Archive for Rumours

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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New models coming up from BMW - a 123d, an X5 3.0sd, as well as a revised BMW M5 with more power! The 123d is an entry-level 1-Series that will get BMW’s new inline-4 2.0 liter twin turbodiesel that has yet to be slotted into any cars yet. If you’ve missed reading about it, do check it out via the links in the related posts below.

The E70 BMW X5 will also get a more powerful diesel variant, and no prizes for guessing which engine will supply that power - the award winning 3.0 liter twin turbodiesel that first appeared in the 535d. The BMW X5 3.0sd will likely put out similar power figures to the 535d, 335d, and X3 3.0sd - 286 horsepower and 580Nm of torque. This same engine will also find it’s way into a 635d, spied recently on test runs.

In the high performance category, the M5 and M6 are expected to get power upgrades to somewhere around 530 horsepower, and there are also rumours of an upcoming BMW M10 sports car, something we’ve referred to as the Z9 or Z10 previously.

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Related Posts:
BMW announces 204hp, 400Nm twin turbodiesel inline-4
2008 BMW Z10 Supercar (now to be called M10?)
BMW 635d spotted!
BMW 635d in the works

A hybrid version of the W221 Mercedes Benz S-Class will be unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show in September this year, making it Mercedes Benz’s first hybrid car. Unlike most hybrids which use a petrol-electric combination, the hybrid S-Class will combined a Bluetec diesel engine with a compact electric motor.

A previous concept called the Direct Hybrid concept used a 3.0 liter V6 diesel engine together with an electric motor, but sources reveal it is more likely the S-class hybrid will use a four-cylinder Bluetec diesel instead, likely a similiar engine to the 2.2 liter 4-pot found in the Mercedes Benz Vision C220 Bluetec concept. There is also another Bluetec turbodiesel in the Benz arsenal - the 4.2 V8 TDI Bluetec that was put into the Vision GL420 Concept.

There is no official name for the car at the moment, but some have begun to call it the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Bluetec-Hybrid.

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The king of the luxury 4WDs will go on a diet for it’s next generation, but it’s a diet plan that will take 15 years. A new lighter Range Rover is being proposed by Land Rover engineers for the 2012 model year, using stablemate Jaguar’s rivet-bonded aluminium monocoque chassis technology.

This construction technique will save the new L405 Range Rover nearly 500kg, improving it’s fuel consumption, power, and so many other variables. It will also have a shorter roof so that it’ll look less top heavy. A hybrid drivetrain is also in the works - we don’t really expect petrol prices to have improved much by 2012.

Previously referred to as the BMW V3, it looks like BMW’s long anticipated crossover mini MPV vehicle will be called the BMW F3 instead, and the small 3-series based 5-seater gets the green light for production. The BMW F3 will be a 3-series-based product with a little more utility designed into it, think of it as BMW’s answer to the Mercedes Benz B-Class.

AutoWeek reported a BMW insider giving the following statement: “Weve looked carefully at prevailing market trends, and there appears to be a clear shift away from old-style multi-purpose vehicles. By combining the high seating position of a sport/utility vehicle with the space afforded by a traditional station wagon, crossovers appear to be providing an clear alternative to buyers.”

Most of it’s components will be shared with the 3-Series and the upcoming full model change BMW X3 which should arrive in 2009. The BMW F3 is expected to go into production somewhere in mid-2010.

Following this naming scheme, BMW’s RFK, or Raumfunktionales Konzept which means “space-functional concept” which is expeced to be a larger Mercedes Benz R-Class rival will likely be called the BMW F5.

I don’t know about you, but V3 and V5 definitely seems to have a better ring to it than F3 and F5. Besides, BMW is already going to use the F letter for it’s new chassis codes, since the E chassis codes are sort of running out of numbers.

Related Posts:
2008 BMW V3?
BMW Space Functional Concept - Possible BMW V5 MPV?

