It’s hard not to be skeptical when we read a report in Automotive News like this one: “Work also is under way on a compact sedan, but that car is a few years away from production, officials said.”
It’s been over six months since we last reported on , the would-be rival to the , and . Unlike, say, the Cadillac ATS, we still have relatively little actual information about this new competitor in one of the most hotly contested luxury segments.
How Jaguar might be planning on plugging such a gaping hole in its product lineup remains to be seen, but the hope is that the new sedan might share components with the forthcoming sports car based on the from the . The concept was fitted with a supercharged 3.0-liter V6 making 376 horsepower, along with a hybrid battery pack to allow for an additional 94-hp boost.
However Jaguar plans to go at its competition, it will be an uphill battle, as the brand hasn’t fared well in the segment in recent years. Its was poorly received when it was launched under ownership a decade ago. Since then, the entry luxury market has seen plenty of excellent sport sedans attempt to dethrone BMW, including models like the .
The next-generation mid-size sedan will be the first Nissan vehicle equipped with the automaker’s first-ever, in-house developed, front-wheel-drive hybrid system. The hybrid setup, due in 2013, will be replace the Toyota-based system, which Nissan used in the , according to Masayuki Yasuoka, a senior exec in Nissan’s next-generation powertrain group.
Nissan’s upcoming gas-electric setup will be loosely based on the hybrid system found in the rear-wheel-drive , meaning it will feature a two-clutch, single-motor, lithium-ion battery setup. But instead of the 3.5-liter V6 engine that powers the M35h, the Altima Hybrid will likely pack a surpercharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder powerplant, mated to a new, advanced Xtronic continously variable transmission.
All this intel was reportedly revealed during a recent test drive at Nissan’s Oppama proving grounds in Japan. Yasuoka declined to comment on which Nissan model would get the in-house developed hybrid system, but the Altima seems the most likely candidate.
It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about the next-generation , and judging by this latest set of spy photos, there’s still quite a bit of work to be done before the new Silver Arrow flagship makes its debut.
Like the , the next-generation S-Class will likely use a larger, more upright grille design, previewed by the from a few years ago. Expect the Merc’s face to be chocked full of LED goodness, and under the hood, you can count on the standard range of gasoline, diesel and hybrid powertrains.
Inside, you can bet that the new S-Class will be as luxurious as ever, with as possible cabin materials. Sounds plush. Look for the all-new S-Class to debut sometime in 2012.
It’s not out of the question to think that Vauxhall could win a shootout for the best fuel economy. But you’d figure the honors would be taken by something like the Ampera plug-inhybrid or one of its models, not the VXR8 muscle sedan, what with its huge 6.2-liter V8 engine. But it’s precisely the VXR8 that took the prize at the end of the day.
The Fleet World MPG Marathon doesn’t just measure overall fuel economy, but how much of an improvement over its combined city/highway rating they can eke out of a given car. The goal is to demonstrate just how much a driver and his/her driving style can effect the amount of fuel consumed.
By that standard, the VXR8 was a shocker: the vehicle is rated (on the European cycle) at 21 miles per gallon, but with Top Gear online editor Chris Mooney behind the wheel and Vauxhall’s own Andrew Duerden coaching from the front passenger seat, they managed to squeeze out a much more pump-friendly 32.14 mpg – a remarkable 53-percent improvement.
Second place went to a likelier candidate in the Swift DDiS, which managed to get an astounding 86.4 miles per (diesel) gallon on a 67.3 mpg rating for a 28.3 percent improvement over specification. for both press releases.
is busily drumming up buzz ahead of the launch of the next-generation . The company has released a slew of brief videos depicting the sketch work behind the vehicle’s predecessors. Unfortunately, there’s not much to the short clips beyond some pencil lines and a still image robbed from old PR photos, but the videos do a smart enough job underscoring the evolution of BMW design over the decades. BMW is set to pull the sheets off of the next interpretation of the company’s midsized fighter this Friday, October 14 via a live webcast. For more information, feel free to check out the company’s .
Our spy photographers have already given us of what the vehicle will look like when it debuts, but we’re still itching to hear details on future engine options. The rumormill has been kicking full force on the possibility of an ActiveHybrid version of the 3 Series as well as a turbocharged four-cylinder model. to check out the gaggle of videos for yourself.
We’ve come to expect varying levels of insanity from eBay Motors. The site is like a magnet for the one-off, the strange and the bizarre, which is part of why we love it. This machine is no different. Based on an unspecified , the vehicle has received a full cosmetic makeover in the image of a . Which Bugatti? The owner isn’t saying, but there’s no mistaking what lurks behind that big hoop grille as a French creation.
