The new Audi A8 – the sportiest sedan in the luxury class
Adapted for the USA
Fascinating sportiness, innovative technology and superior comfort: Audi is bringing the next generation of the A8 to the starting line. The new flagship demonstrates the brand’s proverbial Vorsprung durch Technik with its light aluminum body, its powerful and highly efficient engines, the further improved MMI operating system, new driver assistance systems, the full LED headlights and an elegant interior with a craftsman’s level of workmanship.

With all this technology the new Audi A8 offers the perfect synthesis of dynamics, perfection in design, workmanship and pioneering efficiency.

“The new Audi A8 is the sportiest sedan in its segment,” says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG. “It combines numerous functions in a new and intelligent way. And it’s unmatched in the stylistic elements and impression of the interior.”

The new luxury sedan, to arrive at U.S. dealerships in late 2010, is a technical work of art. Its elegant and forceful body is an aluminum Audi Space Frame (ASF), weighing about 40 percent less than a comparable steel structure. The interior is captivating, with its new and spacious design and uncompromisingly high-quality workmanship full of attention to the smallest detail. The comfort on board is first class – from new, emotionally charged ambient lighting to the luxurious, power adjustable seats in the rear.

The Audi A8 combines a new level of intelligence with exemplary and easy operation. Its multimedia interface (MMI) includes a pioneering innovation: Combined with the standard (in the U.S.) navigation system it has a touchpad. MMI touch enables the driver to control many functions intuitively; for example, the navigation destination can be entered by writing the letters on the pad with the touch of a finger.

MMI navigation plus is networked in a novel fashion with the advanced driver assistance and safety systems. It follows the route in advance during driving and provides the data to the control units for the automatic transmission, the headlights and for the ACC stop & go function. Their enhanced intelligence enables these systems to recognize complex scenarios and to make anticipatory decisions to assist the driver. The new technologies include a night vision assist with marking of detected pedestrians, the Audi pre sense safety system as well as – in the course of 2010 – a speed limit display.

Another high-end solution on board the new A8 is the full LED headlights, which use light emitting diodes for all light functions. They give the luxury sedan an unmistakable appearance even in daylight and even more so after the fall of darkness. The revolutionary optics used in these headlights mean a departure from the tubular light modules commonly used today. The full LED headlights herald a new chapter in lighting technology.

The new A8 starts off with a 4.2 FSI with 273 kW (372 hp). The engine affords increased power and torque – but the fuel consumption has dropped by around 15 percent, thanks to intelligent and efficient technologies like the recuperation system and innovative thermal management.

The new tiptronic: eight speeds for more comfort and efficiency

The standard new transmission also plays a large role in increasing efficiency – the extremely convenient 8-speed tiptronic finely graduates its eight gears while achieving a large overall spread. Its control system is purely electronic, operated with an elegant selector level and rocker switches at the steering wheel. The quattro permanent all-wheel drive has a distinct sporty and rear-end character. On request, the sport differential dynamically distributes the forces between the rear wheels.

The new A8 also documents its standing as the sportiest luxury sedan on the market in the chassis sector. The distribution of the axle loads is balanced, and all wheel control arms are aluminum. The adaptive air suspension together with adaptive damping is always on board, forming part of the Audi drive select vehicle dynamics system, also standard. The optional dynamic steering is a supplementary component.

In the field of multimedia Audi also offers many attractive modules. They include an optional sound system from Bang & Olufsen, with an output of over 1,400 watts and 19 speakers, and include state-of-the-art online services. The new Audi A8 has gained in dynamics, convenience, prestige and intelligence, setting new standards in all sectors.

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Honda will prepare to change Global CIVIC in late 2010 ,Thailand,US,Japan and Europe

The exterior will be Keep Concept Monoform line not much differrent looking at current model.The engine will be proved lit accelation.

Nissan will be entering in the light commercial vehicle market in the U.S. by 2010 with its new NV2500 and maybe the NV200. The NV200 is a compact van. It can be set up as a seven passenger van or a cargo van with 145 cubic feet of space. In Europe it is powered by a gas 1.5L or diesel 1.6L engine.

Joe Castelli, Nissan’s vice president of light commercial vehicles has said, there is a chance the NV200 could come with an electric drive or dA hybrid drive options.

Castelli admits, “Electric vehicles aren’t going to work if you’re driving 300 miles a day on the road. But, if I’m at a construction site all day or I’m a florist making lots of stops, than an electric vehicle will work great.”

