Mr. Kyoichi Tanada, president of Toyota Motor Thailand Co Ltd, Mr. Michihiko Sato, chief engineer of Toyota Motor Corporation, and Mr. Wichien Emprasertsuk, senior vice president of Toyota Motor Thailand Co Ltd, jointly introduced the New Vios…“Make It Happen” at the Renaissance Hotel on March 8, 2010.

The Road to Popularity

January 1997

In 1997 Toyota Motor Thailand Co Ltd wrote a new chapter in Thailand’s automobile industry by introducing the Soluna, the popular small car for Thailand and the Asia-Pacific region. The Soluna was developed by Thai and Japanese engineers with a goal of producing a small car that is economical and has high ownership value under the AFC (Affordable Family Car) project. After the Soluna was officially launched, it gained tremendous success within a short time, and sales amounted to 81,000 units.

Five years later, Toyota came back to write history again with the successor of the Soluna – the Soluna Vios. Totally redesigned from the ground up as a sub-compact sports sedan that answers to various customer requirements, the Soluna Vios became one of the most popular models in Thailand with accumulated sales of 180,000 units. It played an important role in helping Toyota maintain the leading position in Thailand’s passenger car and total automobile market, and was also exported to the Asean region.

The Soluna Vios was succeeded by the third generation car – the Vios. Originating in Thailand with the slogan “My Design, My Pride”, the Vios set a new benchmark in the sub-compact market with its modern appearance, excellent fuel economy, nimble handling, cabin comfort, world-class safety and a large number of functions that customers require. This made the Vios the new sub-compact car that is superior to others in the segment.

After the Vios was officially introduced in March 2007, a total of 144,000 units have been sold (March 2007 to February 2010).

The Vios is the highest-selling model in the Thai sub-compact segment and the total market, thus Toyota gave much priority to the development of the New Vios under the concept “Make It Happen”. Among the challenges faced by engineers during the development stage included styling, reaching global quality standards, outstanding performance and driving confidence from modern safety features, shows that the New Vios will be well-accepted and win the hearts of customers in Thailand and overseas.

New Vios

Exterior…a reflection of outstanding qualities and luxury
- New front grille with chrome strip is sporty and luxurious
- New multi-reflector tail lights blend in naturally and are bright and safe
- New chrome strip on boot lid is luxurious in every angle
- New 15-inch alloy wheels with 185/60R15 tires
- Front fog lights help improve visibility during rain or fog
- Sideview mirrors with turn indicator are both luxurious and increase safety

Interior…get carried away with the sports luxury cabin that combines modern design with convenience
- New metallic center console and door panel blends in perfectly
- Leather gearshift knob and chrome gearshift housing for elegance and luxury
- Leather-wrapped sports steering wheel with audio system control buttons for added convenience and safety
- MID (Multi-Information Display) shows important data such as total distance, fuel economy and average speed
- AUX in for MP3 players

Engine and suspension
- Unparalleled power delivery and fuel economy
 1NZ-FE DOHC 16-valve VVT-i
 Displacement 1,497cc
 Max power 80kW(109ps)/6,000rpm
 Max torque 141Nm/4,200rpm

- Superb handling and ride comfort with the front McPherson strut suspension with stabilizer in front and torsion beam suspension at the rear.

Active Safety
- ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) brakes prevent the wheels from locking during emergency braking or braking on slippery surfaces
- EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution) helps maintain balanced pressure between each wheel in order to achieve best stopping performance
- BA (Brake Assist) maximizes braking pressure during emergency situation to minimize stopping distance

Passive Safety
- GOA safety construction with strong passenger cell helps increase impact absorption
- Energy-absorbing construction with front and side impact beams lowers impact force during crash
- Side impact head protection lowers impact to driver and front passenger during crash
- Front SRS airbags protect driver and front passenger
- WIL (Whiplash Injury Lessening) on front seats to lower neck injury sustained from rear-end crash
- Front seatbelts with pretensioners and force limiters keep occupants in place during accident and lower injuries sustained from seatbelts

