Tuesday, August 31, 2010

PROTON-CAR IS GOOD VALUE!

VALUE CARS (IW) Limited the owners of Osborne Garage in East Cowes have been honored the Proton main dealership for the Isle of Wight and are offering three years free servicing with every new car sold this year.

Value Cars purchased Osborne Garage in July 2009, after the previous owners went into administration, and since purchase they have spent over £80,000 on main refurbishment of the showroom and workshops.

Managing Director Mr David Chapman said: After the refurbishment was completed we were appearing to get a new car franchise back for the garage. We looked at many options but required a brand of cars that offered style, quality and good value.

After visiting the Proton UK headquarters in Bristol and seeing their whole operation we were more than impressed. We also educated that Proton purchased Lotus Cars in 1995. Lotus now contribute very much in the overall design of the new vehicles, producing what can only be described as very stylish, reliable cars, which are fun to drive, with fantastic handling, whilst still managing to offer very good value for money.

The Proton range initiates from just £7,995 for the 1.2 Savvy Style – a small 5 door hatchback with power steering, electric windows, central locking, air conditioning and parking sensors as standard – foremost up to the top of the range GEN-2 1.6GSX 5 door hatchback at just £10,995 that comes with power steering, electric windows, electric mirrors, remote central locking and air conditioning.


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Monday, August 30, 2010

Electric Cars: More costly to own than Gasoline Models?

One of the big selling points of electric vehicles is that, though they cost more upfront, over time you can save money, as you’re not buying gas.

Over three years, electric cars could be more expensive to run than their petrol equivalents. What’s amazing is where the figures come from: Mitsubishi, which is getting set to launch its own electric car, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. The high purchase prices, and the rapid depreciation, are what may build electric cars uncompetitive financially.

Any new-car buyer takes a beat on depreciation. Some estimates say that new cars can lose up to 20 percent of their worth the minute they’re driven off the dealer lot.

To aim and minimize this ‘battery fear’ both Mitsubishi and Nissan will guarantee battery life. Mitsubishi says its batteries will be guaranteed for 62,500 miles, but should work, at least partly, for up to 100,000 miles.

Of course, while it may charge more to own an electric car than a gasoline-powered one, there are other profits to going gasoline free, like no tailpipe emissions.


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Friday, August 27, 2010

Toyota has imposing plans for Hybrid Models

Toyota Motors- the Japanese car giant who has earned a name in the automobile industry for its pioneering ads and durable cars is stressing on its environment friendly models these days.

The carmaker has said that apart from its flagship hybrid model Prius it will also liberate hybrid variants of its popular sedans and hatchbacks. The lineup of the company will have a lot of hybrid models by the year 2020. The company also plans to vend minimum 5 million hybrid cars in the coming years as it has said.

As a matter of fact, the carmaker commenced the first hybrid model in the year 1997. Prius will persist to be its flagship hybrid model as it has confirmed.

The hybrid models of Prius and other Toyota vehicles have got enormous response in the Japanese market as well as overseas. The company is selling realistic good number of hybrid models even amidst the recall incidents. The hybrid models of the car are costly but even then they stay hot selling ones.


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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Maruti Suzuki to make third plant at Manesar

To bridge the demand-supply gap for its passenger cars, Maruti Suzuki India on Thursday said it was planning to spend Rs.1,700 crore to set up a third production unit at its Manesar facility with an installed capacity of 2.5 lakh units.

“We are planning a project report for the third unit in Manesar, which will come up for conversation before the board. The unit is future to have a capacity of 2.5 lakh units yearly,” Chairman R. C. Bhargava told journalists at the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) summit here.

Although Mr. Bhargava gave no time-frame for setting up the plant, he said the project report was probable to be completed soon. On investment, he said it would be in a similar range of the second unit which is currently being set up at Manesar.

The Manesar plant has yearly production capacity of 3-lakh units, as the Gurgaon plant produces 3-lakh units annually.


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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Prius noise-maker option 'to defend pedestrians'

TOKYO - Toyota's Prius hybrid is becoming a little fewer quiet with a new electronic humming device that is the automaker's answer to complaints that pedestrians can't recognize sound the top-selling car approaching.

The 12,600 yen (NZ$212) speaker system that goes beneath the hood of the third-generation Prius sets off a whirring sound designed to be about the same noise level as a usual car engine so that it isn't irritating, Toyota said.

That benefit has drawn complaints that pedestrians, the blind in particular, are at bigger risk of being hit by the car, especially at low speeds.

The US government's auto safety agency establish in a research report last year that hybrids are twice as probable to be involved in pedestrian crashes at low speeds compared with cars with conventional engines.


