Automotive industry news, it feels like nothing of what they say is really important but put it together and you will get the big picture before the others.
Maserati will be introducing three new vehicles over the next 24 months, further hinting to the future production of their Kubang SUV, as well as the impending releases of an all-new Quattroporte and a smaller version of it.
In a recent press release, the Italian automaker didn’t specifically mention the names of the three models that they are planning on releasing, but it’s all pretty academic at this point unless they have something up their sleeves that we’ve never seen before.
The Kubang, or "Cinqueporte", for one, has already been slated for production, so it looks like that’s going to be one of the models. Likewise, we’ve already seen spy photos and videos of the new 2014 Quattroporte frolicking around a number of race tracks around the world.
The third model of this triumvirate is also the one that we know the littlest about. Maserati has given indication that they’re building a smaller version of the Quattroporte, but we’ve yet to see the car make its world debut or see it in any spy photos. The only piece of info attached to the model is that it could carry the name "Levante," which Maserati trademarked just a month ago.
Another bit of info in the Maserati press release that bears following is the announcement that an Alfa Romeo model will be built together with the GranTurismo beginning in 2013. What that model is is still anyone’s guess.
One thing we do know is that things are fixing to get interesting from them boys with tridents.
Ever since Spyker Cars – the tiny company very little have heard of – purchased Saab from General Motors twelve months or so ago, very little has happened. The biggest change which occurred was the name which saw the Spyker/Saab pair become Swedish Automobile N.V. Since that time, Saab has continued to weigh the small company down and after consecutive offers made by Chinese company Youngman to purchase the ailing Swedish brand, Spyker finally parted ways.
As a result, Spyker Cars which was known as Swedish Automobile is once again back to its original roots as Spyker. We have no idea how much this entire venture has cost the brand, but we’d prefer not to think about it. It definitely wasn’t a smart move to purchase Saab on their part. Consequently, we would be very surprised if Spyker released any new cars in the coming months and years.
Youngman, which is actually one of China’s biggest companies, originally put a bid in to buy Saab off GM back in February when they offered $298 million, but as Saab’s debt totals more than $2 billion, this offer was unsurprisingly knocked back. Since then, the issue has remained fairly steady with Youngman announcing that it will invest no less than $1.8 billion into development of new Saab models if its latest undisclosed offers are accepted.
In our opinion, Youngman is out of its mind with these bids. Not only will the company have to spend billions to prop up Saab, consumer confidence in the Swedish brand has been completely and utterly smashed through the floor, even though they’ve developed a few nice cars. In turn, sales would be shaky and remain unsteady for years if Saab’s production line began to turn once again.
What do you think, should Saab finally bite the dust and leave us?
Well after Nissan recently teased five redesigned models and with rumors circulating that the Japanese brand is considering a sub-370Z sports car, Nissan definitely has its fair share of projects on hand. But that’s not all, as the company recently announced that it will produce a brand new vehicle to compete with the VW Golf, Ford Focus, and Citroen C4 from 2014 onwards at its British production facility.
Very few details about this new hatchback have been released, but it’s been confirmed that in excess of 1000 jobs will be created in the United Kingdom because of it, with 225 being directly involved in the production of the car. The remaining jobs will be created in companies supplying components for the car.
Nissan’s chief operating officer, Toshiyuki Shiga said, “Nissan already produces more vehicles in Europe than any other Asian manufacturer and the model announced today will bring world-class quality and leading technology to our customers at the heart of the European C-segment."
In order to compete with the VW Golf and the Ford Focus, Nissan will have to create a car that can be easily upgraded and modified for future variants as both the Golf and Focus are offered in array of different versions.
Additionally, Nissan will have to develop new systems for the car as there’s no way it’ll be able to recycle all the required components from its extensive range of cars. In saying that however, we wouldn’t be surprised if the new hatchback came fitted with the same 1.6-liter engine as the base Juke, which has already proven itself to be quite capable.
Image is of Nissan’s latest b-market segment concept: the Nissan Invitation.
What is sports car manufacturer Porsche to do when it becomes bored with its own testing grounds, Weissach, and the Nürburgring just doesn’t allow its cars to reach their full potential? Buy a new testing facility, silly… Yup, Porsche lumped down an undisclosed sum of money – which is certainly more than we could imagine earning in a lifetime – to purchase Europe’s longest circular track, and everything else that comes with it.
That’s right; Porsche has officially purchased the Nardò Technical Center in Italy, which houses not only a 7-mile, four-lane oval track whose banks allow for speeds of up to 240 KM/h (149 mph), but also seven additional tracks that test various parts of vehicle, including: dynamics, multiple pavement response (cobblestone, potholes, uneven, etc.), high-speed noise, handling, off-road performance, and braking.
