well, take a seat. After sinking a fair bit of money into the troubled Swedish automaker while chasing the deal, Youngman isn’t ready to walk away. According to Reuters, the Chinese firm is ready to make a new bid for the Swedish brand as soon as next week, and it could be worth more than a billion Euros. Stay with us, because as you might expect, it’s a bit convoluted.

The door appeared closed on Youngman for good when General Motors, which engineered much of the technology in the 9-5 and 9-4X, said it wouldn’t do a deal that risked harming its position in China (read: they feared they might lose their intellectual property rights). As it was, the Saab deal brokered with Youngman would make General Motors compete against another company for which GM was building cars and that was using GM technology. To get around that, it appears that Youngman has proposed buying Saab and not using GM tech, which, that’s right, would mean walking away from the still-new 9-5 and 9-4X. Instead, Youngman would restart Saab production with a brand-new 9-3 (said to be the car in the grainy image above) and would hope to do it in as little as 15 weeks.

The Chinese company has Saab’s Phoenix architecture in mind, which is ready to go and said to be essentially free of GM intellectual property. According to Just-Auto, Phoenix-based Lotus variants for China are also under consideration, but with Proton’s pending sale to DRB-Hicom that plan seems a little unsure. A group of European auto suppliers headed by Bosch has traveled to China, on Youngman’s dime, to investigate the possibilities and practicalities of just such a plan. As to how aggressive GM might to safeguard whatever interests it has in the Phoenix platform, the supplier-body CEO quipped, “The 9-3 is not a big risk to GM – there has to be a limit to how nasty they can be.”

On top of that, there might be questions about how many of Saab’s assets are still even available for purchase. Reuters said that engineering firm Semcon SMC.ST agreed to buy key Saab technology, but a report on fan site Saabs United counters that the sale was declined over factory utilization. Saabs United also says that a Youngman-built 9-3 might only be sold in China. The Youngman CEO and his daughter Rachel Pang are apparently due in Sweden next week to further the bidding process, but we should have more word on the Bosch-led supplier trip soon enough.

China’s Youngman to wage new bid for Saab

Volkswagen knows how to get attention through advertising, as its latest teaser spot shows. Start with the Star Wars Imperial March to make the tighty-whities of every 40-year-old geek just a little bit tighter, and add dogs for the rest of the nation. That’s how you get the undivided attention of the United States of America.

Building on the success of last year’s “Tiny Vader” commercial, Volkswagen has begun the buildup to a full minute-long commercial featuring the Beetle that will debut during next month’s Super Bowl. Which Beetle is the question, and Volkswagen says that on February 5th, 2012, something will be “back and better than ever.”

The car that’s coming back is likely to be the diesel-powered Beetle TDI, especially since the timing lines up with the Chicago Auto Show that runs from February 8th. What, you’re still here? Who cares about conjecture, go watch the teaser. There are dogs dressed up like Ewoks, and there’s even a little Wookie singing in there. See it after the jump.

Continue reading The Bark Side: Volkswagen hounds bring back Star Wars in Super Bowl teaser

The Bark Side: Volkswagen hounds bring back Star Wars in Super Bowl teaser

Mitsubishi has been something of a punching bag among both analysts and critics in the United States for some years now, with lukewarm reception to new products and meek sales figures. But while few were paying attention, the Japanese brand’s pendulum made a mighty swing in the right direction in 2011, with sales finishing up over 40 percent year-over-year, making it the second fastest-growing brand in the States. Of course, total brand sales were just 77,995 (2010 sales: 55,683), but one has to start somewhere.

Buoyed by increasing demand for new products like the Outlander Sport, Mitsubishi isn’t quite “feeling its oats” just yet, but it’s alive and kicking. As further evidence, the company has just released a teaser image of an unnamed vehicle it plans to debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Significantly, Mitsubishi indicates that this is the first time it has ever chosen to stage a global product reveal in Europe. The mystery vehicle, which appears to be a crossover – likely the next-generation Outlander – will go on sale in 2012. The second-generation Outlander has been on sale here since 2006, with a facelifted model arriving for the 2010 model year.

Mitsubishi says this is the start of a new, “re-focused design language,” which evidently means moving away from the massive Lancer Evolution-inspired grille that currently adorns the Outlander. We like what we see here, from the gaping lower air intake to the U-shaped hood pressing and assertive headlamps. We’ll probably have to wait until closer the Swiss show starts to get a closer look at the rest of the vehicle, but for now, check out the image above and the press release after the jump.

