Missed: The future of Cyrsler/Fiat - REPORT

While we were off, Fiat announced what were they going to do with Chrysler, now they own it. Of course, Fiat CEO - Sergio Marchionne, said this future plans for Chrysler is for the next 5 years. So here goes:

Starting off with the loans that the U.S Government has given Chrysler, Marchionne promised that by 2014, Chrysler would have payed all their $12.4 million loans, and even generated a profit of $5 billion. Chrysler say that they have $5.7 million in-hand.

Chrysler will also be the Fiat's channel to come to U.S. showrooms, as Fiat announced their 500 will be available in U.S. Chrysler dealers in 2010. Also, rebadged Chrysler vehicles (Chrysler 300 to go as Dancia, and Caliber to go as Fiat) will go on sale in Europe within the next year or two. Which hints the reason why Chrysler will be building smaller-sized cars, with fewer V8 engines, and more fuel-efficient 4-cylinders.

Starting with the Chrysler brand, the brand will be getting an all-new logo (image right). Next year, the brand will present the redesigned Sebring and 300 sedans, while in 2012, a new Fiat-based compact sedan will join the range., In 2013, Chrysler will get three new products based on Fiat platforms, including a Fiat Group sourced small car (most likely the Fiat Punto), a successor to the Sebring and a new midsize crossover. An all-new Chrysler-developed Town and Country minivan will be presented in 2014.

Moving to Chrysler's Dodge brand, Marchionne announced the official split of the brand into two cores - Dodge car brand, and Ram Truck brand. As for the car brand, Dodge will be unveiling refreshed versions of the Avenger and Journey, along with a fully redesigned Charger (teaser image right) sedan and a new fullsize CUV. The Nitro will receive a facelift in 2011, as will the Challenger pony car, while the Viper will be freshened up in 2012, and will only produce 500 more units. The same year will see the introduction of a new Fiat-based compact sedan that will replace the Caliber which will be discontinued after 2012. Dodge will get yet two more Fiat-based models, a small car and a replacement for the Avenger sedan. The Grand Caravan will be replaced with a new model in 2014.

As for Ram Truck brand, plans include the possible presentation of a new mid-size pickup truck based on a car platform in 2011, and the launch of Fiat-based small and large commercial vans in 2012. Furthermore, the company said that it will discontinue the production of the Dakota in mid-2011.

And finally, Jeep. In 2010, aside from the market launch of the new Grand Cherokee, the Patriot, Compass, Wrangler and Liberty will be freshened. The following year, the Wrangler will receive another update including a new interior. 2013 will see the Jeep brand receiving three new models based on Fiat platforms including a small SUV, a common replacement for the Patriot and Compass, and a new Liberty. The Commander will most likely be dropped off in 2011.

So what do you think? Can this 5-year business plan really change the fate of Chrysler, and the American auto-manufacturing business? Well tell us what you think in the comments below.

Source: [Chrysler via Autoblog and egmCarTech]

Report : Aston Martin Cygent to start production in 2010, with prices start at $32,000

The global economic and enviromental down-turn has put a big dent on a sports car makers. This is to be seen in many automakers like Porsche, and Aston Martin. As we saw earlier this year, Aston have teased their new city car - Cygent Concept, which is basically a re-badged Toyota iQ. Well, the falling British company says that this concept has plans to go into real production!

Automotive News has reports that Aston Martin have already started producing test-mules of the tiny Cygent city car, and it will be on sale next year. Aston Martin says that their Cygent “will offer customers a distinctive, intelligent and exclusive solution for urban travel in style and luxury” and is “based on the critically acclaimed Toyota iQ with a Euro NCAP 5-star safety package.”

Toyota will be shipping assembled iQ units to Aston’s Gaydon, England plant. Aston will then upgrade the interior and exterior while leaving the mechanicals alone (1.3L, 100 hp, and FWD). Aston Martin say that the Cygent will be sold to customers who already own Aston, but want a practical everyday commuter. Which is why the Cygent will cost around $32,000, or double the price of a Toyota iQ.

Source : [Automotive News]

Report : Penske walks away from Saturn deal, and GM forced to kill Saturn brand !

