The Auto Insider . . .

Smart ditches plans to rebadge Nissan Micra for US market

Mercedes-Benz has ditched plans to re-badge the Nissan Micra for the US market to create a new four-seat model for its struggling Smart brand.

The decision comes after the German car maker announced it will take over the distribution and marketing of Smart in North America from the Penske Group.

Rumors doing the rounds of Mercedes-Benz’s Stuttgart headquarters for some time now suggest Smart and Nissan are working on a broader co-operation that could see various new Smart models based on Nissan platforms.

Among the models under discussion at parent company Mercedes-Benz is a successor to the still born

ForMore based on the same underpinnings as the Nissan Juke.
Unlike Smart’s plans to simply re-badge the Micra for the US market, the new ForMore has been conceived to receive its own unique body and interior, although suggestions are it will run Nissan engines and gearbox combinations.

Gumpert Tornante sketched ahead of Geneva reveal

German supercar maker Gumpert has issued this sketch of its new Tornante ahead of a planned unveiling at the Geneva auto show.

Set to join the Apollo in an expanded line-up of Gumpert models, the Tornante has been developed in partnership with Italy's Superleggera, which was brought in to work on the styling.

Described as being more comfort orientated than the Apollo, the Tornante is also said to boast improved packaging thanks to extended length, width and height.

The new two seater runs a detuned version of the Apollo's twin turbocharged 4.2-litre V8 producing 700bhp. Further details as they come to hand . . .

Build yourself a Lamborghini Aventador . . . piece by piece . . .

Lamborghini has been busy revealing teaser pictures of its new Aventador in recent weeks.

First the boys and gals from Sant’Agata spilt the beans on the Murcielago replacement’s new 700bhp 6.5-litre V12 engine and sequential six-speed gearbox.

Then they showed us the Aventador’s trick new pushrod suspension. Now they’ve come clean on its lightweight carbon fibre monocque.

At this rate we’ll be able to build the new Lamborghini ourselves before it makes its public premiere at the Geneva auto show.

Click to enlarge

Volkswagen headed back to the 'Ring with Golf24

Volkswagen has announced it will contest this year’s Nurburgring 24 hour race in a specially prepared four-wheel drive Golf.

Dubbed the Golf24, the new racer runs a tuned version of daughter company Audi’s turbocharged 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine developing a heady 440bhp.

Drive is run through a sequential six-speed gearbox and a beefed up version of the standard Golf 4Motion’s multi-plate clutch four-wheel drive system to all four wheels.

In recent years Volkswagen has run its front-wheel drive Scirocco GT24 in the around-the-clock Nurburgring race. With a 300bhp version of the German car maker’s turbocharged 2.0-litre, it has regularly marched off with class honours.

The Golf24 aims to go one better by matching it with more serious machinery further up the performance ladder. On looks alone it’s already there!

Hit the "read me" link for more hi-res pictures of the Volkswagen Golf24

BMW has revealed the production version of the 1-series ActiveE – a plug-in electric version of its entry level coupe to be produced in a limited run of around 1000 units and offered on a lease deal similar to that of the Mini E.

Another Geneva auto show debutant, it previews the driveline set to appear in BMW’s upcoming MegaCity vehicle; the new two door has been conceived to act as a prototype for the German car maker’s eagerly awaited carbon fibre electric car due out in 2013.

Drive comes via a brushless electric motor. It’s mounted up back within a modified rear axle together with the electronic management system that controls its operation. It puts out a peak 170bhp together with 184lb ft (250Nm) of torque. That’s enough, says BMW, to propel the 1-series ActiveE to 62mph from standstill in 9.0sec, while pushing it to a limited 90mph (145km/h) top speed.

Electrical energy is supplied by three lithium-ion battery packs – one up in the nose, another running down the centre line of the floorpan within the transmission tunnel and a third under the rear seat.

BMW claims a range of 150 miles on the US cycle. Charge time, meanwhile, is put at around eight hours, or just four using a 380 volt high amp charger that will be delivered with the new car.

Official pictures: Kia Rio

Kia’s transformation from a maker of cheap and cheerful runabouts to that of a producer of genuinely desirable and stylish cars looks set to be further enforced at the Geneva auto show with the unveiling of the company’s new Rio hatchback – the second all-new model for Kia in Geneva, following on from the recently revealed Picanto.