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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Morgan functioning on two new car models to compliment EvaGT

At the 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Morgan came to the exclusive gathering with a concept called EvaGT – a model that is known for its ideal blend between traditional and modern. Charles Morgan, managing director of Morgan Motor Company, said that the company is also functioning on two new cars that it will set into production within the next three years.

He said that one of the two models will be called the LIFECar 2, as saying that the other will be a “fun weekend vehicle.”

Charles said that the LIFEcar 2 is an electric-diesel hybrid sports car that will have a series of more than 1,000 miles.

About the second car, chief designer Matt Humphries said that the company is working on great that will be “more extreme, with actual entertainment value.”

As for the EvaGT, Humphries said that the production car will appear almost the same as the concept. “We’ve got a reputation for translating show cars into road cars almost unaffected and that’s our plan for the Eva GT, it wants a high-level brake light at the rear, but that’s about all.” said Humphries.


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Monday, August 23, 2010

Mercedes-Benz reveals its 2012 CLS forward of Paris debut

We all know nearly everything about Mercedes-Benz CLS through leaked shots, but now its formally official as the brand has revealed its 2012 model ahead of its debut at this year’s Paris Motor Show.

The 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS is a substitute for the original car launched in 2004, which is credited with ‘four-door coupĂ©’ segment of the market, and spawning models like the Audi A7 and the Volkswagen Passat CC.

Styled under the guidance of new Mercedes design Chief Gorden Wagener, some of the famous features of the new model comprise a striking innovative headlight design and it uses a full-LED setup, with a total of 71 bulbs making up the main headlamps, running lamps, turn signals and side lamps.

Though no dimensions of the vehicle have officially been exposed, yet the new CLS is wider and longer than the gregarious model, and wider but lower than the E-class saloon. It sits on the modified version of the current E-class floorpan with wider tracks that provide it additional aggressive stance.


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Friday, August 20, 2010

A Jaguar with nine lives

Safety is forever a priority for manufacturers, but Jaguar's XJ Sentinel goes to extremes. The luxury sedan can withstand B7 grade weaponry such as an AK-74 and up to 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of exposives detonated within close nearness.

The bulletproof Sentinel will debut at the 2010 Moscow International Motor Show, but don't anticipate to be blown away (couldn't resist)--its exterior is impossible to tell apart from the standard long-wheelbase XJ models. The dissimilarity is in the chassis that's been constructed from specialized high-strength steels with Kevlar backing.

The standard XJ has a 3,909-pound curb weight, as the Sentinel weighs 7,200 pounds. All that extra weight takes a toll on the performance; set with the same 5.0-L V8, the Sentinel has a 0-100 kmh of 9.7 seconds (compared with 5.7 seconds in the standard long-wheel base XJ) and tops out at 121 mph. Lacking the bulletproof option, the XJ has a top speed of 155 mph.


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Thursday, August 19, 2010

268-mph Bugatti Veyron Super Sport builds U.S. sales debut

One of the pace cars for the historic car races at the Laguna Seca raceway today will be faster than just concerning anything else on the track.

It's the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, which the automaker introduced to Drive On and the rest of the automotive press yesterday close to Carmel, Calif.

Super Sport now set the new land speed record for a production car at 268 miles an hour at Volkswagen Group's proving ground at Ehra-Lessien, Germany.

Coming later this year, you'll require $2.1 million to buy the painted version, $2.4 million to purchase one in which the translucent carbon-fiber body is visible in its rich detail. It arrives afterward this year.

The Super Sport adds another 299 horsepower to the 1,001-hp Bugatti Veyron 16.4 that commenced in 2005. Similar to the previous model, the Super Sport has a twin clutch arrangement and paddle shifter, but no clutch pedal or stick shifting. To obtain the extra horsepower, it adds superior turbochargers and bigger intercoolers to increase the power of the 8-liter 16-cylinder engine.


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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Volvo CEO alleges They Can Be a Top Brand

Volvo can use its new-found independence to react rapidly to market demands and enter "the top league of premium brands", according to the firm's new CEO.

Ex-VW USA chief Stefan Jacoby began his role at the Swedish manufacturer on Monday, just under three weeks after the firm was taken over by Chinese firm Geely.

He declined to create sales projections for the troubled brand during his first official press conference, joking that he would need "at least another 48 hours" to come up with specific figures. But he said the fact that Volvo was no longer tied to a chief manufacturer would bring challenges and opportunities in equal measure.


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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Paris auto show: Lotus leaks plans to show two Evora variants

Lotus is planning an imposing display for the Paris motor show this fall and is predictable to present several new cars, including the Evora S and the Evora Auto.

