Everybody’s favorite schadenfreude victim got a minor refresh intended to stave off the critics and ensure its continued dominance in the best-seller ranks. Did it work?
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Category: Future Vehicles
If the Mercedes-Benz SLS is too pedestrian for you, or your spoiled progeny for that matter, M-B has something for you in the form of the SLS Black Series.
Attention B&B; TTAC recieved an email from Ford, announcing a new “people mover”. Anyone care to venture a guess as to what it is?
Quattroporte literally means “four door” in Italian. A rather uninspiring name for an exotic car like this Maserati. The new QP will be unveiled in January at the North American International Auto Show. No technical specs were revealed but bet on this; 8 cylinders and two pedals.
American Suzuki Motor Corp may have gone bust, but Suzuki cars will continue to be sold in Canada, where the SX4, Kizashi and Grand Vitara are still offered (but not the Equator pickup).
Honda is hoping that the next-generation Fit subcompact will see its volume nearly triple, going from 64,000 units per year to 200,000 by 2016.
Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn is eyeing another North American plant for Nissan, one that could be used to build both Nissan and Infiniti vehicles.
Ben Oliver’s essay in Automobile Magazine might be the best one I’ve read on Lotus and their existential predicament. While my own pieces are full of vitriol and cursing, Ben’s eloquent prose outlines the brand’s biggest problem; lacking the necessary volumes, they need to take advantage of economies of scale and high margins to survive as an auto maker. Sports cars that compete in the Porsche Cayman’s price range and performance envelope aren’t popular with buyers nor do they generate the volumes or profits necessary to keep an independent sports car maker afloat. The proposed option, a series of high-end sports cars built off a modular platform (similar to the Lotus-derived Aston Martin VH architecture) was met with little fanfare. The economic principles were sound, but the proposal alienated the faithful. Over to you, Best & Brightest.
While Johnson Controls and China’s Wanxiang Group have competing bids to acquire the assets of advanced battery maker and Fisker supplier A123, a more serious battle is occurring in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware between the startup automaker and what is arguably its most important vendor. A123 wants the bankruptcy judge to void its contracts including those for supplying batteries to Fisker. That could stop production of Fisker’s only car, the Karma. Read More >
The Cadillac Escalade, perhaps the decade’s most prolific monument to conspicuous consumption, will be going in a different direction for its next generation. GM’s Mark Reuss described the new Escalade as “much less ostentatious”.
The 3-cylinder Ecoboost engine developed by Ford won’t necessarily stay at its current displacement of 1.0L. According to the Blue Oval, there’s a fair bit of power – and displacement – left on the table.
The Forester stands alone in evading Subaru’s more questionable styling choices, but it hasn’t ever looked particularly enticing either. The 2014 model, with its new Impreza-esque front and rear treatments, continues that tradition. Under the hood, things are more promising.
Putting an end to the vicious cycle of rumors and conjecture, Mazda’s sports car chief revealed that they will bring back the RX-7 in 2017, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Cosmo sports car.
“Take BMW. In the near term, they will have nine entries in the compact segment. This is basically our heartland,” he told me on the sidelines of the Paris auto show. “With the brand reputation they have, you start to have a massive problem.”
-Gunnar Herrmann, Ford of Europe’s Vice President of Quality
Can’t bear the thought of another faux crossover? Too bad, we’re probably getting something like this when the next-generation Fit rolls around.
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