There seems to be a worldwide shift to white from silver as the most popular choice for a car’s colour. According to DuPont’s survey last year, white and pearl white narrowly took the top spot in colour choices in North America, is the leader by a large margin in Mexico. Car manufacturers such as BMW have noticed this shift towards white in North America, and have been styling their concept and show cars in white. This was what lead to that incident where Chris Bangle said BMW were displaying a “axis of white power”, which many interpreted to be a racist statement, which he clarified later.

“Our customers are looking at niche colors and effects, including matte finishes and warm neutrals with effect. The rise in popularity of white/white pearl and the long reign of silver suggest that we can expect a more dramatic shift in the top color choice,” says Karen Surcina, color marketing and technology manager – DuPont Automotive Systems.

“We are not surprised to see a proliferation of white/white pearl in DuPonts report this year. (this was said back in 2007) It follows the global trends in home furnishings, fashion, consumer products (iPod, Macbook?) and industrial design where were seeing a return to white as a clarifying agent before change, a color of purity and minimalism. White also is considered a fashion statement. The car you drive is a fashion statement, and consumer preferences for white agree. White pearl itself is a combination of many colors, allowing an ability to change, reflecting, in effect, layers of white,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.

The opposite is happening in Japan. White has been the choice of colour in Japan for the longest time. It’s quite monotonous to see endless seas of white cars in the city or on highways, as what I’ve observed when I was in Tokyo in October last year. But these are mostly older cars back from the 90s - the modern cars there are slowly beginning to take on non-white shades, with black and silver slowly overtaking white in terms of new car colour percentages, though white still maintains a strong foothold.

Perhaps the Japanese desire for individuality is finally creeping into colour choices, or it could be a result of a shift to more smaller cars being purchased, which are marketed with fun colours.

If you look around, white doesn’t seem to be very popular in Malaysia, and in many instances if you see a white car it’s most likely to be a police car. But we can see many opting for white with the latest generation Toyota Camry, a sign that Malaysians are also shifting towards white?

Look after the jump for a promo video featuring a white BMW M3.

Click here to read the rest of Car colours: the shift to white

We previously saw Antonov advocating the use of a dual-speed supercharger which allowed boost to be delivered effectively over a wider range of engine speeds. Antonov seems to be taking this dual-speed thing quite seriously, with a new range of gizmos that take advantage of mechanical-based gear shifting.

Their latest idea is allowing belt-driven devices like alternators, water pumps, air-conditioning systems and other engine ancillaries to be driven by two-speed systems. A two-speed planetary gearbox with one step-up ratio and one direct ratio is mounted at the engine crank. At low engine speeds, the step-up ratio is used, and at high engine speeds, it is not necessary to drive ancillary devices faster than is needed so the direct ratio is used to improve efficiency.

Antonov says adding this gearbox will only cost about US$100 and can be used with existing components. Cost is kept low because this planetary gear system is mechanical and does not use external electronic controls or hydraulic systems.

Skoda is planning its own version of Volkswagen’s upcoming new Lupo (based on the up! concept), and plans to manufacture it in India. Skoda currently has two plants in India, one in Aurangabad and one in Chakan.

Skoda officials say its small car will have a new platform, which seems to indicate the upcoming rear-engined rear-wheel drive platform which underpins the up!/Lupo. The new small Skoda will make its debut by 2010, and will fuel Skoda’s race to sell 100,000 cars annually from 2012 onwards.

It will be priced between Rs 3-5 lakh (US$7,100 to US$11,600). Skoda recently unveiled a 1.2 liter version of the Skoda Fabia hatchback in India, joining the existing 1.4 liter MPI petrol and 1.4 liter TDI diesel engine variants.

Source

I am not sure if this source is reliable, but Edmunds claims that Toyota and Subaru have decided that the Toyota-badged version of the upcoming co-developed boxer-engined rear wheel drive coupe will only be sold in Japan, while Subaru will market it internationally.

Edmunds further added that the companies have decided to mimic the dimensions and power to weight ratio of the now discontinued Honda Integra Type R, so if that is true, expect about 200 horsepower and a wheelbase of around 2400mm.

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Volkswagen is partnering up with Sanyo to jointly develop high-performance energy storage systems, or in laymen speak batteries that can store LOTS of juice. According to Vee-Dub, Sanyo is currently the world’s biggest supplier of lithium-ion batteries in terms of market share, and will invest over US$769 million over the next 7 years in this project.

