Archive for March 5th, 2010
Peugeot Eco-Cup drivers get 66-75 mpg from Paris to Geneva
Filed under: Diesel, MPG, Peugeot, Geneva Motor Show
About a month before the Geneva Motor Show, Peugeot announced a hyper-miling competition for up to 72 drivers to see how little fuel they could use getting from Paris to Geneva. After evaluating all the written entries, Peugeot selected the drivers and set them up last weekend in four different diesel-powered models.
Over the course of the two-day, 622-mile drive, the competitors put up some pretty impressive numbers. The top overall result came in a C-segment 308 hatchback with an overall average of 74.9 miles per gallon (U.S.). Next up was the smaller 207 HDi 90 with 72.5 mpg. Particularly impressive were the 5008 MPV with 70.6 mpg and the new 3008 crossover with 65.9 mpg. Part of the competition included a prescribed time window based on the speed limits along the route to make sure that drivers didn’t simply drive at excessively slow speeds. Peugeot hasn’t published the names of the drivers but each of the class winners are getting a brand new Peugeot.
[Source: Peugeot]
Continue reading Peugeot Eco-Cup drivers get 66-75 mpg from Paris to Geneva
Peugeot Eco-Cup drivers get 66-75 mpg from Paris to Geneva originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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February Sales: Can Ford Retain First Place in the U.S.?
DETROIT – For Toyota, U.S. February sales were conveniently reported last Tuesday, while much of the automotive press were in Geneva. It was convenient timing for General Motors, too. The erstwhile automotive giant reorganized its divisional executives on the same day we learned that Ford Motor Company sales in the U.S. exceeded GM sales in February, for the first time since 1998 – if you count Volvo sales as part of Ford (which I haven’t, until now). As I noted from Geneva earlier this week, Ford may be reconsidering its pending deal to sell Volvo to China’s Geely.
The Explorer was largely responsible for FoMoCo beating GM in ’98, and it’s hard to imagine a large sport/utility vehicle – body-on-frame or crossover – leading such a win today. In recent years, GM has had trouble offering up a single-model bestseller, because most popular models also were Pontiacs, Saturns and Buicks as well as Chevrolets.
No more, and this is why heads rolled just as last month’s sales were reported. GM’s new, constantly shifting management, has said it expects to catch Pontiac and Saturn buyers with its latest Chevy and Buick offerings, which means it expects to hold on to about 21-percent market share. It should have benefitted from Toyota’s problems, which includes the fact that some buyers were scared off last month, while others couldn’t buy certain models for more than a week as Toyota froze sales while it fixed throttle problems.
Leave out Volvo’s sales from Ford and sales of 3,102 Pontiacs, Saturns, Saabs and Hummers from GM, and GM edges out Ford by 1,205 units. We’re falling into the model I’ve long mentioned; North America, like Western Europe, will be dominated by three major automakers (not necessarily the same ones for each market) taking about 18-percent market share each. Toyota isn’t cooperating in that plan for the U.S. for the moment, though.
Mid-size sedans continue to make up the heart of the market, and the Honda Accord, 22,456 (+40.6 percent) far outsold the Toyota Camry, 16,552 (-19.8 percent), Ford Fusion, 16,459 (+116.5 percent), Nissan Altima, 16,198 (+1.2 percent) and Chevrolet Malibu, 15,150 (+31.6 percent).
That huge percentage increase in Fusion sales certainly has something to do with the fact that Ford was clearing out old ’09 models this time last year as it prepared for the much-improved ’10 model, Motor Trend’s Car of the Year. But even with sales just short of the Camry and Fusion, it’s obvious GM needs to do something about the Malibu as it talks about how important the Chevrolet brand is to the company’s future. If the new Buick LaCrosse is any indication, the shift from Epsilon I to the Epsilon II platform could help, although that’s at least two years off.
By the way, I thought it might be an interesting little exercise to compare various midsize models sharing platforms. If you combine the popular midsize sedans with their often higher-profit-margin platform mates, here’s what you get: Accord/TSX/TL: 26,989; Altima/Maxima: 21,499, Fusion/Milan/MKZ: 20,895; Malibu/LaCrosse: 19,195 and Camry/ES 350: 18,901.
