Filed under: GM
A story has surfaced on the Latin American Herald Tribune (a publication we hadn't previously heard of) stating that General Motors was planning to invest $1 billion in it's Brazilian operations to update its South American products. So far, that part of the story is true. However, that's where the truth apparently ends. The story goes on to say that GM plans to use money obtained from the proposed government bailout package to pay for the Brazilian investment. We contacted General Motors to check on the story and spokesman Richard James replied, "I don't know if something got lost in translation but Jaime Ardila, President of GM Brazil did NOT say that funding for GMB projects would come from the US financial aid package. GM Brazil has $1 billion in investments that have already been approved but they will be financed by our Brazilian operations through local sources."
Just as Opel (GM's German division) is going to the German government for assistance, GM Brazil-Mercosur is raising capital in that country. During the congressional hearings this week, CEO Rick Wagoner also indicated that GM operations in different regions are each funding projects locally in response to a question about a recent expansion in Russia. It appears that any money that GM gets from the US government will stay here.
[Source: Latin American Herald Tribune]
GM not sending any bailout money to Brazilian operation originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Etc., Videos, Toys, Event Alert
It's not often you see this many sports cars chasing a police cruiser, but this was for a good cause. To help get things kicked off for the 5th Annual Motor4Toys charity toy drive event, a bunch of participants followed a police escort over to a local Toys "R" Us to start buying toys for the December 7th event. The Motor4Toys group has been collecting gifts for needy children since 2004, and to date has donated more than 38,000 toys. The unique thing about this organization is that it is all centered around cars.
Motor4Toys taps into the Southern California car community and turns a huge car meet into one of the largest charity toy drives around. Car guys and gals from all over the Southwest show up with their sports cars, exotics, muscle cars, race cars and museum rides to help this worthy cause. Organizers expect to see over 5,000 cars at the event's new home this year, The Anthem Building in Woodland Hills. Entrance to the event is free for everyone, just bring along at least one new, unwrapped toy valued at $10 or more. If you're in the Los Angeles area that weekend, make sure you stop by between 9am and 1pm. And for those who can't make it, PayPal donations are also accepted. Hope to see you there, and remember, every kid deserves a toy! Complete details including maps to the new location and mandatory insurance waivers can be found on the Motor4Toys website. More photos of the drive can be found at Speed and Motion, who provided a video from last year's event that we have posted after the jump.Continue reading VIDEO: Supercars make charity toy run in L.A.
VIDEO: Supercars make charity toy run in L.A. originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Hatchbacks, Renault, UK
Click above to view the Renaultsport Clio Lux in high resolution
Renault makes a hot hatch for every taste. Some burn gas, some burn diesel. Some are track-biased, some are great for hauling around the family. Some are flyweights, and some are luxurious. The latest version is the latter, upgrading the Clio Renaulsport 197 with a host of luxury amenities for those who want it all.
Called the Lux, the new package is being offered to British customers from the beginning of the new year, packed with £2,000 of equipement for only £1,000 over the standard price. Included among those amenities are leather upholstery, automatic lights and wipers, cornering lamps, black tinted rear windows, an upgraded 60W MP3/CD sound system, brushed alloys and satin-chrome trim touches. Electric folding mirrors, electric panorama sunroof, xenon headlamps, Speedline rims in white or black and tightened-up Cup suspension are also available as optional extras. But if this is all sounding a little familiar, you're not experiencing deja vu: Renault introduced a similar package, called "Luxe" (the extra is for "Europe") to continental customers a year and a half ago. Details in the pess release after the jump.
[Source: Renault]
Continue reading Luxe Redux: Renault gives Clio RS the premium touch...again
Luxe Redux: Renault gives Clio RS the premium touch...again originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Etc., Euro
Luca di Montezemolo is already president of Ferrari and chairman of the entire Fiat group, but he isn't about to stop there. Together with Diego della Valle from the famous driving-shoemaker Tod's, the hereditary Marquis di Montezemolo is investing in a new company called Nuovo Transporto Viaggiatori (NTV) that plans to start a new high-speed rail service across Italy with a new train design that could put the final nail in Alitalia's coffin.
