Daihatsu has dusted off its most unfortunate nameplate for a rather unfortunate rebadge, as Autobild reports that the outgoing Toyota Yaris will be sold in Europe as the Daihatsu Charade starting this year. The 99 HP Charade will be sold for less than the European Yaris, which will be replaced shortly with the model that was recently launched in Japan. So, did Daihatsu’s engineers work out all the “Buru-buru” and “hyoko-hyoko” (“walk with a tremor” and “unsteady steps”)? Or is this just a cheap way to snag some of the low-cost sales that helped Hyundai pass Toyota as the best-selling Asian brand in Europe? Clearly the bosses at Toyota are still struggling with the dynamic that Paul Niedermeyer identified in his Curbside Classic on the Charade, when he wrote
Toyota took a minority ownership stake in Daihatsu in 1967, and upped that to 51% in 1999. Daihatsu was the source for kei-cars for Toyota, allowing it to not spread its resources into that narrow segment. But there has always been an overlap with Daihatsu’s larger cars, many of them having been Toyota rebadges. That’s not the case with the Charade, but Toyota’s Tercel was clearly stepping all over it, especially in the US. It begs the question as to whether Daihatsu has a real future as a word brand, or whether it will eventually be absorbed fully into the Toyota family.
Doesn’t that profile look familiar? Haven’t we seen that somewhere? Having taken the British brand in a bold new direction after decades of stylistic stagnation, Jaguar’s chief designer Ian Callum is letting Bertone take the lead in setting a stylistic direction for Jag’s forthcoming 3-Series competitor… and Bertone seems hell-bent on dragging Jag back to its XJ-obsessed recent past. But Bertone design director Mike Robinson won’t cop to the seemingly obvious charge, telling Autocar
Jaguar is looking at a new design direction and a small car — and we think this is the right style, with a very light glasshouse and the visual weight concentrated on to the wheels… I’m an anti-retroist. This is not an old classic design. It’s a new classic.
But is it? The (B) pillarless four-door screams XJC in proportion, and the whole effect is of a step backwards. Besides, when classic XJ proportions meet a 3-Series-sized chassis, the interior is going to face some serious space restrictions. In any case, Callum took one the boldest steps in automotive design when he left the XJ styling cues behind and penned the XF and the stunning new XJ. With this B99 concept, Bertone just seems to be muddying the waters. Let’s hope Jag keeps rejects the concept and keeps design of its forthcoming smaller luxury sedan in-house.
struggled to make this 5,995-pound, technology-packed, luxurious SUV make sense.
Apparently he’s not the only one. From the looks of things, the Japanese tuning house Invader Technologies is having a hard time making the LX570 make sense… at least to anyone who’s not a drug-addled, mobbed-up Russian gangster. I suppose that, by post-Mansory tuning standards anyway, the Invader L60 isn’t exactly breaking new ground… still, I’m amazed by how freshly insulted my optical nerves feel.
The Aveo name may be all used up in the North American market, but in emerging markets around the world it still enjoys quite a bit of equity. So, when this thing goes on sale stateside in September it will be called the Sonic… but for at its global launch in Seoul, South Korea, this latest Chevy-by-Daewoo is simply the new Aveo.
Two years ago, Nissan sent a bizarre little beach buggy of a concept, called the Qazana, to the Geneva Auto Show. At the time Autoblog’s Chris Paukert called the concept that would become the Nissan Juke “so bizarre it almost looks French”… but little did anyone know the French would eventually claim the Juke’s heritage. Now, Renault, the French leg of Carlos Ghosn’s Renault-Nissan alliance is bringing their own interpretation of the compact-coupe-ute with this, the Renault Captur. Will it being searing eyeballs on the French street any time soon? Ghosn only knows…
Forget the plural of Prius… what do you call a Prius that’s this confused? A transvestvolt? Or, as the Michigan plates indicate, is this more of a case of automotive Stockholm Syndrome? Or, perhaps we’re looking at Batesian mimicry at work? Either way, this is a new one… [courtesy: evchels.wordpress.com]
What happens when Nissan re-imagines its Leaf EV’s internals into a “sports car of the future,” inspired by its long line of Z cars? You’re looking at it. Nissan will show this Esflow concept at the Geneva Auto Show, and, based on the reaction it receives, they’ll consider a production model. Though it uses Leaf electronics, the Esflow is being presented on a “bespoke” RWD platform, with a pair of electric motors driving the rear wheels. And the Leaf’s battery was likely improved upon for this concept, as Nissan claims about 150 miles of range and a sub-5 second 0-60 time.