Here’s a quick look at America’s Big Six. I’ll be back with a full report on March sales in early April …
Ford: 142,285, up 43.1 percent.
- F-Series sold 32,895, up 39.3 percent. GM wasn’t even close, with 27,118 for Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra combined. Chrysler sold 10,267 Ram pickups (-29 percent), Toyota sold 5,468 Tundras (-4.5 percent) and Nissan sold 1,721 Titans (+14.1 percent).
- After F-Series, Fusion was the next-bestseller, then Escape, up 50.2 percent, to 15,156.
- Then Focus, up 38.4 percent, to 13,708. Taurus was up 93.3 percent (again, compared with an outgoing model), to 6,359 and outsold Mustang.
- Subtract Volvo’s 4,641 sold (+38.3 percent) and FoMoCo moved 137,644, up 43.3 percent.
GM: 141,951, up 11.5 percent.
- Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac accounted for 138,849 of that, up 32.2 percent.
- Chevy Camaro leads its segment, at 6,482 units, versus 5,115 Ford Mustangs (-71.1 percent) and 2,145 Dodge Challengers (-35 percent). Hyundai does not break out coupe sales from Genesis, which sold 1,762 last month.
- Chevy Silverado was 19,822, up 0.2 percent. Sierra was 6,296, off 1.6 percent.
- At Cadillac, car sales fell, with CTS down 17.5 percent to 2,690, while sport/utility sales were up. SRX rose 541.7 percent (yes, that’s right) to 3,542, making it the most popular Cadillac model, and Escalade was 1,418, up 14.5 percent. Escalade ESV was up 32.7 percent, to 552 and the EXT was off 38.6 percent, to 102.
Toyota/Lexus/Scion: 100,027, off 8.7 percent.
- Corolla, at 16,996 (-6.1 percent) outsold Camry’s 16,552 (-19.8 percent).
- Prius was up 10.2 percent, to 7,968.
- RAV4 was down 19 percent, to 6,799.
- Toyota division, including Scion, was off 10.3 percent, to 52,827.
- Scion accounted for just 3,027 units among three models.
- Lexus was up 5.2 percent, to 13,787.
- Gainers included Tacoma, up 5.7 percent, to 8,325, 4Runner, up 54.7 percent to 2,973, Lexus GX, up 185.5 percent, to 1,473 and Lexus LS, up 14.1 percent, to 799.
Chrysler: 84,449, up 0 percent, or +399 vehicles.
- Losing the hood strakes continues to be to Chrysler’s advantage, with the Sebring up 118 percent, to 3,160. Dodge Avenger was up 78 percent, to 3,442.
- Chrysler 300 was up 62 percent, to 4,487. Dodge Charger was up 55 percent, to 10,363, and it looks like they’re still selling cop cars.
- Jeep Patriot was up 38 percent, to 2,986. Grand Cherokee was up 40 percent, to 6,614. All other Jeeps were down.
- Wrangler, for example, fell 34 percent, to 5,967.
- Dodge Journey was off 10 percent, to 4,139, though Caravan was up 4 percent, to 9,390.
Honda/Acura: 80,671, up 16.7 percent.
- Honda division was up 12.7 percent, to 71,732, while Acura was up 16.7 percent, to 8,939.
- Acura’s cars all were down, while its SUVs were up. MDX rose 64.9 percent, to 3,266, for example.
- Civic was up 5 percent, to 16,471.
- Fit was down 31.1 percent, to 2,925, and Honda sold 2,104 Insights.
Nissan/Infiniti: 70,189, up 29.4 percent.
- Nissan was up 31.9 percent, to 63,148. Infiniti was up 10.7 percent, to 7,041.
- Nissan Versa was strong, up 130.1 percent, to 11,609.
- Maxima was up 89.5 percent, to 5,301.
- Xterra was up 34.8 percent, to 1,490, and Rogue was up 11.4 percent, to 6,143.
- Murano fell 1.7 percent, to 4,056.
2011 electric car incentive details released (UK)
The first details of 2011’s £5k electric car allowance have been released by the Government. Subject to approval from the European Commission, the grant will be available from January 2011 and will fund 25% of the purchase price of a new electric car – up to a maximum of £5,000.