Continue reading Mitsubishi teases mystery reveal ahead of Geneva

Mitsubishi teases mystery reveal ahead of Geneva

The sudden departure of Peugeot from the Le Mans racing scene came as quite a shock, we know. But don’t count the inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship – or the famed 24-hour race at its center – out for the count before it’s even started, because another powerhouse is already gearing up to take Peugeot’s place. And that powerhouse is Toyota.

The Japanese auto giant announced its plans to build and campaign a new LMP1 racer at Le Mans and the WEC back in October. Toyota Motorsport GmbH (which ran the company’s F1 team until its withdrawal in 2009) then set about designing the car, partnering with Team Oreca to help with the logistics of entering the pinnacle of endurance racing, and hired three top pilots to, you know, actually drive the thing.

With all those pieces in place, the Toyota team began testing their new prototype racer last week at the Paul Ricard test track in France. Toyota itself didn’t release much in the way of details, but Alex Wurz was said to have led the shake-down, with his team-mates Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima on hand to share in the driving duties as well.

And while no “official” photos were “officially” released, Toyota PR rep Scott Brownlee tweeted a couple of snapshots to whet our appetites. The result looks, predictably enough, much like the latest LMP1 racers fielded by Audi and the departed Peugeot, but as with most things, it’s what’s underneath the surface that will count the most. In Toyota’s sake, that would be a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain of some sort, but we’ll have to wait a little while longer – as the next round of testing and the car’s anticipated debut at Spa come May approach – to find out more.

Toyota begins testing new hybrid LMP1

It’s a safe wager that no one expected the report of the Chevrolet Volt fire after a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash test to turn into a Congressional dressing-down. The short story: NHTSA crash-tested a Volt in May, that car caught fire in June while in storage, and NHTSA alerted the public about the fire in November. Certain politicians have wondered if politics played a part in waiting until November to report the fire, and now a House panel is holding a hearing called “Volt Vehicle Fire: What did NHTSA know and when did they know it?” to find out.

According to The Detroit News, the proceedings have now drawn General Motors CEO Dan Akerson into its maw, Akerson agreeing to testify before the panel next week. Akerson’s name hasn’t come up so far as a Person of Interest, so it looks like the panel is looking to anyone who might have reason to know anything about what has been called “the silence.”

NHTSA has already said, in response to questioning, that the White House had nothing to do with the timeline and we can’t imagine that the NHTSA was taking its orders from Akerson. The group of pols headed by California Republican Darrell Issa believes that NHTSA has not adequately addressed the panel’s concerns, so agency chief David Strickland will be there alongside Akerson to answer questions.

GM CEO Akerson asked to testify at Volt hearing

The Corvette is the very definition of a halo car, and the fact that 2013 marks its sixtieth year in production is nothing short of a miracle. The seventh-generation Corvette is still a model year away, during which time Chevy plans to send off the C6 with a special edition 60th Anniversary 427 Convertible.

Development of the C7, however, continues at full speed, and we have the very first shots of a prototype being tested in cold weather to prove it. The car in question is wrapped in vinyl covering, underneath which hides the familiar black-and-white swirl paint job we see so often on prototypes. Even still, we can identify some aspects of the evolution that will take place between the C6 and C7.

For one, comparing profile shots of this prototype with the C6, it’s apparent that the front wheels have moved farther forward, increasing the dash-to-axle ratio and likely the wheelbase. The rear end also appears to be larger, with a higher deck lid and slightly longer overhang. We also noticed that this prototype’s side mirrors are a different shape than the C6’s, and its dual tailpipes are positioned closer together to form a perfectly spaced line of four pipes.

There’s no evidence of a split rear window and a mid-engine layout is clearly not in the cards. These photos should put those wild rumors to rest, but what’s under the hood and how the interior has been improved are still unknowns.

Chevy Corvette C7 prototype spied testing!

Anything you can do, we can do better. Or at least, also. That seems to be the guiding principle over at Caterham these days vis-a-vis its progenitors at Lotus. Or maybe it’s the other way around.

Both Caterham and Lotus lay claim to the iconic Seven, that bare-bones, less-is-more ugly duckling of a sportscar loved by purists around the world. Both British automakers also produce what can best be described as racing cars for the road. Both have F1 teams to call their own, both have GP2 feeder teams, both operate one-make sportscar racing series for its most enthusiastic customers, and now both are gearing up to field their own karting teams as well.

