It looks like could file its first paperwork for an initial public stock offering as soon as next week. The IPO registration is the first step in the process of getting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to become a publicly traded company again. A stock sale could come as soon as November and probably no later than early 2011.
At this point it appears that most of the shares to be sold will come from the block held by the United States Treasury, which accounts for 60.8 percent of the automaker. The Treasury would like to start unloading its stake as soon as possible and preferably before this year’s election. Roughly one third of the government’s holdings are expected to be sold in what may well be the biggest IPO of all time. Depending on the IPO price, the sale could bring in anywhere from $10-20 billion for what would be about 20 percent of the company. At the time of its bankruptcy last year, GM’s market capitalization was barely $700 million.
Hennessey VelociRaptor 600 – Click above to watch the video
Well of course they did. If is known for anything, it’s strictly adhering to the “Needs more power!” motif. This guy could watch a shuttle launch and return to his lab plotting a third booster. So yes, Hennessey has slapped two turbochargers onto Ford’s batty-yet-burly F150-mutant and produced the VelociRaptor 600 and 800, two products that will nicely compliment the existing , a supercharged version of the Raptor 5.4.
Through the magic of forced induction, power grows from the 6.2-liter V8 Raptor’s stock 411 horsepower and 434 pound-feet of torque to a slightly-goofy 602 hp and 622 lb-ft of twist in the V-Rap 600. Not enough for you? Hennessey either, which is why he’s also selling the VelociRaptor 800. Get all the liquids out of your mouth now, as the engine stonks it up to the Texas-sized tune of 810 hp and 745 lb-ft of torque. Can we borrow an exclamation point?
We know what you’re thinking — the twin-turbo V8 makes 752 pound-feet of torque, besting the Hennessey 800 by seven pounds of twisting force. However, the Hennessey VelociRaptor 800 makes 305 more ponies than the British thoroughbred, weighs less (what doesn’t?) and can keep up with the hounds no matter the fox hunt. That said, the Muslanne has a nicer interior. Think we’re being silly? We are, because engines like this bend our minds a bit. Remember, 810 hp is nearly 100 hp more than a Ferrari 599XX.
But what if you already have a Raptor 6.2, want more power but don’t want two turbochargers? Again, no problem, as Hennessey is also announcing the VelociRaptor 475, that through better breathing and some reprogramming, ups the big V8’s output to 475 hp and 485 lb-ft of torque. Dang. Watch the video .
Mini Countryman Aero Kit – Click above for image gallery
As is traditionally the case for revived range, the new crossover will be offered with an optional Aero Kit that makes the ‘ute look much more aggressive and might even do a wee bit for aerodynamic performance. Since the Countryman is such a large departure from the previous and , though, nobody was really sure what the new CUV’s Aero Kit might look like.
That little issue has now been resolved, courtesy of the followers-of-all-things-Mini at MotoringFile. Interestingly, the Countryman’s front fascia, which is one area previous Aero Kits have focused, sees very little change. A larger front air dam is in place, as are new side mirrors and rear apron.
We do note that the large flat black fender flares and seemingly one-size-too-small wheels look out of place on a Mini, though such concessions may be necessary considering the car’s expected (though largely unnecessary) soft-roading capabilities. See for yourself in our image gallery below.
Rumors continue to swirl around the paddock these days, many surrounding some of the top riders in the sport. Specifically, Australian Casey Stoner, who currently races for , is said to have to compete next season for . Naturally, then, there will be a couple of high profile slots open, possibly both for Ducati and for Honda.
One other silly season rumor that seems to have some legs would create a so-called Italian Dream Team, pairing up fan favorite Valentino Rossi with Ducati. Another storied Italian company is also known to be keenly interested in retaining Rossi’s services for the upcoming racing season: .
A new and intriguing possibility has reportedly sprung up that could see Rossi racing on both two and four wheels. According to a recent report, Ducati has crafted an offer for Rossi that would see him on the Italian bikes for two years, with dedicated time to along with a possible move to rally racing after the contract was up.
We have absolutely no way to verify an of this, so take it all with a suitably large grain of salt for now. If and when we know more, so will you.
2011 Mercedes-Benz R-Class – Click above for high-res image gallery
As it turns out, you have to do a little more than build the in order to get buyers to come take them off of your hands. Since the big Silver Arrow crossover first sauntered onto the scene back in 2005, has done very little advertising, and as a result, consumers can’t quite figure out what to make of the vehicle. According to Automotive News, that may be about to change. The company says that it will spend up to 15 percent of its total fall advertising budget on spots for the luxury people mover.