Called the Automotrice à Grande Vitesse (AGV -French for "high-speed self-propelled carriage"), the new bullet train is being built by Alstom, the same company that built the French TGV. But the newer Italian version will use even more efficient engines, located right in the train cars, eliminating the need for a separate locomotive. The AGV is anticipated to reach speeds of 225 mph, which could rival the Enzo and the F2008 for the fastest vehicle Montezemolo has ever thrown his weight behind.
[Source: NYT Wheels]
Faster than a Speeding Ferrari: Montezemolo invests in Italian TGV originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Sports/GTs, Porsche
var c="http://digg.com/api/diggthis.js">Thanks for the heads-up to our friends at Supercars.net, where a forum poster has uploaded more official shots of the Porsche Panamera (apparently lifted from Autoweek.nl) ahead of its official reveal extravaganza scheduled for Monday. The first photo and technical details trickled out last night, and the new batch gives you a better view of the car's controversial rump, which is already polarizing enthusiasts the world over. It's not so much that we think a round booty is a bad thing -- it's just that Porsche has done it better before. Or have you guys already forgotten about the awesomeness that's spelled 9-2-8? Anyway. Have a look at the gallery, and stand by for more on Monday (or whenever the next group of pics gets leaked).
Gallery: Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo
[Source: Supercars.net]
BREAKING: More Porsche Panamera pics surface originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Maintenance, Etc.
For those of you who have to deal with falling ash from fires, such as the folks in Southern California right now, the most important car care tip for you could be not to let ash interact with water on your car or remain on the car for a long time. If ash and water -- even nighttime dew -- get together on your car's paint, the water reacts with the calcium, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium in ash and might result in chemical etching. It essentially has the same effect as pouring Drano on your car. And you wouldn't do that. While it's impractical to wash your car every night before putting it to bed, at least wipe it down.
[Source: Meguiar's | Photo credit: hypertypo]
Ashes to residual ashes: take care of your car in areas of falling ash originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Motorsports
Click above to view Racing 4 Peace in high resolution
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is not an area we typically cover here at Autoblog, but for all our love of wheelspin and tire smoke, there's no better reason for spinning your wheels than the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Diplomats and militants, moderates and extremists have tried for decades to reach some sort of agreement, but their efforts towards achieving peace invariably end up slipping through their fingers like so many grains of sand - at best - or more often blowing up in their faces. While politicians seem resigned to leaving the negotiations for dead, two young ambitious locals have taken the wheel on their own in hopes of showing the world that Israelis and Palestinians are capable of doing more than fighting. They've got this crazy idea in their heads that gasoline can be used to fuel race cars instead of rockets.
We headed out into the desert outside the border town of Arad to see what they were up to.
Gallery: Racing 4 Peace
Photos courtesy of Harel Rintzler.
Continue reading Formula for Peace: Israeli and Palestinian drivers get on track
Formula for Peace: Israeli and Palestinian drivers get on track originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Etc., Japan, Honda
Honda is one of the few automakers that's demonstrated studied restraint during the recent SUV boom. There is the Pilot, which is a big ol' thing, but it's also as efficient as something that size can be, with unit-body construction, and an engine that shuts off three of its six cylinders whenever possible. The company also has a long history of making small cars that aren't penalty boxes, and amazingly clever engineering. It should be little surprise, then, that the man at the helm is an engineer by trade, deftly maneuvering the automaker into whatever endeavors hold promise, popular fashion be damned. Takeo Fukui worked on the company's CVCC engines early on in his tenure, and his respect for the vision of Soichiro Honda has netted him the title of Man Of The Year from Automobile magazine. The new focus on fuel efficiency (though today, oil is under $50/barrel for the first time in three years) has made Honda seem oddly prescient for its steadfast manner. Cheers!