An e-mail leaked to the media corroborates those two variants will be on the stand, alongside two cars yet to be declared. The Evora S and Auto (for automatic) are being tested on the Nordschleife this week.

Lotus is still pondering how to construct best use of its space at Paris, which is 10,000 square feet. The British sports-car maker has a product blitz in the works as it appears to broaden its lineup of enthusiast-oriented drives.


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Monday, August 16, 2010

Electric vehicles aspire for 'longest and greenest' world tour

GENEVA — Electric vehicles from Australia, Germany and Switzerland set off Monday on the "longest and greenest" round-the-world drive to endorse emissions free transport and November's world climate conference.

The UN-backed "Zero Race" is organized by Swiss schoolteacher Louis Palmer, who made headlines with his 18-month revolutionary world tour in a solar-powered "taxi" two years ago, picking up celebrities on the way.

"With this race we desire to show that seven billion people on this planet need renewable energy and clean mobility," said Palmer.

"Petrol is running out and the weather crisis is coming, and we are all running against time."

A South Korean vehicle failed to reach the begin line at the United Nations in Geneva in time after it broke down with "a minor battery problem" some 60 kilometers (37.3 miles) up the road, Palmer said.

It was due to join the extra three teams later in the day.

The Zero Race is forecast to stop off at the World Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico, after touring through Europe, Russia, China, Canada and the United States before heading back to Geneva in January 2011.

Each plug-in electric vehicle can journey at least 250 kilometres on a single charge, with 80 days of driving time ahead of them.


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Friday, August 13, 2010

Maruti Suzuki commences five CNG models

Maruti Suzuki on Friday revealed its flagship CNG engine technology — ‘intelligent-Gas Port Injection' or i-GPI — on five admired models. The models comprise SX4, Eeco, WagonR, Estilo and Alto and will be offered in the entire National Capital Region, including Delhi, Mumbai and Gujarat.

Though sedan SX4 Vxi is priced at Rs. 7.47 lakh, WagonR Lxi comes with a price tag of Rs. 4.11 lakh. Prices of other models are: Estilo Lxi Rs. 4.05 lakh, Eeco 5-seater AC Rs. 3.64 lakh and Alto Lxi Rs. 3.23 lakh.

According to Shinzo Nakanishi, Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, “This is the first occurrence when a car manufacturer has developed and launched factory-fitted technologically superior CNG engines in India. CNG is environment-friendly and also decrease country's dependence on imported fuels. The company's big ticket entry into the CNG fuel segment augurs well for the environment.”


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Thursday, August 12, 2010

Spain's Queen demonstrates green credentials in electric car

Queen Sofia has been driving a prototype electric car in order to endorse green transport to the Spanish population.

Spain’s socialist government had expect to obtain 2,000 green cars on the road by the end of the year but so far only 16 of the vehicles have been sold.

Queen Sofia was photographed throughout her Majorcan holiday behind the wheel of the Peugeot iON, a zero-emission electric vehicle with a battery life of 80 miles.

She stated that her test-drive around the Majorcan capital, Palma, where the royal family holidays each summer, was “phenomenal”.

The government hopes that her jaunt will assist boost sales of electric cars in Spain, which promised to have a million on the road within four years.

Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero, the prime minister, has made electric car sales a centrepeice of his green agenda, hopeful to install battery top-up points in petrol stations and deserted telephone booths across the country.


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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Metropia Personal Vehicle Docks into Tram to give Public Transportation

If this is how public transport will appear like in the future, we surely are looking forward to it. It's now still a concept design, but the Metrotopia two-seater vehicle looks actually futuristic.

It's motorized by an electric motor running on a power cell, and uses a ball at the bottom of the vehicle to get around.

This personal vehicle will dock itself inside a particularly designed tram to become part of public transportation, permitting it to recharge its motor and get ready to take other passengers to their destination.


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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Ford most-considered car brand

Hyundai has reached the top five most-considered auto brands among latest car shoppers in the U.S. for the first time, according to a quarterly survey released Tuesday by Kelley Blue Book.

Ford is the pinnacle brand, with 29 percent of shoppers considering it. After that come Toyota, Chevrolet, Honda and Hyundai.

Hyundai ousted Nissan, which is currently in sixth place.

Toyota held the pinnacle spot at this time last year, but the brand has been damaged by a series of protection recalls. Consideration for Toyota has reduced eight percentage points from the second quarter of 2009.

Shoppers ranked durability and reliability, driving comfort, fuel efficiency, driving performance and safety as the top five significant factors though shopping for their next new vehicle.


