Entries from July 2009 ↓

2010 Nissan Elgrand J42H

Next gen Nissan Quest MPV (R42H Codename) for US market willl be shared a front of Half-Body Structure component with All New Elgrand to be launch at May,2010 (J42H Codename) for cut cost developing.Both All New Quest/Elgrand will be procued at Nissan Shahai Plant Japan

current nissan quest

* Kizashi concept series culminates with world introduction of all-new Suzuki sport sedan.
* Chic Kizashi production model to deliver Japanese quality and European flair.
* North American Car of the Year contender to serve as halo vehicle for maturing Suzuki lineup.
* Kizashi’s exhilarating performance and driving experience reflect Suzuki’s exuberant brand spirit, backed by the confidence of America’s #1 Warranty.

American Suzuki Motor Corp. (ASMC) takes a bold step forward today. Known primarily as a maker of small vehicles and high-performance motorcycles, today marks the global debut of the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi (pronounced “Kee-Zah-Shee”), the company’s first entry into the all-wheel-drive sport sedan segment. Benchmarked against some of the leading cars in the world, the all-new 2010 Kizashi becomes an instant car-of-the-year contender in its own right. With the launch of the Kizashi, Suzuki delivers a unique blend of dynamic performance attributes with premium design aesthetics and craftsmanship yet to be experienced in this category. Scheduled to arrive in North American showrooms this winter, the Kizashi will serve as the company’s flagship vehicle, further expanding and strengthening its current product line of high-quality small cars, trucks and SUVs.

“In developing and naming our newest automotive introduction, the Japanese word ‘Kizashi,’ which tells that something great is coming, seemed appropriate for the vehicle,” said Kevin Saito, president, American Suzuki. “Now that the production model Kizashi has arrived, we expect the name and the product itself to clearly demonstrate the bold statement this company knew it would be making with the debut of this vehicle — while also simultaneously suggesting what will emerge in the Suzuki lineup as we look ahead to the future.”

The Kizashi sport sedan, which originates from the Concept Kizashi series introduced over the last two years, follows a similar design theme and appreciation for performance previously illustrated by the three eye-catching and immaculately designed concept vehicles. The production Kizashi redefines the traditional performance sedan and moves the Suzuki brand upscale. Furthermore, its active and energetic identity, a core component of the Suzuki brand DNA, is tempered by the vehicle’s overall mission to provide a strong, refined urban performance.
Powertrain

Built at Suzuki’s brand-new manufacturing facility in Sagara, Japan, the 2010 Kizashi is equipped with a standard 2.4-liter DOHC inline four-cylinder engine offering a more potent standard engine than many competitive best-sellers. The engine employs both an aluminum block and cylinder heads, providing a lightweight installation; aluminum pistons with low tensile force rings deliver improved power and efficiency. Dropped-forged connecting rods, rotating on a forged steel crankshaft, contribute to the inline four’s durability, and a balancer shaft delivers improved engine balance and reduced noise, vibration and harshness (NVH).

The responsive inline four is connected to a six-speed manual transmission, for heightened performance in the low gears, along with relaxed — and economical — cruising capability in the higher gears. Customers may opt for an available Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) that delivers both the driving experience and fuel efficiency today’s consumers demand, while not compromising the character preferred by driving enthusiasts. That character is enhanced with paddle shifters, optimizing driver control regardless of speed or driving environment. With either transmission choice, the Kizashi is engineered to return competitive fuel economy numbers for fuel-conscious consumers.

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These are the first official sketches of the all-new Chevrolet Agile, a Ford Fiesta-sized hatchback that was developed and designed entirely by GM’s South American operations.

Bob Lutz, who formerly headed GM product development and recently un-retired to return as head of marketing, has claimed the new car’s design will be competitive or better with the best in its segment.

“It is a full car of youth, with a design that is going to surprise,” says Carlos Beard, design chief of GM Mercosur

The GM manufacturing plant in Argentina is already tooled up for the Agile operation and workers have been trained in its assembly. It will join other products being sold in the Mercosur market such as the Chevrolet Corsa models, Spark, Aveo, Astra, Meriva, Vectra, Zafira, Blazer, Captiva, S10 and Corvette.

By George Gao From:Gasgoo.com

China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Corp. (BAIC) said today it had failed to reach an agreement with General Motors on the buying of GM’s Opel unit in Germany due to intellectual property issues, Reuters reported.

“In the negotiations over intellectual property, we have been in constant communications with General Motors,” the company said in a statement. “Regrettably, both parties failed to reach agreement on (the intellectual property) issue.”

In a statement released yesterday by GM Europe, the automaker’s chief negotiator John Smith said that the company has “agreed to continue detailed talks with Magna and RHJI to secure Opel’s future.” This implied that the third bidder, China’s Beijing Auto, failed to make headway in the talks.

