What's New
Find out what's making news in the auto industry. Topics in this section include:
Feature Article
Canadian Government to Provide Struggling Auto Sector with $4 Billion in Emergency Loans
"We cannot afford ... a catastrophic short-term collapse."
Posted December 20 - Globe and Mail
Prime Minister Stephen Harper shakes hands with Ontario Premier Dalton McGinty while announcing a $4 billion bailout package for the auto sector.
The Canadian plan will provide General Motors Canada with loans of up to $3 billion and Chrysler Canada will receive up to $1 billion - a total based on the US $17.4 billion aid to the auto sector proportional to Canadian production.
"We are doing this on the assumption that we cannot afford either in the United States or Canada a catastrophic short-term collapse," Mr. Harper said. "But on the other hand, we are doing this with the knowledge that the automakers must change the way they're doing business in a very serious way and must bring their products and their costs into line with the market place."
Read more about the bailout plan at Globe and Mail.
Eco Solutions Back to Top
What's Coming
Posted December 24, 2008 - Globe and Mail
Global sales of gasoline-electric hybrids are forecast to reach more than 4 million a year by 2015. According to a new report from AutomotiveWorld.com, global hybrid sales stood at around 575,000 in 2007 and average annual sales increases are expected to run at more than 29% through to 2012. These numbers could be even higher if China follows through with plans to provide incentives to both manufacturers and consumers.
Not surprisingly, many auto makers are already in the hybrid business, or plan to be very soon. Even Mercedes Benz will get in the game with the release of a mild hybrid version of its S-class sedan in 2009.
Read more about what's in store at Globe and Mail.
Electric Cars Face Big Hurdles
Posted November 27, 2008 - Globe and Mail
Range is not the only hurdle electric vehicles will have to overcome. Another challenge facing electric vehicles is infrastructure.
Will apartment buildings and parking structures be built or retrofitted with electrical hook-ups? Will governments install charging in enough places to reduce "range anxiety"? And who will pay for the power? These are only some of the marketing challenges facing car makers.
Read more at the Globe and Mail.
Toyota Camry Hybrid Concept Debuts at the LA Auto Show
Posted November 19, 2008 - Auto Unleashed
The CNG Concept car features a compressed natural gas system, taking the place of the gasoline fuel system.
The concept also received some exterior changes, including custom front and rear bumpers and 19 inch alloy wheels fitted with run-flat tires.
Read more at Auto Unleashed.
Audi Planning a New Small Eco City Car
Posted October 29, 2008 - Auto Unleashed
Audi is currently developing a new eco city car which blends stylish looks with great economy. The smallest Audi ever will compete with Ford's recently launched Ka and the Fiat 500.
The platform for the new Audi will be Volkswagen's Up! Concept car, and the model will have ultra-low running costs and emissions. Volkswagen plans on launching the Up! model in 2010, and the mini Audi will come two years later, in 2012.
Find out more about Audi's new green baby at Auto Unleashed.
Source: Auto Express
2010 Toyota Prius Photos Leak - Toyota Confirms They're For Real
Posted October 16, 2008 - Auto Unleashed
Amid suspicions, Toyota has confirmed that recently leaked photos of the next generation of their popular hybrid, the Toyota Prius, are real.
The Prius was the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle and was introduced worldwide in 2001. Toyota has not yet revealed any additional details about the Prius, except that it will make its world debut at the 2009 Detroit Motor Show in January, 2009.
View the photo gallery of the 2010 Prius at Auto Unleashed.
Innovations Back to Top
Pure Driving Magic
Posted December 18, 2008 - Globe and Mail
The 2009 two-door, two-seat mid-engine Porsche Cayman must be Porsche's masterpiece in automotive marketing.
While the rest of the automotive industry typically charges thousands more for convertible models versus their immovable hardtop equivalents, Porsche has turned around and done the exact opposite with its 2009 Cayman. Taking the popular Boxster convertible as a base, the Cayman replaces the pricey power-operated top mechanism with and fixed hardtop, tweaks the engine for a touch more pop, and then tosses out decades of conventional convertible marketing practice by pricing the base 2009 Cayman coupe at roughly five grand more than the similarly revised Boxster drop-top.
Porsche gets away will all this because it know the Cayman offers the purest and arguably the most responsive driving manners of any Porsche sports car, which qualifies the Cayman as one of the best handling vehicles on the planet. The Canyman's hard-top and low weight combine for pure driving magic.