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Monday, August 9, 2010

Honda recalling almost 400K vehicles

Honda Motor Co. recalled 384,220 vehicles in N. America (and 44,000 vehicles in Canada) because of a defect where the cars could roll away if parked imperfectly. The problem is with the ignition switch that could permit the key to be removed without the transmission being shifted into park, which could cause serious crashes.

The Honda evoke covers Accord, Civic and Element models from the 2003 and 2004 model years in the United States.

About 20 people have complained about the trouble, and one woman even said she was nearly run over by her car when it was parked in her driveway. Honda said it will begin notifying its consumers in late September.


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Friday, August 6, 2010

British Engineers Develop Feces-Powered Car

This new British car blows the resistance away - it's powered by human poo.

The Bio-Bug has been renewed by UK engineers to run on methane gas.

Excrement flushed down the loos (toilets) of just 70 homes is sufficient to drive it 10,000 miles - a year's average motoring.

The two-litre VW Beetle convertible is said to be the first gas-powered car that does not suffer reduced recital.

Mohammed Saddiq of Bristol-based sustainable energy firm GENeco, which developed the prototype, says it will pave the method for a green motoring revolution.

He boasts that it drives similar to a conventional car and will "blow away" electric models.


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Thursday, August 5, 2010

Hyundai declares Its Cars Will Average 50 M.P.G. by 2025

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Hyundai said on Wednesday that its whole product lineup in the United States would average at least 50 miles per gallon by 2025 — somehow. That would be development of about 60 percent from the ratings of the cars and trucks Hyundai sells today.

Hyundai Motor America’s chief executive, John Krafcik, acknowledged that the objective was a stretch, but said he was “very confident” the company could reach it.

Mr. Krafcik said Hyundai expected to often use technologies available today with modifications to decrease fuel consumption. He said the company predicted a 2025 lineup in which 75 to 80 percent of vehicles still ran on traditional gas engines.

Hyundai by currently is the nation’s fuel-economy leader, with an average rating of 30.9 miles per gallon in 2008, the mainly recent year for which the Environmental Protection Agency has released ratings. That contrasted with ratings of 30.1 for Honda, 29 for Toyota and about 24 for all three Detroit automakers.

By 2016, the United States will need automakers to have an average rating of at least 35.5 miles per gallon under rules formed last year.

But in order to average 50 miles per gallon through the whole lineup, he said some vehicles would require to be rated at 60 m.p.g. or above in order to balance out less competent models.


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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Plan studied to make car phone kits obligatory

RTA initiates year-long road safety drive telling motorists to use instruments equipped with hands-free devices.

Motorists may soon be necessary to install hands-free mobile phone kits in their vehicles as part of the campaign to reduce road accidents related to the use of cell phones while driving.

"We may resort to strict rules with heavier fines if drivers persist to use phones without hands-free kits in violation of the traffic laws," said Sultan Al Marzouqi, Director of the Licensing Department at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). He added the RTA would consider the suggestion to make hands-free kits mandatory in the car at the time of registration.

Also, he said insurance companies would be asked to provide incentives or discounts to car owners with hands-free devices in their cars.


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Tuesday, August 3, 2010

The Cadillac Escalade: The most stolen car in the country?

Beware of thieves if you’re behind the wheel of a Cadillac Escalade.

The luxury auto (2007 to 2009 models) is the most often stolen car in the U.S., according to the Highway Loss Data Institute, as reported on Freep.com.

The runners up for most stolen car comprise the Ford F-250 crew pickup, the Infiniti G37 luxury car and the Dodge Charger outfitted with a HEMI engine. They’re among three and five times as likely to be stolen as other vehicles, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety affiliate.

For the past six years, the Escalade has ranked the most horrible in overall theft losses, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute. The Escalade EXT 4-door 4-wheel-drive has the major theft losses of all the models.

The cars with the lowest losses comprise the Volvo S80, a large luxury car, the Saturn VUE 4-wheel drive midsize SUV, and the Nissan Murano midsize SUV. The hybrid Toyota Prius moreover in the top 10 list of the cars with the lowest rate of being stolen.


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Monday, August 2, 2010

Europe car sales fall in July as govt aid phases out

Spanish, Italian and French car sales dropped in July from a year ago as scrappage schemes were phased out and strictness measures kicked in, figures showed on Monday.

In Spain, industry association ANFAC warned of a tough second half for car sales as government subsidies finished and after a value-added sales tax hike from July 1.

Carmakers are invigorating for a slide in demand in the second half of the year as other scrappage schemes end and austerity measures lead consumers to hold off on big-ticket items like cars.

New car sales in Japan increase for the 11th straight month. South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) reported a double-digit rise in global sales in July however a slowdown looked certain as government subsidies end.


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