Ahead of the Geneva Auto Show, we have our first look at the Opel/Vauxhall Mokka, which is known here as the Buick Encore. The Euro twins get a stop-start system across the board, and two extra engine options. A naturally aspirated 1.6L gasoline engine making 113 horsepower, or a 1.7L diesel making 128 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque. Looks better dressed down, no?
BMW will launch a new line of cars dubbed “M Performance Automobiles”, keeping cars like the rumored high-performance diesel X6 away from the sacred M lineup.
After rocketing up by 32 percent in the year before, the Chinese car market took a break last year. China’s automobile sales eked out a small gain of 2.45 percent to 18.50 million units last year. As the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said in a press conference this afternoon, this was the slowest growth in 13 years.
A non-profit group backed by some major OEMs sent out a press release claiming that diesel vehicle sales are up by 27 percent in 2011 while hybrid sales are down by 2.2 percent. So, D’s up, hoes hybrids down while you motherf***ers bounce to this?
While hit rapper Drake may favor Range Rovers as his ride of choice, the may have been talking about the new Buick Encore when he rapped on his hit song “Headlines” “You gon hype me up and make me catch a body like that”. The Buick Encore, barely unveiled just 48 hours ago, has generated lots of hype at TTAC, and according to Automotive News, has already “bodied” a future GM product – the GMC Granite.
GM is ready to reduce output of the Volt plug-in hybrid. Wait, that’s putting it a bit harshly. GM is ready to “match supply and demand,” as GM vice chairman Steve Girsky told Reuters yesterday. GM wants to monitor sales for a few more months until the matching begins. Read More >
A double shot of news on the General Motors SUV front. Automotive News is reporting that Cadillac considering a small SUV to compete with the BMW X3. A separate article suggests that the General will give auto writers another excuse to bitch about the lack of body-on-frame SUVs, with its decision not to import the Thai-engineered TrailBlazer.
When we talked about Japanese auto sales in 2011, we told you that sales of imported cars were missing, and that they would be available today. They are. Aided by a shortage of domestic cars and a strong yen, Japanese connected with their inner gaijin and bought 22.5 percent more imported cars in 2011 than in the year before. According to data released by the Japan Automobile Importers Association, 275,644 foreign-built vehicles entered the allegedly closed Japanese market, gaining a market share of 10.3 percent. Read More >
When I came to China for the first time in 2004, I would have never thought that the country would one day be the benchmark for the consumption of luxury automobiles. A few weeks ago, I thought the headline “U.S. may overtake China’s rich in Rolls Royce race” to be an impossibility. But here it is. At Reuters, an even-keeled wire when it comes to the auto beat. But first things first. Read More >
Since its introduction, the Bentley Continental GT has been a fascinating lesson in how “luxury” operates. Fundamentally identical to the VW Phaeton, the Conti sold for twice as much — and did volumes between ten and thirty times what the uber-VW ever managed in the United States.
This platform is about to celebrate its tenth year in production. How do you revitalize it when there are plenty of $70,000 used Contis out there? Simple: you turn down the power.
With 8.16 million cars delivered globally, sales of the Volkswagen group grew14.3 percent from 7.14 million in 2010. Volkswagen estimates that the global passenger car market grew only 5.1 percent, therefore, the Wolfsburg group expanded its global market share. With GM (due to report next month) expected to be in the low 9 million, and Toyota expected to be in the high 7 million, Volkswagen will end the year as the world’s #2 auto maker, behind GM and before Toyota. Read More >
More than a quarter of GM’s global production is sold in China. General Motors and its Chinese joint ventures sold a record 2,547,171 vehicles in China in 2011, “an average of one car or truck every 12 seconds,” as GM proudly publicizes. Sales in 2011 were up 8.3 percent, despite a laggardly Chinese market.
GM’s percentage number would be higher, wouldn’t it be for GM’s Chinese volume king Wuling. More than half of GM’s Chinese numbers are on account of the Chinese expert on small delivery vans. SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 1,285,820 vehicles in China last year, a rise of 4.8 percent on an annual basis. Read More >
Some of the commenters took me to task for what seemed to be undue praise for the 2013 Ford Fusion. So, without prejudice, here is the 2013 Ford Fusion and Ford Fusion Energi.
The next Ford Fusion is set to debut at next week’s North American International Auto Show, and while details are still embargoed, the blokes at Auto Express have given us a preview of the next Mondeo. Which is essentially the next Fusion.
The diesel powered version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee will return to our shores in 2013, 5 years after it was last offered in North America. Chrysler announced that 1,100 jobs would also be added to a third shift at the Jefferson North assembly plant in Detroit.
The new hires will help build the Grand Cherokee, Dodge Durango and portions of the upcoming Maserati Kubang SUV. The 3.0L diesel makes 237 bhp in European trim, as well as 405 lb-ft of torque.
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