The joint development program will focus on lithium ion batteries, which Volkswagen hopes will be able to bring concept cars such as the Volkswagen Golf TDI Hybrid and the Audi metroproject quattro (shown above) to production. Both of these concept cars can run solely on the electric motor, without using the combustion engine.

“Our focus in future will be directed more strongly at making electrically powered automobiles alongside ones driven by more efficient combustion engines. Drivetrain electrification is the way forward if we wish to secure mobility in tomorrows world. This will involve energy recovery. The whole idea will be to no avail, however, as long as we do not have powerful energy storage systems at our disposal and as long as vehicle operations are not in tune with customer demands. This cooperation is an important step for us,” says Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn.

Volkswagen hopes to have their first production lithium-ion powered vehicle out in 2 years time.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars (BMW’s subsidiary that makes Rolls-Royces since 1998) has released preliminary sketches of its upcoming smaller car to be slotted under the Phantom range, debuting in 2010. The car is called the RR4 at the moment, but the production car may get another name.

Under the Rolls-Royce RR4’s engine hood is said to be a new engine unique to Rolls-Royce, but because of the many ways one can define unique, you can expect this to be a derivative of a BMW engine, perhaps a higher displacement version of BMW’s new twin turbocharged 4.4 liter V8. The underlying platform will likely be an adaptation of the new F01 platform that the next generation BMW 7-Series will use.

“Effortless performance and standard-setting levels of comfort and efficiency, executed with the utmost care and attention, remain fundamentals of Rolls-Royce design. The RR4 has a more informal presence than the Phantom models with a greater emphasis on driving. In design terms this is expressed through its slightly smaller dimensions and more organic form, yet with powerful, purposeful proportions. It is a true and uncompromising Rolls-Royce in every sense,” says chief designer Ian Cameron.

Look after the jump for one more sketch.

Click here to read the rest of Upcoming 2010 Rolls-Royce RR4 sketch released

Click to enlarge

The SEAT Tango Concept was a 2001 Frankfurt concept car that featured an open top, two seats, and a 1.8 liter turbocharged engine. The seats in the SEAT were fixed, adjustment for different driver sizes was done via a steering column and an adjustable foot pedal box, which can move to suit the length of the driver’s legs.

Theophilus Chin borrows the Tango name for his latest creation depicting a SEAT badge-engineered version of the Volkswagen Scirocco coupe. It looks like a larger, 3-door version of the 4th generation SEAT Ibiza actually, which was in turn based on the 3-door SEAT Bocanegra Concept.

One more rear three quarter angle shot after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Artist’s Impression: SEAT Tango, Spanish Scirocco?

The 3 units of Volkswagen Scirocco GT24 race cars that participated in the recent Nurburgring 24 hours race managed to clinch the 11th, 15th, and 32nd place, not too bad for a vehicle that was developed, built and tested in two and a half months.

In the 2.0 liter turbocharged engine class, the three cars also claimed the first, second and fifth position, with the leading team comprised of Hans-Joachim Stuck, Jimmy Johansson, Florian Gruber and Thomas Mutsch. The second place car was piloted by Carlos Sainz, Giniel de Villiers, Dieter Depping, and Hans-Joachim Stock again.

Under the hood is a 325 PS version of the Volkswagen Group’s 2.0 liter TFSI engine, mated to a 6-speed DSG gearbox.

The Tata Nano is a no-frills car, but one of the more well-equipped, pricier versions of the Tata Nano will feature dual front airbags. And with luck, they’ll only increase the cost of the car by a minimum. Autoliv IFB India on the request of Tata is trying to develop a US$10 airbag for the Tata Nano, less than 10 times the price of airbags in other compact cars which cost around US$150 per airbag.

Swedish-American company Autoliv currently supplies 28% of the world’s airbags. In our market, an Autoliv joint venture with a Japanese company called Autoliv Hirotako Sdn Bhd supplies airbags for Proton, and the upcoming Perodua MPV.

Given that even these normally priced airbags sometimes do not work completely as intended and may end up injuring or killing occupants rather than saving them, are US$10 airbags really safe to use?

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Peugeot has given the Peugeot 407 a very minor facelift which incorporates new tail lamps and a new front grille on the exterior and a new climate control interface and telematics system for the interior. The 2.0 liter HDi engine has also been upped to 140 horsepower, though this has nothing to do with us as only the 2.0 liter VTi petrol variant will on sale here. More images after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Peugeot 407 Facelift: Initial Details and Photos