Just the other day Top Speed confirmed that the Toyota/Subaru sports car is a go Well today Akio Toyoda, the Japanese automaker’s new president announced that Toyota will develop an affordable, fun-to-drive sports car for the American market that will go on sale withing the next few years: "I am very excited about it and plan to fast-track it," he said at the Center for Automotive Research’s annual Management Briefing Seminar.
With this sports car Toyota hopes to appeal to a younger group of buyers for whom quality and reliability alone are not enough, however this doesn’t mean that the extremely reliable automaker is headed in a new direction with their lineup. On the contrary, Toyoda said that he wanted Toyota to refocus on core principles and the responsiveness to the consumer that led the company to become the world’s biggest and up until last year, the most profitable mass production car maker on the planet.
Toyoda said that the cost and technological challenges of making affordable, fuel-efficient cars will require industry players to work together. However, in a brief question-and-answer session, Toyoda said his company did not envision aligning themselves with another automakers saying that "Toyota is not the sort of company that is very good at alliances."
Back in July Top Speed reported that the German automaker Mercedes Benz has plans for an AMG Black Series version for the new E-Class Coupe. However according to sources at AMG, the car will not be built around making more power, but like the Lexus IS-F Evolution, will be all about weight-saving technologies and fine-tuning of the moving parts to make the most out of what is already there, like all the future AMG models.
However, Mercedes has no plans to develop a regular AMG version of the 2010 E-class coupe and there will also be no AMG version of the C-Class sedan. Instead the current C63 AMG will be replaced with a more powerful version because it is the least potent of all AMG models. While the current model delivers 475 HP, the future version will deliver somewhere between 500 HP to 525 HP.
Hopefully the lightweight approach will not only benefit handling and performance figures, but will also help a future C63 to get more than 10 MPG.
The English automotive journal, AutoCar has gotten their hands on a few more details about the future BMW 3-Series. The 2012 model is expected to be unveiled at the 2011 Paris Motor Show, and according to a source at BMW, the German automaker will offer class-leading aerodynamics, as well as pioneering the use of three-cylinder engines in the company’s full size premium vehicles.
The engine lineup will include a choice of turbocharged three-cylinder gas and diesel engines. Starting off with a 1.5 Liter diesel engine that will deliver around 150 HP, while the gas burning version will deliver 150 HP and 170 lb-ft of torque. One thing that is for certain is that all of the engines will be offered with BMW’s Efficient Dynamics fuel-saving technology. The car will remain a front-engined, rear-drive model, but will use some sort of hybrid electric assist coupled to the rear axle, meaning it will be able to operate in both hybrid and fully electric vehicle modes.
The engines will be mated to a standard 8-speed automatic gearbox first seen in the 7 Series, while the performance models will be offered with 7-speed DCT. BMW has also announced that the 2012 BMW 3-Series will move through the air with exceptional aerodynamics, the car’s coefficient of drag will measure only 0.24 thanks in part to something called an Air Curtain.
Infiniti is preparing to show the world what the next generation M class, full size luxury sedan will look like at Pebble Beach, and the parent company Nissan has just shaken a few trees by introducing the all electric Leaf. So the only thing left to do until coming out with a working model of the next generation Infiniti M powered exclusively by by a laminated lithium ion battery pack is to adapt a hybrid module into what they already have. So Infiniti will soon unveil a gas/electric powered version of the sedan in 2010, followed by a European launch later in 2011.
The future hybrid M will be powered by a 3.7 Liter gas burning V6 combined with a compact electric motor powered by the NEC lithium ion batteries. This technology was revealed this past March at the Geneva Motor Show with the ultra luxurious and even more efficient Essence Concept.
The forward looking concept was powered by a combination of gas and electric motors that delivered a maximum output of 592 HP. The gas burning 3.7 Liter V6 was fitted with a twin turbocharger setup that delivers 434 HP, while the electric motor, called a 3D Motor delivers an additional 158 HP into the mix.
A few new details have surfaced surrounding the future Toyota-Subaru compact sports car. Apparently the vehicle’s official debut will be made at the end of 2011, however it will be powered by a smaller engine than originally anticipated in order to reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency.
Under the hood the automakers will keep the 2.0 Liter boxer engine, except that instead of having 200 direct injected horses on tap, at the moment it will only make 160 HP, some 40 HP less than previously anticipated. The gears will initially still be shifted by a 6 speed manual transmission with an automatic version being offered later on.