No matter how ready you are expected to hear bad news, it'll always be a shock. Back last summer, when General Motors was crying for some extra cash, it was reported that their Saturn barnd will be sold to Penske Automotive Group. While that was certainly good news, Penske and GM went through a lot of discussion sessions about the supply, maintinance, and labor.

Well after months of discussion, Penske announced that it's mostly worried on future supply of vehicles, and therefore their negotiations with GM about the purchase of Saturn have been canceled. “Since announcing its discussions with GM on June 5, 2009, the company has been in the due diligence process to determine the feasibility of developing an independent distribution model for Saturn-branded products and service parts in the United States, including the sourcing of vehicles from GM and other potential suppliers,” Penske said in a statement. “The company had negotiated a definitive agreement with GM to source vehicles on a contract-manufactured basis for a period of time.”

On GM's side, CEO Fritz Henderson announced that the Saturn brand will be "winding down" the brand, until Saturn finds a new owner. “This is very disappointing news and comes after months of hard work by hundreds of dedicated employees and Saturn retailers who tried to make the new Saturn a reality,” GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in a statement. However, Henderson also stated that customers can still buy Saturn vehicles in dealers, and owners can still have their vehicles serviced. GM is determinded that no jobs will be lost, even after the death of Saturn.

Source : [Penske Automotive Group, General Motors]

Say Happy Birthday: Motor Gears marks 1 year anniversary !

Personally, I actaully didn't believe this was coming. When I first started this blog, I thought this was kind of a temporary thing. I thought I would be interested in this sort of thing for a month or two, and then it would be trasfared to waste. Well, to me, it was just a blink of an eye, and here it is. ONE YEAR since I started this job, and a year later, this what Motor Gears has achieved:

* 720 posts published

* More than 58,000 views

* 7 main world-wide auto-shows fully covered

* Written in two languages: English, Arabic

* Exclusive Motor Gears features, like Drawing Of The Week

* "Featured Blogger" award, which comes from CarDekho.com

* Finally, 1 road-test. Though, many more is yet to come

To be brutally honest, some business do achieve more within a year, but for us, that is pretty darn good. Please check back at Motor Gears, September 30, for some very special news and updates!

Report : Chrysler, Hyundai and Mitsubishi end engine manufacturing alliance!

It seems that after the merge of Chrysler and Fiat, Chrysler has to end any deals they had in the past. First notice, that Chrysler have ended collaboration with Nissan, into producing the Armada and Titan. Well, here's more "out-of-deal" collaboration.

Back in 2005, all Chrysler, Hyundai, and Mitsubishi have allied together, to create the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance (GEMA), which eventually manufactured fuel-efficeint 4-cylinder engines that were avilable in all Chrysler, Hyundai, and Mitsubishi products. However, it was announced by Chrysler, that both Mitsubishi Motors Corporation and Hyundai Motor Company, have sold their interests in the manufacturing alliance to the Chrysler Group. “Going forward, GEMA and its employees will continue to build state-of-the-art engines for Chrysler Group’s line of exciting, fuel efficient vehicles,” Chrysler said in a statement.

Nonetheless, GEMA will now build engines for Chrysler vehicles only, including the Dodge Caliber, Dodge Avenger, the Jeep Compass, and the Jeep Patriot.

Source : [Chrysler]

Report : 2009 Hyundai Genesis sedan most awarded car of 2009

As we just recieved our own award, this report came in. It seems the folks at Hyundai have been recieving awards for thir luxury Genesis sedan. In fact, the 2009 Hyundai Genesis sedan didn't only win the 2009 North American Car of the Year award, the Genesis was honored 20 more awards as well. That in truth, makes the Genesis sedan "the most awarded car of 2009."

“As the awards accumulated, we realized not only how well designed the Genesis was, but how far the Hyundai brand had come,” said Scott Margason, director of Product & Strategic Planning for Hyundai. “Consumers and automotive industry influencers really embraced the idea of Hyundai producing a luxury product.”

Refresher:

- 2009 Hyundai Genesis Sedan: So what's makes the Genesis special? Well, it's a bargain full-size luxury car, that won't be embaressed against a BMW 7-Series, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and Lexus LS. It supports all the latest and most modern luxury gizmos, and runs through a rear-drive platform. The entry-level 2009 Hyundai Genesis is powered by a 290 hp 3.8L V6, while the top-range Genesis carries a 375 hp 4.6L V8. Prices start at $32,250 and max-out at $42,000 for a fully loaded Genesis.