Now, we typically cringe at the over-application of fiberglass in any custom vehicle, which is part of what makes this Bug/Lincoln hybrid unique. The owner says that each body panel is crafted from aluminum, meaning that there are no seams, cracks, or, for that matter, rust. While not to our tastes, this creative rebody seems to have been done to a significantly higher standard than most of these sorts of misadventures. Either way, it isn’t immediately clear if this is a one-off, or if someone built a small run of these things.
Inside, the interior has been given the mohair treatment along with a set of “European gauges.” The castrated 460-cubic-inch V8 from the Lincoln is still tucked behind the headlights, but the engine is now concealed by a butterfly hood which should make working on the lump even more difficult than before. Wonders never cease. Head over to for a closer look. As of the time of writing, the auction carries a Buy It Now price of $39,950, but prospective buyers are welcome to make an offer.
If it’s too early to start drinking, crack open a cold one anyway. You’re gonna need a beer to cry into. Top Gear reports that has no plans to produce the CR-Z Mugen RR HybridConcept. Zero. None. While we saw this coming a mile off, some deeply-oppressed optimistic shard of our psyche clung to the hope that Honda would awaken from its performance coma. Alas, no. The world will be denied the it deserves.
We probably don’t need to remind you that the CR-Z Mugen RR Hybrid Concept makes heavy use of carbon fiber. The doors, hood and front fenders are all formed from the lightweight material, as is a complete underbody tray. With 197 horsepower on tap, the concept clicks off a 0-60 dash in 6.6 seconds, and if you’re restrained enough to run it in Eco mode, it can return somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 mpg.
has rolled out a few tasty bits of news courtesy of Car and Driver. The Italian sports car manufacturer has made it clear that the successor to the legendary Enzo will come to the party packing a V12 engine mated to a . While Ferrari has already hinted that the company is seriously considering electrification with concepts like the , CEO Amedeo Felisa said that a production Ferrari hybrid would have to include some sort of efficiency-boosting system in addition to a performance adder like a kinetic energy recovery system.
Felisa also said that the replacement for the company’s will feature somewhere around 700 horsepower. The machine will keep its front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, but will rely on aluminum alloys for its body structure instead of carbon fiber. Felisa says that the absurd power in the future 599 is not a response to the Lamborghini Aventador, however.
AutoExpress recently took the time to sit down with design guru Peter Schreyer for a chat about the company’s GT Concept that debuted at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. Schreyer is understandably keen to bring the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sedan to market, though he isn’t necessarily wedded to the 400-horsepower turbocharged V6 under the concept’s hood. Schreyer said that any number of drivetrain options could conceivably work, including hybrid and smaller displacement powertrains. The designer believes that Kia could still produce an executive sedan with the performance that buyers want while still maintaining excellent fuel economy.
That would certainly help make a more solid business case for the range-topping model. Schreyer also made it clear that while the GT would likely be successful in the U.S. and Chinese markets, the design lends itself to global sales. This all sounds good to us, but it’s worth noting that the ultimate fate of any production model based on the GT Concept rests in the hands of the decision makers at Kia.
General Motors is aiming to improve fuel economy performance on both the and the by integrating the company’s eAssist hybrid system, according to GM Inside News. The report cites multiple unnamed sources indicating that the hybrid crossovers will debut for the 2014 model year, and that they will utilize the same eAssist system found on sedans like the , and . The system pairs a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with a 15 kilowatt electric motor and a 115-volt lithium-ion battery pack.
So far, GM has priced its eAssist models identically to the company’s V6 offerings. If that trend continues, buyers will have their choice of fuel-efficient crossovers without having to endure a price penalty. As you may recall, the yields an EPA-estimated 25 mpg city and 37 mpg highway, which we’re guessing wouldn’t be too far off of what a front-wheel drive Equinox or Terrain eAssist would be capable of returning.
Spy photographers have managed to snap a few quick shots of the wagon variant of the upcoming 2013 Ford Mondeo/Fusion undergoing testing in the Alps. The lightly camouflaged hauler is our best look yet at how plans to translate the design language from the Evos Concept displayed at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show onto production vehicles. No one is saying whether or not Ford is planning to actually offer a in the States, of course. We see that as highly unlikely, though the long-roof lines are plenty becoming on the Australian-based family cruiser.
