Above all else, is known in car circles as being the foremost innovator in technologies intended to improve the safety of its vehicles. While we most often think of the safety of a car’s internal occupants, it’s important to remember than a two-ton weapon of mass destruction moving at highway speeds is also extremely dangerous to pedestrians outside the car.
In addition to a new Pedestrian Detection system, Volvo has introduced the world’s first external airbags on its new five-door . Located at the base of the windshield, the airbag deploys from a cavity that expands upward from the rear of the car’s hood in the event of a collision with a pedestrian.
We like this solution to the strict European legislation for pedestrian safety, as it doesn’t require significant changes to a car’s overall styling while still helping to save lives. Check out a brief demonstration of the technology in a rendered video , along with a related press release that covers all of the V40’s safety equipment.
Nine times out of ten, if the Autoblog crew isn’t talking cars, we’re discussing cameras. Or cat videos. But mostly cameras. We love shooting the world’s newest vehicles almost as much as we enjoy driving them, and odds are we aren’t alone.
If you’ve ever wondered how the real pros manage to get their best photos, wonder no more. The crew at FStoppers.com tagged along while Blair Bunting trained his lens on the . The shot you see above was crafted using around $60,000 in lighting equipment, a full staff of assistants and a professional retoucher.
Bunting says he actually uses Forza Motorsport 4 to plan his shots before the vehicle ever arrives. Using the game’s Free Look mode allows him to spot interesting aspects of the car that would otherwise be missed by viewing the stock photography.
But the pro lets us all in on another little secret toward the end of the video. Amateurs and enthusiast photographers like ourselves can get a very similar effect with a small light box and a lightbulb on a stick. Now we just need a car worth shooting in the middle of the night. to watch the video yourself. It’s a long one, but completely worth it.
When we say we’re obsessive, we mean it. The list below of 90 vehicles that Autoblog covered at the 2 is proof positive that we stand behind our tagline.
The Geneva Motor Show is always the biggest international auto show of the year in terms of vehicle debuts, whether they’re production cars, forward-thinking concepts or outrageous tuner vehicles. This year we got super-sized helpings of all three.
Special thanks go to our crew of five who were on the ground in Geneva, as well as the large support staff here at home who backed them up. We love covering auto shows, and after so many years doing it, we think we’ve gotten pretty darn good. Look below and you’ll see why.
Carbon Motors, maker of the purpose-built E7 police car, won’t receive the $310 million in U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program that it applied for almost three years ago, and said that it’s a victim of politics.
“We are outraged by the actions of the DOE and it is clear that this was a political decision in a highly-charged, election year environment,” Carbon Motors William Santana Li said in a statement. The company added that it was “actively examining its strategic and financing alternatives.”
Carbon Motors says its vehicles will save government entities money because they get better fuel economy and they’re purpose-built, meaning that factory vehicles don’t need to be retrofitted. Carbon Motors has said its diesel-powered cars may cut law-enforcement fuel use and greenhouse-gas emissions by as much as 40 percent, and that building such cars may create as many as 10,000 jobs. The car was to feature a BMW 3.0-liter turbodiesel engine.
The company says it’s received about $200 million worth of financial commitments from private and public sources and has taken orders from more than 500 law-enforcement agencies for more than 20,000 cars.
Last December, the company urging the Obama Administration to push the DOE to approve the loan.
The federal loan process has vexed other automotive companies. Bright Automotive, which was to make extended-range plug-in utility vehicles, publicly pleaded with the government to process its application for a $400 million loan in January. Last month, that company .
Meanwhile, , maker of the extended-range plug-in sports sedan , has been fielding questions about its future after the company in early February and halted production. Fisker has received less than $200 million of the $529 million loan it was slated to get from the DOE.
Among the numerous renditions of its DS line unveiled at the , Citroën went a step further with the introduction of the DS3 Racing S. Loeb. Taking advantage of the ridiculous success it has had with the DS4 WRC piloted by Sebastien Loeb, the DS3 Racing S. Loeb is for those who want a cuter brute than the .