The contribution will be available for fully electric cars, such as the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the 2011 Nissan Leaf, plug-in electric hybrids such as the Vauxhall/Opel Ampera and hydrogen fuel-cell cars like the Honda FCV.
Anyone wanting to claim the grant, will have to buy a car that meets the following criteria:
• It must be a car – not quad bike-based vehicles such as the G-Wiz.
• Emit a maximum of 75g/km of CO2 if it’s a plug-in hybrid
• Have a minimum range of 70 miles as an electric-only vehicle
• Have a minimum battery-powered range of 10 miles if a plug-in hybrid
• Have a three-year or 75,000-mile warranty
• Have a three-year warranty on the battery or a five-year warranty if requested by the customer (presumably at extra cost, although this has not been clarified)
• It must retain ‘a reasonable degree of performance after a three-year period of normal use’. Further definition of this is not given.
As with the scrappage scheme, the discount will be applied at the point of sale, so car buyers won’t have to pay the full amount first and then claim the money back. There is no limit to the number of cars you can buy to receive the cash, and the scheme is open to both private individuals and companies.
A total of £230 million is being put aside by the Government, which is enough for at least 46,000 cars. The scheme will run to 31st March 2014 at the latest and be reviewed after 12 months.
Every manufacturer is looking at electric cars, hybrids and fuel cells, either through in-house development or by collaborating with other companies. Here are some of the cars already here – or in advanced stages of development.
Electric cars already on sale:
Citroen C1 ‘evie
Fiat Doblo Electrique
G-Wiz (would not qualify for grant)
Mega City (would not qualify for grant)
Mini E – in public trails, no confirmation of production car
Tesla Roadster
Electric cars on the way:
Citroen C-Zero/ Mitsubishi iMiEV/ Peugeot iOn – October 2010
Toyota Prius – trials underway, sales in 2011
Nissan Leaf – March 2011
Renault Twizy – late 2011
BMW Active – 2011
Volvo C30 – two year trial starts in 2011
Audi e-tron – 2012
Renault Zoe – 2012
Smart ED – 2012 (with trials starting in 2011)
Volvo V70 plug-in – 2012
Tesla S – by 2013
Plug-in Hybrids on the way:
Renault Fluence – 2011
Vauxhall/Opel Ampera – 2011
Report: Mahindra to set U.S. Pik-Up launch date in next few weeks
Filed under: SUV, Truck, Work, India, Diesel
Tired of waiting around for an official launch date for the hotly anticipated (in certain circles, at least) compact diesel pickup truck from Indian automaker Mahindra? Good news, then. According to a report from Automotive News, the largest utility vehicle maker in India and its U.S. distributor, Global Motors, will make an official announcement regarding the targeted sale date of the Pik-Up within the next two-to-three weeks.
Before you get too excited, realize that Mahindra only hopes to announce a launch date – when that date will actually be is still anyone’s guess. In fact, Mahindra President Pawan Goenka said in an interview that the vehicle is still undergoing Environmental Protection Agency testing here in the States and an official application to allow the truck to be sold here has yet to take place.
Following the Pik-Up’s official launch in the U.S., Mahindra plans to continue focusing on its export markets with a new SUV designed specifically for the European and North American markets. Judging by how long it’s taken to get its first model on the market, though, we’ll keep our excitement bottled up for the time being.
Gallery: Mahindra Pik-Up
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Report: Mahindra to set U.S. Pik-Up launch date in next few weeks originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Video: Aston Martin releases new One-77 testing footage
Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Videos, Aston Martin
To be blunt, the Aston Martin One-77 is all sorts of awesome. Having recently crested the 220-mph top speed mark in testing, the One-77 will be the fastest, most expensive Aston road car ever produced. But this hypercoupe isn’t just about warp speed – it’s stylish, elegant, and with only 77 hand-built examples hitting the streets, quite illustrious, as well.
Aston Martin just released a new video of the One-77 testing on the automaker’s proving grounds, meaning we get to listen to that 7.3-liter V12 being wrung out to max revs. This car is both an audio and aural delight, and we encourage you to see (and listen) for yourself by watching the video after the jump.
Gallery: Aston Martin One-77 at Galpin Motors
[Source: Aston Martin]
Continue reading Video: Aston Martin releases new One-77 testing footage
Video: Aston Martin releases new One-77 testing footage originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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