Car News Articles

Fueled by a surge in oil prices, Russia has turned into the hottest of the hot emerging markets — countries where automakers that can supply the right models earn a lot of money, particularly in the early stages of the boom when demand is outstripping supply.

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Back when he was running the Volkswagen group, the rumor was that Bernd Pischetsrieder used to enjoy sitting outside at his house in the Bavarian countryside smoking his cigars.

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Honda CEO Takeo Fukui today confirmed Honda’s plans to build an expanded range of hybrid petrol-electric cars, including a new affordable model and a sports coupe based on the CR-Z concept. It’s a signal that Honda won’t let Toyota rule the hybrid market with its Prius and planned spin-offs; Fukui said he planned to build a half a million petrol-electric hybrid cars every year.

The important new model announced today is an affordable model to slot beneath the existing Civic Hybrid. Clearly, ‘affordable’ means different things to different people, but CAR Online understands the five-door, five-seater should cost around £14,000. As such it’s a cheaper rival to the Prius and will go on sale in Europe in spring 2009. Honda aims to build 200,000 every year.

Honda’s ‘Prius’: the lowdown

Fukui didn’t reveal the full tech breakdown of the new model, but said the new affordable hybrid would major on ‘fuel efficiency, manoeuvrability, comfort and styling’.

While much of the car remains shrouded in secrecy, we do know it will have a revised hybrid petrol-electric powertrain with a new control unit and lighter, more compact battery. The electric motor (made in Honda’s Suzuka plant) is also thinner.

Sounds like it’ll be a hybrid Civic!

Nope. Honda has revealed the affordable car will be a standalone product, not based on an existing model. Our sources suggest it will be smaller than today’s Civic Hybrid saloon – closer to a Golf or Astra hatchback.

Fukui also said it will use a completely new platform, housing the hybrid gubbins and battery under the boot for better packaging.

Click ‘Next’ to find out about the successor to the Honda Insight

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A frozen lake in the Arctic Circle, the 276bhp Saab Turbo X and rally legend Per Eklund… What more could you want? Ben Barry meets his 61-year-old hero to see if Saab’s new turbocharged 2.8-litre V6 9-3 is up to scratch and a worthy 30-year celebration of the original 99 Turbo. Watch our video in the window below. And click here to read our review of the 9-3 X.

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The Jaguar XF has done more to bolster the Coventry brand’s image than anything else in recent years; now the new XF-R should give Jaguar a further shot in the arm, and we’ve got the full lowdown on 2009’s hottest new car.

Caught in CAR Online’s exclusive new spy photos, it’s plain to see the new performance XF is aimed squarely at the BMW M5, Audi RS6 and Merc E63 AMG.

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IndyCar fan favorite Helio Castroneves admitted this week to The Los Angeles Times that he is pondering a move to NASCAR. All those gasps and shrieks you hear are the Indy Racing League suits wondering how they might market the sport without its favorite, er…dancing champion. Read more here.

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While this sounds like a decent deal when gas is sure to hit $4 per gallon or more in the near future — and already has in some areas — I was struck by its shortsighted nature. Instead of promoting the fact that it has several models whose EPA-estimated gas mileage is more than 28 mpg on the highway, or that it’s a leader in bringing clean diesel vehicles to market in the U.S., or even that it’s produced E85-capable vehicles since 1998, Chrysler has given us a gimmick. I feel a little pandered to.

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A number of our Best and Brightest have emailed this link to The Wall Street Journal. The article seeks to reposition the American auto industry’s most recent go-go years (1999 - 2005) as a bubble: a delusional miscalculation by the industry’s movers and shakers that demand would increase, well, forever. In a sense, yes, absolutely. The Big 2.8 inflated their turnover with dodgy deals and bulk sales. And now they’re getting hammered by unsustainable excess production capacity. But it should be said that The Big 2.8 have lost market share to their rivals, as well. In other words, their fall from grace is not just a reflection of a down market; it’s a reflection of decades of competitive mistakes, misfires and misadventures. They didn’t misjudge demand as much as they misjudged everything else. And it’s not like they weren’t warned. This website has been sounding the alarm for over five years. We predicted the death of SUV and truck sales. We flagged cannibalism. We pointed our fingers at image-bleeding brands. We highlighted hybrids. We rang the alarm on cash burn. We predicted the systematic pillaging of the UAW’s multi-billion dollar Health Care VEBA (oh wait…). And TTAC will continue to ring in the changes, no matter how gruesome. The only bright spark in all of this is the fact that a blogger from GMNext has responded to a post. This is the first time Detroit’s gone online with us. Perhaps they finally recognize they need strong medicine. But probably not.  

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Ah, to live in a country where the powers-that-be can just… be. As Auto-Lenta.ru [via Autobloggreen] reports in its own special way (that’s a pretty politically powerful car!), Moscow authorities are saying nyet to passenger vehicles that don’t meet Euro-II pollution standards (which is just about everything running made before 2005). These dirty cars are now запрещенный from entering the city center. Autobloggreen pronounces the decision an environmental initiative– but they would, wouldn’t they? The ban couldn’t possibly have anything to do with stimulating new car sales or giving the commissars more parking spaces or tidying-up the city for tourists or anything other than saving the children. Meanwhile, fans of Borat are immediately ordered to click on this link, for a translated car review called “Good outside, inside the gray.” “Volkswagen Touran was not just a car, but also funny toy. Tell me, what machines have officially sold in Russia, may be to amuse a little semi-parking system, which itself steep steering wheel?” True dat.

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