Suzuki Swift pricing announced (UK)

Suzuki's all-new Swift supermini will start at £9,995 for the entry-level 1.2 SZ2 3dr, rising to £13,245 for the 1.2 SZ4 5dr automatic when it launches in September. All Swifts come fitted with a 5 speed manual transmission while mid-spec SZ3 and range-topping SZ4 are available with a 4 speed automatic transmission.

The new Euro5 1.2 VVT petrol engine replaces the outgoing 1.3 VVT and is cleaner and more powerful with 94bhp and 118Nm of torque. Top speed is increased to 103mph. Exhaust emissions are lower too, with manual cars emitting 116g/km and combining fuel economy figures of 56.5mpg (5.0l/100km). The automatic has combined fuel economy of 50.4mpg (5.6l/100km) and emits 129g/km.

The Swift comes in three different trim-levels, each adding more standard equipment.

The entry-level SZ2 comes with remote central locking, electric front windows, drivers seat height adjustment, 60/40 split folding rear seats, electrically adjustable & heated door mirrors, trip computer, 3-spoke leather steering wheel w/audio controls, 6 speakers w/CD player, MP3 player & USB port, 15" steel wheels, height adjustable steering wheel, body-coloured door mirrors, handles and bumpers, ESP and 7 airbags (twin front, side, curtain & drivers knee). The 3dr SZ2 starts at £9,995 with the 5dr starting at £10,445.

Mid-spec SZ3 adds air conditioning and 16" alloy wheels. Prices start at £10,995 for the 3dr model, £11,445 for the 5dr and £12,445 for the auto, which comes in 5dr form.

Range-topping SZ4 features climate control, rear electric windows, keyless entry & start, height & reach adjustable steering wheel, Bluetooth, front fog lights, rain-sensing headlamps and privacy glass. These amenities come at a price tag of £11,795 for the 3dr Swift, while the 5dr starts at £12,245. The automatic adds £1,000 on top.

Once the car has been on sale for a few months, Suzuki will add a host of accessories, in the mean-time, the only option you can specify is metallic paint at £390.

The 1.3 DDiS goes on sale Spring 2011 and will have economy figures of 67.3mpg (4.2l/100km) with CO2 emissions of 109g/km. Instead of phasing out the 2009MY Swift, Suzuki will continue to sell it alongside the new Swift. It will be renamed 'Swift SZ'.

In order to sway potential consumers, Suzuki is offering 0% APR typical finance over 3 years on the new Swift, with 50% minimum deposit. Selected online car brokers are even offering upto £500 off the list price.

Citroen DS3 Racing pricing announced (UK)

Citroen UK has revealed pricing and specification on its DS3 flagship model; the DS3 Racing. The DS3 Racing will start at £23,100 when order books open on Wednesday 1st September. The price tag includes VAT at 20% because for UK deliveries will start in January 2011.

Citroen said the DS3 Racing will be powered by a specially tuned 1.6 litre THP petrol engine. This engine produces 207bhp and 275Nm (204lb-ft) of torque, with a top speed of 146mph. The DS3 Racing records a 0-60mph time of 6.5secs. Combined CO2 emissions are rated at 149g/km.

However, Citroen reports that it’s had more than 1,500 enquires about the DS3 Racing through its website and only 200 right-hand-drive models will arrive in the UK, so a sell-out is anticipated.

Only two colours are available; black with orange roof or white with carbon grey roof. The colours of the roof are matched to 18” alloy wheels, door mirrors, grille surround, tailgate spoiler and chevrons. On black coloured cars, the dashboard fascia too.

The DS3 Racing chassis has been altered by Citroen Racing; they fitted new dampers, widened front and rear tracks by 30mm, lowered the ride height by 15mm and upgraded the brakes with four-pot callipers and revised discs at the front.

Standard equipment is based upon the DS3 Sport and additionally features genuine carbon fibre parts, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, 18” alloy wheels, rear parking sensors, Alcantara/Trami cloth DS3 Racing front sports seats, mats and key, rain-sensing windscreen wipers and dusk-sensing headlamps.

Click here for more info.

Kia recalls SOUL crossover due to steering defects (U.S)

The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has commenced an assessment in a potential steering fault on approximately 51,182 2010 KIA Soul models.

The feds said they received one complaint from an owner who purchased a 2 month old 2010 Kia Soul with 4,300 miles on the clock. The owner said the steering shaft detached itself from the hand wheel and fell into a position that hindered with the brake pedal, ensuing in complete brake and steering loss.

"ODI (Office of Defects Investigation) is very concerned about this failure in that it occurred without warning on a new vehicle at low mileage and resulted in a complete loss of steering as well as a compromised brake system. A preliminary evaluation has been opened to assess the alleged defect in the subject vehicles."