With Nissan’s push for electric vehicles in the coming years we could see an electric NV200 sooner than later. Placing the batteries under the flat load floor would be easy. The short range duty cycle for commercial applications would be a fit for the advantages of electric driven vehicles.

The race between General Motors Corp. and Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. to produce a rechargeable car is meaningless because the companies’ vehicle designs are so different, GM’s top product executive said Thursday.

Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Toyota’s plug-in hybrid has a much shorter electric range than the Chevrolet Volt and must use a gasoline engine to go any farther. The Volt, he said, runs only on electricity but carries a small gasoline engine to recharge the batteries when they are depleted.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe said Thursday that Toyota will speed up delivery of its plug-in hybrid from 2010 to the end of 2009, while the Volt is due in showrooms in late 2010.

But Lutz said he expects Toyota’s plug-in will debut in controlled fleets and not in large numbers. He said GM will have production versions of the Volt working in a large test fleet in late 2009.

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General Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner today announced that the company will invest more than $500 million in the U.S. to build the Chevrolet Cruze, an all-new global compact car. The vehicle will be built at its Lordstown, Ohio plant. The Chevy Cruze will be officially unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in a few short weeks. In a surprise move, the investment announcement was accompanied by a glimpse of the Cruze life-size show property.

The investment in Lordstown is one of several that have been announced at U.S. plants in the past five years, adding up to over $2 billion total investment in Ohio and more than $20 billion in the United States. “One of the key reasons for the success of the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 is the Lordstown workforce and the strong partnerships with the UAW and local and state officials,” Wagoner said. “Based on the quality of work and these strong partnerships, we are pleased to announce our plans to invest another $500 million in the Chevy Cruze product program in the U.S., including more than $350 million in Lordstown.”

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All-New Chevrolet Cruze Features Dramatic Design

The first photographs of Chevrolet’s all-new Cruze sedan – making its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show in October – reveal a dynamic four-door coupe that proves exciting design and value are not mutually exclusive.

On sale beginning in Europe from March next year, Cruze features a dramatic re-interpretation of the traditional sedan featuring Chevrolet’s new global design language that is becoming a signature on all new products carrying the gold bowtie.

Cruze’s arching roof-line, extending from the steeply raked windshield to its sloping rear pillars and short rear deck, brings coupe-like proportions to a compact sedan.

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2009 Honda Civic Lineup Receives New Exterior Styling; Available Technology Features Now Include Bluetooth HandsFreeLink and USB Audio Interface

New LX-S and VP sedans expand variety

The Honda Civic is enhanced inside and out for 2009 with new exterior styling, colors and available tech-friendly features like Bluetooth® HandsFreeLink® and a USB Audio Interface 1. An exclusively-equipped Civic LX-S Sedan debuts with alloy wheels and sportier interior styling. A new Civic DX Value Package (DX-VP) Sedan builds on the Civic DX Sedan’s standard features by adding air conditioning and an audio system.

“The Civic lineup uniquely embraces traditional gasoline, hybrid, high performance and natural gas technologies like no other vehicle in the world,” said Dick Colliver, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “The exterior styling enhancements and newly-available features help strengthen Civic’s position as one of the best-selling vehicles in a market that’s embracing small cars more than ever.”

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Hot off its success with its best-selling Prius sedan, Toyota Motor Co. announced Friday that it would make hybrid-engine systems available on all of its models by 2020.

The announcement came as all of the auto makers at an industry conference this week in northern Michigan maneuvered to carve out their own niches in fuel-efficient design, from expansion of the gasoline/electric hybrid technology already available in the Prius to the new plug-in hybrid vehicle known as the Volt under development by General Motor Corp.

Ford Motor Co., the Dearborn-Mich. auto maker with few of its vehicles with hybrid options, plans to double its hybrid-vehicle lineup and production next year. And Honda Motor Co. said this week at the Traverse City, Mich., conference that in 2009, it will import a new hybrid to compete directly against the new Prius in the U.S. market — and at a lower price.

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Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today unveiled all-electric and original hybrid electric prototype vehicles, both powered by advanced lithium-ion batteries. Under the NISSAN GT 2012 business plan, the company has committed to zero-emission vehicle leadership, and has announced plans to introduce an all-electric vehicle in 2010 and mass market globally in 2012.

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