Back in early August, Fisker of Orange County unveiled the Karma in spectacular fashion. Well, at least that’s what the dealership wanted us to believe. The event that actually took place in early August is what we’d call a public appearance, but Fisker of Orange County treated the situation as though we had never laid eyes on the oft-delayed, yet-to-be-driven, much-hyped plug-in hybrid.

Now, we’ve been tipped about another Fisker bash and this time, Rickenbaugh Cadillac-Volvo of Denver, CO, is calling it a Karma launch party. Launch? To the best of our knowledge, Fisker is months away (well, maybe) from launching anything, but we don’t want to spoil Rickenbaugh’s party with that bit of info. Or do we?

Hit the jump to watch the Rickenbaugh clan as they attempt, but fail, to accurately describe the attributes that make the Fisker Karma a sparkling addition to their lineup of vehicles. In Rickenbaugh’s defense, they may have mistaken the Karma hybrid for that pure electric roadster that does compete with the likes of Ferrari and Aston Martin. Hat tip to Roy!

[Source: You Tube]

Continue reading Video: Denver dealership hosts Fisker Karma “launch” party

Video: Denver dealership hosts Fisker Karma “launch” party originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Small MPVs might not be the hottest commodities here in the United States, but these little functional wonders sell like hotcakes in other markets, especially Europe. To keep up with the growing segment, Toyota has given its Verso hatch a rather substantial makeover, and we’ll see the all-new Verso-S debut at the Paris Motor Show in just a few weeks.

Upon its launch in the UK in early 2011, the Verso-S will be the shortest B-segment MPV in Europe – the car is less than four meters (157 inches) long. It’s a sharp little hatch, too, looking like the lovechild of a Honda Fit and a Toyota iQ, the latter of which supplies many of the visual cues seen here on the new Verso-S.

Toyota is still keeping quiet about the full specifications, but expect the floodgates to open at the end of September closer to the little MPV’s official debut. Read more in Toyota’s press release, after the jump.

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading Paris Preview: Toyota Verso-S gets an iQ-inspired makeover

Paris Preview: Toyota Verso-S gets an iQ-inspired makeover originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Infiniti has announced that it will officially debut its first hybrid at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. The M35 hybrid first appeared – badged as the Nissan Fuga hybrid – at last fall’s Tokyo Motor Show and is propelled by Nissan’s first in-house hybrid system. The M35 is powered by a retuned Atkinson cycle version of the 3.5-liter VQ V6 paired with a 50-kilowatt electric motor and a lithium ion battery pack that uses the same type of cells that power the Nissan Leaf.

The motor is a disc-type unit packed between the engine and the six-speed automatic transmission in a similar fashion to the systems from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Porsche. Infiniti claims the M35 will deliver V8 performance with the fuel consumption of a four cylinder. The Fuga goes on sale in Japan this fall and the M35 hybrid arrives in the U.S. market next year as a 2012 model.

[Source: Nissan]

LA Auto Show preview: Infiniti to launch 2012 M35 hybrid originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The on-again, off-again plans to bring the Suzuki Swift to the U.S. have been thwarted yet again as the automaker fleshes out its global product plans with its new partners at Volkswagen.

According to Autoweek, the recently redesigned Swift – due to go on sale in Europe and Japan later this year – was nearly federalized for the U.S. and set to arrive Stateside this fall. But after VW gobbled up a 20% stake in Suzuki, the two automakers delayed the launch to analyze product strategy, align resources and, according to Steve Younan, Suzuk American’s head of product development and business development, “get some indication of where they may have found some efficiencies in platform development and powertrain development.”

However, the Swift’s passport to the U.S. may not have been stamped because of something as simple as pricing. Suzuki was determining the Swift’s MSRP when the VW deal went through, stalling the launch in the process, and the combination of a rising yen and recent reduction in Suzuki’s U.S. marketing budget are also to blame for the delay.

If the Swift does get the greenlight for the U.S., expect it to arrive in the summer of 2011… maybe.

[Source: Autoweek]

Report: Suzuki Swift delayed in the U.S., again originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This isn’t surprising at all, since we all know that Hyundai will make an official worldwide premiere of its all-new Elantra sedan in the L.A. this year. The production-ready Veloster coupe will likely be displayed for the first time at next month’s Paris Auto Show, where the automaker will also debut the refreshed i10 minicar.

[Source: Hyundai/Twitter]

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Zipcar, a car sharing service with more than 7,000 vehicles and 400,000 members across the U.S., is reaching out to a younger crowd by offering its services to under-21 drivers in the Cambridge, MA area. Zipcar, along with social rideshare partner Zimride, will double its on-campus fleet to 20 vehicles at Harvard University, while also expanding its service in the surrounding area by offering more than 160 cars off-campus.

The company is reaching out to younger drivers in an effort to boost business as it eyes the possibility of an initial public offering later this year. Whereas traditional car rental services typically scoff at the thought of providing vehicles to less-experienced drivers, Zipcar saw an opportunity for immediate growth and responded by lowering its age requirement in hopes of sweeping up thousands of local college students who could not rent vehicles otherwise. Zipcar predicts that North America’s car-sharing revenue will jump to .3 billion by 2016 and, by opening its doors to younger drivers, the company could cash in on a large percentage of that growing market. Or end up with a lot of extra empty pizza boxes in the back seat.

[Source: Green Car Advisor]

Zipcar to launch car-sharing service for under-21 drivers originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mahindra & Mahindra, the Indian SUV manufacturer has been named as a favoured bidder for SsangYong, the failing South Korean car firm.

