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Volvo is poised to rapidly inflate its presence in China, and it believes the way forward is through an $11 billion spending plan. “We want to revive Volvo and give the brand its strength back,” says Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Automobile Holdings. Speaking with German magazine Wirtschafts Woche, Shufu disclosed that Geely will put up $11 billion for a new engine factory, increased research and development and technology upgrades. However, Volvo’s Per-Ake Froberg tells Reuters that Volvo itself will be providing the funds through borrowing and other means.

No matter where the funding comes from, the investment is meant to aggressively drive the Volvo brand in the Chinese market, where the Swedish brand sold about 50,000 cars last year. Geely wants Volvo to account for 20 percent of the premium car market in just three years(!) with a target of 200,000 vehicles for 2014. It’s all part of an ambitious plan to double Volvo sales over the next ten years, and for its stewardship, Geely will get a new premium brand for China that uses Volvo tech and engineering. In addition, the two brands will be combining their purchasing power to get better deals from suppliers and small engine and electric vehicle development will also be shared between Volvo and Geely.

As the last Swedish brand standing, it’s heartening to see that Geely has designs on increasing Volvo’s sales. Here’s hoping the recently voracious appetite for cars in the Chinese market doesn’t shortchange American buyers looking for Nordic iron.

Geely announces $11 billion investment in Volvo

Interested in purchasing a Saab? Heck, why not just buy the whole company? If you’re in the market, you’ve got until April 10 to put in a bid, and at present, the only rival you have is China’s Youngman.

Chances are, according to the administrators in charge of Saab’s liquidation, the sale of Saab assets – which includes Saab Automobile, Saab Automobile Powertrain and Saab Automobile Tools, among others – won’t cover the automaker’s debt of somewhere between $1.8 and $2 billion (12-13 billion kronor).

Rumor has it that there are a few more potential suitors waiting in the wings, such as India’s Mahindra, but none have come out expressing public interest in the bankrupt Swedish brand. Seems everyone is waiting until the last minute, eBay style.

Want to bid for Saab? Get your paperwork in by April 10

Paul Jaray was an Austrian-born engineer who transferred his aerodynamic designs for zeppelins to the smaller canvas of the automobile. His work included vehicles like the Tatra T77 and T87, and cars inspired by his work and patents included the Chrysler Airflow and Ford Zephyr.

Most of his creations weren’t exactly pretty, however, as the rebodied Audi concept car above amply demonstrates. A new Audi ad shows how far the brand has come in the looks department by contrasting that streamlined-but-ugly-duckling coupe with the 2012 A5, with a little help from singer Danny Kaye and Hans Christian Andersen. We like the spot quite a bit, but wonder if Audi wouldn’t have been better served by having it pitch the aerodynamic beauty of the A7 instead. Follow the jump to check it out.

Continue reading Audi channels its “Ugly Duckling” past to sell 2012 A5

Audi channels its “Ugly Duckling” past to sell 2012 A5

Today’s automobiles are more connected than ever, and the National Transportation Safety Board doesn’t seem to approve. The Detroit News reports that NTSB Chair Deborah Hersman is standing behind a recommendation to ban drivers from making hands-free phone calls that aren’t of the emergency variety.

Hersman is battling automakers head-on when it comes to distracting technologies, and there are plenty of those technologies in today’s vehicles. That includes hands-free calling made via Bluetooth, which has long been viewed as a safer alternative to grabbing a phone and calling someone the old-fashioned way. The proposed ban on hands-free calling reportedly doesn’t include OnStar, which integrates calling directly through the vehicle. Hersman reportedly went as far as to suggest that automakers make their number one priority “safety, not sales.”

While we think distracted driving is worth fighting, it’s difficult to see where banning hands-free calling is the answer. And we’re not alone. Even National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Ray LaHood feels the NTSB recommendation goes too far. If automakers are forced to remove the tech from new vehicles, we’re thinking many drivers will simply revert back to hand-held calling.