Source: [Hyundai]

2009 Hyundai Genesis Sedan Awards:

1. 2009 North America Car of the Year

2. Motor Trend – America’s Top 40 New Cars

3. J.D. Power and Associates – Automotive, Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) – Most appealing midsize premium car

4. J.D. Power and Associates – Vehicle Launch Index (VLI) – Highest ranked 2009 all-new or redesigned vehicle

5. The Car Book 2009 – Best Bet (intermediate category)

6. About.com – Best New Car7. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance – Best New Model (sedans $30,000-$45,000)

8. NADAguides.com – Car of the Month (April)

9. NADAguides.com – Top 5 Luxury Cars

10. NADAguides.com – Best Car Buy – Top luxury cars under $35,000

11. Autotropolis.com – Car of the Year

12. Cars.com – Car of the Year

13. On Wheels – Car of the Year

14. AutoPacific – Ideal Vehicle Awards – Aspirational Luxury Category

15. AutoPacific -Vehicle Satisfaction Awards – Aspirational Luxury Category

16. Consumer Reports – Top-Rated Vehicle (upscale sedan category)

17. Consumer Digest – Best Buy (luxury segment)

18. MyRide/Autobytel – Car of the Year

19. Ward’s Auto World – 10 Best Engines (4.6 liter Tau V8)

20. Automobile Journalists Association of Canada – Canadian Car of the Year

21. Automobile Journalists Association of Canada – Best New Luxury Vehicle Under $50,000

Motor Gears wins an award !!

It is a known fact, that this automotive blog isn't famous. In certain days, there won't be any visitors nor comments. However, out of no where, this came up; an award! Yes, Motor Gears has been awarded as "Featured Blogger" from CarDekho.com. Car Dekho features car blogs, by judging on a certain post. Our winning post was: New Reveal At Geneva : 2009 Hyundai i20 3-door; 2009 Hyundai ix-onic Concept. So with this award, which we also got a certificate for it, Motor Gears may have a future after all. You never know what could happen someday!

We would like to thank Car Dekho dearly for this. It really made us happy, that we couldn't wait and just share it with the world.

BREAKING : Chrysler and Nissan end collaboration, Durango-based Armada and Ram-based Titan dead !

A several years back, Chrysler and Nissan have made a collaboration, to share some car platforms, and even future vehicles. Although the deal was to share some car platforms for only certain markets, the deal-breaker was to share the truck platform that the Dodge Durango and Dodge Ram created, onto the Durango-based Nissan Armada and Ram-based Nissan Titan, for worldwide market.

Well, the news here, Chrysler and Nissan have announced that it's best for both companies, to end collaboration, and therefore, kill all the deals they had. That means, the Armada and Titan are pretty much dead, until Nissan finds a new platform to base them on. Despite the Armada and Titan were somewhat successful, it seems that Chrysler, and its new Fiat owner, were the ones who demanded to end collaboration.

The collaboration involved:

1. Nissan providing to Chrysler a compact sedan for the South American market beginning this year.

2. Nissan providing to Chrysler a small vehicle for global markets beginning in 2010.

3. Chrysler providing to Nissan a full-size pickup truck starting in 2011.

Source : [Chrysler, Nissan]

Papa John finally reunited with his 1971 Camaro Z28 after 25 years, and pays $250,000 to owner!

Here's a long love story. John Schnatter, who's the founder of Papa John's Pizza company, needed some financial aid to start off his pizza business. So, to help his dad, Papa John Schnatter sold off his 1971 Chevrolet Camaro Z28. It was then, that Papa John lost his first love.

25 years later; and now Papa John's Pizza has more than 35 world-wide restaurants, Papa John wanted to reunite with his Camaro. So, he ran a search-campaign, offering $25,000 for anyone who has his Camaro. However, with all the searching, the offer eventually plummeted to $250,000. The whole search was chronicled online at www.papasroadtrip.com, where thousands offered tips on how to find his car.

Well, after months and months of hopeless searching, Papa John was finally reunited with his original 1971 Camaro Z28, and in its original color. Thanks mainly to our friends at "Obsessed with the cult of cars" - Jalopnik. So how was it done? A man by the name of Jeff Robinson heard about the contest; leading him to the Internet to search for details. He eventually ended up getting in touch with Jalopnik’s associate-editor, Matt Hardigree. Hardigree met Papa John during his search-campaign stop in Houston. Hardigree investigated the details himself, then contacted Papa John’s with the lead.