[Source: Automobile]
Automobile names Takeo Fukui MOTY originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Time Warp, Economy, Euro, Plants/Manufacturing, Hatchbacks
"Cao, nema više" reads the piece paper affixed to the tailgate of the red Serbian hatchback, as a small throng of proud workers gathered around the car to bid it "Goodbye, no more" this week. After a 20-year run, the last Zastava Koral, #794,428, quietly made its way to the Zastava museum and the scrappy Eastern European automaker has wound down production on all but one of its models. The very last Zastava, a Skala 55, will be the last of its kind when it makes its way down the production line on November 20th. After that, the proud, tenacious people who have been working at the Kragujevac factory aren't sure of what the future holds. Zastava has long been linked to Fiat, and when the lines restart, the Zastava 10 will be badged as a Fiat Punto, which it is.
Make as many Yugo jokes as you'd like, but Zastava has a long and fascinating history, and the company has managed to produce automobiles through several periods of war, even after the factory sustained bombings. The now classic Zastavas will live on; the company is working on setting up Skala 55, Koral In, and Florida In production lines in Africa and the Zastava 128 is still being produced in Egypt. In those climates, we figure they won't need to come with defroster grids to keep your hands warm when pushing.
[Source: Zastava]
Continue reading Zastava builds the final Yugo
Zastava builds the final Yugo originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Sedans/Saloons, Porsche
According to AutoTelegraaf, the image above is the first official picture of the Porsche Panamera, showing the new four-door "coupe" in all its oddly proportioned glory. The Dutch pub released the image and details on the sedan after Auto Motor und Sport supposedly broke the Monday embargo. More details will be released late Sunday night, but in the meantime, let's look at the reported specs.
The Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo is 16.3 feet long, 6.3 feet wide and 4.66 feet tall, with a wheelbase of 9.6 feet. Weight hasn't been disclosed, but its roughly two tons. The most striking detail on the profile shot is the indentations leading from the front fenders, aft of the wheels, into the doors, but the jury is still out on the Panamera's bulbous back end. The slippery shape and low profile gives the sedan a drag coefficient of 0.29, while an electronically actuated rear spoiler will keep things planted at speed.
An electronic air suspension is part of the package, along with an LSD, and power can be sent to either the rear wheels, or all four, depending on the trim level. Motivation will be provided by a range of engines, beginning with 3.6-liter V6 putting out 300 hp, and continuing upwards with the 400 hp, 4.8-liter V8 Panamera S and the Panamera Turbo, packing a twin-turbocharged version of the same bent eight putting out an estimated 500 hp. Power will be sent to Porsche's new PDK dual-clutch gearbox and although a diesel model has been ruled out, a V6-hybrid variant with 350 hp will come along at a later date.
Porsche aims to sell approximately 20,000 units of the Panamera each year, with the automaker estimating that 20% will be the range-topping Turbo model. The Panamera will only be available in S and Turbo guises at launch, with the V6 model following shortly thereafter. Once established, Porsche hopes demand will increase to 50,000 units annually, with sales beginning in the U.S., Europe and Asia next year. Thanks for the tip, Jelle!
UPDATE: More photos have surfaced.
Gallery: Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo
[Source: AutoTelegraaf]
Porsche Panamera image and details leak out originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Economy, Videos, SMART, Suzuki, Motorcycles
Stunting on a Suzuki Hayabusa is crazy in its own right, but stunting in a smart fortwo? Now that takes some real effort. While the bike's got the power to wheelie all day long and its dual front discs are more than powerful enough to raise the rear tire just as far as your guts allow, that's not really the bike's intent. Still, it's much more suitable for the activity than the smart fortwo with its lazy 70-hp three-cylinder and skinny tires, right? Well, maybe not. Take a good look at the video after the break for visual proof that the smart, when properly equipped, makes a fine stunt ride. Of course, in this situation, properly equipped equals a major horsepower infusion via the aforementioned Suzuki Hayabusa, along with some major front brake modifications. Seriously, ever see a smart fortwo perform a tail-whip? Neither had we, until today.