The NTSB thinks that hand-held and hands-free are equally dangerous, but it’s difficult to argue that case, especially if integrated technology like OnStar is permitted. Once a phone is paired, what’s the difference between pressing the hands-free button and pressing the OnStar button? We’d argue that having kids in the back seat is far more distracting than hands-free calling, and we don’t see the NTSB calling for a ‘no kids in the car’ policy any time soon.

NTSB still pushing to ban hands-free phones in cars

Do you consider yourself a driving enthusiast? If so, does the thought of handing control of your car over to a series of computers scare you to death? We understand. But perhaps it’s time to remember that those of us who love to drive aren’t the only ones who want to use the road.

As you’ll see in the video after the break, autonomous cars hold out hope for some men and women who are simply unable to drive themselves. Take, for instance, Steve Mahan, who lost 95 percent of his vision over the course of several years, leaving him clinically blind. Obviously, Mahan isn’t able to drive.

What Mahan can do, however, is sit behind the wheel of an autonomous car, in this case, a Toyota Prius converted to operate sans driver by Google. And when he does, he directs the car to take him to Taco Bell before picking up his dry cleaning.

Questionable food choice aside, we hope that one day in the not-too-distant future people like Steve Mahan will be able to regain the kind of mobility made possible by the automobile that most of us take for granted. Just so long as we can share the road in our old-fashioned drive-it-yourself cars, too. See the video after the break.

Continue reading Watch Google’s autonomous car drive a blind man to Taco Bell

Watch Google’s autonomous car drive a blind man to Taco Bell

We will now know the “baby CLS” – the small four-door “coupe” built on the MFA platform supporting the Mercedes-Benz A-Class (pictured above) and B-Class – as the CLA. It will debut at April’s Beijing Motor Show, and it’s just one of the five variants that Mercedes has planned for its MFA underpinnings.

When it hits the streets in 2013, advance reports indicate that both front- and all-wheel-drive versions will be available. Power will come from a range of gas and diesel engines with anywhere from 110 to 150 horsepower (there’s even a potential AMG model with more than 300 hp on the way), mated to seven-speed dual-clutch and six-speed manual transmissions.

Of note, though, over its long gestation, the CLA has been referred to as the CLC, but the CLA and CLC are different cars. The CLC is the Concept Style Coupe, said to be based on the A-Class concept, which was a two-door hatchback, yet also said to be an evolution of the F800 concept, which was a sedan. The CLA will make its debut in China, but the CLC will be unveiled in Los Angeles at an Mercedes-sponsored art festival called “Transmission LA: AV Club.” The Beijing show and the art festival overlap, so we’ll find out which car is which and what they both look like soon enough.

Mercedes-Benz CLA is official name of small four-door coupe debuting in Beijing

The UK is currently experiencing a run on fuel after a government minister warned citizens to stock up ahead of a possible strike by British fuel tanker drivers. Despite the fact that a strike is anything but certain, and must also be preceded by a week-long warning period, Britain’s Petrol Retailers Association says that gasoline sales are up 81 percent and diesel 43 percent since the comments were made. The average price of fuel there today is £1.40/liter, or $8.49/gallon.

Cabinet Minister Francis Maude had originally commented that Britain’s drivers should store fuel, “maybe a little bit in the garage as well in a jerrycan.” Late Tuesday, Transportation Minister Mike Penning attempted to walk back that comment a bit, stating that Maude had misunderstood the size of a jerrycan (20 liters). Penning, however, still remarked the he supported the advice to keep fuel tanks topped off in case a strike date is set.

Lines to purchase fuel today are reportedly so long in places that authorities are ordering some stations to close in order to clear the road congestion. Gasoline containers are also reportedly flying off shelves.

The potential strike would involve some 2,000 drivers represented by Unite, the country’s largest trade union. The union is negotiating for minimum standards that would cover things like wages, hours and holidays for drivers that deliver fuel to Shell and Esso gas stations, as well as supermarkets.