As a result, Jeff Robinson was paid $250,000 for Papa John's Camaro Z28. Papa John also offered a $25,000 reward to the family who originally bought the car from Papa John in 1983, in appreciation for their help in linking the contest winner with Papa John’s. So here, Papa John got back to his first-love, and hopefully will live happily ever after! What's to learn is that, while something worthy to the heart is sacrificed for the need of an ambition, it will surely pay-off, and pay-off very well.

Source : [Jalopnik]

BREAKING : Hyundai-Kia overtakes Ford Motor Company, becoming the world's 4th largest automaker!

In the last few years or so, the merged Hyundai and Kia have been going through a great phase of the company. Not only they are a great competition to the Japanese automakers, but recently to American automakers as well. They newly modern cars are reliable, offer lots of kit, well-priced, and also have a great warranty. So lately, they're getting what they paid for, great sales reports.

In fact, according to Automotive News Data Center, the Korean automaker have sold cars so much, that now Hyundai-Kia have overtaken Ford Motor Company (FoMoCo), and becoming the world's 4th automotive manufacturer, after Toyota, General Motors, and Volkswagen. While Ford saw a 30% decline in sales during the first half of 2009, Hyundai-Kia got to sell 8,000 more vehicles than the giant Ford.

It's funny how these Koreans at Hyundai-Kia have improved. Because just a decade ago, they were ranked as 11th largest automaker, and people didn't have any trust of them. Now, it's a totally different situation, were we all are stunted by how their new cars have become so much better. It's really a great story that teaches us, that everything we do, will pay off in the end!

Source : [Hyundai , Kia]

BREAKING : 2009 Gumpert Apollo Speed sets new Nurburgring record for production cars! [w/video]

It's such a bad for the 2009 Dodge Viper ACR! Viper fans have always been praising that their Viper ACR super-muscle is the fastest production car to ever lap the fearsome 13-mile Nurburgring Nordschleife track, in a time of 7:22.1. Yes, that is extremely quick; not today though!

German magazine, Sport-Auto, have announced that they have lapped the 2009 Gumpert Apollo Speed, around the Nurburgring in 7:11.57. That is a new Nurburgring record for production cars, which now crowns the Apollo Speed as the fastest production car ever lapped the 'Ring, and shattering the Viper ACR by a killing 11 seconds. Dang! The time was recorded on August 13th while the Gumpert Apollo Speed was piloted by 26 year-old driver Florian Gruber.

So who did the Apollo Speed do it? Well, read the refresher below. But let's not forget shall we, that the 2010 Devon GTX (which is based on a Viper), will be coming to the 'Ring; and that already took the fastest production car record at Mazda Raceway - Laguna Seca. So Viper fans, the battle has yet to stay!

Refresher:

- 2009 Gumpert Apollo Speed: Based on a Gumpert race-car, the 2009 Gumpert Apollo Speed is powered by a mid-mounted Audi 4.2L twin-turbocharged V8, packing 700 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque. Lanch to 60 mph comes in 3-seconds flat, and will continue to a top speed of 223 mph. The 2009 Gumpert Apollo Speed also spots race-tuned suspension and chassis. All that, plus now, the 2009 Gumpert Apollo Speed sets a new Nurburgring record for production cars, of 7:11.57.

Watch the lap in the two embedded videos below.

Source : [Sport Auto via Fastest Laps via YouTube]

Official : Qatar buys 10% stake in Porsche!

Now that Volkswagen and Porsche have nearly come to a merger deal, it seems Qatar wants to get in the mix as well. Porsche announced that 10% of its shares have gone to Qatar Holdings, in order to straighten their financial position. Porshce also sold a 42% stake in Porsche AG for about $4.7 billion, and sold a package of cash-settled options on VW shares (Porsche owns 50% stake in VW) to Qatar, which they say will free up approximately 1 billion euros in cash.

While that its such a complex deal, it is also not easy to know who will be controlling Porsche and VW. Because when Porsche started buying shares off VW, they now ended-up with more shares than they could afford. It's still not entirely clear who will own what when the whole deal is done in 2011, but it appears that Qatar may end up as one of the biggest shareholders of the merged Porsche-VW company.

