At any point in the future where you see yourself in front of a 2013 Jaguar XE, you should know that it was well worth the wait.
Despite the fact that it’s still a few years from now, the new Jaguar compact sports car is poised to take the XE line to new and unprecedented heights. With a lightweight, 3.5-liter V6 engine that’s capable of churning out as much as 450 horsepower, Jaguar is wasting no time in preparing the world for the new two-plus seater 2013 XE.
Together with the new XK, Jaguar is set to release a canvas top roadster of the XE, which will then be followed by a coupe version, allowing for prospective buyers to choose what style of the XE they prefer.
As it stands, the company is expected to release 60,000 units of both the
2013 XE and the XK, an optimistic number for a company that struggled to make any kind of dent on car sales this year.
After struggling with sales for the better part of the 2009, Jaguar is pegging 2013 as a big year for them and releasing a preview of what’s in store for customers is a sign that the Tata-owned luxury brand is hell bent on returning to its rightful place on top of any car enthusiast’s wish list.
Judging from the way the car looks – and the rumored engine it’s
supposed to come in – the 2013 XE just may be the car Jaguar is looking for to jumpstart its fledgling brand.
If you were sill hopping to see a new generation Honda NSX sports cars is time to stop dreaming. In an interview at Tokyo Motor Show, Honda chief executive Takanobu Ito sweep any dreams you might have had: there will be no successor for the NSX, not even in a hybrid version. Instead Honda plans a smaller city car placed under the current Jazz.
Also Honda has no plans for a pure battery electric vehicle and plans to build clean-fuel diesels for the US market had been canceled also.
Talking about hybrid cars, Takanobu Ito said Honda will use two hybrid systems: small cars like Civic will use a single-motor part-electric system, while bigger hybrid cars would use two electric motors.
There will also be no Acura on the European market.
Just like their luxurious Japanese rivals at Lexus, Infiniti is also preparing a competitor for other premium compacts like the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series, the only difference being that the Inifiniti will be electric. Ever since the high end arm of Nissan unveiled the Infiniti Essence concept back in March at the Geneva Motor Show, the automaker has been looking on upgrading both the styling of their lineup as well as their power trains. This particular example should arrive sometime in the next two years.
The difference between the Lexus Lf-Ch and the future Infiniti compact car is that the latter will still feature a conventional internal combustion engine, just like the Essence. According to an inside source at Nissan, the next generation model might be built on the same platform as the automaker’s current electric vehicle, the Nissan Leaf by saying that: "A small electric Infiniti is definitely on the horizon, as are larger electric models too."
Nissan completely redesigned the Skyline model when they introduced the GT350 back in 2001. Gone was the classic boxy shape of the 1990s models which gave way to a 350Z inspired curvilinear Infiniti G35. The luxury car was well appointed and like all of Nissan’s VQ35 powered vehicles, the new Skyline had an exhaust note to die for. The next update for the R35 Skyline came in 2006 when Nissan’s engineers sharpened up the design and bumped displacement up to 3.7 Liters for the world renowned V6 engine. Although the current Infiniti G37 is still a very attractive sports car, the now classic two swoop shape is due for a major update in preparation for the 2012 model year.
When the Japanese automaker unveiled the Infiniti Essence concept car at the Geneva motor Show, they were laying out the floor plan for their future model lineup both aesthetically and mechanically. So with no better inspiration for the future Skyline in sight, it would appear that the new Nissan Skyline could be the first production model to speak the Essence concept’s design language. However it is not expected to adopt the working show car’s hybrid drive train. Instead the 2012 Skyline will feature a 3.7 literV6 to produce a total of around 450 HP. However we won’t find out any time soon because Nissan is rumored to be preparing a Skyline Coupe prototype for the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show with a production version slated to go on sale in the 3rd quarter of 2012.
Now that the fuel efficient Japanese automaker Toyota has officially announced that the FT-86 Concept will bring the highly anticipated AE-86 successor to life, we are eager to see what the other half of the Toyobaru alliance has planned for the new sport compact. We know that Subaru must have some iteration of the new two door sports coupe awaiting in the in the wings and the rumors are saying that their in house tuner Subaru Technica International is working on something special for 2011.
While the Toyota is powered by a gas sipping 2.0 Liter flat four that makes 150 HP, the STI version will be powered by Subaru’s 2.5 Liter EJ25 turbocharged boxer engine that will be tuned to around 250 HP. It is also expected that the new car’s design will be heavily inspired by the current Impreza WRX STI with wider front and rear fenders to house wider rubber and an increased track along with an STI tuned suspension as well as a unique front bumper and a bespoke rear wing.
As a short reminder, the Flash Red FT-86 Concept is inspired by the Toyota Corolla based AE-86 sports coupe from the 1980s. The car’s rear wheel drive layout, lightweight construction and economy car status made it the vehicle of choice for both grip and drift drivers alike and is one of the few cars today that is worth more currently than it did when it rolled out of the showroom.
Beetle fans, mark your calendars for 2012!
What’s so important about 2012, you ask? Well, according to Stefan Jacoby, CEO and president of Volkswagen Group of America, that’s the year when the latest incarnation of the transcendent car will be released.
In addition to his bold proclamation that the new Beetle is set to arrive in 2012, Jacoby also promises that it will be more spacious than any other Beetle Volkswagen’s ever released.
Whether that means that the venerable car will come in a bigger package is not far out of the question now, especially when you take into account that the Beetle has always been considered a classic compact car.
