A few days ago, we reported that Lamborghini was bringing two vehicles to the Geneva Motor Show: the Aventador Spyder and another mystery model. At first, we believed that the company would be arriving in Geneva with the final say on what the third model in their lineup would be, but it now seems we have to rule that out. The good news is that Lamborghini has chosen their third model, but the bad news is that they have chosen to produce the SUV and won’t be debuting it until the Beijing Auto Show in China from April 23-24, 2012.
This news comes straight from Italian magazine, Quattroruote.it, which offered the first scanned images of the Lamborghini SUV Concept. From these images we can see that the SUV will adopt some design features from the Aventador supercar. It will most likely feature the same V10 engine from the Gallardo, but most likely, the production version will combine a combustion engine with an electric engine for a total of 700 HP.
The production version of the Lamborghini SUV will arrive in 2015 as a competitor for the upcoming Bentley SUV.
Suzuki is getting a head start on the Beijing Auto Show by announcing a brand new concept car called the Swift R that is said to preview the future Swift Sport. The Beijing show is a long way off - taking place in April 2011 - but Suzuki wanted to start talks about the future sports version of their smallest model early to keep everyone’s interest piqued from now until the show. A lot is riding on this model because Suzuki wants to attain the same kind of success they experienced with the old Swift R.
The style of the concept is inspired by the Suzuki supersport motorcycles, especially the GSX-R 1000. It features a front bumper with enlarged air intakes, rear spoiler, and wheel arches increased significantly in order to change the character of the Swift.
No words yet on what type of engine under the hood, but we presume there will be a 1.4 liter TSI engine that will deliver either 150 hp or 180 hp. It will most likely be combined with a 7-speed DSG transmission.
Stay tuned for more details!
Volkswagen unveiled the new Phaeton today at Auto China 2010 in Beijing. The new luxury sedan features Volkswagen’s new design DNA, meaning a new front section with a new chrome grille, restyled headlights, a three-dimensional moulding of the grille and bonnet, new Bi-Xenon headlamps. The car’s rear has been also redesigned and gets new LED rear light clusters, a new, three-piece chrome bar, modified side trim strips, narrower LED indicators in the wing mirrors and new 18-inch (‘Experience’) alloy wheels.
The 2011 Phaeton will be offered with a choice of two wheelbase options, two back seat versions (three seats / two individual seats) and four engines (a turbo diesel and three petrol engines).
The engine line-up will include: a V6 petrol engine delivering 280 HP, a V8 with 335 HP and a W12 with 450 HP. The diesel engine is a V6 TDI with 240 HP.
The luxury sedan will be offered with Dynamic Light Assist (camera-based dynamic main beam regulation) and a navigation system that, if desired, can integrate online data from Google into the map display.
Updated 06/07/2010: Volkswagen today revealed new images of the new generation Phaeton. Check the gallery to see them all!
Press release after the jump.
Full story
Chinese automaker, Geely, is making plans for unseating the Tata Nano as the world’s cheapest car with their very own hatchback based on the IG concept it showed during the recently-concluded Beijing Motor Show.
With an expected price tag of somewhere in the neighborhood of £1,800 -$2,700 - the IG would supplant the Nano, which retails for £2,500 ($3,800) and is currently the world’s cheapest car.
Despite the car’s relatively pauper price tag, the IG concept that we saw in Beijing came with a pair of Mercedes SLS AMG-esque gullwing doors, which made it look a little awkward given it’s rather pudgy size. However, according to Geely, the IG, considering it is 185mm longer than the Toyota iQ and has a wheelbase that’s also 100mm longer, will be produced as a 2+2 vehicle. Of course, the ’+2’ aspect is cognizant to the size of the people sitting at the back.
We’d be really curious to see those gullwing doors on the production version of the IG, but we’re afraid that since they’re trying to make this car as cheap as possible, outfitting those kinds of doors on a car that’s going to cost around $3,000 would be damn near impossible.
