Entries from June 2009 ↓

James Bond screeches around hairpin bends in them with a beautiful woman at his side, while they are the car of choice for European royalty in which to parade themselves around the Continent’s more opulent capitals.

Now, at last, the opportunity to pop out to the supermarket behind the wheel of an Aston Martin will be opened to the more conventional motorist.

The Aston Martin Cygnet — a new “luxury commuter concept” car, according to its marketeers — is to be built on the base of Toyota’s existing iQ city car and is likely to be available for less than £20,000.

“Small is beautiful these days,” Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin’s chief executive, said yesterday. “We have to move on from the preconceived ideas regarding what Aston Martin is about.”

What the company has been about is high-end performance cars that sell for upwards of £100,000. Even its wristwatches sell for more than the proposed price of the Cygnet.

Mr Bez said that Aston Martin needed to diversify to cope with a sharp fall in demand for its sports cars. “For decades we have seen the big US car manufacturers stick to what they have always done and now they’re on the brink of extinction,” he said.

“This concept will allow us to apply Aston Martin design language, craftsmanship and brand values to a completely new segment of the market.”

It is thought that between 4,000 and 5,000 Cygnets will be built each year. Toyota, attracted by the cachet of Aston Martin, said that it would be the only car that it would make for another manufacturer.

The two companies began their unlikely friendship at the Nürburgring 24-hour race, where they shared garage facilities.

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NEW CITROËN C3 – VISIODRIVE

Beautiful, young, intelligent. The new C3 by Citroën. Coming out in November 2009, the new Citroën C3 has a strong ambition: to replace a bestseller that has sold more than 2 million units. “This is a major renewal for the Marque and gives us the wherewithal to achieve our target of increasing market share even more, among both individual and corporate customers,” says Frédéric Banzet, Managing Director of Citroën.

The winning formula: take the best of the C3 and make it even better. The new C3 is packed with seductive
features: tauter styling, high-class trim, intelligent architecture creating exceptional interior space in what is still one of the most compact vehicles on the market, and superior on-board comfort and road handling, both in the city
and on the open road. With the most advanced features in the segment, the new Citroën C3 will be ideal as the
main family car or core fleet vehicle.

But that’s not all. The Zenith windscreen makes the new C3 unique. As well as drenching the cabin in light and
expanding visibility, this windscreen introduces passengers of our Visiodrive to a new driving experience. “With the
new C3, Citroën is opening up a new automobile universe. A universe where reason and responsibility leave room for new driving pleasure. And new sensations,” says Vincent Besson, Products and Markets, Citroën.
These quality features are confirmed in the design and manufacturing of the new Citroën C3. Made in France, on
the industrial sites of Aulnay and Poissy, the new vehicle meets high quality standards, both new and over time. To guarantee optimum reliability, and iron out the last imperfections, it will be put through more than 2 million
kilometres of on-road testing before the market release.

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By George Gao From:Gasgoo.com
Shanghai, (Gasgoo.com) Guangzhou Toyota, a joint venture between Guangzhou Auto and Toyota Motor, has confirmed its plan to produce Toyota’s ‘business-class’ Previa MPV in 2012, 163.com reported today.

The Toyota Previa MPV model to be made in China will be code-named “085X” (Previa) and it will be produced on the new “MC-M” platform, which is also to make the next-generation Toyota Highlander SUV in 2014.

After the Chinese production of Toyota Highlander was started last month, the next focus of Guangzhou Toyota is shifting to the ‘business-class’ Previa, to save this Toyota MPV model from oblivion.

Guangzhou Toyota has produced Toyota’s small car (subcompact) Yaris, mid-to-high-end sedan Camry and luxury SUV Highlander, but Toyota MPV is still absent from the venture’s product line-up.

Meanwhile, Dongfeng Nissan and Guangzhou Honda, the two other Guangzhou-based ventures of Japanese carmakers, have MPV models as their heavyweight products.

The China-made Honda Odyssey MPV sold 2,174 units in May, as one of the top 3 MPV models in the Chinese market, and sales of Dongfeng Nissan’s Livina MPV are making Guangzhou Toyota more envious.

Product Features

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* Safety Blade Seat Belt Cutter quickly cuts seat belts to free drivers and passengers
* Powerful sonic alarm signals for help with loud dB
* High Visibility Flashing Red Distress Light to signal for help.
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Product Description
Life-Protecting Compact, Multi-Function Key Ring Tool features Automatic Glass Breaker, a Safety-Blade Seat Belt Cutter, Powerful Sonic Alarm, High Intensity High and Low Beam Bright White LED Flashlight, a Digital Tire Gauge, a Thermometer and a Flashing Red Distress Light for Signaling and High Visibility. The small, tough ABS nylon housing has a “Glow in the Dark” Panel for quick location and an elegant chrome look. Lithium Batteries included to provide a Personal Safety Kit securely attached to an included Key Ring.

