Archive for Rumours

MINI’s previous Concept Frankfurt gave us an insight into the future of the MINI product range – currently comprising of the One, One D, Cooper, Cooper S and Cooper Convertible. You could say the Concept Frankfurt was a modern incarnation of the old school Mini Traveller, a way of BMW MINI telling us that it plans to develop a new station wagon MINI. However due to legal reasons, the new MINI station wagon will not be called the MINI Traveller, but instead a new name has been chosen: the MINI Clubman.

Spyshots have already been circulating the internet, and the MINI Clubman will feature an assymetrical design, with one side having just a driver’s door, but the other side having a passenger door as well as a small suicide door which swings open to facilitate easy entry into the rear seats. Auto Motor und Sport reports that the MINI Clubman will also receive all-wheel drive technology in end 2008.

Two other rumoured MINI projects include an all-wheel drive MINI Cooper is also in the works, as well as something a little more tricky. This tricky little thing will be called the MINI Colorado, and it will be somewhat like the typical MINI Cooper, however it will have off-road design elements to it, with a higher suspension as well as all-wheel drive, facilitating some light offroading. Colorado is just an internal codename for the moment, but the old school Mini had a variant called the Moke, which was somewhat like a tiny cross between a Jeep and a Mini (refer to photo in the top left).

XinHua Finance (XFN Asia) says an industry source informed it that Volkswagen AG has signed an agreement to buy a substantial stake in the manufacturing arm of Malaysia’s Proton Holdings Bhd. The stake involved is the rumoured 51%, and an announcement is expected to be made on Feb 8. This syndicated news report caused Proton shares to surge 90 sen to close at a price of RM7.75, more than 13 percent higher. This proves to be an instant win for shareholders like the EPF which recently increased it’s stakeholding in the national car manufacturer.

In response to this, Proton issued a statement saying it could not confirm this report and it was purely a shareholder’s matter. It said to wait for the government’s announcement before the end of Q1 2007. The PM also spoke regarding this issue, saying he did not want to comment as the matter was still under negotation.

Winding Road reports that the possible replacement for the Honda S2000 that Honda has been working on might not end up in the same market segment as the current Honda S2000 is right now – news is that the new S2000 will gain an additional two seats for the rear and will be trimmed to attract an audience who would typically consider more luxurious vehicles like the Mercedes Benz SLK.

While there has been some work done on a new mock-up, production has not been green-lighted yet. Even if approved, it will likely end up as a 2009 model, a long way to go. A rear-wheel drive convertible configuration will be kept, naturally.

Source

A report by UK’s Autocar magazine says Audi’s A5 will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this year. Despite talk that the A5 will be a 4-door coupe competitor to the Mercedes Benz CLS, spy shots have suggested the Audi A5 will most likely a classic 2-door coupe, very sleek, very nice, very similiar to the previously exhibited Audi Nuvolari Concept pictured above. The Audi Nuvolari quattro Concept made it’s debut at the 2003 Geneva Motor Show, so you can say 4 years later it will be reincarnated as the Audi A5!

Debuting for the first time is the usage of Audi’s new MLP platform, which stands for Modular Platform for longtitudinally mounted engines. Current Audis like the Audi A4 I tested last year has it’s engine positioned longtitudinally ahead of the front axle, hence the long front overhang and a very nose-heavy weight balance. Audi’s new MLP chassis has the engine mounted longtitudinally behind the axle, allowing for better weight balance. Combined with quattro, Audi has the ability to tune cars using the new MLP chassis to either understeer or oversteer or have neutral handling.

More photos of the Audi Nuvolari Concept after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Audi A5 to be shown at Geneva 2007, to feature new flexible MLP platform

DaimlerChrysler filed for the CLC-class trademark in the USA back in May 2006 and recently this month it has been published for opposition. The CLC-class trademark was registered for both class 012 – Automobiles and their structural parts and class 028 – Toy model vehicles. It’s not really known what the CLC-class will be, but some have said it might be a convertible version of the Mercedes Benz CL-class shown above. Check the links below for more details on the Mercedes Benz CL-class.

Related Posts:
2007 Mercedes Benz CL-class, CL500 and CL600
2007 Mercedes Benz CL-class AMG, CL55 and CL65

Source: Trademark Electronic Search System

Mercedes Benz is expected to show us a new 4-door convertible concept prototype based on the current Mercedes Benz S-class at the Detroit Motor Show early next year. The model might go into production with choices of engines that include a performance V12 in 2009, just 2 years from now.

But then again, is Mercedes Benz answering a question that no one asked? Is there actually a demand for a 4-door convertible, and what will having 4 doors do to the car’s structural rigidity?