Lotus announced its karting program just a few months ago, and now Caterham has followed suit. The team’s karts will be designed and developed in-house (presumably with some input from an experienced kart producer), and will be fielded from 2013.

Unlike the Lotus effort, however, which will field karts in established series, the Caterham karts will be used in a new dedicated one-make championship, giving aspiring racing drivers a clear channel to advance through the ranks all the way up to Formula One entirely with Lotus. Er, we mean Caterham.

Continue reading Caterham going karting

Caterham going karting

Volkswagen has confirmed to Autoblog that the oil-burning 2013 Beetle TDI will make its public debut at the Chicago Auto Show next month.

No specific details have been released at this time, but you can bet that the automaker’s slick 2.0-liter turbo-diesel four will be underhood. In the Golf, Jetta and Passat, the mill kicks out 140 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque, and both six-speed manual and DSG transmissions will likely be available. This engine is already good for as high as 43 miles per gallon highway in the Passat (and we’ve routinely hit as high as 50 mpg in our long-term Jetta TDI), so we expect exceptional fuel economy out of the diesel Bug, as well.

What’s more, our understanding is that Volkswagen plans to offer the TDI engine in the upcoming Beetle Convertible, which will make it the very first clean diesel droptop available in the United States. Of course, we won’t know for sure until the roofless Bug debuts later this year, but still, it’s something to get excited about.

Stay tuned for the full scoop live from the Chicago show next month.

2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI to debut at Chicago Auto Show

There aren’t a lot of television stations in the world dedicated entirely to cars. On this side of the Atlantic, we have Speed and Discovery’s new Velocity channel, and the latter isn’t even all cars all the time. But now, the UK is getting its own dedicated Formula One network.

Resulting from the BBC’s forfeiture of part of its F1 contract to Rupert Murdoch’s Sky network, Sky Sports F1 is launching this year in high definition. The channel will carry the grands prix themselves throughout the entire season, without commercials, as well as all the practice and qualifying sessions. In between race weekends, the channel will show interviews, magazine programs and re-runs of races.

Sky Sports F1 will be provided to existing Sky subscribers as part of their bundle, but it will also be available through other providers like Virgin Media, which has just signed on to the deal as well. Sky has also been lining up a roster of talent to cover the races and provide the commentary, including former F1 drivers Martin Brundle, Anthony Davidson and Damon Hill, the 1996 World Champion who most recently signed on.

As for race fans here in the colonies, we’ll soldier on with Speed’s coverage (with occasional races broadcast on Fox) and TSN in Canada.

Sky Sports gears up for F1 with dedicated channel

We never heard about buyers of other ex-General Motors brands – Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer – taking to their keyboards to research new rides when the lowered boom crushed them all. Even though they would have been warrantied and supported by a still-living GM.

Leave it to Saab, then, to spin that right ’round like a record: according to electronic-research tracker Dataium, 10 percent more people have inquired about Saabs since the brand declared bankruptcy. Even better for the dealers sitting on 221 days worth of inventory: there were three times as many new shoppers in the 96 hours after the announcement, and for the next two weeks as least 50 percent of them were first-timers. All this for a tiny brand selling two cars without warranty and parts support (yet).

Who knows how much of that will turn into actual sales, but that’s probably more than could have been expected in the silver-lining department.

More people interested in buying a Saab after bankruptcy

For the last several years Ford has partnered with Barrett-Jackson to auction off some very special vehicles for charity. Past cars have included the first production examples of the Shelby GT500KR and Shelby GT as well as special one-offs like last year’s Grabber Blue Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca, all of which have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

For 2012 Ford is once again auction off a Mustang for charity, but this year’s car is a little different. Up for grabs will be a 2013 Shelby GT500 development car used by SVT to hone the production ‘Stang. This prototype was run extensively at Sebring and the high speed oval at Ford’s Arizona proving grounds and was even driven by Carroll Shelby himself during the development process. The car has some unique features including a full roll cage and Recaro racing seats, but it will likely remain a museum piece as it can’t be registered for road use.

You can read more about this unique 2013 Shelby GT500 going up for auction in the press release after the jump.

Continue reading 2013 Shelby GT500 development car to be auctioned at Barrett-Jackson for charity

2013 Shelby GT500 development car to be auctioned at Barrett-Jackson for charity

Good things come in small packages. Or smaller packages, anyway, as Audi has been discovering with its SUV range. What started with the mammoth Q7 has since grown – or shrank – to include the smaller Q5 and the even smaller Q3, which was just confirmed for the North American market. Keen to capitalize on a positive trend, Audi has been rumored to be considering adding a Q1 to its line-up, details of which are now emerging.