Source : [Porsche via Reuters]

LEAF fights Volt : Nissan claims 367 mpg for 2010 LEAF EV, and less expensive than Chevrolet Volt !

Now that General Motors announced that their 2011 Chevrolet Volt will be getting 230 miles-per-gallon, it's time for other automakers to fight back. Well, Nissan is very competitive, and now even in mpg numbers!

Just a couple of weeks ago, Nissan unveiled their latest fully-electric 2010 LEAF EV. Although we didn't get much information about it, but Nissan said that the LEAF can run up-to 100 miles without a sip of fuel, while the Volt will only drive 40 mile electrically before it uses the petrol engine as a recharger. Well, Nissan again fights the Volt hard, specially after the epic fuel-economy number.

According to Nissan's Twitter account, they said “Nissan Leaf = 367 mpg, no tailpipe, and no gas required. Oh yeah, and it’ll be affordable too!” Nissan said that it came up with the average using the Department Of Energy’s formula, which is just EPA's; it measures kilowatt-hours per 100 miles traveled, and then converted to mpg. So here's Nissan giving 367 mpg, all for less money than the engineers at Chevy ask. Nissan claim that the price of the 2010 LEAF is around $33,000, while the Volt is going to be around $40,000. Also, the LEAF EV should come to showrooms early next year, and Chevrolet will bring the Volt end of 2010, if not even 2011. So has the Volt already been killed? Well, all that is on paper. The truth should come in the real world.

Source : [Nissan Twitter]

BREAKING : Michael Schumacher cancels temporary return to Formula One, so Luca Badoer to fill-in for rest of season!

We were all excited when the news came in, that Ferrari's 7-time Formula-One champion Michael Schumacher will make a return to F1, to replace the injured Felipe Massa for rest of season until Massa recovers from his 120 mph crash. However, Schumacher had yet to go through F1's check-up routines, to see if his body can still handle all the F1-car's g-force and speed. Well, guess what? Schumacher couldn't pass the test!

Due to his neck injury, back in February of this year when he was racing a motorcycle, Michael Schumacher couldn't pass the check-up, and therefore, wouldn't be able to race in Formula-One. So Schumacher announced that he's sorry he can't step in for Massa. “The consequences of the injuries caused by the bike accident in February, fractures in the area of head and neck, unfortunately have turned out to be still too severe,” Schumacher said. “I am disappointed to the core. I am awfully sorry for the guys of Ferrari and for all the fans which crossed fingers for me,” Schumacher said.

The F1 Ferrari Team though, got the replacement immediately. He's a senior test driver for Ferrari road-cars, Luca Badoer. Although he's 38-years old, and hasn't been in F1 since 1999, Badoer fits the job. Body wise, Ferrari say that he's perfectly fit, and he'll sustain them in F1 as in driving wise. “Since I’ve been a child I always wanted to race for Ferrari and now I’ve got the possibility to make this desire come true,” Badoer said. “I’m really sorry for Michael, because I know how much he wanted to return: I’m saying that as his friend and his fan.

So, expect to see Badoer racing car #3 with Ferrari F1 Team in the European Grand Prix on August 21-23 in Valencia, Spain.

Source : [Ferrari via F1-Live]

New GM : 25 new models to come through by 2011

With General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson announcing the big news on the up-coming 2011 Chevrolet Volt, which will be achieving 230 mpg, he continues to announce more news on the other cars that will be coming the next two years.

GM confirmed that it plans to launch 25 new models for its remaining 4 core brands (Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, GMC), by the end of 2011. CEO Fritz Henderson confirmed that a group of consumers and select media were shown the plans for what GM has in-works by 2011 at GM’s Design Center and Milford Proving Ground.