The UK government is defending the ministers’ comments as taking appropriate precautions, but other organizations, like Britain’s Automobile Association, are blaming the official advice for panic buying that will lead to fuel shortages ahead of a strike that may not even happen.

Government warning sparks fuel-buying surge in UK

It looks as if General Motors may be considering a Chevrolet version of the Buick Encore. L’Automobile Magazine managed to source a few patent drawings depicting the vehicle with a Chevrolet face. If our Google translator and murky comprehension of the French language are to be trusted, the images originated in the European patent office. All told, the model is likely to be a little more than a foot shorter than the current Equinox but still offer buyers the option of all-wheel drive.

So, is this vehicle headed to the U.S.? It’s entirely possible. While GM already has a platform heavy with crossover vehicles, the truth is the company could use a smaller model to compete with the likes of the Toyota Rav4, Honda CR-V and Ford Escape.

Odds are the smaller Chevrolet CUV would be targeted at European and Asian markets, including China, though there’s a chance the vehicle could also show up as a Canadian-spec model. L’Automobile seems to also suggest the baby hatch could also play a role in the new partnership between Citroen and GM.

Is Chevy poised to get a version of the Buick Encore?

New Technology Aims To Take Your Hands Off The Steering Wheel

The biggest hurdles to autonomous cars will be legal, not technical.

Most car enthusiasts hate the idea of cars that can drive themselves. But autonomous cars will get here faster than most people realize. Slowly but surely, automobiles are doing more of our driving for us. It’s only a matter of time before they take over completely.

Just look at how much control we’ve already ceded to the computers under the hood. Anti-lock brakes, which are consistently better at threshold braking than mere mortals, are pretty much standard equipment. So are traction control and stability control. We now have blind spot detection, lane departure warning, active lane control, and even self-parking.

Now comes the next step. Mercedes-Benz and Audi recently demonstrated Traffic Jam Assist, which uses adaptive cruise control and automatic steering to completely take control of a car up to 60 kilometers an hour (about 37 mph). Google has racked up tens of thousands of miles on its fleet of fully autonomous Toyota Prius hybrids on California roads. The technology will be showroom ready before the end of the decade.

The biggest hurdles will be legal, not technical. For example, who’s at fault when one of these cars gets in an accident? And how will the police pull over an autonomous car if they need to? But we’ll resolve those issues, and when we do, autonomous cars will have a bigger impact on society than when the first horseless carriages appeared over a century ago.

John McElroy is host of the TV program “Autoline Detroit” and daily web video “Autoline Daily”. Every month he brings his unique insights as a Detroit insider to Autoblog readers.

Continue reading How autonomous cars are about to change our future

How autonomous cars are about to change our future

Research by the American Automobile Association’s Foundation for Traffic Safety has revealed teenage girls are twice as likely as their male counterparts to use devices like cell phones while driving. The study used video taken of young drivers while they were behind the wheel to determine how teenagers engage in distracted driving. While talking on the phone and texting ranked among the highest sources of distraction, personal grooming and reaching for objects in the vehicle also played significant roles. Outside of using electronic devices, AAA found teens were distracted around 15 percent of the time while behind the wheel.

Girls were also found to be 10 percent more likely than their male counterparts to be engaged in other distracted driving activities. AAA found the young ladies to be 50 percent more likely to attempt to reach for something in the vehicle and 25 percent more like to eat while operating a vehicle.

Of course, driving with passengers in the vehicle also contributed to distraction, while having a parent or adult in the vehicle caused rates of distracting behavior to fall off. Shocking stuff we know. Hit the jump for the full AAA press release.

Continue reading Teen girls twice as likely to use cell phones while driving as teen boys

Teen girls twice as likely to use cell phones while driving as teen boys

Honda may be out to improve the fuel economy of its powertrains by throwing extra gears into the transmission. Automobile Magazine reports the Japanese automaker is currently working to use a new nine-speed gearbox developed by ZF in its products as soon as 2014. If you’re keeping track, this is the same transmission set to debut in a host of Chrysler products, including the replacement for the Jeep Liberty.