The ads will be geared toward wooing young families and will crop up during shows like CSI and Grey’s Anatomy as two 15-second spots – one at the beginning of the commercial break and one at the end. Beyond that, we’re not exactly sure what to expect from the commercials.
The move is part of a concerted effort to turn R-Class sales figures around. By May of this year, Mercedes-Benz had only managed to move a paltry 1,223 of the crossovers off of the lot. With a and plenty of advertising bucks headed toward the R, the German automaker says it hopes to see a double-digit percent sales increase compared to current numbers.
Gallery:
Photos by Zach Bowman / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: ]
2011 Buick Regal – Click above for high-res image gallery
In its ongoing quest to reinvent the brand as something other than the official car of the AARP, has launched a new social media marketing campaign complete with swanky parties in cities like Miami, Chicago and Philadelphia. There will be no shuffle board. The move is part of The General’s new “Buick’s Moment of Truth” campaign, where party attendees are given flip cameras to record their impressions – positive or negative – of the brand’s products. The videos will then be posted to a site for all to see.
According to Brand Week, the Remix parties are designed to help people become aware of exactly what the Buick brand means in post bankruptcy trim, and the shindigs dovetail with an aggressive internet marketing campaign targeted to 35-40 year-olds. That’s a smart move, considering that most consumers hold opinions on the brand that range from apathetic to downright negative.
Automotive News says that while West Coast buyers have little idea of what Buick means as a brand, mid-westerners remember the malaise days of Tri-Shield engineering better than most. Buick’s new campaign should kick off later this month with the launch of the Moment of Truth site.
Gallery:
Photos by Michael Harley / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: , ]
You know the old conundrum, “Fast car slow or slow car fast?” If you’ve never heard it before, it’s a bit of automotive philosophy that asks on a given road, would you rather drive a Lamborghini Murcielago at five-tenths, or a 1982 Honda Prelude until the wheel-bearings shatter? And really, like the sound of one hand clapping, there is no answer. That said, the new is one slow car all of us would love to drive fast.
Check the stats: The wheelbase is nearly two-inches longer while the length has grown by almost 4 inches. The front and rear tracks are wider by a smidge — seriously, a smidge — 10mm front, 5mm rear. A 1.2-liter gas engine replaces the 1.3-liter from the previous Swift, but the new mill includes variable-valve technology, so while displacement is down, power is up — 92 horsepower and 87 pound-feet of torque. True, that’s barely enough oomph to get make it up the AMG staircase, but consider the Swift weighs half as much as most cars (the current car is just under one ton) and comes standard with a manual (automatic’s an option). Sounds better now, no?
While the exterior hasn’t changed much, the Swift’s suit appears a bit more tailored. The big news is the interior which has borrowed some dressy, ritzed-up cues from its big brother . Will the Swift come to our big-car loving shores? The answer is probably not, even though the Swift should get about 45 mpg and sticker under $10,000. However, does need products, and there will be a 1.6-liter Swift Sport coming soon, so who knows?
A steering-wheel-and-pedal setup for your PS3 starts at around $50, but you’ll spend at least double that to get into the good stuff. HKS has teamed with InterWorks on a game controller solution that stays at the $50 mark but could work just as well as a wheel while being a little less intrusive.
The hot-coal red Hipermax III replaces the analog joysticks with a thumb wheel on the left side and throttle and brake buttons on the right side. The wheel has center stripe to aid steering, and the precise inputs of the throttle and brake controls are registered in the digital readout in the center of the controller. For the moment this is PS3-only, and while HKS hasn’t released a price, it’s pegged to come under $55.
Perhaps you’ve heard the one about Audi taking the top three slots at a little race called Le Mans? Well, Audi would like you to make sure that the rest of the world hears about it, and as enticement the Quattro-meisters are offering a chance to win a trip to the Audi Sportscar Experience at Infineon Raceway and a seat in a brand-spanking-new R8.
You’ll need a twitter account and a knowledge of pointing-and-clicking. Once you get that sorted, head to the and follow the absurdly simple instruction of sending a tweet. If you’re really into it, you can re-enter the contest up to 25 more times (for 26 in total), which would make Audi – and maybe your Piloti racing shoes – really happy. Best hurry, though – the contest ends today. After that you’ll have to buy your own R8…
Not the shape of Lotus things to come? – Click above for high-res image gallery
Yesterday rather… odd. The Malasian-owned British sports car maker sent the entire automotive world a high-res picture of Stonehenge and announced it represented the, “Dawn of a new era.” We initially interpreted this to mean that the new would show up in Paris. We still think we’re right about that part, but might have been letting a little bit more cat out of bag than they intended.