Kia issued the following statement on the NHTSA preliminary evaluation:

"Kia Motors America has been actively cooperating with NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation since being advised by the acting director late last week that an investigation was being opened regarding the 2010 Kia Soul. Although the investigation is based on a single incident that did not result in an accident or injury, the entire Kia Motors organization — including our supplier base — is reviewing manufacturing processes with the goal of quickly determining if there is a manufacturing cause and preventing the issue from reoccurring. KMA is committed to sharing information and findings with NHTSA's ODI on an ongoing basis in order to reach a prompt resolution."

No international models have been affected.

Hyundai to produce budget car for Russia (RU)

Hyundai is preparing to launch production of an all-new budget model exclusively designed for the Russian market. The car will be manufactured in St. Petersburg.

Initial production will begin in September with full production coming into full swing in January 2011.

The new compact sedan will rival directly with Volkswagen’s Polo sedan – another car design especially for Russia – and will start from approximately £6,400 ($10k).

Hyundai is yet to name the car, however, Russian media speculate that the new model will be powered by either a 1.4 litre 109bhp petrol engine or a 1.6 litre 122bhp petrol engine.

The forthcoming sedan will underpin the all-new Elantra/Avante. Like the Polo sedan, the newcomer will have suspension tuned to Russian roads.

Mazda recalls 5 compact MPV and 3 compact family car (UK/U.S)

Mazda UK is contacting owners and recalling in excess of 10,200 3 and 5 models to offer free check-ups and repairs on the power steering system. In the U.S, Mazda is recalling 215,000 2007 – 2009MY vehicles. The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) said the affect cars could suffer from sudden loss of power in the steering system.

Mazda has found out that tiny particles could clog the power steering pipes and cause the electric pump to shut down. Drivers would still be able to steer the car with extra effort, even though the power assistance would vanish if the pump packed up.

In the UK, there have been 2 reported cases of power steering malfunction, however, no accidents or injuries have been reported.

The recall affects 10,268 Mazda3s with 1.6 litre diesel and 2.0 litre petrol engines, and Mazda5s with 1.8 litre and 2.0 litre petrol engines manufactured between April 2007 – November 2008.

Fixing the pump and associated parts will take between 90 - 110 minutes, and will be carried out free of charge. Mazda USA is suffering from stock shortages regarding the relevant parts.

"The first phase of mailing of owner notification letters will begin on or before September 15, 2010 and the second phase mailing will begin in September 2010 and be completed in February 2011."

If you turn out to own one of the recalled models, you can contact Mazda's customer assistance centre for more details at 1-800-222-5500.

BMW X1 outsells Audi Q5 by 407 units (EU)

BMW’s baby SUV, the X1 outsold Audi’s compact SUV, the Q5 by 407 units across Europe for the first six months of 2010. Audi sold 43,660 Q5s from January – June, compared to 44,067 X1’s sold by BMW. Compact SUVs rule the roost, only the BMW X5 appears in the top five selling SUVs.

Although the BMW X1 has no direct rivals and – it’s classed as a ‘ultra compact premium SUV’ – until Audi’s forthcoming Q3 arrives, its closest rivals in terms of segment would be the ‘compact premium SUV’ market.

Marketing aside, the Volvo XC60 (29,616 units), Land Rover Freelander (20,138 units) and the BMW X5 (16,565) rounded out the top five selling SUVs in Europe for the time period.

Sales of the X1 are yet to slow, BMW claims to have sold 11,483 units in July alone. The X1 has a few advantages of its ‘rivals’; it’s cheaper to buy, offers a decent drive and is car-like.

However, 2011 could see a shake-up as Mercedes, Infiniti and Audi will be launching new SUV’s.

Toyota planning small RWD coupé

Toyota has started developing a cost-effective, RWD coupé from a hot-hatch concept.

The coupé is being prepared in honour of Toyota’s chief engineer, Hiromu Naruse, who was killed in a road traffic accident, driving Lexus LF-A in Nürburgring, Germany. Naruse had an idea of a rear-wheel-drive, front engined model for youths.

The forthcoming model will underpin the GRMN Hot Hatch Concept which premiered at the Tokyo Auto Salon at the start of this year. The forthcoming model is intended to give affordable performance and appeal than the FT-86.

When Naruse was asked at the Auto Salon what his young engineers wanted to build, he said, “A car that is a blast to drive and rear-wheel drive and that is priced low enough to get younger buyers into it."

The Hot Hatch Concept was produced on existing platforms and engines, thus keeping overall costs down. Underpinning the Aygo platform, it featured a 1.5 litre petrol engine that powers the rear wheels and weighs less than 1,000kg. It features a fairly sophisticated double wishbone rear suspension but is likely to be priced from ¥1.4m (£10,250).