Sitting on the same front-wheel drive platform as the Hyundai i20, the new Rio departs radically in appearance from its generic looking predecessor, sporting a cleaner and more contemporary look created at Kia’s European design studio under the guise of the Korean car maker’s design boss, Peter Schreyer.

While full details are yet to be released, the new hatch is said to be 55mm longer and 25mm wider but 15mm lower than before. It also rides on a 70mm longer wheelbase that, according to Kia, provides the new model greater interior accommodation and a larger trunk.

At launch, the ne Rio will be available as a five-door hatchback; a more sporting three door hatchback is planned to follow before the end of 2011. Also under development is a four-door sedan

The smartening up of the exterior design is mirrored inside, with a much more stylish dashboard and higher quality trims. The new interior was designed at the company’s US based design studio in California.

The third-generation Rio’s engine line-up will be revealed at Geneva. Already confirmed is a base 1.2-litre four-cylinder gasoline unit. It will be joined by larger 1.4- and 1.6-litre gasoline engines. Also planned are 1.1-, 1.4- and 1.6-litre common rail diesels. Gearboxes will include five and six speed manuals, along with an optional five-speed automatic.

Official hi-res pictures, full details: Mercedes C-class coupe

The internet floodgates have opened on the Mercedes-Benz C-class coupe following its premature unveiling in the latest issue of Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, a scan of which appears below.

* codename C204
* same length and wheelbase as the C-class sedan
* 1.6 inches (40mm) lower than C-class sedan
* unlike the E-class coupe, the C-class coupe retains B-pillars
* convertible version was considered
but won't be built in this generation

C180 CGI Coupe BlueEfficiency
1796cm3
156bhp at 5000rpm
0-62mph (100km/h): 9.0sec
Top speed: 140mph (225km/h)
Consumption: 35.1mpg (US), 42.2mpg (UK), 6.7L/100km
CO2 emissions: 97.5g/mile (157g/km)

C250 CGI Coupe BlueEfficiency
1796cm3
204bhp at 5500rpm
0-62mph (100km/h): 7.2sec
Top speed: 149mph (240km/h)
Consumption: 36.2mpg (US), 43.5mpg (UK), 6.5L/100km
CO2 emissions: 94.5g/mile (152g/km)

C220 CDI Coupe BlueEfficiency
2143cm3
170bhp at 3000rpm
0-62mph (100km/h): 8.4sec
Top speed: 144mph (232km/h)
Consumption: 53.5mpg (US), 64.2mpg (UK), 4.4L/100km
CO2 emissions: 72.7g/mile (117g/km)

C250 CDI Coupe BlueEfficiency
2143cm3
204bhp at 4200rpm
0-62mph (100km/h): 7.0sec
Top speed: 149mph (240km/h)
Consumption: 48.0mpg (US), 57.6mpg (UK), 4.9L/100km
CO2 emissions: 79.6g/mile (128g/km)

C350 CGI Coupe BlueEfficiency
3498cm3
306bhp at 6500rpm
0-62mph (100km/h): 6.0sec
Top speed: 155mph (250km/h) limited
Consumption: 34.5mpg (US), 6.8L/100km
CO2 emissions: 98g/mile (159g/km)

Official hi-res pictures: BMW Vision ConnectedDrive

BMW Vision ConnectedDrive (click to enlarge)

Here is BMW's latest concept car, the Vision ConnectedDrive. To be unveiled at the Geneva auto show early next month, the new two seat roadster previews the sort of exterior styling, interior detailing and driver interface systems BMW plans to adopt of future production models. Details to follow . . .

Official pictures: De Tomaso concept car headed to Geneva

The De Tomaso name will return to the world automotive stage at the Geneva auto show next month on a Pininfarina-designed concept car revealed here in official teaser pictures and set to be produced at Pininfarina's old Grugliasco factory near Turin, Italy from 2012 onwards .

Called the SLC (sport luxury car), the BMW 5-series GT rivalling liftback is the first in what De Tomaso describes as a series of new models, including a mechanical identical coupe, also planned for introduction by the middle of the decade.

The revival of De Tomaso is being overseen by former Fiat executive, Gian Mario Rossignolo. The former supercar maker founded by in 1959 by Alejandro de Tomaso in Modena, Italy, filed for bankrupcy in 2004. Rossignolo and a group of backers purchased it from a bankruptcy court in 2009.