For a while now, Volkswagen has made it known of its goal to become the biggest car manufacturer in the world and the impending release of the new Beetle should validate VW’s intentions of global auto domination.
With the new Beetle set to lead the charge, VW is making an extra effort to cater to the comments of Beetle-holics regarding the rather cramped rear seats of the last generation Beetle.
As one of the most iconic cars in the history of the world, it’s hard to think of another vehicle that holds the same passionate following as that of the Beetle. So you can bet that if VW has any plans of overtaking the Toyotas and GMs of the world, they’re ambitions rest on how the public reacts to the new Beetle.
From the looks of things, it seems that VW understands all the concerns and are working tirelessly to create a new Beetle that will carry on the legacy of its predecessors.
The recent unveiling of the Mercedes Benz SLS AMG Gullwing has been met with universal acclaim, so much so that talks of future Mercedes models being modeled after the car has began to circulate in and around a number of auto circles.
While nothing has been confirmed, it hasn’t stopped people from speculating as to whether the rumors have any weight on them. One car that’s been the subject of this constant speculation has been the next-generation Mercedes-Benz SLK, the brand’s ultra-chic compact hardtop-roadster. According to some people, the new SLK will bear styling similarities to that of the SLS AMG Gullwing and some others have – think creative visual artists – even gone to greath lengths to create a rendering of what they expect the new SLK will look like.
One such artist that has created his own take on the new SLK is Theophilus Chin with his work already being touted as a ‘mini SLS AMG Roadster’. Check out the photos and see for yourself Chin’s take on what the new SLK would look like.
The Volkswagen Golf is another iconic shape from Germany. The original Rabbit started the hot hatch craze as well as giving the tuner car market a boost. Just like its high performance cousin the 911, the practical Volkswagen continues to become larger, heavier and more sophisticated. With the brand new MkVI Golf scheduled to arrive in the U.S. as a 2010 model, all while European drivers have been scooting around in one of the world’s best loved hatchbacks since this past January. However it looks as if the sleeker five door hatchback may be short lived. According to the automotive sleuths at Auto Express, because they have already found official images of what the soon to be seventh generation Golf and it might just surprise you as to exactly who they came from.
AE is claiming that these are official images leaked onto the web by none other than Volkswagen themselves. This is not as far fetched a plan as you may think. After a few extra attentive hyper milers caught a few designers working one something interesting in the background of the “New Volkswagen L1 Concept Car Design Package” (after the jump) Internet video. At exactly 4:36, a trio of designers are working on a clay model of an even sleeker hatchback with sharper lines and bolder fenders. It just so happens that these new images reflect the cues of that model very closely. So perhaps knowing that the jig was up, VW simply decided to beat all the spy photographers and computer aided imagineers to the punch by releasing it themselves.
If this is the case and the Golf VII has already taken shape, you can expect that what we here in the U.S. are looking forward to might be short lived in order to make space in showrooms for what you are looking at. However if the German automotive conglomerate continues to do business as usual we will have to wait until the European market has had their fun with the new car before U.S. drivers can have a go behind the wheel. Even if the Golf VII is slated for a 2012 release, it may not arrive in the U.S. until as late as 2014, giving the new 2010 Golf VI a few years to shine in the spotlight on Volkswagen of America’s sales sheets.
New Volkswagen L1 Concept Car Design Package video after the jump.
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When top-flight auto executives say something, a lot of us generally stop and pay attention.
So when Jim O’Donnell, BMW North America’s CEO, said that the next generation 6-Series, which will be launched in 2011, will be “the best-looking BMW in year”, then we have to stand up and take notice.
O’Donnell’s comment came from an interview with Automobile Magazine where he boldly proclaimed that the next-in-line 6 series will veer away from past designs and will look nothing like any of its predecessors. Although he expects to see a radically different 6 series, O’Donnell mentioned that the car will pretty much carry the same dimensions as that of the current model. Apart from that, the design of the car is anyone’s guess.
O’Donnell did not divulge any more out of fear of giving away too much too soon. But before doing so, he did say that the next-gen 6 series will be “super sleek.”
If we take what he said for what it’s worth, it would be hard to bet against BMW coming up with something we’ve never seen before, especially after they pretty much floored a lot of us with what they showed at Frankfurt last month, including the jaw-dropping BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept car.
The overwhelmingly positive response of the ‘Jetsons-esque’ Vision EfficientDynamics may have given BMW the shot in the arm it has long waited for.
Due to the glorious feedback generated by the concept car, BMW is not tinkering with the idea of bringing back the M1 by 2012 where it would be based on the 2+2 coupe concept of the Vision EfficientDynamics.
The rumoured M1 will also come with the same hybrid powertrain that comes with the Vision EfficientDynamics concept, a sign that BMW may be more serious than anyone ever thought about the its efforts in becoming more eco-friendly.
In the event that it does use the hybrid powertrain, the M1 will be expected to carry a 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine that comes with an electric motor. The power output expected to come out of this set-up is expected to reach as much as 350 horsepower and 600 Nm of torque.
As far as aesthetics are concerned, we’re not expecting the M1 to look remotely close to that of the Vision EfficientDynamics concept, although we are anticipating that BMW will take a few styling cues from the concept and adapt it to the M1. After all, what’s the point of basing the car to the concept if it won’t have any resemblance to it?
In any event, if this supposed reincarnation of the M1 is all BMW says it would be, then we can expect it to generate the same type of reaction the Vision EfficientDynamics concept got in Frankfurt. And that’s going to be great news for the boys of BMW.
Photos courtesy of Fox Syndication
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