A total of 7 unique colors to choose from
- Blackish Red Mica…New
- Light Blue Mica Metallic…New
- Super White
- Silver Metallic
- Medium Silver Metallic
- Black Mica
- Beige Metallic

A total of 8 models to choose from
- 1.5G Limited automatic
- 1.5G automatic
- 1.5ES automatic
- 1.5E automatic
- 1.5E manual
- 1.5J automatic
- 1.5J standard automatic
- 1.5J standard manual

Meet the official launch of the New Vios…Make It Happen
At 311 Toyota showrooms countrywide from today
and at the 31st Bangkok International Motor Show
from March 26 to April 6, 2010, at Bitec

Source : Pantip Ratchada

Nissan will begin delivering the zero-emission Leaf at the end of the year and plans to begin mass production in 2012, planning for a capacity of 500,000 cars in Europe, Japan, and the U.S.A. Nissan is going to be the only relevant player in this game. Note the use of teh word relevant, because as Mitsubishi is planning a similar vehicle, they are not preparing for the level of production that Nissan is.

“Let’s be serious. It’s not because someone is coming with a prototype and one car that this is competition. The question is how much capacity are you building.” one Nissan exec said about the situation.

Nissan is already reporting 56,000 orders for the vehicle in the United States, and they plan to start taking orders soon in Japan and Europe. The French government has shown interest in 100,000 of the vehicles so far.

Nissan predicts that in ten years, 10% of the global auto-market will be fully-electric. Currently, there are 3,000 electric vehicles on U.S. roads out of a total of 200 million vehicles.

As it stands now, Nissan is essentially a non-player in the hybrid and eco-conscious markets, having only one borrowed hybrid drivetrain from the Toyota Camry hybrid for its Altima sedan. But Carlos Ghosn has a tangible plan and product planned to help change the face of Nissan across the global markets – especially in the U.S. where having eco-alternatives is essentially a requirement for success.

“What I am sure is that in 2011, I am going to be the only one on the market,” Ghosn said, regarding a pure EV with mass production capability.

“Frankly, I mean so far there is no competition,” Ghosn told a group of reporters at the Geneva Auto Show Wednesday. “Let’s be serious. It’s not because someone is coming with a prototype and one car that this is competition. The question is how much capacity are you building.”

Ghosn said Nissan will become the only major player to be responding to demand on any scale, with Mitsubishi’s figures being much smaller. Ghosn also cited that only 3,000 or so of the 200,000 million cars currently on the road in the U.S. are electric vehicles, and he believes that will change to 10 percent, globally, in 10 years.

Nissan’s Leaf, its first in-house electric vehicle of any kind, will begin production at the end of 2010, and should enter large-scale mass production by 2012. Nissan has planned capacity of 500,000 annual units of its Leaf between the U.S. market, Europe and Japan. Ghosn said that it has already accumulated 56,000 orders in the U.S. alone – with public ordering to begin in Europe and Japan soon.

In Europe, the French government has already ordered 100,000 battery-powered cars, and the start-up Better Place has ordered another 100,000 to be delivered over several years. Better Place plans to allow users to swap in freshly charged batteries at a network of stations in Israel and Denmark.

“The numbers are big,” Ghosn said. Ghosn also went on to explain that Nissan won’t make further investment into additional capacity for Leaf production until it can gauge market reaction. Ghosn also suggested that some of the otherwise unsustainable high-cost jobs in Europe may be savable with Leaf production.

Ghosn also briefly answered questions regarding the possibility that the automaker may be in talks with other automakers, namely Daimler, in regards to possible platform and technology sharing, but stopped short of confirming the talks. “The name of the game is scale and co-investment and sharing technologies. There are a lot of talks and we don’t communicate before we reach agreement because sometimes these talks collapse,” said Ghosn.

Japanese auto maker Nissan is in talks with India’s Ashok Leyland to develop a small car for the fast-growing Indian market, a report said Wednesday.

The Business Standard newspaper quoted Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn as saying the group was looking for a new low-cost alliance in India in addition to one previously announced with scooter specialist Bajaj Auto.