The Italian has reached a deal to rent Pininfarina's Grugliasco factory, following an aborted attempt to purchase Bertone's nearby production facilities. The SLC, which will be renamed for produciton, will be largely handbuilt at Grugliasco, with Rossignolo hinting at annual production of around 3000 units.
The SLC is based on an aluminium chassis that will be constructed using a process De Tomaso calls Univis, details of which Rossignolo plans to make public at the car's unveiling in Geneva. Power will come from the choice of either 300bhp V6 and 550 V8 gasoline engine and a 250bhp V7 diesel unit.

Nissan Esflow concept sketched ahead of Geneva unveiling

Nissan has released three sketches of its new Esflow concept car. The rear wheel drive coupe runs the same electric driveline as the Japanese car maker's European Car Of The Year award winning Leaf. More details to follow . . .

Ssangyong lives! New pick up concept destined for Geneva

Ssangyong SUT1 pick-up concept

Ssangyong lives thanks to the US$463 million coughed up by Mahindra in 2010 to purchase a controlling 70 per cent stake in the ailing Korean car maker.

That big wad of money has apparently done wonders for Ssangyong's development budget, as confirmed by this rugged looking truck, the SUT 1 concept pick-up.

Planned to roll into Geneva early next month, the new double cab pick-up, easily the best looking Ssangyong in years, is being developed for sale in selected world markets in little changed form in early 2012.

More sketches of the Ssangyong SUT 1 concept after the jump

~~Competing for the most corny public relations move of the year award,~~ Opel has revealed the third generation Zafira as a ghostly hologram in a photograph that also features the European General Motors subsidiary's smiling design boss, Mark Adams, holding an iPad.

The hologram . . . opps, no, the Zafira Tourer Concept to be revealed at the Geneva auto show provides a clear hint at what the production version of the new Opel MPV will look like when it goes on sale across Europe in late 2011.

The Zafira's front end styling is clearly influenced by that of the Opel Ampera - the European version of the Chevrolet Volt, with boomarang shaped headlamps and front air ducts. It also appears to get four conventional front hinged doors, unlike the new Ford C-Max which adopts the sliding variety at the rear.

Corntastic! Adams and the ghost of Zafira

~~Even more corny than presenting a car as a hologram,~~ Opel describes the new Zafira as a “Lounge On Wheels”, claiming it takes "on-board flexibility to a new level of sophistication and comfort."

“We’ve applied the lounge concept to a motor vehicle,” profers Adams. “A lounge is a place you want to escape to and relax, a place where you really want to be. We wanted to offer the same feeling in a monocab and make it the lounge you want to spend time in.”

Lounge? That'd be where you lay back and watch the Packers winning the Superbowl on a mammoth flat screen TV in HD with a six pack in one hand and a bowl of crisps in the other. Not a Zafira. No way!

Who's the boss?

Fiat's sweater loving boss, Sergio Marchionne, has put his foot down and reiterated that he isn't keen on selling Alfa Romeo to the Volkswagen Group, or any car maker with a big wad of cash for that matter.

Speaking at the J.D. Power and Associates International Automotive roundtable in San Francisco this week, Marchionne, who heads up both Fiat and Chrysler, said: “As long as I am CEO of Chrysler and Fiat, Mr. Piech (read the Volkswagen Group) will never have Alfa Romeo. It's hands-off. I told him. I will call him and I will email him”, Marchionne said.

Official: New Ford Territory revealed

Ford Australia has issued official pictures of its heavily updated Territory. The Falcon based crossover, more a major facelift of the existing seven year old Territory than an all-new model, is planned to go on sale Downunder in May.

Alongside existing gasoline engines, the restyled and reworked Territory is also set to get a new turbocharged 2.7-litre V6 diesel engine option for the first time. The common rail unit is sourced from former Ford subsidiary Land Rover.

For further details see our earlier story here:
http://theautoinsider.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-ford-territory-shapes-up.html

Infiniti bringing new entry level model to Geneva

Nissan's upscale brand Infiniti is set to reveal a new entry level model conceived primarily for Europe markets at the upcoming Geneva auto show. All we've got to go on at this stage is this rather obscure line drawing. Our best guess is a hatchback to rival the recently introduced Lexus CT, although rumours have been doing the rounds that Infiniti is planning to produce a small entry level SUV off the same underpinnings as the Nissan Qashqai . . . or Rogue as we know it in the US.