Autobild reported that Porsche will be building a smaller version of it’s Cayenne SUV based on the Audi Q5 and Volkswagen Tiguan, in a classic Porsche-VAG platform sharing tradition that was used with the Cayenne-Touareg-Q7 trio. There’s certainly a business case for this, as the Cayenne proved to be a financial success, though many have criticized Porsche for diluting it’s brand by developing an SUV, a far cry from the sports cars it was making.

While most of the time an automaker would just remain silent on such comments, Porsche has responded via Dow Jones Newswires that there are NO plans for a Porsche version of the Audi Q5.

Following the footsteps of carmakers who have ultra-low budget models for emerging markets - the best example so far is Renault with the Renault/Dacia Logan - Hyundai wants to develop a new ultra-cheap car that will cost less than US$10,000.

On the other end of the pricerange, it is rumoured that Hyundai is developing a premium brand for it to sell it’s more high-end rear-wheel-drive V8 cars that are still under development. Hyundai will use a common rear wheel drive platform (presented as the Hyundai Genesis) for these luxury vehicles, and most will likely carry one of Hyundai’s Tau V8 engines.

It will be interesting to see how cheap Hyundai can go for it’s budget car, considering one of Hyundai’s main sales pitches are is it’s lower price already. It would also be equally interesting to see how the market will accept a premium Korean, as even now despite Lexus proving itself worthy of being an equal to BMW and Mercedes Benz, there are still many critics of Lexus.

Even in our local market, many are surprised that the Hyundai Azera is offered here, because it is sold at a price that no one would dream of paying for a Korean car.

I still remember something a friend of mine said, “I will never buy an LS460, because I know somewhere underneath all of that glam and gadgets is Camry DNA.”

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Shots of this clay model concept known as the Proton PM5 Concept has been surfacing in forums lately. Some say it is a future model that Proton has been developing together with Lotus, and others are of the opinion that it is an old design concept for the recently launched Lotus Europa. Anyone know more about this concept? There are some hints of Aston Martin design cues especially on the rear end.

Related Posts:
Group Lotus 5-year Turnaround Plan
Proton and Lotus plan new low-end Lotus
More details on Lotus 5-year turnaround plan

Related follow-up stories:
New Honda Jazz S and V launched in Malaysia!

AutoExpress carried a story late last month saying that Honda will be replacing the Jazz with a new version, however it’s styling will be following that old adage “don’t fix what’s not broken”. It will look more like a facelift of the current Jazz rather than an all new model, however it will be 50mm longer and 20mm wider. The new 2008 model Honda Jazz will make it’s debut October at the Tokyo Motor Show and will go on sale in 2008.

The images in this blog post is AutoExpress’ own artist’s impression. However, a Japanese magazine has a different take on the new Jazz. I somehow trust the Japanese magazine a little more as the same issue also had an artist’s impression of the new 2007 Honda CR-V way before it launched and the production model turned out to look exactly like it. This Japanese magazine artist’s impression is available after the jump, or in the related post linked below. The Japanese take on the new Jazz looks somewhat like a smaller version of the new Honda Stream.

So who is right, AutoExpress, the Japanese magazine, or neither? Or perhaps both will be right and two different Jazz designs will be done for different market tastes, just like how the Civic has both USDM and JDM designs.

Check out more images after the jump.

Related Posts:
2007 Honda Fit/Honda Jazz

Click here to read the rest of New 2008 Honda Jazz

Since Audi is working on the Audi A7, it’s only natural that Volkswagen have an equivalent model in it’s line-up. Platform sharing at it’s best. Work on the new car has started, and it’s Volkswagen internal development codename is the CC or I/O 511. The new Volkswagen CC I/O 511 4-door coupe is expected to make it’s first public debut at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, and go on sale as a Summer 2008 model. Shown above is an artist’s impression of how it might look like.

Related Posts:
2009 Audi A7 Coupe - New CLS Contender
Audi A7, Q5 and another mini-SUV coming up next