A report from AP says that Volkswagen AG may conduct a due diligence audit on Proton as discussions on a possible tie-up including stake transfer progresses further. Recent newspaper reports have suggested that Volkswagen is the forerunner in the bid to partner with Proton. Volkswagen’s possible 51% purchase into Proton’s manufacturing unit is said to be worth RM 2 billion ringgit, which will result in Proton gaining knowledge through tech transfers as well as a capital injection. Initially, Volkswagen might use Tanjung Malim to assemble the Volkswagen Passat model for the Japan market, taking advantage of Malaysia’s free trade agreement with Japan.

This will result in Volkswagen holding Proton’s manufacturing unit shares, but what is to happen to the government’s 43% stake in the main company Proton Holdings Bhd? This might be where the local partner comes in, a company like DRB-HICOM or Naza could purchase part or all of this stake from the government. Volkswagen is said to have the edge over PSA Peugeot-Citroen because PSA Peugeot-Citroen is interested in a partnership that could involve sales and joint model development collaboration but it did not want to involve a stake transfer.

Sources: IHT, Bernama

Related Posts:
JMEPA: The reason Volkswagen wants Proton?
Proton stake purchase updates
PSA Peugeot Citroen and Proton to meet next week
DRB-HICOM wants to help Proton
DRB-HICOM confirms Proton share purchase talk
Government gives green light to foreign control in Proton

In order to compete with Mercedes’ AMG and BMW’s M divisions, Lexus has decided to develop a performance branding badge for it’s top of the line sports-oriented cars, and it’s decided to tag them with an “F” badge. Trademarks have been filed for the model name IS-F, as well as the F logo shown above.

Looks like some kind of shoe manufacturer logo to me, but anyway, while previously it was rumoured that the BMW M3-competitor Lexus IS-F (IS500) would be powered by a new 2UR-FSE 5.0 liter V8 based on the 1UR-FSE, it is also possible that there will be no new engine and the 4.6 liter V8 1UR-FSE would be used instead. The 1UR-FSE, a 4.6 liter DOHC V8 with Dual VVT-i and direct injection with a high 11.8:1 compression ratio makes 380hp at 6,400rpm and 498Nm of torque at 4,100rpm. The 1UR-FSE also comes with an 8-speed automatic transmission, that’s right – EIGHT ratios!

While Lexus is keeping mum on the issue for the moment, the new F-line of cars is expected to be announced at the Detroit Motor Show 2007. I can just see the advertisement taglines now – “You’ve been F-ed!”

Related Posts:
Lexus IS500 Preview

Following the moves of other car manufacturers that have revived classics (e.g.: the MINI and the New Beetle), Fiat is bringing back it’s old adorable Fiat 500, the town car with a boxer two-cylinder engine that came in either 479cc, 499cc, or 594cc displacements. There were even estate and convertible versions.

Fiat’s new Fiat 500 is set to be a 2007 release model based on the Fiat Panda platform, and word is that the two-cylinder configuration is coming back, now in turbocharged form! The engine is set to be a two-pot 0.9 liter engine making between 90hp to 110hp and 120Nm of torque, which is likely to kick in pretty low in the torque band considering the usual turbocharged torque curve patterns. The photo above is a computer generated rendering of how the new Fiat 500 could potentially look like, but expect the production version to retain all the retro looks of it’s predecessor.

More powerful variants will use the new Fire 1.4 liter engine that will also be put into the new Fiat Bravo. It makes about 150hp, doesn’t look as nice on paper as the 1.4 TSI from Volkswagen but still commendable.

Will the modern interpretation of the Fiat 500 enjoy the same runaway success that BMW has had with the New MINI Cooper? In case you don’t know how the original Fiat 500 looked like, a photo of a 1973 variant is available after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of New Fiat 500 to use two-cylinder turbo engine

Apparently there will be a variant of the Lexus LF-A sold under the Toyota brand under the venerable Supra badge, but instead of using the LF-A’s 500hp V10, it will use a tuned up version of the Lexus GS450h’s 339hp 3.5 liter V6 hybrid engine paired with a 7-speed automatic transmission.

The hybrid powertrain, called the 2GR-FSE, is said to produce power equivalent to a 4.5 liter V8, hence the GS450h moniker. The S in the engine code represents the inclusion of Toyota’s D4-S twin injection system, which combines direct injection with traditional port injection. At low revs, the engine uses a combination of both direct injection and port injection, while at high load conditions only direct injection is used. This supposedly allows for better fuel efficiency.

The new Toyota Supra hybrid sportscar is expected to be unveiled end of 2007.

Related Posts:
2008 Lexus LF-A at Nurburgring
Lexus LF-H Spyshots
Lexus LF-A