“We are studying the possibility of tying up with Ashok Leyland and some other manufacturers in China and Indonesia for a small car project,” Ghosn told Indian reporters on the sidelines of the Geneva auto show.
The Indian vehicle would aim for the middle of the small car segment, which is coveted by almost all global car manufacturers but currently dominated by Indian-Japanese collaboration Maruti Suzuki.

“We are studying the possibility of tying up with Ashok Leyland and some other manufacturers in China and Indonesia for a small car project,” Carlos Ghosn was quoted as saying to Indian reporters at the Geneva Auto Show.

The small car project will be in addition to the ultra low-cost car that Nissan is planning to launch with its Indian partner Bajaj Auto , the newspaper reported.

Renault , Nissan and Bajaj Auto will launch an ultra low-cost car in India in 2012 that will cost less than Tata Motor’s Nano, the world’s cheapest car, it was announced in November last year.

Nissan will soon offer a line-up of nine vehicles in India including five built locally as it aims to catch up with rivals in the fast-growing market, the head of its Indian operations had said in January.

GENEVA (March 2, 2010) – Carlos Ghosn, Chief Executive Officer, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd, today unveiled the company’s all new Micra, the fourth generation of the iconic city car, at the 80th International Geneva Motor Show.

Boasting breakthrough packaging and small-car engineering, the all-new, fourth generation Nissan Micra (known as March in Japan) is on course to create a whole new set of industry standards. Unveiled today at the Geneva Motor Show, the Micra has consistently won praise and success for in Europe, Japan and other markets, gaining a reputation as a reliable, stylish, accessible compact car enjoyed by a wide cross-section of customers. The new Micra has been designed to build on that trend – in 160 countries.

“Combine 25 years’ experience of designing compact cars for city driving… with a totally new, versatile platform and Nissan production know-how… and the result is modern, simple and destined to be a serious competitor on the world stage, ” said Carlos Ghosn,, during the car’s reveal.

At a glance:

* Spacious interior allied to compact exterior dimensions
* All new 3-cylinder petrol engine including….
….supercharged and direct injection version with emissions of 95g/km to be added to the line up later
o New Continuously Variable Transmission with world-first technology
* All new Versatile platform conceived to be light weight
* New Micra to be sold in 160 countries and….
….manufactured in four different plants

Developed and built on Nissan’s all-new V-platform, which was developed under a comprehensive new production engineering process, the new Micra was designed and tested in Japan to be built in at least four overseas locations, and fine-tuned to meet the differing tastes and needs of customers in 160 countries worldwide. Breaking with traditions that focused on launching production in established markets like Europe and Japan, Nissan will base production of the new Micra at overseas manufacturing sites such as Thailand, India, Mexico and China.

Design
“The car has to charm a global audience,” comments Makoto Yamane, Associate Product Chief Designer. “Its face had to look stylish and have an air of sophistication to it. ” A unique design feature of this car — its double-layer integrated grille — meets these requirements. But the car’s classic shape was also crucial. That’s why it also employs a stylized version of the distinctive arched side window line, something that is central to the Micra’s heritage, identity and appeal in Europe and Japan.

Retaining its compact dimensions, the new car is slightly longer and marginally lower, while its longer wheelbase enables a ‘wheels-at-each-corner’ stance, the main reason behind the Micra’s roomier interior. The boomerang-shaped grooves on the roof have a clearly defined purpose too, continues Yamane. Aiming to create the same sense of exterior style inside the car, Nissan has employed a ‘connected cocoon’ design featuring a dashboard design which takes on a ‘twin bubble’ theme. This refers to the circular instrumentation binnacle and the similarly shaped glovebox compartment on the passenger side.

All-new Engine and CVT
In Europe, a simple engine line-up sees just two engines options – both are variations on Nissan’s all-new naturally aspirated HR12 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine. Inheriting its DNA from the HR16 4-cylinder engine powering the Note and Qashqai, the new engine employs valve-timing control (VTC). Power is rated at 59kW (80ps, while torque output is 108Nm. At only 115g/km, CO2 emissions for this version are world-class.

