Next-generation Maserati Quattroporte sedan won't get any bigger

The forthcoming Maserati Quattroporte sedan bigger, Lorenzo Ramaciotti, - head of Fiat design – said.

“Even though our rivals – such as the new Audi A8 – are getting longer, we have to keep it as a sporty alternative,” he said.

Ramaciotti also declared that the current grille would stay. Maserati’s CEO, Harald Wester, said the car will be offered with four-wheel drive and stop/start technology.

The Quattroporte, scheduled for 2012, will be 15% lighter than the current model, with fuel economy improving and CO2 emissions dropping by 25%. In addition to stop/start, four-wheel drive, downsized V6 and V8 engines and 8 speed ZF automatic gearbox will be offered.

Wester said the addition of four-wheel drive will help the Quattroporte compete with German rivals.

However, the Quattroporte will have a younger brother. Expected to debut in Autumn 2011, the four-door coupe will take on the BMW M5, Mercedes CLS AMG, Jaguar XF-R and the forthcoming Audi RS7.

The car will be designed in-house by Fiat Centro Stile under the control of Lorenzo Ramaciotti.

Maserati is still deciding where it will produce this model. Maserati’s Modena factory has no capacity, however, coachbuilder Bertone's Turin factory is a favorite.

2010 Audi R8

2010 Audi R8

2010 Audi R8

2010 Audi R8 Spyder

2010 Audi R8 Wallpaper

Dodge brand pulls out of British market (UK)

The Dodge brand has been axed in the UK.

Insider within Dodge have said no more models will be sold after the slow-selling Journey mid-sized MPV was silently removed from price lists.

Other Dodge models like the Nitro SUV and Caliber compact family car have been eradicated from the UK line-up following poor sales.

Chrysler LLC is being reorganised in Europe under Fiat. This will see Lancia models introduced in the UK with Chrysler badges to make use of the current dealer sales and servicing network.

Dodge will still be available in some European markets but will move to a niche role in most, or a complete departure as in the UK.

Whether the 2012 Dodge Viper will be offered in the UK is another question. The forthcoming Viper is likely to be accessible as a ‘grey import’ or formally through Chrysler dealerships.

Nissan considering LEAF facelift (UK)

Nissan might give the LEAF EV a minor facelift or some simple upgrades when it goes into production in the UK in 2013.

The upgrades will allow Nissan to rework the LEAF following customer feedback. Alterations would include the body and interior being retooled for European build. The motor and control systems will come from Japan.

The order books on the LEAF opened on 1st September in the UK, when first deposits of £257 were received through Nissan’s website. Those who place a deposit are to test drive the LEAF before December 2010, before officially confirming their order. UK deliveries will begin in March 2011.

Nissan claimed in June, that it had received 19,000 pre-orders for the car, a figure almost double the 10,000 that will be made in its first year of production.

The LEAF has a price-tag of £23,350 (including a £5,000 government incentive) in the UK.

Volkswagen Phaeton facelift pricing announced (UK)

Following its debut at the Beijing motor show earlier this year, Volkswagen has announced pricing and specification for the revised Phaeton large luxury saloon, which is available to order from dealerships this week.

Prices for the revised model start at £46,195 for the 3.0 litre V6 TDI 240PS engine, while the 6.0 litre W12 450PS model costs £78,685. The 3.0 litre V6 TDI is available in short wheelbase (5,060mm) and both models are available with a long wheelbase (5,180mm), giving an additional 120mm of legroom to rear passengers.

The new Phaeton features a re-profiled front end. The new face comprises bi-xenon headlight units with LED running lights which frame a more imposing front grille above a redesigned front bumper with integrated LED fog lights. Newly designed rear light units sit above a revised bumper, while new alloy wheel designs complete the exterior changes.

Inside the cabin, new trim finishes are complemented by a new multifunction steering wheel design and full colour display within the instrument cluster.

The 240PS, 3.0 litre V6 TDI 4MOTION Phaeton enjoys combined fuel economy of 32.2mpg (8.5l/100km) combined with CO2 emissions of 224g/km. On the other end, the 450PS 6.0 litre W12 4MOTION has CO2 emissions of 348g/km and combined fuel economy of 19.5mpg.

