Archive for International News

The latest whispers being passed around dinner tables in the automotive industry are that Jaguar and Land Rover are currently on the table, and potential buyers are Fiat. It seems that talks started in February this year but ended last month, with no resolution. Sources say the talks were dropped because Fiat was concerned on how the Jaguar would affect Fiat’s credit rating. Fiat would have benefited from Jaguar’s rear wheel drive platforms if the sale had gone through.

With rumours of BMW being interested in Volvo, and most of Aston Martin shares recently being sold, it seems Ford Motor Co is looking to offload all of it’s Premier Automotive Group (PAG) brands.

PAG lost US$327 million before taxes last year, it’s third loss in a row for three years. Jaguar has lost the most money apparently, a total of between US$500 million to US$1 billion since 2001. Land Rover has gained traction recently though, pardon the pun

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If you think the Renault/Dacia Logan (shown above) was a budget car, wait til you see what Renault has in mind next. The guys at Renault are planning an even cheaper car that will cost around US$3,000. This ultra-budget car will be designed and developed in India, at a new “technocenter” soon to be established that will hire 1,000 engineers.

Apparently, development costs in India are very low. India has been in the Carlon Ghosn spotlight for awhile now. Earlier this year he said there is a fundamental difference in attitude to cost savings between western companies and Indian companies, and by this he means the Indian one is better.

This new budget car will be aimed at developing markets, and not intended for the European market. Let’s just hope it ends up looking better than the Logan.

Honda has a new trim level for the 2.2 liter i-CTDi engined Honda Accord in the UK, and Honda thinks it’s good enough to be a GT! Well, that’s what I interpreted from the name anyway, as Honda is calling it the Honda Accord Sport GT 2.2 i-CTDi. The 2.2 liter i-CTDi turbodiesel makes 138 horsepower at 4,000rpm, and 340Nm of torque at 2,000rpm.

Equipment level includes dark chrome door handles and front grille, 16 or 17 inch alloy wheels in Dark Graphite finish for stationwagon and sedan respectively, an exclusive option for Premium White Pearl paint, a sports-tuned suspension, a bodykit that includes smoked headlights and a rear boot spoiler, carbon-effect interior trim, red illuminated dials instead of the usual white.

BTW, have you seen the ad campaign Honda did for the i-CTDi when it was first introduced? Check it out in the related post links below, it’s really quite cute

Related Posts:
Honda announces 2nd gen i-CTDi with NOx catalyst
Honda i-CTDi diesel engine advertisement

Click here to read the rest of Honda Accord Sport GT 2.2 i-CTDi

Fiat Powertrain Technologies has unveiled the latest revision of it’s 1.9 liter JTD MultiJet 16 valve inline-4 turbodiesel engine, which uses twin stage turbocharging to produce high power and massive torque in a wide RPM range at the same time.

Low end torque has improved by 50% over current JTD MultiJet models, with 300Nm available from just 1,250rpm going up to peak torque of 400Nm at 2,000rpm. The new engine is available in two stages of tune - 177 horsepower and 188 horsepower at 4,000rpm. The higher 188 horses version is exclusively for Fiat and Fiat Group companies like Alfa Romeo and Lancia, while the 177 horsepower version will be made available for purchase to customers. Nanjing as one of the first customers comes to mind - they were reported to be sourcing a powerful turbodiesel for it’s MG 7 sedan from an European manufacturer.

The new engine uses a 16.5 compression ratio, low-voltage metallic glow plugs, an improved EGR cooler, and a new inlet port design. It complies with projected Euro 5 emission standards. It has a cast iron block and an aluminium alloy head.

The 177hp version will be available in July 2007 onwards, while the 188hp version is set to be launched in June 2008. The engines will be produced at Pratola Serra in Italy.

Toyota has something new up it’s sleeves - Valvematic, an evolution of the VVT-i mechanism which now incorporates continuous valve lift control together with VVT-i’s existing valve timing control. Valvematic also eliminates the need for a throttle valve, instead controlling the volume of intake air using valve lift instead.

According to Toyota, an improvement of 5% to 10% can be seen with fuel efficiency, as well as an improvement of 10% with the power output on a similiar engine displacement comparison. Toyota also mentions reduced CO2 emission as well as improved acceleration responsiveness.

The first Valvematic-equipped engine will be a 2.0 liter model, most likely a replacement for the 145 horsepower 1AZ-FE engine which has been pretty much slotted with different tune levels into all Toyota cars in the C-segment and above. The trademark “Valvematic” was registered by Toyota a few months ago, so alot of people have been expecting this. One of the first few cars to get the new Valvematic 2.0 liter engine are the 2.0 liter versions of the recently launched twin sedans Toyota Allion and Toyota Premio. The 2.0 liter variants are set to debut in Winter 2007.

The new Toyota Valvematic 2.0 liter engine will most likely be christened the 3ZR-FAE, and will put out 158hp at 6,200rpm and 196Nm at 4,400rpm. Being part of the new ZR engine family, variable valve timing features will be the same as the 2ZR-FE’s Dual VVT-i system - valve timing on both intake and exhaust valves.

Honda also recently announced an engine with continuous valve lift control combined with variable valve timing, a technology it calls AVTEC.

Check out a patent application filed by Toyota in March 2007 by clicking here - I think it is the patent for Valvematic. Be warned though, it’s pretty long.

Hyundai is taking a slightly different approach to electro-combustion hybrid powertrains. It will be releasing a hybrid version of the Hyundai Elantra in 2009, and it will be powered by an LPG-electric hybrid engine!

