Automobiles Review

Tag: Geneva Motor Show

  • Aston Martin Choose 2009 London Motorexpo For Uk Debuts Of V12 Vantage And DBS Volante

    Aston Martin have today confirmed they will use the 2009 London Motorexpo as the platform for the UK debut of both their V12 Vantage and DBS Volante – following the world premieres of both vehicles earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show. (more…)

  • Renault Announces UK Pricing For Clio 2009 Range

    Following Clio 2009 range’s world debut alongside New Scénic range, New Mégane Sport Tourer and New Mégane Renaultsport 250 at the Geneva motor show last month, UK pricing has now been released for the new 3- and 5-door, and Sport Tourer versions.

    Featuring refreshed styling and two new versions – TomTom Edition and GT – the new line-up is available to order now and arrives in showrooms on 15th May 2009. (more…)

  • SEAT Leon and Altea 2009 are available in the dealership network

    Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, the new SEAT León and the new Altea 2009 range have just gone on sale in the Spanish market. The model line-up undergoes a considerable transformation, whose new identity traits are clearly visible on the front and at the rear of the different body styles, as well as on a renewed engine range that includes common rail Diesel variations, and a top-notch equipment list featuring sophisticated comfort and safety elements. (more…)

  • Mazda to Make Three 2010 Model Year Debuts at 2009 New York International Auto Show

    Mazda North American Operations will unveil three new vehicles at the 2009 New York International Auto Show, including the heavily revised 2010 CX-9 and CX-7 crossover SUVs and the highly anticipated MAZDASPEED3 high-performance compact 5-door.  (more…)

  • Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Confirms Further Details For RR4

    Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has confirmed further details about the production version of 200EX, the experimental car shown at the Geneva motor show early in March 2009.

    Rolls-Royce CEO, Tom Purves announced the details at a press conference in New York where 200EX is currently being shown to potential customers on the first leg of a world tour. (more…)

  • SsangYong at the Seoul Motor Show

    Ssangyong will be showing an almost production-ready example of its new C200 crossover utility car at the Seoul Motor Show in South Korea, opening on April 2.
    The company says that the C200 unveiled at the show will closely resemble the production C200 scheduled to be launched later this year. SsangYong will also show a new diesel hybrid version of the Kyron. (more…)

  • Bentley Continental GT Speed – MANSORY refines the English luxury car

    For already more than 20 years, the Bavarian company Mansory is the first choice when tuning top class automobiles. Due to its creative inspiration, Mansory enhances these cars with modern features. (more…)

  • TECHART Magnum – Made to perfection

    Technology, quality and design form the cornerstones of over 20 years of history for the renowned car enhancement company TECHART Automobildesign from Leonberg-Hofingen. (more…)

  • Major role for UK’s Zytek in electric Smart project

    There hasn’t been much good news for the UK midlands motor industry of late – but UK-based electric car specialist Zytek has received a boost with the contract to build and fit the electric drivetrain for the second-generation Smart Fortwo ED at its facility in Fradley, Staffordshire.

    Zytek has developed an integrated electric drivetrain to drive the rear wheels of the Smart Fortwo. The drivetrain integrates the electric motor, power and control electronics, into one assembly with only three connections: water, high voltage electrics (300V) and low voltage electrics (12v). This replaces the conventional petrol engine and rear axle, and removal of the fuel tank allows room for a battery pack below the floor.

    The second-generation electric Smart will represent a major upgrade on the first version, which has been tested extensively in London since 2007. The new version is based on the second-generation Fortwo model, and the biggest technical change is a move to Lithium Ion batteries instead of sodium-nickel-chloride. This will increase the range life of the battery pack, while cutting recharge times. The batteries are to be supplied by US-based electric sports car maker Tesla.

    The biggest technical change in the new Fortwo ED is a move to Lithium Ion batteries

    The new Smart Fortwo ED will go into production toward the end of the year. It will be used mainly in organised EV test programmes in major European cities, including Berlin, Paris, Rome, Milan and Pisa, with further cities planned.

    In Berlin, the local government and energy providers are installing 500 electricity charging stations, and Daimler is providing more than 100 electric Smart and Mercedes-Benz cars. Several similar programmes are also being considered in the US.

    The plan is to refine the design as a result of feedback from these tests, and make a major ramp-up of production volumes in 2012. Two versions of the Smart ED were shown at Geneva – a standard version and a more exclusive Brabus version, with matt green paint, a cabriolet soft top, LED daytime driving lights, sports suspension and Brabus Monoblock VII alloy wheels.

    Brabus version has matt green paint, cabriolet soft top, and other enhancements

  • Magna Steyr offers shortcut to EV production

    As car manufacturers start to feel the economic pinch, they are looking to outsource more and more of their product development work to suppliers. That’s the view of Austrian-based Magna Steyr, best-known for its contract manufacturing for the likes of Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz.

    The company is keen to show off its design and development capabilities, especially when it comes to electric vehicles. Magna Steyr already has a contract to help Ford develop an electric version of the Focus – and at Geneva it showed an entirely self-designed electric prototype, the Mila EV.

    Magna Steyr describes the Mila EV as a “fully integrated electric vehicle platform which can be used by every OEM to realise their own products, drive and design strategies in the shortest time.”

    The platform is fully engineered and can be built as pure battery-electric car, a hybrid, a natural gas-powered car or even a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. It’s designed to meet all crash testing standards, while the platform is flexible enough to be ‘right-sized’ to any customer OEM’s requirements.

    Magna Steyr is hoping a manufacturer will buy the basic design “off the shelf” – which would allow it to get a fully engineered electric car into production far more quickly than if it were to start developing such a vehicle on its own.

    Magna Steyr is hoping a manufacturer will buy the Mila EV “off the shelf”

    The design is so flexible that Magna Steyr believes more than one manufacturer could build distinct cars on the same basic architecture, thus leveraging economies of scale which could be shared. And of course, Magna Steyr wants the contract to build the cars “With the proven Flex Plant concept, all versions can be made on one single production line,” said a spokesman.

    The Geneva show car is a 4m-long five-door version, with a 67hp electric motor powered by Magna Steyr-developed lithium-ion batteries. It has an average charging time of 2.5 hours, and it has an ranges of up to 150km. Solar cells integrated in the glass roof provide additional energy generation, and the drag-inducing wing mirrors have been replaced by rear-view cameras.

  • Sportec SP550mc – mean and clean

    With a performance of more than 550hp, the SP 550mc goes out hunting in the territory of its fellow super cars. Thanks to Sportec’s sporty understatement, the 997 Turbo has become nothing less than a cheetah in a tailored suit – with significantly reduced CO2 emissions. In spite of the new CO2-reduced natural gas technology, the turbo performance could be considerably improved. (more…)

  • VW Scirocco by CARACTERE

    We have pleasure in presenting your our latest body styling equipment for the VW SCIROCCO 2009 (more…)