Despite the additional gears, ZF says the transmission is surprisingly compact, thanks in part to the fact that it uses planetary gears in place of a traditional design. Called the 9HP, the German transmission can be used in either front- or all-wheel drive applications and handle up to 354 pound-feet of torque.

All told, ZF claims the 9HP can improve a vehicle’s fuel economy as much as 10 to 16 percent. Given the torque capacities and relatively small size, the transmission could show up in nearly everything Honda makes, but odds are the company will debut the gearbox in models like the Odyssey and Pilot as well as the Acura MDX and TL.

Honda working on nine-speed automatic transmission?

Jaguar Land Rover and Chinese automaker Chery Automobile Company have filed paperwork to enter into a joint venture. Under the agreement, the two Tata Motors properties will manufacture both Jag and Land Rover vehicles and engines, as well as a new line of vehicles developed with Chery. The joint venture will also create a research and development lab and sell the products created by the partnership. Land Rover has had its eye on boosting sales the still-growing Chinese market for some time, and the move looks to be a smart first step in that direction. While overall vehicle demand has softened in China, wealthy buyers are still thirsty for status-symbol vehicles like those in the Jaguar and Land Rover portfolios.

Now that both companies have agreed upon the terms, the automakers must get approval from the Chinese government before the joint venture can become official.

Land Rover isn’t the first company to jump into bed with Chery. As Automotive News reports, last year Subaru submitted a a deal with the Chinese company to regulators to produce vehicles in the People’s Republic. So far, no announcement has been made on that venture’s progress.

Jaguar Land Rover inks joint venture with China’s Chery

Audi may be looking to fill the void between the A4 Avant and Q5 with a new model, according to Automobile. The company hasn’t nailed down a name just yet, but reports suggest the vehicle will be a crossover version built on the underpinnings of the A4. That means a taller ride height, more commanding seating position and room in the rear for additional cargo. Specifically, the German automaker is aiming for the deep pockets of households with two incomes and no children as well as retirees with some extra cash to blow.

The company may call the creation the A4 Superavant or A4 Avantissimo, but no decision has been made just yet. Either way, Audi probably doesn’t want the crossover to resemble a minivan. Just ask Mercedes-Benz how well that works out.

Designers are reportedly paying special attention to elements like the rear overhang, total vehicle height and the proportion of glass to sheetmetal to keep that image at bay. There’s even some word that the vehicle will arrive with a plug-in hybrid variant, complete with the same 226-horsepower 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and a 35-horsepower electric motor snugged into the transmission.

Either way, we can expect the genre-straddling model to do battle with BMW’s forthcoming 3 Series Gran Turismo, which will hopefully look – and sell – nothing like the larger 5 Series Gran Turismo. Style it with the same grace and sense of proportion that marks out the A7 and nobody gets hurt, ‘k?

Audi at work on A4 Superavant?

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 L’Automobile 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 Citroën Metropolis Concept 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 L’Automobile.

Citroën DS6 concept spotted on Parisian streets ahead of reveal?

We won’t press it yet, but let’s just say our hand is hovering over the big red “Vaporware!” button we keep armed for just such announcements. DiMora Motorcars still owes us – and LV Resorts – the $2-million SLS 2 sedan with its 1,200-horsepower Volcano V16 engine, Barotex fibers and MP3-enabled horn.

While we wait for it, DiMora has seen fit to announce not just a new car, but a new division with two new cars said to be “nearing completion.” The Neoclassic Automobiles Subsidiary will, depending on your credulity, be producing the Adina Sportster and Vicci 6.2 Super-Coupe. The Adina is a Morgan-like roadster powered by a General Motors LS3 V8 with 431 horsepower.