The last time we checked, Audi wasn’t sure if it would base a potential Q1 off the A1, upcoming A2 or next-generation A3 platform. According to reports, the decision has been made to use the A1’s platform, which itself was recently expanded to include a five-door variant and even all-wheel drive. Along the same tangent, though, we’re told not to expect an A1 convertible.

We’re not to expect the Q1 to arrive all that soon, either. While previous reports indicated that Audi could rush its tiniest crossover onto the market within a year or two from now, the latest word is that it could take considerably longer than that. One way or another, we wouldn’t expect this baby premium crossover to find its way across the Atlantic anytime soon.

Audi to spin new Q1 crossover off A1 platform

Bob King, President of the United Auto Workers, is adding his voice to those who have already chimed in with support for the new Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. In what might be a historic break from the union’s contentious past, King is throwing in for the new fuel efficiency rules because he thinks it will mean jobs for his members as the auto industry reacts to the mandate.

In the past, such a decree could have meant much wailing and gnashing of teeth from both the automakers and labor unions. Instead, The Detroit News reports King told a meeting of representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency and Nathional Highway Traffic Safety Administration “We are excited about the new green technologies that are being developed in the United states and produced in UAW-represented facilities.” King went on to praise the rules as a change that will save people money at the gas pump and reduce pollution.

The proceedings in Detroit weren’t all smiles, however. Don Chalmers of the National Automobile Dealers Association expressed worry that the technology to make the fuel efficiency goal possible will tack on between $3,500 to $5,000 to the price of new vehicles, squeezing buyers with low cashflow or difficult credit inordinately. Still, the surprising bout of rainbows and puppy dogs that this latest CAFE requirement has engendered may be a harbinger of a new attitude all-around, as long as dealers can figure out how to put buyers into the newly efficient cars that automakers and labor leaders are so pleased to be creating.

UAW President Bob King pumped about new CAFE standards

Americans are driving their vehicles longer, as the average age of vehicles has nearly hit 11 years, according to a new study by Polk. Blame a wretched economy and more reliable modern automobiles, but cars and trucks continue to stay on the road much longer than they did 15 years ago, when the average age was just 8.4 years.

According to a report in The Detroit News, there are other reasons for the change, including a decline in the number of miles driven last year and improved resistance to rust and corrosion. Regardless of the reason for the record-setting age of our American fleet, the news has the auto industry salivating at the prospect of boom times ahead. The National Automobile Dealers Association is predicting that new vehicle sales this year will hit 13.9 million.

“The economy, unemployment are still going to be stubborn, but there’s so much pent-up demand I think the industry is going to have an awesome year,” Toyota President and CEO Jim Lentz told the Detroit News.

How old is your ride? We know that Autoblog readers have more cars than the average consumer, so join our poll below by answering how old your daily driver is.

View Poll

Average age of car is record-setting 10.8 years old [w/poll]

PSA Peugeot Citroen has announced the French automaker will leave Le Mans racing indefinitely. Reuters reports the manufacturer cites financial issues as the reason for the drastic move, saying Peugeot will now focus its efforts on improving its sales performance in 2012. For its part, Peugeot has issued an official statement confirming the development on its motorsports site, which you can read after the jump.

Peugeot is currently Europe’s second-largest vehicle manufacturer, though the company has suffered a string of thinning profit reports in recent months. Last year, Phillippe Varin, Peugeot’s chief executive, announced a plan to save the company $1.03 billion in 2012 through a variety of tactics, including 6,000 job cuts. We now know the company’s impressive Le Mans racing effort is a casualty of cost savings as well.

Of all the rivalries in motorsports, few have been as entertaining or heated as the one that blossomed between Peugeot and Audi at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Peugeot swiped the crown from its German rivals in 2009 with its futuristic, diesel-powered 908 prototype, though Audi has won the legendary race seven out of the last eight years. That loss, however, forced Audi to abandon the open cockpit design of its R15 and earlier models in favor of a closed dome on the new R18.

Interestingly enough, Reuters reports Peugeot sister company Citroën won’t turn its back on the World Rally Championship.

