Auto News - Sunday, April 20, 2008 7:09 - 0 Comments

Jaguar Land Rover CEO dies

Geoff Polites, who’s stewardship of Land Rover and Jaguar improved the health of both properties, has succumbed after a long illness. Polites led Jaguar and Land Rover back to collective profitability, and kept a steady hand on the helm during the upheaval surrounding the sale to Tata a month ago. While rumors swirled and pundits punned, it was Polites leadership that kept Jaguar and Land Rover on an even keel, with heads down and concentrating, instead of freaking out. Polites spent 40 years in the automotive business, and rose to CEO at Jaguar Land Rover in 2005. Both brands have strong, stylish product portfolios with name cachet, and David Smith, CFO of Jaguar Land Rover will step in as acting CEO for now.
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Auto News - Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:10 - 0 Comments

Volkswagen Phaeton could return to the U.S. this year, or next

To put it charitably, the Phaeton never met the U.S. sales expectations set by Volkswagen, but that hasn’t stopped VW execs from considering another push to market the luxobarge in North America. Sales of the facelifted Phaeton are up in Germany by 45.4-percent for the first quarter of 2008 and that’s making V-Dub’s brass seriously consider bringing the Phaeton back to U.S. shores. According to Autobild, many of the higher-ups at VW want to start shipping the Phaeton across the Atlantic towards the end of the year, but VW’s largest shareholder, headed by Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking, isn’t convinced that the Phaeton could fly again.

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Auto News - Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:08 - 0 Comments

Volkswagen up! More details revealed

Volkswagen’s adorable little up! has the ambitious goal of becoming the next original Beetle, and new info on Auto Express seems to indicate that the Germans in Wolfsburg may be on to something. The up! will feature both gasoline and diesel-powered engines with a minuscule displacement of only .6 turbocharged liters, and a larger 1.2L three-cylinder engine may be planned, as well. The up! will also be extremely fuel efficient, with U.S. fuel economy numbers near 80 mpg. Perhaps the most eye-catching bit of info is the base price of the handsome little micro: models will sell for as little as £4,500 in emerging markets and more richly equipped European models will start around £7,500.
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Auto News - Tuesday, April 15, 2008 7:26 - 0 Comments

Fiat confirms two new small cars under development

Fiat has confirmed rumors that it is developing a new low-cost world car. However while earlier reports suggested a single small car was under consideration, a senior company executive revealed that Fiat is actually developing two new models. The first will be a B-segment car positioned above the Panda but below the Grande Punto, the latter of which went up-market in its current iteration over the previous model. Eying the success of Renault’s low-cost Dacia range, Fiat is toying with the idea of spinning off the car, currently dubbed the “new Uno”, as a separate brand. Over the years Fiat has absorbed a wealth of Italian auto brands and, as it did with Abarth, could revive either the Innocenti or Autobianchi marques.
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Auto News - Friday, April 11, 2008 9:50 - 0 Comments

Geely at 2008 Auto China

The 2008 Auto China show in Beijing will be an important milestone show for Geely. It will be the show where the Chinese marque re-invents itself with a horde of new models all with the ‘intention to continue beyond’. Geely said in a previous press release: ‘The year 2008 holds great significance for Geely’s Internationalization, strategic transform and overall elevation of the competitiveness of Geely Brand.’ Geely will be bringing 23 models to the show consisting of a concept car and three high tech models among others, a record for the Chinese car maker. One of this year’s show-stoppers will be the Geely GT, a grand-tourer Geely CEO Li Shufu classed as a ’small Rolls-Royce’.

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Auto News - Thursday, April 10, 2008 8:02 - 0 Comments

Tesla Roadster Limited Edition for Europe

2008 model year Tesla Roadsters are all spoken for in the United States, but with ever increasing production levels 2009 MY Roadsters are still available for the time being. With deliveries starting this spring, Europeans can now start ordering a Limited Edition European Tesla Roadster. The Tesla Roadster is scheduled to make its European debut at this months Top Marques Monaco auto show (April 24 - 27). Tesla will build 250 Euro-spec Roadsters at their Californian factory and orders will be taken on a first come, first serve basis by emailing eurosales@teslamotors.com. The price tag for a fully loaded Roadster will be Euro 99,000 (excluding VAT), or just over USD 155,000 where a US 2009 base model will set you back USD 98,000.
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Auto News, New Cars - Tuesday, April 8, 2008 8:59 - 0 Comments

2009 Citroën C-Elysee Facelift for the Chinese Market

Citroen has announced that it will unveil a facelift version of its C-Elysee compact sedan at this year’s Beijing Motor Show (April 20 -28). Produced in China by Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën Automobiles (DPCA), the C-Elysee is basically a sedan variant of the long-gone Citroen ZX hatch that was sold in Europe in the early 1990’s. The facelift version of the Chinese market C-Elysée is recognisable by its new looking front end that’s inspired from Citroen’s latest European models.
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Auto News - Tuesday, April 8, 2008 8:55 - 0 Comments

GM Teases With New Buick Invicta

At the New York International Auto Show General Motors showed us the first teaser image of a new global concept car, the Buick Invicta. The Buick Invicta follows in the footsteps of last year’s Buick Riviera which was greeted with much enthusiasm by the Chinese and American alike. Today the General has released a new teaser image of their premium vehicle with international appeal. The Buick Riviera Concept is a true 2+2 seater with the focus on comfort rather than performance. From the teaser images released by GM, we think that the Buick Invicta Concept (Invicta translates to invincible from Latin) will be one size bigger and be comparable in size to the new Volkswagen Passat CC.
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Auto News - Friday, April 4, 2008 7:25 - 0 Comments

Audi Sets Launch Date for Q5 on a Micro Site

All the Audi fans out there, put 19 April 2008 bold in your diaries. This is when news and info will start rolling off from the Audi Q5 microsite, if you have registered first, to all those interested in the new Q5. Be on a list of those who are first to know about Q5 developments and possible test drives. According to the site, Q5 aims to convince you, rather than persuade you. It is efficient rather than forgoing pleasure, sporty without being unreasonable. The car has been described unofficially by one of our VW sources as “a poser, the Tiguan is the real deal”. We’ll see.
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Auto News - Thursday, April 3, 2008 6:21 - 0 Comments

Tesla Roadster Headed for Europe

Europeans rejoice! The Tesla Roadster will be available for sale in Europe beginning next year, according to the Financial Times. Due in large part to an exchange rate that benefits those across the pond the electric two seater should be a big hit. Priced under €100,000, the Roadster will hit Euro shores in Fall 2009.Shorter driving distance and tax benefits for electric and zero-emission cars were cited as other main reasons for entering the EU. Tesla CEO Ze’ev Drori told the Financial Times, “There are many compelling reasons for us to be in Europe.”
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