SsangYong racked up debts of 4m (400m) and is presently being reorganised under court control. Last year saw fierce protests from SsangYong’s employees, postponing the launch of the all-new C200 compact SUV.

If Mahindra & Mahindra decide to purchase SsangYong, it would give the Indian firm admission into the South East Asian market, where it has no existence and new technology including diesel engines. Mahindra has a fine record of organising industrial quarrels.

Mahindra has alleged to bid roughly 0m (£250m) for the troubled company, which has a 2% market share in South Korea. Mahindra shares dropped 1% once the news was announced, however, industry analysts said that the purchase will benefit the Indian firm in the future.

“The acquisition could be slightly negative for Mahindra in the near term because SsangYong is a small player and scalability is limited. So Mahindra will have to make some investments,” said an analyst from Prabhudas Lilladher. “I am guessing it would take two to three years for Mahindra to turn around the company. That is when we expect the benefits to kick in.”

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While many vehicles offered for sale outside of the U.S. would fail to meet the demands of stateside buyers, the diesel-powered Hyundai i40 wagon appears to have all the goods to please. Of course, we’re not thrilled to let you know that the diesel-powered i40 will not be offered here, but nevertheless we feel obliged to fill you in on the potentially great vehicle that we’re all going to miss out on.

Hyundai will launch the i40 wagon at next year’s Geneva Motor Show, with the sedan version slated for debut next summer. The launch engine will be a downsized 1.7-liter diesel mill available with several power outputs. Hyundai claims that the i40 wagon, a model loosely based on the current Hyundai Sonata, will offer “class leading style, equipment and CO2 emissions.” For now, Hyundai offers up a claimed CO2 emissions in “the low 100s” but we’d expect the tested numbers to come in really close to the century mark. Hyundai initially considered a 2.0-liter diesel for the i40, but deemed it too large for the application and choose the puny 1.7-liter instead. The company has not released mileage estimates, but a ballpark figure of 50 miles per gallon sounds about right to us. With numbers like that, we’ll take two – if we could. How about you?

[Source: Autocar]

Hyundai’s diesel-powered i40 to offer “class-leading CO2 emissions” originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 22 Aug 2010 13:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s no secret the revived 2010 Honda Insight has been a huge sales disappointment in North America. The once-robust sales of the Civic hybrid have also evaporated in the last two years. Apparently, things are far worse for Honda’s hybrids north of the border, where higher fuel prices typically cause people to buy more efficient vehicles, than they are in the U.S.

An unconfirmed report from a Canadian web site indicates that both the Civic hybrid and the Insight are being discontinued there. Checking the Canadian sales charts, the Civic as a whole is one of the top-selling cars with 31,604 units sold in 2010 through July. While hybrid sales are not broken out by Honda Canada, we can do a little educated guessing. Since only 643 of those Civic sales were imports and the hybrids come from Japan, we can figure that those 643 were the hybrid models. Similarly, Canadians only bought 748 Insights in the same period. When it launched, Honda projected 10,000 annual sales in Canada. Evidently Canadians just aren’t taken with hybrids – even the mighty Prius has only found 2,272 Canadian buyers this year.

Honda hasn’t yet responded to a request for comment on the cancellation of these two models. Apparently, Honda Canada will proceed with the launch of sales of the CR-Z, maybe leaving it as the company’s only hybrid. A tip of the hat to Mario!

[Source: Monvolant]

Report: Honda Canada discontinuing Insight and Civic hybrid originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The head of R&D at BMW, Dr. Klaus Draeger has divulged that the forthcoming Gran Coupé will be placed along with the 6 Series with regard to technology and pricing, however, no actual nameplate has been confirmed for production.

Dr. Draeger said that the upscale coupé will certainly make production sometime in 2012 but whether it will be pitched as a 6-Series 4dr coupé or an 8 Series was not established. The Gran Coupé will launch after the 6 Series Coupé next year.

The Gran Coupé Concept has been designed to blend the knack of a grand tourer and a sports car. The roofline is 100mm shorter than that of a 7 Series sedan.

The basics of the upcoming coupé will be shared with the new 5 Series and 7 Series cars. That’ll mean a huge engine variety; a fusion of 6 & 8 cylinder petrol and diesel engines, mated to an 8 speed automatic gearbox. Dr. Draeger even said there is a possibility of a hybrid variant.

“We are in position to bring out an additional hybrid version since we are using the same powertrain architecture as the 5-, 6- or 7 Series,” he said.

In addition to testing a Audi A7 coupé rival, expect to see the Gran Coupé Concept’s long wheelbase, arched bonnet, shark nose, backward set glasshouse, low outline and short front overhang become part of BMW’s trademark design language, as well as its uneven kidney grille, wide front air intake and frameless doors.

“It’s true that the Gran Coupé points to a specific model, a saloon with the presence and elegance of a 7 Series but a more dynamic, sporty character: much more of a driver’s car,” said BMW design chief Adrian van Hooydonk at the car’s launch in China earlier this year. “We’re convinced that we should make a car like this.”

In related news, BMW could also be debuting a 6-Series GT concept at the Paris motor show. Dr. Klaus Draeger accidently exposed that a shooting-brake 6 Series has already been created.

The 6 Series shooting brake was design by chief of design, Adrian Van Hooydonk. The styling also hints at the Gran Coupé Concept. The Dutch designer pens the design of many MINI’s, Rolls-Royce cars and the BMW 6 Series & 3 Series coupé. Many believe Hooydonk enthused the ‘Bangle Butt’ on some current BMW models.

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