Continue reading Peugeot exiting Le Mans racing effective immediately

Peugeot exiting Le Mans racing effective immediately

Even though spy shots signal that exterior adjustments on the next Mercedes-Benz GLK will be subtle, there’s one giant adjustment coming under the hood, and it smells like oil – in a good way. Automotive News says the revamped softroader will gain a new diesel engine option. For its part, Mercedes-Benz hasn’t said which of its oilburners it will offer with the GLK, but it’s been hinted that it could be the 2.1-liter turbo diesel mill with 204 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque that sees duty in models like the C-Class and M-Class in other lands.

The addition of the GLK and next C-Class will make seven Mercedes model lines offered with diesel in the U.S. With the GLK’s fuel economy addressed, the hope is that the entry-level crossover can find roughly 13,000 more buyers per year and close in on 40,000-sales-per-annum threshold. The brand already offers far more diesels than its German competitors here, but still wants to raise percentage of diesel sales from 12-to-20 percent to 15 to 20 percent.

Refreshed 2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK to get diesel option

Jaguar may be in no rush to bring diesel variants to the United States for anything more than a cross-country demo run. But overseas the marque’s oil-burning selection keeps growing. The XF is already available in its home market with a 190-horsepower 2.2-liter diesel four, not to mention a 3.0-liter diesel V6 with 240 or 275 horsepower. But if those weren’t frugal enough, Jaguar has now introduced an even more cost-effective alternative.

The same 2.2-liter diesel four can now be had in a cheaper 163-horsepower trim for a grand less, at £29,950 on-the-road price (OTR, inclusive of the 20% Value Added Tax). Considering, however, that – at 9.8 seconds – the new version takes more than a second longer to reach 62 mph from a standstill (compared to the 190hp’s 8.5-second run), yet returns the same 52.3 mpg combined rating on the UK scale, we’re not sure the cheaper price makes this a good value.

What the new diesel spec does offer, however, is an intriguing id to the XFR’s ego: Compared to the top-of-the-line supercharged model’s £65,350 OTR price, 22.5 mpg UK combined rating and 4.9 second sprint to 62, the bottom of the range is now less than half the price off the top, gets more than twice the fuel economy, and takes twice as long to reach highway speeds. Follow the jump for the full press release.

Continue reading Jaguar rolls out cheaper diesel for XF

Jaguar rolls out cheaper diesel for XF

Images of a five-door version of the Volkswagen Up! have surfaced courtesy of a European patent office. The German automaker confirmed a five-door version of the pint-sized vehicle was headed to market, and Volkswagen even went so far as to show off the Cross Up! Concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Judging by the patent photo, the production version of the five-door Up! will stick fairly close to the concept and will ride on a similarly tall suspension. That should give the vehicle more of a mini crossover appearance instead of a small hatchback.

Information on drivetrain options is suitably scarce at the moment, but we expect the five-door Up! to roll off of the production line with the same engines as its shorter three-door kin. That means buyers should be able to tick boxes for either a 59-horsepower gasoline engine or a brawny 74-horsepower gas powerplant. A 67-horsepower natural gas engine is also available in the Up! as well. A taller-riding Up! is a perfect fit in Russia and South America where roads can vary from uncomfortable to inhumane.

Volkswagen Up! five-door hits the patent office

Though we still can’t explain the technology, we’re becoming big fans of projection mapping, as can also be seen in this video that has also been featured on these pages.

From what we can gather, a Russian marketing team called Radugadesign was behind this production, and we can only assume that a lot of hard work and some sinister numbers crunching from a swath of powerful computers and graphics cards went into its making.

As to why this presentation existed in the first place, we have no idea… other than some vague notion that it was produced for Marlboro. Yes, we’re assuming it’s the cigarette company. What Marlboro has to do with an Audi sedan, we won’t even attempt to explain.

In any case, we suggest you see the results for yourself in the video after the break.

Continue reading Watch this Audi transform into a moving picture show

Watch this Audi transform into a moving picture show

Mercedes-Benz has put together a fashion-shoot-and-video session with Dutch supermodel Lara Stone and the 2013 SL for Fashion Week, and the result is a vid that only those attending Fashion Week could understand. Which is, probably, half the point.

We shared the “making of” video with you back in late December, but it’s apparently taken until now for the completed Alex Prager short to be completed. Back then, the film idea was presented as the Calvin Klein model trying to outrun a tornado, but it’s not. Think The Wizard of Oz in Louboutins by Jim Jarmusch and you’ll be close. Or you could just watch the video after the jump.

Continue reading Bizarre Mercedes SL fashion video with model Lara Stone isn’t in Kansas anymore

Bizarre Mercedes SL fashion video with model Lara Stone isn’t in Kansas anymore