This really puts Porsche in a position to not only beat out its competition while saving money on testing fees, but it also allows it to better hone other brands that it is linked to, like Volkswagen, Lamborghini, and Bugatti. This also gives Porsche yet another revenue stream, as Nardò is one of the more popular testing tracks in Europe.
The thing about Porsche vehicles is that though they are much faster than your average cars, they are not about top speed, when compared to the likes of Lamborghini, Ferrari, and McLaren. Could this mean that Porsche may start pushing the limits on its upcoming vehicles and maybe flirt with the 200 mph mark? Not likely, but it is definitely a sweet idea to consider. Likely, this track is going to be the testing home for racing models, but we may catch the occasional 911 stretching its legs a little.
The idea of supply and demand has always been a key ingredient in any successful business, and automakers know that just as much as any leading entrepreneur currently raking in millions of dollars. Take Lexus, for example. Their LF-A took some heat for being much more expensive than leading supercars in the market, but the company didn’t have any problems finding customers to hand over the $375,000 for it, instead of dishing out the $225,000 for the Ferrari 458 Italia. Bottomline, this was Japan’s first supercar ever and only 500 units were going to be built, meaning people will pay for exclusivity, no matter the cost.
Now it seems as though Lexus is taking the demand for the Lexus LF-A to a whole new level by working on a second generation for the LF-A with double the features and only one fifth of the units. Needless to say, the price for this bad boy just jumped to double the original. A source close to the company has passed information along to AutoGuide stating that the upcoming LF-A II will be vastly more impressive in terms of performance, but will also be vastly more expensive. This source confirmed that the new supercar will deliver a significantly higher performance level, but the price will be somewhere in the range of $800,000 to $1 million. Oh and the number of units dwindled down to 100 in case math isn’t your strong suit.
This is one of those cases where we think some customers may just settle for the first generation.
As we all know, Lotus Group has been in some hot water for a long time and has yet to pull itself out of its downward spiral. The latest news came when Proton, the unfortunate owner of the Lotus money pit, was bought out by DRB-Hicom. Well, this led several of our colleagues in the automotive journalism field to begin questioning the status of Lotus and its easily angered CEO Dany Bahar.
When you encounter this kind of bad press, there are a few ways that a global company, like Lotus, can handle it. Ultimately, it boils down to a right way to handle it and a wrong way to handle it. Well, Lotus took some the pretty innocent rib jabbing from the media and decided to take the wrong way to an entirely new level.
Lotus decided to take its frustrations out on everyone in the worst possible of ways… via a Facebook post. On their official page they call out several journalists for their “inaccurate reporting,” as Lotus group pretty much claims. They then proceed to entertain us with a long list of fact vs. myth tidbits that really tell us absolutely nothing, other then making clear the fact that they are completely pissed and have no idea how to contain their anger.
The rant almost reads like a 13-year-old girl whose best friend just stole her boyfriend, called her fat, and then spread a nasty rumor that she was kissing the town nerd under the bleachers during the homecoming dance. Yeah, it’s really that bad. What’s worse is a full 10 hours after that scorned-teenager-like post went up, it is still there for the entire world to see and laugh like hell at.
On the surface, it is starting to look as if Lotus is beginning to crack and DRB-Hicom did not become the giant they did by handling things like this lightly. Plus there have already been rumors of Lotus being sold off to China Youngman, Shanghai Automotive, or Beijing Automotive. This may be the straw that broke Lotus’ and Bahar’s back…
Hit the jump to read the unedited post from Facebook, it’s well worth it.
Fiat is at it yet again. Just a few weeks ago, we complained about the fact that Fiat keeps on reusing the “500” name in the U.S., and once again we are apparently in for more 500s. Just like government documents spoiled the surprise that Fiat’s subsidiary company, Chrysler, was planning a revival of the Barracuda nameplate, government documents are now spoiling the fun for Fiat itself.
Documents leaked from the NHTSA and CARB are showing two models under the 500 umbrella that currently do not exist. One of those vehicles is the 500T, and “T” in this instance obviously means turbocharged. The other, and less newsworthy, is a 500 Abarth Convertible.
For those that know Fiats, you are likely wondering what’s going on, as there is already a turbocharged 500, it’s the 500 Abarth, which has a 160-horsepower Multi-Air 1.4-liter engine. What all of us experts – or so we like to call ourselves – agree upon is that this new 500T will likely feature a slightly detuned version of the Abarth’s 1.4-liter engine, ranging somewhere in the 130 to 140 horsepower range.
What Fiat would be doing with this is trying to target buyers that want a higher performance 500, but don’t want to fork out the $22,000 that it costs to get into an Abarth. If the 500T hits 130 horsepower, that would be 29 horsepower greater than the standard engine and likely enough to satisfy the hunger for a little more performance.