Ford is likely, however, to keep the Fusion Hybrid alive for the next generation, and we expect it to pack enough efficiency enhancements to give the a run for its battery-operated money.
When the upcoming Marvel reunion The Avengers hits the silver screen, it promises to be packed with action. Action heros like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America… and a new Acura NSX.
Wait, what? That’s right: if the latest rumors from Auto Express prove true, that mystery supercar that Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) has been of the upcoming superhero flick will be our first glimpse at the new supercar from ’s premium marque.
The neo-NSX will reportedly pack the through-the-road all-wheel-drive hybrid drivetrain from the , encompassing a 3.5 to 3.7-liter V6 driving the rear wheels and an electric hub motor in each of the front wheels.
Tipped to be priced to take on the , the new NSX could be the Honda supercar we’ve been waiting for. For its part, Honda officials continue to deny that Tony Stark’s car is representative of a new NSX, so we’ll believe it when we see it (and we don’t just mean at the movies).
The auto show transition seemed to happen in a flash. One year, automakers were jockeying for dealer traffic with high horsepower, rear-wheel-drive retro rides, and the next year, each one of them ushered in a hybrid or electric vehicle. The paradigm shift was a welcome sight for car buyers wanting to shrink their carbon footprint and save money on fuel, but the majority of those products were years from production. Fast-forward to 2011, and the variety of fuel efficient transportation on offer in the industry has improved quite a bit, including this sleekly styled mid-size offering from .
The may have taken longer than expected to hit the market, but its lithium-polymer battery pack and host of fuel-saving features have given Hyundai 35 miles per gallon city and 40 mpg highway fuel economy numbers to flash before consumers. And the Sonata Hybrid isn’t battling the competition on fuel economy alone. It also features attractive styling that sharply differentiates it from non-hybrid Sonata models, while also carrying an MSRP thousands of dollars less than the Hybrid and .
We spent a week with a modestly equipped Sonata Hybrid, but rather than going light on the pedal to gather up as many Eco points as possible, we drove it like we would any mid-sized sedan to see if it could hang with the daily drudgery of suburban life.
saw another unfortunate month of sales in September. The automaker saw its sales figures fall by 18 percent compared to the same time last year, thanks largely to lower-than-average dealer inventory brought on by this year’s earthquake and tsunami disasters. Toyota sold 121,451 vehicles in the U.S. last month across its three brands. The company moved 147,162 vehicles during the month of September last year.
Even so, the automaker says that October will show sales improvements, according to Automotive News. Bob Carter, group vice president of Toyota Motor Sales, said that right now, U.S. dealers have a 30-day supply of vehicles, and that inventory will continue to grow in the coming months.
Carter also underscored the fact that his company would reverse a five-month trend of sales losses in October and once again post gains. That’s likely to be true given that the and Camry Hybrid are likely to bring in buyers as well as the company’s . In addition, the is slated to show up in the fourth quarter alongside the Scion iQ.
The is set to bow at the next month, but we don’t have to wait several weeks for engine options. The Ford Story (a Ford-run blog) reports that the next Escape (Ford Vertrek concept from shown above) will feature three four-cylinder engine options, with two of those four-pots being of the turbocharged kind.
The base engine will be the carryover 2.5-liter four-cylinder model, but the two EcoBoost mills will likely garner the most attention. The turbocharged 1.6-liter model, which is in Europe, will fill out the middle of the range. With the EcoBoost 1.6 under the hood, the 2013 Escape will best the current Escape Hybrid’s 31 highway miles per gallon, while still producing . That couldn’t come as much of a surprise, since even the larger and more powerful 2.0-liter EcoBoost manages under the hood of the much heavier .
Speaking of the 2.0-liter EcoBoost, you can expect this 247-horsepower mill at the top of the 2013 Escape food chain. With all that horsepower and usable (275 pound-feet) torque, we’re guessing Escape buyers won’t miss the 3.0-liter V6 and it’s measly 223 lb-ft one bit. And like we said, if the Edge can manage 30 mpg, we’re guessing that engineers can eek out a bit more efficiency under the hood of the next Escape.
As you may recall, back in June we on a decision-making process currently ongoing at headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy, and corporate HQ in Wolfsburg, Germany. That Lamborghini would produce a vehicle with more seats and doors than its existing range of exotic sportscars was a sure thing – the question was which way the Raging Bull marque would go: crossover or sedan?