So let's start with Chevrolet. Chevrolet will be getting 10 new models for the next two years. Surely, there's the supposed GM saviour - the 40-mile electric Volt, the Spark city car, the Cruze compact-size sedan, the Camaro Convertible, a production version of the Orlando, production of the GPiX Crossover Coupe Concept, and maybe some others.
As for Buick and GMC, the Detroit automaker said that the two brands will present a total of 10 new entries through 2011, which will include cars like the up-coming luxury compact-sedan - the 2011 Buick Excelle (spy picture above), the new Buick Regal, and the GMC Terrain city-crossover.
Most interestingly, Cadillac will be getting 5 all-new models. The first comer will be the beautiful and longly-awaited - the 2010 CTS and CTS-V Coupe, along with the all-new Escalade, which will be smaller and based on the Lambda crossover platform, and the production version of the Volt-based Converj. Nonetheless, GM will be introducing two new names in the Cadillac line-up, the ATS and the and XTS sedans. The ATS is a performance-oriented luxury compact-sedan, that will get “high-tech engines, rear-wheel drive and optional all-wheel drive”, and competes with the benchmarks from BMW 3-Series, Infiniti G37, Audi A4 and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The XTS on the other hand, is a full-size luxury sedan that will replace both DTS and STS sedan, with a design that echoes the 2003 Cadillac Sixteen Concept, and will be a real contender to the BMW 7-Series, Audi A8, and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

Now, GM said that it is holding back pictures of any of these models, until further along the development process. So if we get any more information of even pictures, you'll be the first to know!

Source : [General Motors]

BREAKING : 2011 Chevrolet Volt to achieve 230 mpg city! [report fully covered]

We didn't want to rush with this kind of news until we got the full coverage behind the story. So just two days ago, General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson held a press conference, and for the first time since 'New GM' emerged out of bankruptcy, he made some big surprising news!

'New GM' CEO Fritz Henderson that the up-coming 2011 Chevrolet Volt, which GM hopes could save the company and their auto industry, will have an official EPA fuel-economy rating of 230 miles-per-gallon in city driving.

The new methodology of rating an EV vehicle is being developed by the EPA; which weighs plug-in EVs as traveling more city mileage than highway mileage on electric power alone. The EPA uses kilowatt-hours per 100 miles traveled to define the electrical efficiency of plug-ins, which then is converted to mpg. As such, GM says the Volt consumes 25 kilowatt hours per 100 miles in a city cycle, resulting 230 mpg. Now that makes the Volt, the first car ever to get a triple digit fuel economy rating!

What's more, GM said that it expects Volt owners to pay $2.75 for electricity for a range of 100 miles, or less than 3 cents a mile. So how in the name of technology have GM achieved such a thing?

Well, GM refused to state any answer to this, but just yesterday, we somewhat got an answer. Green Car Advisor contacted the EPA looking for confirmation and clarification on the methodology used on the Chevy Volt to come to 230 mpg - just like the rest of us. The EPA responded with the following statement: “EPA has not tested a Chevy Volt and therefore cannot confirm the fuel economy values claimed by GM. EPA does applaud GM’s commitment to designing and building the car of the future - an American-made car that will save families money, significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create good-paying American jobs. We’re proud to see American companies and American workers leading the world in the clean energy innovations that will shape the 21st century economy.” - [Green Car Advisor]

So, to be brutally honest, GM basically lied about EPA actually rating the Volt at 230 mpg! Ok, if GM says that the Volt will be able to achieve 230 mpg in city, then that must be true; but why say that EPA tested it and measured the Volt at 230 mpg? That seems pretty weird.

However today, we got another answer. Everyone's favorite GM man, Bob Lutz, who's now the marketing manager for GM, said that “If you haven’t heard, 230 is the estimated city fuel economy number for the Chevrolet Volt, as in 230 miles per gallon, according to new federal fuel economy procedures under development by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for plug-in electric vehicles,” said Lutz. “And we anticipate a composite fuel economy rating of more than 100 mpg. The Volt’s estimated electricity usage is about 25 kilowatts per 100 miles, about half of what a typical household uses daily”. - [Lutz’s article on ChevroletVoltage.com]

Yes, we are all confused! GM are adamant that the Volt has an official EPA fuel-economy rating of 230 mpg. On the other hand, the EPA says they haven't tested the Volt yet. So really, what's going on? For that, we just have to wait until the Volt comes to showrooms in end of 2010, and see if that is true.

Oh also, the embedded video below is Henderson's announcement of the 230 mpg Chevy Volt.

