Your daily automotive news!
Peugeot is building a brand new sport scar, yes, you read it correctly. Personally I didn’t expect this at all. Peugeot and sports car, is that a combination? Well after seeing the images, I think it is.
The specs are even great too! Who could think about that?! (more…)
Alfa Romeo has inserted 2 new engines for the Alfa Romeo 159 range that is the 1750 TBi and the 2.0 JTDM. These two new engines will help to offer more power, bettered fuel economy and lesser expelling.
The new Alfa Romeo 159 1750 TBi has got its name from its productive saloon root, the Alfa 1750 Berlina.
The new lead injection turbocharged engine acquires 200bhp at 4,750rpm and 5,500rpm and a maximal torsion of 236lb-ft at 1400rpm. CO2 expelling points are 189 g/km – ensuing in a 6-band plunge in company car benefit-in-kind taxation equated to the previous 2.2 JTS engine. The 1750 TBi will gather speed from 0-62 mph in 7.7 seconds, prior to topping at 147mph.
Alfa’s new 2.0 JTDM powerhouse builds up 170bhp obtainable at 4,000rpm with the level best torsion of 265lb-ft quetching in at 1,750rpm and 2,500rpm. It speeds up from 0-62mph in 8.8 seconds and then goes on to a high speed of 136mph. CO2 expelling are 142g/km.
Alfa Romeo has brought in a new range structure which features 5 trim levels – Turismo, Turismo Sport, Elegante, Lusso and TI and this is to correspond with the launching of these new engines.
General Motors has announced about its production of C7 Corvette sports car to be starting in 2012 which is in advance of a planned launch in 2013.
Actually the American car manufacturer is apprehensive to take advantage of the interest that would be brought about by the car. This car was actually to be launched in 2014 but has been advanced.
According to car expert Glass a collapse in the sales of car will most likely be the outcome if the government does not continue the scrappage scheme at least till next summer.
Researchers at Ohio University have laid their hands on a unique discovery. They claim that cars in the future would be powered indirectly by human waste.
The scientists have opened up a novel electrolysis technique that utilizes human urine, instead of water, as a generator of hydrogen. Actually urine is fertile in hydrogen.
This makes extracting hydrogen from urine easy. It needs only a fourth of the power needed to extract it from human waste than from water.
The largest obstacle to mass yield of hydrogen has been the massive energy cost in production. But since this novel invention they will make hydrogen as the fuel of preference for the car industry.
Vehicles which are powered by Hydrogen have numerous advantages over other zero discharge cars. The time taken for refueling a hydrogen car is very less when compared to recharging an EV.
The total sales of vehicle in China during the first half of the year increased to 6.1 million which is 17.7% more than last year.
This is bringing to an end the America’s days as the world’s biggest auto market. For the first time China is overtaking the US in 2009 for its sales of vehicles. China saw a whooping sale of 36.5% in the month of June. This is in spite of the cruel economic conditions.
China without difficulty exceeded the U.S., where vehicle sales for the same period dipped to 4.8 million units. May was the only month during which more vehicles were sold in the U.S. than in China.
Like the majority of the industrial countries, China also was not immune from the global economic crisis. China’s vehicle sales undermined in late 2008 as the disaster hit and the government required to react with a motivation package with sales tax cuts, grants to trade in older cars and other motivators
Caterham is changing magnitude in production and employing new staff to meet the requirement for its seven sports cars.
The British sports car manufacturer’s order books are complete till mid-October. Now the company has obtained endorsement to deal in the Seven in Europe.
To help out to relieve the stockpile the firm is increasing production by at least 10% and is taking on extra staff at its Dart ford factory.
Ansar Ali, who is the managing director of Caterham Cars, stated that: “When we saw the first signs of sales activity stalling last year, we cut our cloth accordingly in terms of resource and costs.
I have always worked on the basis that I’d rather face the problem of how to build more cars, than the problem of how to sell them, so it’s gratifying to now be manning back up to cope with the extra demand.”
Every fifth of Britain’s 34 million motorists decide to purchase an electric car in the next 5 years. Either they would buy or would consider the option or this was revealed by a survey.
6.75 million drivers are planning to buy a vehicle which will be solely powered by batteries and this news was released by a GfK NOP survey for the RAC Foundation.
The Department for Transport is planning to launch an incentive scheme where a sum of £5,000 will be given to buyers of electric provided cars from 2011.
The government is in this way encouraging people to go green. But these alternatives are not yet real. This declaration of incentives by the government is coming at a time when the manufacturers have not yet had a chance of producing such cars on a mass scale.
The quantity of cars which are produced in Britain has further decreased according to statistics conducted during last month. But still the decrease during the month of May is the nominal plunge of the year.
During the last month only 67,745 cars were produced. This figure is a 43% decrease when compared with the number of vehicles made during the same month last year.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT) is acclaiming the output figures as an encouraging signal. This they attribute to the scrappage scheme introduced by the government and they say that this scheme has started to have its effect.
Paul Everitt the chief executive of SMMT further added that “The scrappage schemes in place across Europe are now beginning to have a positive impact, although the full benefits will take a little longer to flow down to companies at all levels in the supply chain.”
A foremost supplier of automotive data and intelligence states that the European motor industry is displaying marks of retrieval due to the introduction of scrappage schemes on the continent.
Jato Dynamics’ monthly European new car market study for May 2009 has exposed that even though the car market is behind by 13.1% year-on-year, there is a 2.4% step up on the preceding month’s figures.
The scrappage schemes which were brought out through out a number of European markets are now starting to have an encouraging result.
The German market has recorded 39.7% up comparatively to that of May 2008 which is a 20.3% enhancement more than the figures of last month. France shows an 11.8% increase over the figures for April.
The Jato figures reveal that the Volkswagen Golf carries on leading the sales charts with increased sales by 32.1% on the same month last year. The Fiesta is up by 56.0% in May and also the Fiat Punto, Fiat Panda and Volkswagen Polo have all modified sales in May when equated to the same month last year.
