WheelTronix

Around 35,000 drivers have already ordered for new cars to be bought under the government’s scrappage scheme. These are the new figures.

The scrappage scheme was established on May 18.
The figures show that it constitutes 1 out of every 5 new car orders. This totals to more than a 10th of the £300 million apportioned for the scrappage system till March 2010.

New car buyers will be able to claim a discount of £2,000 when they deal in a 10 or more years old car. Only thing is that the car should have been held by the owner for more than 12 months and it must have a legal MoT.

It is now more than two weeks after launching of the scrappage scheme and the figures of course are very impressive. The scheme operates on a first-come, first-served, basis since the scheme cannot last forever.

Prices for Seat’s all-new Exeo saloon start from £17,740 and goes on till £21,340. The car is to go on sale in the UK in April.

The Exeo will be accessible in S, SE, Sport and range-topping SE Lux trim levels, with an original option of 3 engines.

Power plants come in with a brace of general rail turbo diesels giving 141bhp or 168bhp, and a 198bhp turbocharged petrol. They are all matched to a 6-speed manual gearbox.

When launching, the new Seat saloon’s 0-62 mph times range from 9.2 seconds through to 8.4 seconds to 7.3 seconds for the 197bhp TSI petrol-powered version. Maximal speeds are 133mph, 142mph and 149mph respectively. Betting on engine, the Exeo is capable of up to 51.4 mpg and gives out 143g/km of carbon dioxide.
Instrumentation includes USB connections, cruise organizes, steering wheel-mounted audio controls, double zone climate control and alloy wheels. Front fog lamps, electrically adaptable and heated door mirrors, electric windows all round and color-coded door handles and mirrors are also standard on every Exeo.

It also offers rear parking sensors, automatic lights and wipers, auto-dimming rear view mirror, leather steering wheel and gear knob and sound-deadening windscreen.

A Turin design agency has restyled the Mercedes-Benz SL – and turned it into a coupe.

It is on display as part of the Turin World Design Capital 2008 event and it transforms the German roadster into an elegant Italian GT.

Created in partnership with the Instituto di Arte Applicata e Design it may only be a 1:4-scale model at present but it could be developed into a fully-functional prototype.

The design team was led by Alfredo Stola, working mostly with IAAD student Piotr Degler Jablonski. They claim that the car would be every bit as reliable and refined as a mainstream series-production SL. It could be cheaper than the other SL hard-top, the SL 65 AMG Black Series, too.

Ford has announced prices for the 296bhp Focus RS.

The cost of this awesome hot hatch will start from £24,995 when it goes on sale in March. The equipments on offer includes specially-tuned stability and traction control, unique 19″ alloy wheels, a twin-bladed rear spoiler and black door mirrors, xenon headlights with automatic leveling and jet-wash, LED tail-lights, dual chrome exhaust tailpipes, Quick clear heated windscreen, tinted rear glass, Recaro sports seats (green, blue or white), manual air conditioning, six-CD player and digital radio, keyless ignition and Thatcham Category 1 alarm.
A £750 Luxury Pack adds dual-zone climate control, automatic headlights, rain-sensing wipers, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, rear parking sensors, tyre pressure monitoring and keyless entry. A £1500 Luxury Pack adds the above options plus touch screen DVD navigation.

Further options include part-leather upholstery (£500), Bluetooth phone kit and USB port (£200), metallic Performance Blue paint (£395) and tri-coat metallic Ultimate Green paint (£695).

Jaguar is calling back the 2009 model-year XF in North America for a speaker-wiring fault.

The wires may break off, leading to failure of the audio system and also failure of the turn indicator sounds, seatbelt warning, lights-on and driver’s door open warning chimes, seat-adjustment memory and adaptive cruise control warning signals.
This follows an original recall of the XF for troubles with the rear seatbelt assembly and a recent recall for reactivate of the instrument control software.

These recalls have not been declared in the UK as yet.

Nissan has brought out its third-generation Cube mini-MPV. It will be on sale in Japan later this month and Europe next autumn. The latest Cube is spacious than its harbingers but is still compact, at less than 4m long.

Characteristics include an uncut glass roof panel, sofa-style seating and great deal of new customary equipment. Space has also been the chief concern, the front seat now slips more and can be brought up by up to 60mm, and the front door openings are higher, allowing easier entry and exit, while headroom has been ameliorated.
In the meantime, the Cube stays unchanged in its titling but the body structure is now more fixed while the suspension has been fine-tuned to ameliorate the drive. A new 1.5-litre petrol engine is inserted to the range with the choice of electronic four-wheel-drive system and CVT gearbox.

Nissan has now sold nearly one million Cubes since the launch of the original in 1998. The new range will finally include an electric version, as suggested by the Denki Cube concept car.

Chrysler is screening special-edition Jeep Compass and Grand Voyager models at this week’s Paris Motor Show, in addition to the Jeep Patriot Back Country.

The Compass Overland, like the Commander and Grand Cherokee Overland edition models already on sale, is a top-specification model.
Additional communications kit, a high-spec stereo, special styling details and unique embroidered seats are all included. Chrysler is also celebrating 25 years since the launching of its first Voyager MPV with a 25th Anniversary Edition Grand Voyager model.
This comes with special badging, a dark grey interior with black wood trim, satin-finish details and leather upholstery, 17″ alloy wheels, chrome side moldings, and a roof-rack with crossbars.
Chrysler has also declared that its dual-clutch transmission will now be available in Europe in the Avenger and Sebring. It works in combination with the 2.0-litre diesel engine, and offers better fuel economy than a traditional automatic gearbox.

Toyota has a long-term plan to bring in all choices of hybrid cars in all shapes and sizes under the Prius brand. Hybrid cars of Toyota are being separated under a different brand dealership.

Toyota Motor Co is taking into consideration to sell a family of Prius-branded hybrids with devoted areas in franchises to demonstrate the elaborated line-up. At present the Prius is a single model of Toyota dealership but the company wants to offer a succession of derivatives under the Prius brand name including lower cost ones also.
A redesigned Prius will be available after its debut in Detroit in 2009. A smaller hybrid model is also on the way. The new hybrid Honda model will be available for sales in 2010.

BMW of North America LLC will increase U.S. vehicle prices by 2.1% all over its line-up of BMW-branded vehicles for the 2009 model year.

BMW announced that the increase in the costs of raw material has led to the increase in the price. The 2009 vehicles will be launched for dealerships in October.

This increase in price on U.S. vehicles is company’s second rise since June. It had increased the prices on its 2008 line-up by 1%.

Automakers and suppliers are trying to cope with the price increases on raw materials such as steel. BMW also has to cope with a weak dollar. This has made it more expensive to build vehicles in Europe and sell them in the United States.

In the United States, BMW division sales slipped by 8.0% in the first seven months of the year.

BMW’s profit this year is anticipated to be down about 40 percent from 2007.

KIA’S next-generation Sorrento is in the bag! It will be on sale in the UK later next year.
After a mid-life facelift in 2006, the current Sorrento is ready to be replaced – and Kia is keen to take the fight closer to rivals such as the Land Rover Freelander.
The testing of the next-generation SUV is almost complete. Despite the plastic bag disguise, it looks very similar to the current model and will boast the same dimensions, too.
It’s expected to offer a choice of cabin arrangements, with five or seven seats. Kia will concentrate on improving quality and, as well as the 2.5-litre turbo diesel currently offered, introduce some new engines, too.