A Beijing Auto spokesman told The Associated Press that “We have not received notification from GM” when asked whether BAIC was out of the running.

GM now will focus talks with Canadian auto-parts maker Magna International Inc (with its partner Russian lender Sberbank) and RHJ International SA, a Belgium-based investor.

Earlier this week, German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a news conference that Canada’s Magna was still Germany’s preferred bidder for Opel.

Industry analysts said the German government has limited confidence in the global management skills of Beijing Auto while GM is not willing to sell its Opel brand to a Chinese carmaker to rival its profitable ventures with China’s auto giant SAIC.

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., a long-time leader in the development and application of CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) technology, and its affiliate transmission supplier JATCO Ltd. today announced the joint development of a new generation of compact and lightweight CVTs.

The next-generation CVT design features an innovative structure combining conventional CVT belt operation with an auxiliary gearbox and a significantly increased gear ratio range. The new CVT is scheduled to appear in compact Nissan vehicles worldwide in the near future.

Major features of the new CVT are:

* World’s highest transmission ratio for quicker starts and acceleration
The new structure raises the available transmission ratio from current 6.0:1 to 7.3:1, more than 20 percent higher than other CVTs, for enhanced responsiveness on starting and acceleration. The 7.3:1 ratio is higher than the average conventional 7-speed automatic transmissions used on high-displacement engine-equipped vehicles, making it among the world’s highest ratios for production vehicle use*.
* Compact and lightweight
This revolutionary CVT configuration combines a belt-operated CVT with an auxiliary transmission, shortening its overall length by 10 percent and reducing weight by 13 percent compared to conventional CVTs in its class.
* Superb drivability
The next-generation CVT features the Adaptive Shift Control (ASC), which improves performance by automatically selecting the best ratio for startup, acceleration and uphill or downhill driving.

“Nissan believes the CVT has very good potential as a leading technology for raising the fuel efficiency of internal-combustion engine systems,” said Shuichi Nishimura, corporate vice president, Nissan Powertrain Engineering Division. “Nissan first began applying CVT technology in 1991 and has been continuously evolving CVTs, engine-cooperative management and other systems, and expanding their use in Nissan vehicles. The need to improve fuel economy, with the resulting reductions in CO2 emissions motivated us to step up our efforts in the joint development with JATCO of this next-generation CVT.”

JATCO, the world’s leading CVT manufacturer, is the only company that offers a full range of CVTs for applications from mini-vehicles up to 3.5-liter V6-equipped cars. The company produces 43 percent of CVTs made globally.

“The revolutionary structure of the next-generation CVT, with its auxiliary transmission, not only raises the transmission ratio, reduces weight and adds fuel efficiency, its compact design also expands its applicability to a broader range of vehicles,” said Yo Usuba, vice president, JATCO. “We believe it is an excellent choice for automakers seeking to raise the fuel efficiency of their smaller cars.”

Based on the mid-term environmental program “Nissan Green Program 2010,” Nissan and JATCO have achieved sales of 1 million CVT-equipped vehicles, as well as introducing 7-speed automatic transmissions to improve fuel efficiency. The companies will continue to introduce effective technologies and products into the market in pursuit of a sustainable mobility society.

* Excluding DCTs and manual transmissions.

French car maker Renault SA (RNO.FR) and its Japanese alliance partner Nissan Motor Co. (7201.TO) Monday said they plan to build two factories in the U.K. and Portugal to produce lithium-ion batteries for future models of electric vehicles.

The announcement is in line with the stated ambition of the alliance to become the leading volume producer of zero-emission vehicles in the next decade. Nissan will start offering electric vehicles in the U.S. and Japan in 2011 and the alliance plans to start mass-marketing electrical vehicles in 2011.

Electric vehicle production is in its infancy at present, but the alliance reckons that by 2020 electric vehicles will represent between 10% and 15% of the overall European market, or about one million vehicles.

The U.K. plant will be located at Sunderland, north-east England, where Nissan already has a vehicle assembly plant. A decision on the location of the Portuguese facility is pending.

The alliance is investing EUR250 million in the Portuguese plant, which will create 200 jobs, according to a statement. No figure for the Sunderland investment was given, but the project will create up to 350 jobs directly and hundreds more at upstream suppliers, according to a Nissan press release.

It quoted U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown as saying that Sunderland, “could now be a strong contender to produce electric vehicles for Nissan in Europe, and we will continue to work with Nissan to ensure this happens.”

The Renault-Nissan alliance is negotiating grants and loan guarantees totalling EUR200 million from the U.K. government to help finance the project.

Each plant will produce 60,000 batteries annually.

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