In addition to the new normally aspirated engine, Nissan will also offer a supercharged 1.2-litre direct injection iteration with a start-stop system fitted as standard in Europe. These technological innovations – stop-start reduces CO2 by six per cent – combine to offer spirited performance, with outputs of 72kW (98PS) and 142Nm of torque. Emissions will be just 95g/km, an exceptional achievement for a petrol engine.

Both engine options in Europe are available with either a 5-speed manual gearbox or Nissan’s all-new Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). The wide gear coverage enables the 1.2-litre engine to achieve the economy of a 1.0-litre as well as brisk acceleration.

Not satisified merely improving performance levels, engineers excelled in developing ride and handling characteristics which combine agility, refinement and poise. Mounted onto Nissan’s new signature V-platform, the suspension has been designed to be both compact, minimizing intrusion at the rear for maximum trunk space, but not at the expense of the car’s on-road dynamics. Particular attention has been paid to bump absorption, meaning that the Micra will ride serenely over challenging road surfaces, not suffer from wallow or float, and cruise effortlessly at highway speeds.

Comfort, function and equipment
In contrast to its high speed capability, the car also has superb visibility and a class-topping turning radius of 4.5m and several new technologies that assist with minimizing CO2 emissions and mileage while at the same time making parking easier.

Globally, equipment levels differ by market, but the new Micra is available with some key technological innovations which are designed to simplify day-to-day life for its owners.

The new Micra is available with reversing sensors and a new ‘parking space measurement’ (PSM) device with three skill levels (amateur, normal and expert) to lessen the burden of parking in tight spaces – a unique feature in this segment, and likely to be a popular innovation in Europe where ‘touch parking’ is a way of life.

It also offers an Intelligent Key, Nissan Connect, Nissan’s accessible touch-screen combined audio and satellite navigation system, glass roof, automatic wipers, speed sensitive volume on the audio, a push button start-stop system in addition to a drive computer which supplies drivers with real time fuel economy information, cruising range and outside temperature. On the security side, the car is also fitted with a speed-sensitive automatic door locking system.

Safety
The incorporation of the V-platform is one major factor contributing to the car’s improved impact safety. The car is designed to absorb the forces of a frontal impact, thanks to the sophisticated crumple zones, while maintaining cabin integrity due to its highly reinforced body shell. In Europe, the Micra will be fitted with ABS, dual front airbags, curtain and side airbags, Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) and pretensioner seatbelts as standard equipment.

Simon Thomas, Nissan’s European Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing, said: “The new Micra will continue to be the benchmark city car in Europe. Its appeal will be enhanced by its unique combination of compact exterior dimensions, with roomy interior, small and efficient engines, and user-friendly technology. Its continued icon status is destined to be be reinforced in its fourth generation.”

Sales of the new Micra/March will start in Thailand in March and European sales will begin in November this year.

Last month, GM showed off the Chevrolet Aveo RS at the Detroit auto show as a sneak peek of the upcoming compact car. Here are the first official photos of the production version.

The Aveo, whether in sedan or hatchback form, has been a source of cheap wheels for car shoppers for years, but the new Aveo looks to be a significant upgrade in style and materials. Chevrolet wants to make it something more than just an affordable choice. The design of the sedan shown here is sharp, with a handsome front end that offers something on par with Ford’s new Fiesta. The interior — shown in images below — looks to follow the trend of the Chevy Equinox in terms of improved materials and design. The offset analog tachometer and digital speedometer are unusual.

With a front end that stays true to the RS, along with a set of bulging fenders and an artfully carved swage line, the 2012 Aveo is a dramatic departure from the budget-conscious model roaming the streets today. Coupled with a thoroughly revised interior, complete with upgraded materials and the RS’ motorcycle-inspired gauge cluster, the Aveo has its sights set squarely on the new Ford Fiesta, particularly when it arrives in five-door form.

Pricing remains a question mark, but we’d suspect all the details to be revealed before the end of the year, with sales starting sometime in 2011.