* Clever packaging means more occupant comfort and space
* Distinctive exterior design cues echoed in cabin
* Quality feel throughout cabin enhanced by extensive use of premium materials

These are the first interior pictures of the Vauxhall Astra, which will debut at this September’s Frankfurt Motor Show and will reach UK dealers by late this year.

Echoing the flowing forms of its bodywork, the new Astra’s interior marks a major shift towards premium design and quality in the UK’s compact sector, and continues Vauxhall’s design evolution which started five years ago with the current Astra, followed by a further step-change last year with the launch of the Insignia.

The Astra’s interior employs the recurring wing and blade motifs that were first introduced in the Insignia and are now used in a fresh and innovative way. The blade theme is expressed in details like the gooseneck shape of the door grab handles and the trim for the gearshift moulding and steering wheel.

As you look at the Astra’s wraparound instrument panel, which embraces both front seat occupants, the wing design is immediately visible as it arcs across the cabin into the door-top mouldings. The dashboard has a black, grained finish with a subtly different texture to other mouldings in the cabin.

Ambient lighting enhances the quality feel of the cabin, with lighting points framing the gearbox surround, and providing illumination from above the centre console and within the door handle recesses, depending on trim level.

The feeling of cabin space and depth is augmented by a centre panel mounted at a shallow 30-degree angle, which sweeps down from the top of the instrument panel to the centre console, creating a flowing surface that incorporates the gearshift. Like the Insignia, the Astra’s main clocks and gauges are ringed with chrome, with the speedometer and tachometer pods angled inwards towards the driver.

Special emphasis has gone into the design and engineering of the Astra’s seats, which now have industry-leading levels of adjustment. Their height can be raised by up to 65mm, while their fore and aft range extends to 280mm, allowing all drivers and passengers to find their ideal seating position. In addition, the Ergonomic Sports Seats (standard in all Elite models) have improved tilt adjustment, four-way power lumbar support, superior side support and supporting foam pads.

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The brand with the four rings leads the pack with a new vehicle concept: The Audi A5 Sportback combines the best of different automotive worlds. It is as emotional and elegant as a coupe, as comfortable as a sedan, and as practical as an Avant. The Sportback joins the Coupé and Cabriolet as the third member of the A5 model family – and at the same time creates a new segment. With an exciting design, great everyday utility and highly efficient and powerful TFSI, FSI and TDI engines, the A5 Sportback will arrive at Audi dealerships in September. The car will be open for ordering with an entry price of EUR 36,050 for the 2.0 TDI version. A version with an even more attractive price will follow in the middle of 2010. This will make the A5 Sportback the entry model for the A5 model range.

The A5 Sportback represents a milestone in car design. The five-door coupe excels in its elegant, elongated, sporty profile. The large hatchback fits perfectly into the tail-end styling. The spoiler lip and the diffuser insert provide contrast and emphasize the athletic tautness of the elongated contour. The coupe-like silhouette is the result of a roof section with a long, tapering roofline that is moderately lower by 36 mm (1.42 inches) than the A4 Sedan and of the short overhangs at the front and rear as well as the long wheelbase of 2,810 mm (9.22 feet) and the four frameless doors with their slim, dynamic window styling. The unusual hatchback design is distinctively emblematic of the vehicle’s excellent functionality. With the Sportback, the designers of the Avant are setting trends in tail-end design while combining sportiness, comfort and utility in a completely new way.

The unique functional concept in conjunction with the emotion-packed design creates a cutting-edge mix of coupe and Avant. The baggage volume of 480 liters (17.0 cubic feet) nearly equals that of the A4 Avant, and it has an impressive 980 liters (34.6 cubic feet) with the rear seatbacks folded down.

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Honda plans to produce Smaller car below Honda Jazz/Fit as A-segment category to hit small car market.Unknown Small car is 2 CV Codename will be built at India and Thailand early 2012,Especially Thailand entry to ECO-CAR Project get 17% tax priced.

The 2CV  would be the first model from Honda that will be developed with India as a lead market. While Japan was the lead market for the Jazz, US was the lead market for the Accord and Civic and Thailand for City.

My Iris reported that TATA Motors has plans to use its Nano platform to build electric and hybrid cars and to produce more high end models.

TATA Group said TATA Motors should target exports of the car in the developing countries like Brazil, China, Indonesia and Russia where the growth rate is over 10%.

The introduction of Nano was compared to that of the Ford Model T, the car that completely revolutionized the automobile industry. Nano is also expected to create a new distinct category in the auto industry – the People’s car.

A true Indian car, Nano has 97% local content. Before Nano, Maruti 800 was the cheapest car in the Indian market priced at around INR 2 million.