Using reasonable estimations, we would assume that the Fiat 500T would have an MSRP in the $20,000 range, as to keep it less than the Abarth, but slightly more than the 500 Lounge (the top trim level before the Abarth). That would position it just under the base MINI Cooper ($20,200) and well below the MINI Cooper S ($23,800).
Given these two models pan out, and the 500X that Fiat teased us with earlier comes to be, this would put the 500 at a whopping seven models. It’s starting to get a little ridiculous, Fiat.
Even though car manufacturers try to conceal names of future models, possible options always manage to leak onto the net, with the latest name trademarked by Lamborghini already finding its way into our hands.
Car and Driver recently broke the news and it seems pretty genuine to us. "Deimos" was trademarked by Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. on March 5, 2012, and the name has left us scratching our heads just a tad. First and foremost, almost all Lamborghini’s ever produced (with the exception of the LM002) have been named after famous fighting bulls both Italian and Spanish, but ‘Demois’ doesn’t refer to any bull we’re aware of.
In fact, according to Greek mythology, ‘Deimos’ is a son of Aphrodite and represents terror and dread which seems a little bit strange to name a car after. The terror part does make some sense as this is a Lamborghini and their cars are famous for promoting fear and terror in their competitors, but the term dread seems less appealing.
After all, who would want to buy a car which name literally means ‘dread’?
Nevertheless, this trademark by Lamborghini may not actually relate to a future model or concept car as it could instead refer to a new line of merchandise or even a new system which could be fitted to future Lamborghini’s. However, with the new Lamborghini SUV (rendered above) expected to be released at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show in just a few weeks, rumors suggest that the successor to the LM002 may be dubbed the Lamborghini Deimos.
Another possibility could be the Gallardo replacement which is currently under development, and with the highly circulated ‘Cabrera’ name being nothing more than the work of an unnamed source, perhaps this future model could be the Deimos.
We are all just becoming accustomed to the fact that the Impala will no longer be just a rental car beater, as Chevrolet has completely redesigned it and actually made it a competitor in the full-size car market and Chevy’s already trying to shoot itself in the foot.
When Chevy began leaking out information about the 2014 Impala, we all assumed it would have an all-wheel-drive option, even though GM said nothing about it during the official unveiling in New York. This became even more obvious when we found out that it will be based on the Epsilon platform, which is the same platform that the AWD Cadillac XTS and AWD Buick LaCrosse are based upon.
To our surprise, we learned from our friends at GMInsideNews.com that Chevy has zero plans of offering an AWD version of the Impala in either the near or distant future. Chevy actually made the brash and unfounded statement that all-wheel-drive vehicles are only a small part of the full-size car market. Actually that statement is downright false, to some experts.
Paul Lacy of IHS stated last year that by 2015 AWD sales will account for nearly 30% of all automotive sales. Then again, if GM doesn’t want to take an industry expert’s opinion, it can look at sister company Cadillac. In 2009 and 2010 nearly one-half of all CTS sales were AWD models. Add in the fact that all of the main competitors to the Impala, including the Charger, Taurus, and 300, all have at least an optional AWD system.
We don’t know exactly why Chevy is not planning on an AWD offering for the Impala and we honestly think that they are taking a step backwards at the worst possible time. When you first release a vehicle you don’t want to cut out an item like AWD, which is an important purchasing point for undecided shoppers. The undecided shopper is the one you need to reel in and things like AWD make that a possibility. Bad form, Chevy.
Many years ago, okay maybe less than two years ago, if you were cruising down the road in your hopped up Mustang GT and came across a Mustang bearing the “Saleen” name on the side, you knew your poor GT had no chance. In 2007, this all started to change, as Steve Saleen left the company. Then in 2011, the performance vehicle side of Saleen shut down altogether. This rendered the once feared custom car builder just a high-performance parts supplier.
Shortly after leaving Saleen, Steve Saleen started SMS Supercars, basically a new version of Saleen. A long legal battle ensued after Saleen’s new ownership group refused to honor warranties for the performance vehicles it manufactured prior to taking ownership and SMS Supercars stepped in to try to help. The legal battle circled around whether or not SMS Supercars had the right to use the “Saleen” name.
After what seems like ages, there is finally a decision. Steve Saleen has been awarded the rights to use the “Saleen” name on all of his vehicles. In addition, all previously manufactured SMS Supercar vehicles will be added to Saleen’s master registry, making them official Saleen vehicles. Plus, Saleen will start producing badges for all of the old SMS Supercar vehicles, which SMS Supercar owners can buy and put in place of the old “SMS” badges.
SMS Supercars essential now becomes one with Saleen, which means Saleen will begin producing super high-performance models of the Dodge Challenger, Ford Mustang, and Chevy Camaro.
Saleen lovers of the world rejoice! The days of Saleen being little more than AutoZone on steroids are over. We cannot wait to see the first Saleen branded cars, which should be coming very soon, though there is no official release date.