The Vicci (pictured) gets either the LS3 or the Corvette ZR1’s LS9 with 638 running through a six-speed manual, six-speed automatic or – prepare to step in your Wayback Machine – a four-speed auto. Its faux Talbot-Lago lines hide a carbon fiber dash, paddle-shifters and a stereo that displays engine diagnostics. Assuming it gets made.

Follow the jump for the press release with info on two possible, but unlikely, limited-edition future cars.

Continue reading DiMora sketches out new neoclassic lines

DiMora sketches out new neoclassic lines

The Italian city of Modena stands as a veritable mecca for automobile enthusiasts. Not only does it serve as the home of both Maserati and Pagani, but it was also the birthplace of one Enzo Ferrari. While the automaker and racing team that carry his name are situated in nearby Maranello, where the company also operates its own museum, a new foundation has started up in Modena, dedicated to preserving the memory of the legendary industrialist and racer.

That organization is the Fondazione Casa Natale Enzo Ferrari, which has acquired the house where Ferrari was raised, turning it into a museum of its own. Although Enzo himself sold his childhood home to finance his aspirations, the foundation has recently reacquired it, transforming it and the adjacent garage where his father worked into a cultural center and expanding on the original buildings with a modern structure.

Designed by Czech architect Jan Kaplicky and carried to completion after his death by his protege Andrea Morgante, the yellow-roofed building – painted the color of the Ferrari logo and designed to evoke the hood on one of his iconic sportscars – incorporates an art exhibit, a multimedia experience, a rotating display of Ferrari road and race cars borrowed from independent collectors, and a collection of Enzo’s own artifacts.

The grounds also house education and conference centers, a book shop, cafeteria and the offices of the foundation itself. If you’re planning a pilgrimage to the area, it strikes us as an experience not to be missed. But if your travel plans don’t extend to the Modena area, you can check out the gallery of high-resolution images we’ve compiled for your virtual tourism pleasure.

Modena welcomes new museum at birthplace of Enzo Ferrari

Among all the automakers unveiling their new wares in Geneva every year are a handful of independent designers and schools that aim to change the way we think about the automobile. They range from mainstream design houses like Pininfarina and Bertone to the zany obscurity of the IED Torino and – most especially – Sbarro.

Not to be confused with the Italian fast-food chain, Franco Sbarro has a history of creating off-the-wall show cars for the Geneva show. But while we were expecting to find the F1for3 concept created for Delphi, instead we found the vehicle you see above.

Called the Intencity, this vehicle is less a design of Franco himself and more that of his students at the Espera Sbarro school in Montbéliard, France. Details are few and far between, but what we can tell you is that the innovative design packs an electric powertrain into a 1+1 body-style with a giant front-hinged canopy.

Power (whether theoretical or otherwise) comes from a 100-kilowatt electric motor fueled by a 96-cell lithium-phosphate battery good for about 180 kilometers fitted in a tubular frame chassis for a package that weighs a lithe 980 kg overall. OZ provides the wheels and Recaro the seats, and you can check out the whole package in our high-resolution live images from the show floor.

Sbarro surprises Geneva with Intencity Concept

It’s a big week for compressed natural gas vehicles, thanks to President Obama’s announcement today that his administration wants to increase federal support for CNG automobiles by introducing a tax credit similar to the one in place for plug-in vehicles. Plug-in vehicles, too, could get a big boost – and a double-whammy at that – with the current tax credit exchanged for a point-of-sale rebate and an increase in the maximum value from $7,500 to $10,000. The President made the announcement today at a Daimler Trucks North America plant in North Carolina.

The White House is proposing spending $3.7 billion on the the tax credits and another $1 billion that would go directly to 10 or 15 communities through a “Race to the Top” challenge that
will allow the local governments “to invest in the necessary infrastructure, remove the regulatory barriers, and create the local incentives to support deployment of advanced vehicles at critical mass.” This challenge is “fuel neutral” and thus allows “communities to determine if electrification, natural gas, or other alternative fuels would be the best fit.”