Given that other exotic automakers like and have gone both ways, we asked you, our faithful readers, to cast your vote in our informal online poll, and the outcome was clear: over 59 percent of responders wanted a four-door Lamborghini sedan like the Estoque concept. Less than 18 percent liked the idea of a Lamborghini crossover, overshadowed by the 23.5 percent who would rather see the House that Ferruccio Built stick with supercars.
Unfortunately, the product planners feel differently, as reports suggest that the crossover is more likely to get the nod than the sedan. Emerging markets like China, India and Latin America – where a soft-roader would prove more popular – have apparently been swaying the decision-makers. The resulting vehicle is likely to borrow its underpinnings from the , offer all-wheel drive and possibly a turbocharged engine – but no hybrids or diesels.
Of course the announcement hasn’t been made yet, so there’s no telling what might happen until it is, but for now, it looks like the LM002 is coming back, in one form or another, while the Estoque will (for the time being at least) remain a one-off show piece.
The 2012 GMC Terrain is putting downward pressure on the price of camera-based forward collision detection and lane departure systems. The new $295 option buys customers a system that reduces the complexity of the setups carried by zooty luxury brands by using a single camera instead of the hybrid camera-laser-radar systems you’ll find elsewhere.
The GMC system employs a camera for both collision warning and lane departure functions, relying on software to detect vehicles. Successive video frames are analyzed to determine the trajectory and time to collision unless corrections are made. The brakes are also pre-primed to deliver optimal performance if called upon. Image processing is the key to this system’s strength, relying on software number-crunching to pull off what other manufacturers bulk up on hardware to do. For example, at night, the system looks for pairs of lights moving together to help spot other vehicles, and vehicle speed, accelerator and brake application are factored in to help the system figure out what the driver’s intent is.
Families want vehicles that do more than just pay lip service to safety, and GMC apparently believes that it shouldn’t just be wealthy families that get the best stuff. Video and press release posted .
Shortly after launching its new C4 hatchback, Citroën upsized it and took it upscale in the form of the DS4. For European buyers intrigued by crossover but not looking for the premium accoutrements, now there’s the C4 Aircross.
Like the DS4, the C4 Aircross looks better suited to tackling a wet cobblestone street in Paris than a mountain pass through the French alps. Powertrain choices include a variety of gasoline and diesel engines, ranging from 110 horsepower up to 150, with front- or all-wheel drive. Those 18-inch wheels measure 18 inches and, like the rear lights, draw their inspiration from the concept car, while LED running lights are integrated into the air apertures up front.
Five occupants will also be able to appreciate the panoramic glass sunroof when the model launches in Europe early next year, but you can get the details now in the press release after the jump and eyeball the image gallery for a closer look.
Automotive News reports that will launch a small electric vehicle by the end of this year, and that it will be the first car in a wave of forthcoming Korean EVs. It’s not known if or when the new electric cars will eventually arrive in the U.S., though it would hardly be surprising if they did. calls this EV initiative the TAM project, and that the first vehicle to come out of it will ride on the subcompact Hyundai i10 platform.
All told, Automotive News says that Kia will produce 2,000EVs for 2012. A small group of BlueOn Hyundai i10 EVs has been ongoing in South Korea, and it’s thought that the lessons learned will be applied to the upcoming Kia vehicle.
This is Hyundai’s first real push into the electric vehicle segment. While Japanese and domestic automakers have already brought production EVs to market, Hyundai and Kia have contented themselves with offerings like the Sonata Hybrid and Optima Hybrid.
The totally redesigned (formerly known as the ), America’s , will hit dealerships nationwide on October 18 with a starting MSRP $26,155, (*excluding a $750 destination fee). Add in navigation, and the Civic Natural Gas tops out at $27,655 plus $750 for delivery.
A modified version of the 1.8-liter four-cylinder found in the gas-fueled Sedan and Coupe powers the Civic Natural Gas; a five-speed automatic transmission is standard. The Civic Natural Gas is EPA-rated at 27 city/38 highway/31 combined miles per gasoline-gallon equivalent. Compared against the 2011 Civic GX, the 2012 Natural Gas delivers a 12.5-percent improvement in city fuel efficiency and a 5.5-percent bump on the highway.
But here’s the crucial question: How does the Civic Natural Gas stack up against its green sibling, the Civic Hybrid? Well, the Civic Hybrid starts at $24,800, so it’s cheaper than the Natural Gas Civic and, at an EPA-estimated 44 mpg in all driving conditions, the gas-electric version is more fuel efficient. But for residents of California, where unlimited access to HOV lanes adds to a car’s value, the . for the official press blast.