Standard equipment includes 4MOTION four-wheel-drive, x8 airbags, laminated windows, Continuous Damping Control (CDC) adjustable air suspension, leather interior w/18 way electrically adjustable front seats, advanced climate control, RNS 810 satellite navigation system and bi-xenon headlamps w/LED day-time running lights.

The Phaeton is hand-built in Volkswagen’s transparent factory in Dresden, and comes with options such as alloy wheels, heated rear seats, Google Maps, wood/leather steering wheel, interior wood trims, parking heater, 1000w Dynaudio soundpack w/12 speakers, keyless entry & start, rear-view camera, and tyre pressure monitoring system.

Nissan playing around with next-generation Tiida (EU)

Nissan Europe is playing with the idea of altering the forthcoming Tiida compact family car for European sales. If given the green light, the Tiida will go on sale alongside the Qashqai. Originally, the Qashqai was intended to replace the slow-selling Almera until Nissan introduced the Tiida into certain European markets like Spain, Portugal, Russia, Germany and Ireland. The Tiida has been popular in the UK via grey-imports from Ireland.

The problem is to give the new model sufficient distinct character to rival the Vauxhall/Opel Astra, Honda Civic, Volkswagen Golf and Mitsubishi Lancer, while allowing Nissan to make profit. Additionally, not pinching sales from the Qashqai is another requirement, an insider said.

The current Tiida is the replacement for the Nissan Sunny and is marketed as the Nissan Versa in North America (U.S/Canada). The Tiida/Versa was launched in 2004 in Japan and came with 1.6 litre and 1.8 litre petrol engines, and a 1.5 litre dCi diesel for the European market.

The Nissan LEAF EV is largely based on the Tiida platform.



2007 Nissan Versa sedan



Renault say it's too early to launch sub-premium brand

Chief designer, Laurens van der Acker said Renault isn’t ready to launch a premium sub-brand like Citroen has done with the DS range.

Van Der Acker who has been at Renault for just over a year now, said Renault needs time to build up the design of its key line-up of cars.

'I hope it works for Citroen because it puts exciting cars on the roads,' he said. 'But it is too early for us. I feel we need to do our homework.

'Citroen has built a family of cars and is now building on top of it. We need to build our family first.'

Van der Acker says Renault would also need to do its homework to see if creating an upscale variant of a car would make more profit than making just a remarkable single model.

'From a holistic point of view does the sum of the two – for example the C3 and the DS3 – more than making just one good car.'

Nonetheless, van der Acker admits that just as Citroen called on its heritage to make an updated DS range for the 21st century, Renault has a history too that it should resurrect in the future.

'Renault has a treasure chest of icons,' he said. 'We need to make more of that.'

Skoda developing another C-segment model

Skoda Auto will introduce an all-new compact family car in 2012.

Internal sources have established that the car will be developed completely by Skoda engineers, using the modular platform technology that underlines all passenger cars within VAG.

The newcomer will be a c-segment car and will sit between the Fabia supermini and Octavia small family car, although it could arrive as a sedan. The new model will give Skoda a more conventionally proportioned small family car in its range.

‘The Fabia is too large to be a traditional supermini, and the Octavia is too large to be a traditional small family car. The new car will bridge that gap and give our customers a car that sits perfectly in the segment.’

 

Fiat aborts Topolino premium city-car for cheaper model

Well placed internal sources suggest Fiat is working hard on an all-new cost effective city-car, while the upmarket Topolino will be axed.

The car will replace the cheap and aging Seicento, which is still available in some European markets like Italy, where it’s known as the ‘600’. The forthcoming model will have comparable proportions to the Toyota iQ.

The Topolino was based upon the current Panda city-car and was initially proposed to be an upmarket city-car, but it failed to get the green light because Fiat executives believed that “it wasn’t right for the market”.

2009 NISMO 370Z Deluxe Car

2009 NISMO 370Z Deluxe Car

2009 NISMO 370Z Deluxe Car

2009 NISMO 370Z Glorious Cars

2009 NISMO 370Z Photo