They say that when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail… which is why, after writing about the dangers of “automotive nationalism,” this video made left me more impressed with Ferrari’s pride in the global development of its new FF Grand Tourer than with the pure eyecandy of the spectacle. Although, to be fair, the sheer sexiness of Ferrari’s new shooting brake-style tourer left me fairly riled up as well.
Worried that Chrysler has lost touch with young buyers? Worry no more! Chrysler’s Tim Kunisis tells Automotive News [sub]
There are two paths: the traditional Chrysler path and the S path. There’s a huge customer base for chrome and wood. There are also people who want something a little edgy.
As a result, Chrysler is introducing its “S” line, a trim level that stands for Style rather than Sport, which will encourage these edgy Chrysler customers to tart up their Mopar metal with non-traditional accessories. Nor is “S” a top-level trim designation, but will be available on the standard 300, the 300 Limited and the 300C. And though Chrysler is showing an “S” version of its outgoing 2010 300, the first new “S”-branded vehicle will be the 200, which should look something like the Moparized 200 shown at the Detroit Auto Show. And if the whole “what’s in-what’s out” question is giving you some trouble, AN [sub] provides the hand guide below.
Yes, everyone loves to hate on the BMW 3 Series’ success… but nobody loves to hate it like the Mercedes C63 AMG. And with a new version for 2012, Benz’s Bavarian-burner has about as good a shot as anything else on the market of convincing Mr Prospective Sports Sedan Buyer out of an M3. Meanwhile, it also serves as a stern, 481 HP warning to Jaguar, Cadillac and the assorted Dreier-chasers: when you’re chasing such a coveted market segment, you have to go big or go home [nauseating technical details for the 2012 C-Class can be found here].
Via Autocar come these first pictures of a long-rumored entry-level Maserati sedan testing in Europe with Quattroporte-based bodywork. The British buff book reports
Despite looking similar to the Quattroporte at first glance, the mule’s identity is given away by its shorter wheelbase, smaller front brakes and ill-fitting windscreen. The mule also sports just one exhaust pipe on each side at the rear, instead of the brace that appear out of the bumper on each side of its bigger brother.
The €55k Maserati sedan is said to be based on the platform used for Alfa’s 166 replacement, which is widelyrumored to be the same Chrysler LX platform that currently underpins the 300 and Dodge Charger. However, because the LX platform’s wheelbase is only .6 inches shorter than the Quattroporte’s 120.6 inch measurement, it’s perhaps more likely that this BMW M5-fighter is based on the shorter LY variant, which has a 116 inch wheelbase. In any case, the global success of the Quattroporte makes this entry-level model of special interest… especially if Maserati can spin a Chrysler-based platform into sales gold.
Via designauto.fr, come these first pictures of Fiat’s Chrysler-cum-Lancias, the Thema (Chrysler 300) and Flavia (Chrysler 200). But are these rebadges worthy of the Lancia name? Hit the jump for the context necessary to answer that question… Read More >
Volkswagen captures the schizophrenia of the SUV phenomenon by offering the Qatar auto show two ways to Touareg: the rugged rally-raid fantasy of its Dakar racer-for-the-street “Race Touareg” and the status-seeking bourgeois bling of the Touareg Gold Edition. Which raises an interesting question: if both were offered for sale, which would sell better? I’m sure most of TTAC’s readers would join me in saying I’d buy the Race Touareg but sell the Gold Edition. After all, urban posing is the mass-market reality underlying the rugged outdoorsy fantasy of SUV marketing.
Typically when an automaker launches its first EV, the standard procedure is to spend a lot of time talking about how this car will change the world. Not so with Audi. Having created an “e-tron” EV concept version of its Auto Union Type C pedal car, Audi is backing up its modest EV ambitions with some tough talk from CEO Rupert Stadler aimed at putting EVs in their proper place. Stadler tells Automotive News [sub] that
We are still in the early phase with the electric vehicle, in terms of commercialization and whether the cars will be sold or leased, or will just be a collector’s car. First of all we have to industrialize the lithium-ion-battery. This is happening with the hybrid cars which now have the role of a bridge technology. We should not overplay euphoria for electric vehicles. Our industry is in the middle of a system change and we still have a lot of challenges to solve.
And, just as its CEO admits, Audi still has real issues with the commercialization of EVs: for one thing, even its e-tron kiddy car is still a one-off modification of its €9,700 pedal-powered Type C racer. Audi currently has no plans to commercially produce the 1.5 HP, 25 km range EV sportster. Perhaps its too early to say for certain that Audi will be able to knock Tesla off its solitary spot atop the EV sportscar world.
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