[Source: Autofiends]
Continue reading VIDEO: Hayabusa-powered smart , or... a rolling death-wish on skinny tires
VIDEO: Hayabusa-powered smart , or... a rolling death-wish on skinny tires originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: LA Auto Show, Etc., Celebrities
Well, it was only a matter of time before we got around to posting our people gallery from the auto show. Models were pretty scarce this year in Los Angeles, but they were definitely still worth the effort to stop and photograph. We also had a few celebrity sightings again, although none at the press conferences and only one got caught on camera. California's own Governator made it over for his annual tour, but we missed him. The lone celeb in our gallery was Jerry Seinfeld, who showed up at the Porsche news conference with gorgeous blue 550 Spyder in tow.Gallery: LA 2008: People watching
Live photos copyright (C)2008 Frank Filipponio / Weblogs, Inc.
LA 2008: People watching in the city of angels originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: LA Auto Show, Crossovers/CUVs, Audi
Although we've already seen the Audi Q5 in a variety of forms after its initial unveiling in Beijing this past July, the four-ringers decided to finally show off their cute 'ute in North America for the first time at the LA Auto Show. The compact(ish) CUV is packing the award-winning 2.0-liter TFSI gasoline engine putting out 211 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque through the seven-speed, dual-clutch S tronic transmission, and Audi is quick to point out that with a drag coefficient of just 0.33 and a turbocharged four, the Q5 will be one of the most fuel-efficient offerings in its class. Check the galleries below for more and see our previous post for all the details.
Gallery: LA 2008: 2009 Audi Q5
Gallery: Beijing '08: 2009 Audi Q5
LA 2008: 2009 Audi Q5 makes its North American debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Chevrolet, GM
Things are moving along quite nicely with the development of the Chevy Volt. According to Bob Lutz, test mules of the extended-range electric vehicle are now being built atop the soon-to-be-released Chevy Cruze. This is a logical progression since the production Volt will share its Delta underpinnings with the new compact from General Motors when it finally goes on sale in 2010. Prior to these latest mules, the test cars used last-gen Malibu shells that Lutz and the team affectionately referred to as "MaliVolts." Predictably, Mr. Lutz praises the new Delta platform, and we have every reason to believe that it will be leaps and bounds better than its Cobalt forebear, just as that model is light-years ahead of the Cavalier it replaced. Lutz goes on to say that the battery pack, motor and internal combustion engine are all working very well together, even in the freezing cold temperatures around Detroit these days. It all sounds rather promising, though it'd be even better if that first paragraph on the FastLane Blog weren't necessary, right?
[Source: GM FastLane]
Lutz Update: Volt moves from Malibu to Cruze mules originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsFiled under: Detroit Auto Show, Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Videos, Hatchbacks, Toyota
Toyota's irritatingly slow leak of seemingly insignificant 2010 Prius teasers has shown us such riveting details as the hybrid car's startup screen, power seat switch and some sort of all-knowing seeing-eye camera. A much more interesting set of leaks has also granted us an early but pixelated peek at the car's external shape, along with detail shots like the rear LED tail lamp assembly and a few different looks at the interior. Now, we've discovered a set of YouTube videos that definitely don't seem to have come from Toyota itself.
In the videos after the jump we see the new 2010 Prius spinning on a rotating stage, we see buttons on the steering wheel that change the digital readouts on the central dash and we see a brief glimpse of the car's generous storage capacity via its hatchback body style - all of it set to wonderfully numbing elevator music. There is one interesting bit that we've recently seen: an air conditioning button on an old-school key fob that allows the climate control to run via rooftop solar panels even while the car itself isn't running. Fortunately, we only have about two more months to wait for the car's official debut at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show in January. Thank God for small miracles. Check out both videos for yourself after the jump. Thanks for the tip, everyone!
[Source: Prius Chat]
Continue reading 2010 Toyota Prius revealed more in YouTube video
2010 Toyota Prius revealed more in YouTube video originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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