Even better, you can actually buy this one: Citroën is making 200 examples, all of them numbered and signed. Citroën was mum on any power upgrade, but we do know the hatch comes “cloaked” in a textured matte black hue with red accents and will come standard with the company’s MyWay nav system.
Citroën was also mum on the price, but we’re sure there’ll be a premium. for more info on the models it showed off at Geneva, and there’s a high-res gallery from the show floor plus a couple of stock images of the car with the man himself, and his DS3 WRC car.
Among all the automakers unveiling their new wares in 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 and to the zany obscurity of the and – most especially – .
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 concept created for , 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.
Please excuse us while we banish thoughts of – Magna; MILA… Uma; Oprah – and instead focus on what this concept car brings to the table. This is , the Austrian arm of Canadian auto parts giant Magna International, and it’s meant to showcase the capabilities of the supplier.
First and foremost, the MILA Coupic’s two-door crossover shape can convert into a convertible or a pickup truck, depending on the configuration of the rear seat. There’s seating for as many as five occupants in full CUV mode, and the two glass roof elements can be opened or closed independently.
The MILA Coupic is an impressive engineering exercise, and, since Magna builds such production machines as the , Fiat 500C and , it’s one that could potentially see a roadway near you at some point in the not-too-distant future. See for yourself in our image gallery above, and read more in the official press release .
Wide, chunky, low-down and matte gray. There aren’t many things for which we’d consider that a flattering descriptive, but the concept is just such a thing.
Developed by Citroën Racing and a step up from the , it’s 35 millimeters lower, 55-mm wider than the production car and sits on two-tone wheels hiding massive brakes. Under the hood is a 1.6-liter four-cylinder with 256 horsepower.
Galleries of high-res photos are above and , along with the official press release.
If on the McLaren MP4-12C was a fiery sunrise, then this is the other side of dawn: the Gemballa GT. Gemballa is campaigning a McLaren in this year’s GT3 series, and the company’s motorsport experience has been “distilled into a state-of-the art super sports car.”
That means new front and rear clips, side skirts and rear wing, plus Gemballa wheels that go an inch bigger than standard – 20 inches up front and 21 in back. Inside, there’s white leather trimming and a reworked steering wheel. No engine upgrades have been applied to the GT, but Gemballa says its’ working on a power program. Check out all of its angles in the gallery of high-res photos.
The task of trying to update the is like trying to update Mt. Everest – you can swap out a few boulders, add some clouds and a new glacier, but such moves are dwarfed by the simple grandiosity of the highest mountain on the planet. That’s why you’ll need to pay close attention to note the changes made on the Phantom Series II.
The “striking new front end” gets a revised bumper, full/adaptive LED headllights and a rectangular LED array where there once was a round supplemental light. Moving on to the inside, the satellite navigation and infotainment system gets upgraded – it was the previous car’s only real weakness – and includes a larger, 8.8-inch screen, a new controller and a feature called “guided tours.” Sounds glitzy.
Under the skin, the old transmission gets traded for a new eight-speed automatic. Fuel economy gets a boost because of it, but you’re not really worried about that, are you? The changes also apply to the Coupe and Drophead models, too.
We gave the Phantom a once-over here in , so scroll through the above gallery for plenty of live images. There’s more info and several galleries of high-res stock photos for your perusal below.
In the stratospheric zone of the automotive atmosphere, being unique is every bit as important as going blindingly fast or bathing oneself in luxury. To address the need, has introduced Q, a service that goes far beyond standard paint palettes, leather finishes and wood trims. In the automaker’s own words, Q is defined as “a team that brings Aston Martin’s designers together with the company’s engineers and highly experienced craftspeople, allowing customers to enhance and personalize their Aston Martin with meticulous attention to detail.”
The automaker recently sent Q a for the full treatment (a blank check was apparently stuffed in the glove box). What emerged is emphatically unique, but it is also fascinating and rather odd at the same time. Nevertheless, we found it on display at the .