One of the future AE86’s keys to success is a lightweight fun to drive formula, so weight for the future Toyobaru sport compact is expected to be around 1200 kg. The engineers will have to keep off every unnecessary pound in order to get the most out of the detuned power plant.
The last new Audi RS4 to roll out of a showroom was back in early 2008. At the end of that year the German automaker has already released a new generation A4 with the theme of downsizing for efficiency. With the new body also comes a new RS4. Audi prefers to wait until they are closer to the end of their product’s life cycle before developing and all out factory tuned hot rod and so the word has just broken that the next four-ringed sports car to wear the RS4 badge will go n sale in the spring of 2010.
It is possible that the German automaker is aiming for a Geneva Motor Show launch, looking forward to embarrassing competitors offerings like the Mercedes Benz C63 AMG, the BMW M3 and the Lexus IS-F. The current trend is a high horsepower combination of speed and luxury, however none of these other high performance machines can match the handling performance of Audi’s Quattro all wheel drive system.
The 2010 Audi RS4 will be powered by a V8 engine that will deliver an impressive 450 HP, a gain of 30 HP compared to the old 4.2 Liter FSI equipped RS4. The future super sedan will also feature larger air intakes in the front bumper, inspired by the Audi TT-RS and the upcoming RS5. Like all of the rennsport models, the RS4 will wear a more aggressively styled aero kit.
Now that the Indian automaker, Tata Motors is the new owner of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, the manufacturer has announced that all future models will use light weight bodies made from aluminum in order to reduce not only their own costs, but it will also increase fuel efficiency because the engines will be pushing around less mass and as a result they will experience a reduced fuel consumption and lowered emissions in their vehicles. In an even more environmentally conscious step, both brands are also preparing a host of hybrid engines.
In a recent interview, Tata Motors Chairman, Ratan Tata said that "Jaguar and Land Rover is planning to have all its future cars constructed with light weight aluminum bodies resulting in considerable savings in weight, and reduction in CO2 emissions."
Just a short reminder, the 2010 Jaguar XJ is the first Jaguar model built on the one time English automaker’s aerospace-inspired aluminum structure technology. Aside from all of the green advantages that come with a light weight body, one very important aspect is that both straight line speed and a vehicle’s ability to go around a corner is greatly increased as well.
Now that the Swedish automaker Saab is under Koenigsegg’s ownership, their future looks very bright. Maybe by accident (or not!) a document revealing the future Saab’s line-up has surfaced on the internet. It shows all the models to be launched by 2017, and it looks very promising we might add (but we were still hopping to see a production version for the Aero-X).
In 2010 Saab will debut the next generation 9-5, followed by the 9-4X. In 2011 we will see the station wagon version for the 9-5 and a first for Saab, start/stop technology. In 2012 they will bring the new generation 9-3 and the new mini 9-1. In 2013 a crossover vehicle based on the 9-5 Sportcombi will come to life and a new 9-3 Convertible.
2015 looks to be a very promising year for the Swedish company: they plan to bring back the Sonett brand from the 1960s and 1970s, and also a new model placed above the retro comeback, by SAAB will bring out a new generation of the 9-5.
As you the classic compact British automaker, Mini, is planning on unveiling the new speedster concept this September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Aside from the open-air roadster project, the German manufacturer is also working on a new coupe that will be called Broadspeed. The title comes from the 1966 Broadspeed GT Coupe that was based on a Mark 1 Austin Mini Cooper 1275 S and was also the name of a racing team that campaigned the agile Mini Coopers in the mid 1960’s.
It is speculated that the special edition Broadspeed will make its official debut before the speedster and it is expected to be available for purchase sometime early in 2011 and be the automaker’s most hardcore offering to date when offered in JCW trim. Like the upcoming speedster, the Broadspeed will be based on the R57 platform and will be some of the last Minis to use the current vehicle’s drive train.
This coming September Bugatti will unveil an all new model at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Not like the image helps, but the future Italian super car will be a four door sedan that will compete head to head with with future ultra luxurious high speed machines like the the new Grand Bentley or the Rolls Royce Ghost.
The new Bugatti sports saloon will be built in celebration of the company’s 100th anniversary and this is the first ever image is the only visual tangible proof from the automaker. All it reveals is that the future Bugatti will feature a set of high-tech LED tail lamps and a vertically stacked center high mounted stop light. Stay tuned, we’ll get back to you with more details as soon as they come in!
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