The new coupé will slot below the larger FT-86 in the Toyota line-up. The GRMN team has been given the brief of ‘fun to drive’ and ‘cheap’ for the car, which could be built at the same factory in Osaka that produces the 660cc Daihatsu Copen.

The new model could beat the FT-86 to the market too. Internal sources suggest that it will launch in 2012, priced at least £8,000 less than the FT-86.

Naruse was 67 years old and had been with Toyota since 1963.

Mahindra preferred bidder for SsangYong

Mahindra & Mahindra, the Indian SUV manufacturer has been named as a favoured bidder for SsangYong, the failing South Korean car firm.

SsangYong racked up debts of $634m (400m) and is presently being reorganised under court control. Last year saw fierce protests from SsangYong’s employees, postponing the launch of the all-new C200 compact SUV.

If Mahindra & Mahindra decide to purchase SsangYong, it would give the Indian firm admission into the South East Asian market, where it has no existence and new technology including diesel engines. Mahindra has a fine record of organising industrial quarrels.

Mahindra has alleged to bid roughly $400m (£250m) for the troubled company, which has a 2% market share in South Korea. Mahindra shares dropped 1% once the news was announced, however, industry analysts said that the purchase will benefit the Indian firm in the future.

“The acquisition could be slightly negative for Mahindra in the near term because SsangYong is a small player and scalability is limited. So Mahindra will have to make some investments," said an analyst from Prabhudas Lilladher. "I am guessing it would take two to three years for Mahindra to turn around the company. That is when we expect the benefits to kick in.”

Ford terminates sales of Focus ST (EU)

Following in the footsteps of the Honda Civic Type-R, Ford has announced that it will axe the Focus ST due to strict emission regulations.

The 2.5 litre turbo-charged 5-cylinder petrol engine has joined Honda's 2.0 litre petrol engine in falling foul of the Euro5 emission law, due in January 2011.

An all-new 4 cylinder 2.0 litre turbocharged engine will replace the 2.5 five-pot and is anticipated to debut at the Paris motor show.

British production of the Honda Civic Type-R will diminish in October because Honda has decided to axe it from the UK line-up, rather than alter the engine. In excess of 12,000 Civic Type-Rs have been purchased in the UK since January 2007.

Sales of the Civic Type-R will end in December in the UK and it will continue to be sold in Japan, South Africa and Australia until next year, however, a replacement model has not been confirmed.

Other Euro5 victims include the 3.2 V6 engine in the Alfa Romeo Brera, Mazda RX-8 and the VAG 5.0 TDI V10.

BMW forthcoming Gran Coupé still unnamed

The head of R&D at BMW, Dr. Klaus Draeger has divulged that the forthcoming Gran Coupé will be placed along with the 6 Series with regard to technology and pricing, however, no actual nameplate has been confirmed for production.

Dr. Draeger said that the upscale coupé will certainly make production sometime in 2012 but whether it will be pitched as a 6-Series 4dr coupé or an 8 Series was not established. The Gran Coupé will launch after the 6 Series Coupé next year.

The Gran Coupé Concept has been designed to blend the knack of a grand tourer and a sports car. The roofline is 100mm shorter than that of a 7 Series sedan.

The basics of the upcoming coupé will be shared with the new 5 Series and 7 Series cars. That’ll mean a huge engine variety; a fusion of 6 & 8 cylinder petrol and diesel engines, mated to an 8 speed automatic gearbox. Dr. Draeger even said there is a possibility of a hybrid variant.

“We are in position to bring out an additional hybrid version since we are using the same powertrain architecture as the 5-, 6- or 7 Series,” he said.

In addition to testing a Audi A7 coupé rival, expect to see the Gran Coupé Concept’s long wheelbase, arched bonnet, shark nose, backward set glasshouse, low outline and short front overhang become part of BMW’s trademark design language, as well as its uneven kidney grille, wide front air intake and frameless doors.

“It’s true that the Gran Coupé points to a specific model, a saloon with the presence and elegance of a 7 Series but a more dynamic, sporty character: much more of a driver’s car,” said BMW design chief Adrian van Hooydonk at the car's launch in China earlier this year. “We’re convinced that we should make a car like this.”

In related news, BMW could also be debuting a 6-Series GT concept at the Paris motor show. Dr. Klaus Draeger accidently exposed that a shooting-brake 6 Series has already been created.

The 6 Series shooting brake was design by chief of design, Adrian Van Hooydonk. The styling also hints at the Gran Coupé Concept. The Dutch designer pens the design of many MINI’s, Rolls-Royce cars and the BMW 6 Series & 3 Series coupé. Many believe Hooydonk enthused the ‘Bangle Butt’ on some current BMW models.