The show car is a Virage Volante sporting a Mariana Blue satin paint finish. The interior is configured with blue carbon-fiber, saddle leather floor mats, and yellow detailing. Other components include lightweight forged diamond-turned wheels, a track-day HD video camera mounted on the header (looking much sleeker than any GoPro) and a completely silly rear luggage rack.
Check out our from the floor, read through the and then take a look at some of the including a Cherry Tree Cygnet, a bespoke city car.
has unveiled what it calls the most environmentally friendly, conventional-engined vehicle sold on the planet – the all-new i20.
We called the first i20 and this new model gets a family-familiar hexagonal grille and swept-back, cat-eye headlights and fog lamps. Much of the car’s profile and rear are carried over from last year’s model with the exception of the tweaked taillights and some shiny new shoes.
The biggest news, however, is the fact that four engines will be on tap. On the greenest end of the scale is a 1.1-liter three-cylinder diesel. With about 74 hp, the little oil-burner generates only 84 g/km of CO2. That’s pretty impressive considering the crazy-efficient 2012 Toyota Prius C breathes out about 110 g/km.
The downside? The i20 isn’t available in the U.S. (Surprise, surprise.) for the full details in Hyundai’s press blast.
The good news for folks who both love and hate the FAB Design McLaren MP4-12C Terso is that there will only be five made. But to our eyes, the Swiss tuners known for some felonious assaults on innocent cars (the , anyone?) have been admirably restrained with this one, although we’ll admit that .
New front and rear clips for the Mac seems to be the thing, and the Terso fulfills that brief with a polygonal theme for its widebody stance. The side skirts are also new, and they’re topped by a side intake with a new cutout to match the stance up front. The wheels haven’t grown in size but, are FAB’s traditionally deep 20-inchers.
The rear wing is a removable bolt-on, and if you look closely at the front of the car you’ll notice a wing just below the front windshield. We’re not sure if that one comes off as well, but remember, there will only be five of these. Check it out while you can in the gallery of high-res photos.
The new produces an impressive 560 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque, but for companies like AC Schnitzer, the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 presents only a starting point. The German tuning company unveiled the new ACS5 Sport here at the this week, managing to squeeze and additional 60 hp and 81 lb-ft from the forced-induction motor.
The ASC5 Sport isn’t all about horsepower, though. AC Schnitzer has also fitted the Bimmer with a new sport suspension system, 21-inch Type IV forged wheels and a slick aerodynamic kit including a carbon fiber front spoiler, chrome front grille, rear spoiler and a carbon fiber diffuser. The exterior is finished off with an attractive matte blue paint. Inside, the car features trim and stitching to match the exterior. You can see the AC Schnitzer ACS5 Sport in detail in the high-res gallery above.
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.
Many of the tuners here at the have little to no restraint when it comes to styling, which is why we appreciate subtlety when we see it. Lumma Design, hailing from Winterlingen, Germany, offers an example of such restraint with its CLR 9 S based on the new 991 . The styling package includes a tasteful strip package, a new front clip with an integrated splitter and a three-piece spoiler at the rear. A new set of quad exhaust tips also peek out from the rear fascia.
Inside, the CLR 9 S features a slathering of new leather and Alcantara on the seats, dashboard and door panels. Carbon leather trim can also be found on the steering wheel, center console and shifter.
You can read Lumma Design’s official press release regarding the CLR 9 S , and check out live photos of the car from the Geneva show floor in the gallery above.
German automaker teamed up with fashion house Sieger to give its roadster a fitting send-off after 18 long years on the market. The duo came up with – one for each year the car was on sale – and one of those cars is currently on display at the .
Besides being the perfect ride for a University of Michigan alum, this machine, like all MF3 models, is powered by an inline six-cylinder engine. In this guise, that mill sends a total of 343 horsepower to the rear wheels.