The White House also announced a new “EV Everywhere” plan, which it described as, “a clean energy grand challenge to make electric-powered vehicles as affordable and convenient as gasoline-powered vehicles for the average American family within a decade.” The White House says driving electric will save the average driver $100 a month, which will be much more valuable when the upfront cost of an EV drops and more people can afford one. To this end, EV Everywhere “will invest in breakthrough R&D for advanced batteries, electric drivetrain technologies, lightweight vehicle structures, and fast charging technology.”

As the President said in North Carolina today:

Here is the truth. If we are going to control our energy future, then we’ve got to have an all-of-the-above strategy. We’ve got to develop every source of American energy – not just oil and gas, but wind power and solar power, nuclear power, biofuels. We need to invest in the technology that will help us use less oil in our cars and our trucks, in our buildings, in our factories. That’s the only solution to the challenge. Because as we start using less, that lowers the demand, prices come down. It’s pretty straightforward. That’s the only solution to this challenge.

The details of the plan are available below.

Continue reading White House annouces $4.7B effort for advanced-technology vehicles, including EV Everywhere

White House annouces $4.7B effort for advanced-technology vehicles, including EV Everywhere

The Chevrolet Volt may not be selling well, but it’s one of the most lauded cars in history. Today the plug-in hybrid was named the 2012 European Car of the Year, an award it will share with its European fraternal twin, the Opel Ampera.

The Volt won North American Car of the Year in 2011, while also picking up car of the year accolades from Motor Trend, Automobile, and nabbing Green Car of the Year from Green Car Journal. Britain’s What Car? awarded the Vauxhall Ampera – as the Opel model is called in the U.K. – its Green Car of the Year award, as well.

But the Volt has been at the center of one controversy after another, since even before it was launched. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation into a battery fire showed the car was not defective, but it led to the Ampera being delayed. Recent negative publicity among right-leaning political pundits has contributed to making the Volt something of an enigma for General Motors, which just announced it was suspending production of the slow-selling car.

While Europe was never envisioned as the prime market for the Volt/Ampera, GM says it already has 7,000 orders for the Ampera and that the company expects to hit its target of 10,000 sales this year. Certainly, winning this award, presented at the Geneva Motor Show for the first time this year, should help.

The Volt/Ampera finished significantly ahead of the Volkswagen Up! and Ford Focus in the European Car of the Year voting, which included a field of 35 vehicles.

To read the full press release, click past the jump.

Continue reading Chevy Volt and Opel Ampera named 2012 European Car of the Year

Chevy Volt and Opel Ampera named 2012 European Car of the Year

When collectors like Bob and Paul Milhous sell off their entire collection, you know it’s going to be a momentous occasion. And that’s just what it was when RM Auctions dropped the hammer on a staggering array of classic automobiles, mechanical musical instruments and various other collectibles in Boca Raton over the weekend.

We brought you details of the collection and its imminent sale a couple of weeks ago, but now the results are in, and the numbers are staggering. Every last item in the collection was successfully sold, bringing in a whopping $38.3 million all told. The top seller in the auction and collection was the headline 1912 Oldsmobile Limited Five-Passenger Touring – the last remaining example of its kind and fitted with unique coachwork – which sold for $3.3 million. Just a touch more than that used Alero you saw sitting at the local lot, and a considerable premium over the $1.5 million it was projected to fetch, setting a world record in the process for the most expensive Oldsmobile ever sold.

A 1939 Lagonda V-12 Rapide also more than doubled its pre-sale estimate at $990k (itself setting a record for the most expensive roadgoing Lagonda). Other big ticket items included a custom-made 46-foot carousel that sold for $1.2 million, similar to the prices paid for each of a pair of vintage organs. Everything’s coming up Milhous, and you can check it out in further detail in the press release after the jump.

Continue reading Milhous Collection hammers at $38.3M in Boca – including record-breaking $3.3M Oldsmobile

Milhous Collection hammers at $38.3M in Boca – including record-breaking $3.3M Oldsmobile