Refresher:

- 2011 Chevrolet Volt: Production of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt will start in late 2010. The plug-in hybrid electric-car will only drive the battery-powered electric-motor, while the petrol engine will recharged it when needed. The electric-motor can run up-to 40 miles alone on a electric-recharge, and 300 miles when the petrol-engine provides recharging. By running 220 Lithium-ion battery-cells, it produces 150 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque from zero-rpm. 0-60 mph is expected to come in less than 8 seconds, and now the fuel-economy is "rated" at 230 mpg.

Source : [General Motors]

Muscle-car sales fight: Camaro outsells Mustang for second straight month, but Camaro fares worse in crash ratings!

While July was a pretty-hot month, its sales report on the new-born muscle-cars is even hotter!Back in 2009 June sales, the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro outsold the 2010 Ford Mustang and 2009 Dodge Challenger, for the first time since 1993. Well the trend goes on even in July sales.

Despite its 1rst and 2nd recalls on the new Camaro, customers still want to get all-around the Camaro. So for 2009 July sales, the Camaro outsells the new Mustang, for the second straight month in-a-row, at 7,113 Camaros sold while Ford sold 6,686 Mustangs, and of course, the Challenger falls behind. However, as some auto-analysist say, we should expect some changes in next month's sales!

Here's the deal, the all-new Camaro just got its NHTSA crash test rating; and guess what? The engineers at Chevrolet didn't put the Camaro through their safety routines, and therefore the new Camaro passed 4-stars of frontal-crash rating, while the Mustang and Challenger got the full 5-star mark. Now that is a big deal, since the Camaro is a very powerful car, and the visibilty is somewhat limited. So unless there's a talented driver behind the wheel, expect many people to crash the Camaro around.

So for next month, stay tuned for more reports on the latest Amercian muscle-car news.

Source : [Automotive News - 2009 July sales; SaferCar.gov]

2011 Infiniti M sedan to be 'virtually revealed' at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

Infiniti confirmed that it will hold the ‘virtual launch’ of the new 2011 Infiniti M sedan at the 59th annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on August 14. So what does Nissan's luxury division mean by ‘virtual launch’? Well follow down for the answer.

Infiniti say that “the event will led by an onscreen guide who will take guests on a pictorial journey to rediscover the power of nature and form - and how it can lead to a sense of freedom,”. Basically that means that Infiniti will have a big screen to show their new 2011 M sedan. However, Infiniti also claim that “To make this virtual launch a reality, Infiniti partnered with RTT USA and Klip Collective to create an exact computer-generated rendering of the M using only engineering data.”

The whole ‘virtual launch’ will be available live through a webcast on August 14th at 6:30 p.m. PDT at http://www.infinitiusa.com/about/future-vehicles.html.

Source : [Infiniti]

Ford launches 2010 Mustang Customizer, with "The Week's Best" feature

Ford has just launched an online customizer for the 2010 Mustang, and it's darn fun to play with. Full customization from hoods, louvers, scoops, spoilers, grilles, wheels, stripes, and even background effects with verity of burnouts, and wall-paint. Anyone can design their own 'Stang, and download a desktop-wallpaper for the computer.

What Ford has also done, it put a competition in this Mustang customization. Because each week, the most and highest voted customized 2010 Mustang will get "The Week's Best", and will be featured on Ford's 2010 Mustang website. So we actually designed our own Mustang, and we'd like to get "The Week's Best" customized Mustang. Please visit the direct link to Motor Gear's customized 2010 Mustang (http://www.fordvehicles.com/the2010mustang/?id=/customizer/overview/No1911), and vote for us as "The Week's Best".

Please enjoy and have fun customizing 'Stangs!

Source : [Ford's 2010 Mustang]

Ferrari mistakenly teases on a new 600 GTB though their website

With Ferrari announcing their all-new 458 Italia, Ferrari updated their website, to add the latest Prancing Horse to the model list. Nonetheless, Ferrari also published a teaser for a new model on its official site. In the list with the other Ferrari road-cars, a black box saying "Coming Soon" next to the new 458 Italia, and the title for that box is "600 GTB". The box appeared for a few minutes before the Italians hastily removed the text. According to Quattroruote magazine, Ferrari said that the teaser was the result of an error.

Now, it clearly to all, the 600 GTB will likely to replace the 599 GTB Fiorano. Of course, there's no info yet on the new Ferrari, but as soon as we get any, we'll keep updating.

Source : [Quattroroute (translated)]