We’re not certain how many of the 18 special edition machines are still available, but we imagine that if yellow and blue just aren’t your cup of tea, you’ve got other options. Like maybe one that’s scarlet and gray?
If what tells us about the FT-Bh is true, it’s not some futuristic fantasy, but a design study that points to what a next generation hybrid might look like. With an unbelievably low, sub-1,800-pound curb weight and a 0.235 coefficient of drag, the FT-Bh uses minimalist design rather than sci-fi technology to achieve 112 miles per gallon.
The FT-Bh packs a two-cylinder, one-liter gas engine that runs on the Atkinson cycle, and uses lithium-ion batteries for it’s hybrid drive system. Toyota says a compressed natural gas hybrid and a plug-in hybrid version would also be possible.
But what’s really impressive about the FT-Bh is its massive weight reduction. Toyota says it managed to reduce the mass of the car by 25 percent when compared to the current Yaris. Much of that came in the interior parts and trim, which weigh half that of the production car. Toyota says that this drastic diet also makes possible a low center of gravity – just over 21 inches – that helps improve the FT-Bh’s handling.
While the FT-Bh may look a little weird – we’re reminded of how odd the looked before we’d gotten used to the shape – this may well be what the next generation of hybrids will look like. While Toyota has thrown out some branding buzzwords to describe the FT-Bh’s “Ecomotion” theme (or is that “Under Priority” design language? or “Keen Look” styling?) the bottom line is that it’s all about aerodynamics. This is why the FT-Bh uses cameras rather than side-view mirrors and doesn’t have door handles. It’s also why the front end has those “air curtain” intakes and there’s an underfloor spoiler in the rear.
While we certainly wouldn’t expect to see something so radical roll off a production line next year, as the company shows more concepts like this and the , it seems that Toyota wants its next hybrid designs to be as revolutionary as its first.
Check out our galleries of live and official photos, and for the full press release.
A replacement for the aging is still a few years out, so in an effort to keep the model line fresh, has released this all new Sport trim here at the . Essentially replacing the GranTurismo S, the Sport falls directly in between the base car and the hardcore MC.
The most significant change is a boost in power from the 4.7-liter naturally aspirated V8. This free-breathing engine now produces 460 horsepower – up from 434 – which now puts it at the top of the GranTurismo power range. Of course, that means we can expect a more powerful MC to debut in the near future.
Exterior changes include a more aggressive front fascia with large air intakes flanking the pronounced grille. Additionally, the headlamps and taillamps have been smoked and LED running lights have been incorporated into the GT’s eyes. Inside, there are new sport seats and a revised steering wheel.
It may ride on old bones, but the new GranTurismo Sport’s enhancements are enough to keep the giant coupe exciting for the near term.
The successor to the 207 line, the 208, made an appearance under the lights of the Geneva Motor Show this week. Buyers in the EU may choose from either the three-door body style you see above or a more functional five-door configuration. Both vehicles feature smaller exterior dimensions than the old 207 but with greater interior volume than their predecessors. Peugeot also shrank the available gasoline engine options in the 208. A 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine serves up a heady 75 horsepower, though consumers looking for a little more grunt may step up to a 1.2-liter three pot good for 100 hp.
All told, the 208 is available in five different configurations, including a range of diesel-powered options that include Peugeot’s next-generation stop/start system, which helps return nearly 83.1 mpg on the EU scale. Not too shabby.
Want something a little hotter? How about the Peugeot 208 GTi Concept (above left)? In addition to more aggressive body work, larger brakes and flashier 18-inch alloy wheels, the vehicle packs the same 1.6-liter engine as found in the company’s RCZ. That means buyers can expect to find somewhere between 156 and 200 turbocharged horsepower kicking through a six-speed manual transmission. How’s that for a win?
Meanwhile, the 208 XY Concept (above right)wears more flash than actual go. With a color-shifting purple paint, unique interior treatments and a 1.6-liter turbo diesel engine, this hatch is meant more for prowling city centers than corner carving.