Read the full 2009 Cayman review at Globe and Mail.
Are Pure Electric Vehicles the Endgame?
Posted November 27, 2008 - Globe and Mail
German car maker BMW is set to test its Mini E electric vehicle in the real world next year.
The Mini E will be driven by people who have signed up to lease one of 500 test vehicles for a year. Like all other established auto makers, BMW is trying to figure out what works and what doesn't in electric cars. The lithium-ion battery pack behind the front seats is the biggest obvious problem. The Mini E needs a mini battery, but for now the battery takes up all the room where the passengers and cargo fit in a mainstream Mini Cooper. But performance is not a problem, and neither is simplicity of operation.
Read more about the new Mini E at Globe and Mail.
Chevrolet Volt to Sound Like the Spaceship Enterprise
Posted October 29, 2008 - Auto Unleashed
Who would have thought that one of the hybrid cars' advantage, the low engine sound, would turn into an actual threat to pedestrians?
Recently, groups looking to protect the visually impaired have introduced legislation that will require electric vehicles to have a sound. In order to be compliant with these regulations, General Motors announced that the Volt will sound like "when on Spaceship Enterprise you hear the doors close, or use the transporter". According to Frank Weber, General Motors E-Flex vehicle line executive, the sound will be "highly technical", "highly pleasing" and have "no relation to a combustion engine". The Volt will also feature a "pedestrian-friendly alert" activated by the driver.
More on the Chevy Volt at Auto Unleashed.
Source: Inside Line
2008 Paris Special: SSangYong C200 Concept
Posted October 10, 2008 - Auto Unleashed
South Korean car maker SsangYong debuted its environment-friendly compact SUV at this year's Paris Motor Show. The C200 concept car is designed not only to meet emissions standards, but also to exude a young and urban image.
The C200 will set a standard for urban compact SUV's based on its top-level performance and environment-friendliness.
Visit Auto Unleashed to see the C200 photo gallery or read the full press release.
Global News Back to Top
Canada a Bright Spot for Toyota - For Now
Posted December 18, 2008 - Globe and Mail
It was a good news/bad news day. The good news was that a new automotive assembly plant was opening in Canada. The bad news was that this high-tech beauty would be operating at less than half capacity.
The new facility is Toyota's state-of-the-art factory in Woodstock, Ontario. Toyota spent more than a billion dollars in Woodstock to crank out 200,000 RAV4s a year, but for now it's only going to build 75,000 a year on one shift - not the two or three shifts originally planned. Toyota is about to have its best sales year ever in Canada; all those un-built RAV4s were planned for the United States.
According to Yoichi Tomihara, president of Toyota Canada, research had indicated that the number one reason US customers didn't buy cars or postponed their purchase was the lack of availability of car loans and leasing. This situation is less prevalent in Canada, and Toyota's global policy is that they build cars where they sell them.
Read the full interview with Yoichi Tomihara at Globe and Mail.
GM Cancels New Vehicles and Press Conferences
for the LA Auto ShowPosted November 12 - Auto Unleashed
Going through the hardest time in its history, GM has announced that it cancelled all plans for showing any new vehicles or holding any press conferences at the upcoming LA Auto Show.
The company was planning on announcing several new cars, but a financial crisis forced them to delay all press events until January, 2009 at the Detroit Motor Show. The automaker will still have a presence at the LA show - the production version of the Chevy Volt extended-range electric vehicle will make its first auto show appearance, and GM's two-mode hybrids will also be on display.
GM and its fellow Detroit automakers are seeking a $25 million dollar federal bailout to get them through worsening economic conditions and the worst auto sales environment in a quarter century.
Read more at Auto Unleashed.
Source: Detroit Free Press.
GM and Chrylser Talking About a Possible Merger?
Posted October 13, 2008 - Auto Unleashed
Preliminary talks between General Motors and Chrysler about a possible merger could reduce the Big Three of Detroit automakers to the Big Two.
Both GM and Chrylser have been struggling with product lineups that are out of sync with consumer demand for smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. The merger would have enormous ramifications in the global auto industry - GM and Chrylser together would control more than 35% of the United States vehicle market.
Read more about the merger talks at Auto Unleashed.
Source: NY Times
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