Estimated fuel consumption for the new hybrid LPG Elantra is 30% of the standard Elantra. Hyundai decided to make an LPG hybrid for the Korean market because Liquid Petroleum Gas is cheap (half price in Korea) as well as sufficiently available at most pumping stations. There are currently only two hybrid cars sold in Korea - the Lexus RX400h and the Honda Civic Hybrid.

This move by Hyundai takes advantage of a recently announced new ruling that gives hybrid cars in Korea tax breaks and subsidies. An Elantra hybrid using gasoline for it’s combustion engine instead of LPG will be released in 2010, and this might find it’s way to the US market.

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Now this is some really strange stuff. Contrary to what everyone is saying about how 4X4s and SUVs should be banned because of the excess fuel they consume, apparently Jesus wants you to drive a 4X4. A Nissan Navara to be exact.

At least, according to a branch of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) in Soweto, South Africa. “God doesn’t want you to be poor and ashamed - he wants you to drive a new car. A brand new Nissan Navarra people. God wants to show his power in your life too,” said a South African preacher of the church.

Why a Nissan Navara? Apparently a couple gave a testimony about how they gave alot of money to the church, and in return God blessed them with a prospering business - which they used the proceeds to buy a Nissan Navara, among other things.

Talk about product placement to the max. That prospering business might have been a Nissan dealership. Anyway, interesting to note that the Brazil-originated UCKG is considered to be a cult that manipulates it’s followers for financial gain.

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Ikea UK has decided it’s entire company fleet cars will be Honda Civic Hybrids. This decision is part of Ikea’s commitment to reduce it’s environmental impact. 50 Civic Hybrids will be supplied this year, and more orders will be delivered in 2008.

“Civic Hybrid is really taking off in the corporate sector where businesses want to be seen to be green. KEAs commitment to replace its entire fleet with Civic Hybrids is a real-life endorsement of the car and the excellent benefits it offers. In terms of cost, fuel efficiency and low emission driving the Civic Hybrid really stacks up,” says John Kingston, Environment Manager at Honda (UK).

So, is the new Civic Hybrid going to be offered in Malaysia? Perhaps Honda Malaysia could do a limited run or something. After all, there are a few units of the previous generation Civic Hybrid in Malaysia, and the latest Civic Hybrid is available in Singapore.

Saab has unveiled it’s new facelifted C-segment premium sedan - the Saab 9-3, and it comes in Sedan, SportCombi and Convertible models! The boys at Trollhattan (what an amusing name for a place) have added all-wheel-drive to the car (called Saab XWD) as well as a line of engine with three different options of fuels - petrol, diesel, or bioethanol.

The top of the line petrol engine is the 2.8 liter V6 all-aluminium engine putting out either 255 horsepower or 280 horsepower in different status of tune. Unlike most V6 engines which use twin-turbos, this engine uses a single twin-scroll turbo, with the twin in twin-scroll being fed by 2 banks of 3 cylinders each. There is also an all-aluminium 2.0 liter turbo engine, in 150hp, 175hp, and 210hp form.

For diesel fans, the 1.9TTiD engine uses a two turbochargers to make 180 horsepower and a massive 400Nm of torque. A single-turbo 1.9 liter is also available, using a variable geometry turbocharger in two different tunes - 150hp using 16 valves and 120hp using 8 valves. The option for bioethanol-powered Saab BioPower engines use E85 fuel. The baseline engine is a normally aspirated 1.8 liter putting out 122 horsepower. Kind of bland, considering how amazing all the other engines sound.

The Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan and SportCombi has high torsional rigidity of 22,000Nm/degree, and almost 60% of the body weight uses high strength or ultra high strength steel. The 9-3 Convertible has lower torsional rigidity as expected due to the lack of a roof- 11,500Nm/degree. For the SportCombi station wagon model, there are structural rings around the C and D-pillars, and transverse beams in the floor and roof to compensate for the lack of sedan cross-bracing.

For the convertible, the tonneau cover has a unique two-stage operation cycle for quicker roof deployment. The soft-top cover (were you hoping for a hard top convertible?) comes up in 20 seconds, and uses a weight-saving design, with the frame, swivelling braces, and front header rail all made of magnesium. The seat upholstery also uses “Hydroblox” water repellent textile, just in case you get caught in the rain and your top doesn’t come up in time. It also has DynaCage rollover protection which uses pop-up rear roll bars, strengthened A-pillars, sills, and automatic seat-belt pre-tensioning.

No news of whether this new Saab 9-3 will be available for the Malaysian market for not, but it may make an appearance if there is a demand for it.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2008 Saab 9-3 Sedan, SportCombi and Convertible

Nanjing Automobile, who owns the MG brand now, will be purchasing diesel engines from an European engine supplier to slot into its’ MG 7 for the European market. What Nanjing has right now is a BMW diesel that makes 113hp, and that would definitely not work in a modern European market.

Nanjing director Paul Stowe says the new engine for the MG 7 will be purchased from a manufacturer that already supplies engines to other companies, though he declined to name which one. We will have to look at an European manufacturer that has an engine plant in China, where the MG 7 is currently being built. Automotive News reports that the supplier might be Fiat or VM Motori.

VM Motori is a turbodiesel specialist of sorts, and it’s turbodiesels have found it’s way into many vehicles, including Cadillacs, and even the recently launched Weststar series of rebadged LDV Maxus vans use VM Motori turbodiesels.

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