According to a report from Malaysia, Lotus owner Proton has hired a plethora of ex-Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin employees (including Frank Tuch, the former Director of Quality Management at Porsche) in hopes of transforming the brand away from Toyota-engined track day novelties (hello, !) into a full-fledged , and fighting luxury, high-performance brand. Of course that entails abandoning Colin Chapman’s maxim, “Simplify, then add lightness,” in favor of the German mandate to, “Complexify, then add steel.” If you think the Italians are any better, realize that every new Ferrari ships with eighteen miles of wiring. But look on the bright side, the new cars (which will have of cooked in) could draw power from Chapman spinning his grave.
As we speculated yesterday, the new Esprit will need something resembling a V8 engine (at least) to not only fill the shoes of the old, long-loved Esprit, but also to compete with the world’s best luxury/performance machers. Luckily for both Lotus and Lotus fans, engine-supplier Toyota has just such a motor in the form of the 416 horsepower, 371 pound-feet or torque 5.0-liter V8. Of course, if you want to play in the stratosphere with the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and/or Aston Martin these days, you’re going to need at least 500 horsepower. But where would Lotus get an engine like that?
According to the report, the 552 hp, 9,000 rpm 4.8-liter V10 could be made available for Esprit duty, though it might be slightly detuned. Still, an aluminum and composite V10 is an aluminum and composite V10. While that might sound odd at first blush, (no doubt) spent a sick amount of yen coming up with the LFA’s V10, but they’re only building 500 or so LFAs, so why not recoup the development costs elsewhere? The question does become: Does the world want a 500+ horsepower Lotus dolled up with enough electronic whizbangery to compete with Europe’s finest? Only time and the marketplace will tell.
PorscheCayman S – Click above for high-res image gallery
If you salivated at the but longed for something with a fixed roof, the rumor mill has something tantalizing in store for you. According to reports, is preparing to give a similar treatment to the .
Tentatively called the Cayman Clubsport, the hardcore coupe is tipped to get a 20-30 horsepower boost over the 300 hp offered from the 3.4-liter flat-six in the existing Cayman S. Couple that with a weight reduction scheme and similar chassis mods as those carried out on the Spyder and you’re looking at a mid-engined Porsche with a 0-60 time in the high fours.
A host of visual enhancements are likely to set it apart from the standard model. But at this point we’re looking largely at speculation – the such rumors have rounded the mill – so don’t go canceling your 911 GT3 order just yet.
Lotus Engineering has reached an agreement with the Spanish Fagor Ederlan Group to develop and produce a small engine for use as a range extender in electric vehicles – a system similar to that found in the . Lotus first showed its 1.2-liter inline-three engine at the Geneva Motor Show in the and concepts.
Both cars used a similar series hybrid powertrain architecture, where an electric motor provides the drive torque while the engine only drives a generator to sustain the battery after the plug-in charge has been depleted.
Because this new engine is designed specifically for use as a range extender rather than a primary power source, Lotus has been able to optimize the efficiency and reduce the weight. An adapted off-the-shelf engine like the one in the Volt is still designed to hold accessories like the alternator, air-conditioning compressor and power steering pump. Lotus has left out these structures for a lower cost and mass.
Lotus and Fagor Ederlan will take the 47 horsepower engine to production and offer it up to any automaker that wants to build an extended range electric vehicle, but no production timing or customers have been announced yet.
has dropped the goods on next year’s Tacoma, and it looks like the company will be giving the people what they want by offering more automatic transmissions as standard equipment. For 2011, the Japanese automaker is nixing three manual gearbox models and adding five new slusher versions of the pickup. Prices for the pickups will start at $16,365 for a bare bones, manual-transmission, two-wheel drive regular cab and top out at $27,525 for a V6-equipped four-wheel drive with an automatic gearbox and a double cab long-bed.
Buyers will continue to be able to opt between a 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine with 159 horsepower or a more potent 4.0-liter V6 with 236 horsepower. Those power figures have stayed on from last year, so we’re betting from both will stay on par with 2010 models as well. That means that the base truck will hit close to 20 mpg city and 26 mpg highway while the topped out version will land closer to 16 mpg city and 20 mpg highway. for the full press release.
[Source: Toyota]
prices 2011 Tacoma, deletes some manuals, adds more automatics
Just a couple of years ago American-made corn ethanol was vilified in the media. It was blamed for soaring food prices, and for causing food riots in Mexico. The UN even accused the U.S. of depriving the world of food.
What a difference a couple of years makes!
Today food production is soaring, especially corn. In fact, it’s up so much that farmers now worry about a price crash. And all this happened despite the fact that ethanol production is booming.
Back in 2007 when criticism of ethanol started to reach a fever pitch, the U.S. produced 5.5 billion gallons of ethanol at 110 refineries. This year the U.S. is on track to produce 13 billion gallons from 187 refineries located in 26 states. In other words, ethanol production more than doubled at the same time that food prices declined. Too bad the media doesn’t follow up on these things.
John McElroy is host of the TV program and daily web video . Every week he brings his unique insights as a Detroit insider to Autoblog readers.
2010 Nissan GT-R – Click above for high-res image gallery
Rumors of a next-generation Nissan GT-R have been floating around since . And given CEO Carlos Ghosn’s wholesale commitment to electric vehicles, it should come as no surprise that the automaker is seriously considering adding some form of battery power to the next iteration of its sports car. Speaking at an event in Australia, chief engineer Kazutoshi Mizuno confirmed that an alternative powertrain will be a necessity to keep the GT-R relevant and meet future emissions and fuel economy standards.
Both and have already announced plans to build electric versions of the and respectively. According to Mizuno, Nissan is considering a straight battery variant, a hybrid or even a diesel version, although the latter is unlikely. A battery version is certainly possible, but Mizuno also says a hybrid would be easy to do thanks to the GT-R’s front engine/rear transaxle layout. The and other EVs will give Nissan some breathing room on regulations, so a new GT-R is still a ways off. At this point work has yet to start on the new model and no decision has been made on the powertrain.
The times, they are a changin’ for . Everyone’s favorite motoring show has undergone quite a few transformations over the years, and that doesn’t look to stop with the next season. Viewers can expect to see a few sad but inevitable changes come to fruition, starting with the death of the Lacetti. For those of you who don’t have an archive of creatively obtained episodes lurking about on your hard drive, the miserable little car had been the subject of abuse at the hands of a myriad of celebrities in the show’s infamous “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment.
We’re not entirely sure what happened, though we have to imagine it had something to do with repeated missed shifts and the fact that the sedan spent more time in low orbit than actually lapping the show’s track. Either way, it’s off for good, and you can expect the guys to send it on its way in style.
Then there’s word that , Hammond and May will actually be toning down the stunts this season. While speaking with The Daily Telegraph, James May said that things had gotten a little out of hand over the past few seasons, and that the show would be working to return to basics somewhat. We have no idea what that means, but we’re guessing there might be a few less helicopter chases in the cards. But there will be explosions. Lots and lots of explosions…
2011 Audi RS3 – Click above for high-res image gallery
The next generation Audi RS3 is coming, it’s just a matter of when. But the bigger question is what’s going to power hottest hatch when it arrives on European shores.
Considering that the on which it’s based shares the same platform (PQ35) as the , there’s a good chance that Audi could swap the coupe’s turbocharged 2.5-liter FSI inline-five into the engine bay. Unchanged, the five-pot would put out 335 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque to either a six-speed manual or S Tronic dual-clutch gearbox, and naturally, power will be delivered to all four wheels with a similar 40:60 front-to-rear torque split.
Our recent batch of spy shots show a slightly modified A3, complete with a RS-ified fascia, lower stance and massive brakes front and rear, although the single, twin-tipped exhaust (and grilled-mounted badge) could be mistaken for a standard S3. More interestingly is the rear wing, which remained fixed during part of the RS3’s ‘Ring run, but was canted upwards around another section. It could be some kind of adaptive air brake or it could’ve just come undone while whipping around the track.
Regardless, since Audi doesn’t offer an S3 in the U.S., there’s little chance of the RS3 making it to the States anytime soon.
We got our at the E-Cell prototype yesterday and now we can see it in motion. The German magazine Bild has a video of their first drive in the electric supercar. Unfortunately, our conversational German isn’t up to snuff, so it’s hard to decipher the commentary and driving impressions. However, we do get a good look under the hood, where the 6.2-liter V8 has been replaced by a several cubic feet of electronics, motors and high-voltage cabling. Inside, we get a glimpse of the new instrument cluster, including a display that can toggle between the battery’s state of charge and power flow or the navigation information.
If and when Mercedes-Benz let’s us have a crack at the prototype, sunglasses will be a necessity. Check out the retina-searing .
