Posts for 'Cocept Cars' Category

The C Concept has been 'designed with today's upscale, urban consumer in mind', and as a 'sensible indulgence', according to design director Peter Horbury.

He reckons that people are comfortable with the idea of downsizing - they've done it with music players, cameras and other consumer goods, after all - 'so long as the vehicle has all the attributes they want'. The low-slung, Focus-length C's fitted with a turbocharged 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine developing 180bhp and 180 lb-ft, and six-speed dual-clutch sequential-shift transmission. It's capable of 51.6mpg on the highway.

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The BMW Blog has published the sad news that the CS Concept we fawned over at the New York auto show last spring will not see the light of day as a production model. The BMW brass has changed their minds about the possibility that an ultra-flagship in the $100,000-plus range would be a good idea considering the current financial issues facing Europe and the U.S.

The news is bad for car fans, but most car buyers most likely won’t care. What’s worrisome to afficiandos is that BMW says it’s focusing on profit over brand identity in its announcement about the cancellation. We’ll be seeing more vehicles like the X1 SUV and fewer statement vehicles. The company also says it will focus on new technology, which most likely means more efficient engines and refinement of its iDrive system.

Check out Cars.com staff photographer Ian Merritt’s BMW CS Concept photo gallery below to see what we won’t be test-driving anytime soon.

We’re nuts about the open-wheel design of this GYM electric car, but might be too lazy to get it to go anywhere. That’s because inside this far-fetched design concept of a rowdy-looking roadster is also a gym full of exercise equipment, urging you to use your own elbow grease to get this show on the road.

Sure, you can plug it into the wall for easy charging, but that wouldn’t be as much fun as hopping on the car’s stepping machine, grunting through a few reps on its bench press, rowing for a while and then doing a set of pull-ups.

Only thing missing is pushups, but wait, that might be possible by strapping the car’s arm weights onto your back. So Corporal, you want to go Oscar Mike? Hit the deck and give me twenty!

In a bid to show the demand for the upcoming all-electric Chevrolet Volt, a proponent of the car has released details of an unofficial waiting list for the vehicle with over 33,000 prospective buyers.

Lyle Dennis, a New York neurologist who has emerged as a prominent enthusiast for the battery-powered car from General Motors Corp, has been assembling a list of prospective Volt buyers for over a year through his Web site GM-Volt.com.

On Tuesday, Dennis released details gleaned from the list showing that 33,411 people had signed up to show their intent to buy a Volt when the rechargeable car is released in 2010.

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The diminutive Fiat Topolino, which will sit below the Fiat 500, is one of a rush of new micro models being planned by carmakers looking to beat the European Union's tough new emission laws, which will take effect in 2015.

The Topolino, tipped to built in collaboration with Indian firm Tata, is also said to use a two cylinder engine, with a capacity of 900cc. Diesel and full electric power will be options, although electric power won't be available at launch, which is slated for the middle of 2010.

Industry speculation also has Fiat collaborating with BMW on the micro car platform that would underpin both the Topolino, and a proposed BMW small car that has been dubbed the Isetta, after the original bubble cars of the same name made by BMW under license in the 1950s.

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How green can a car really get? What about one which features a lot of recycled materials as part of the design? That's the idea behind the Th!nk Ox concept car, unveiled earlier this year at the Geneva International Motor Show.

What makes the Th!nk Ox interesting as a concept is that 95% of the interior is made of recyclable materials. Those materials aren't specifically spelled out, but I have to imagine you won't grow a third eye while you are driving this car.

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Owner of New Port Lincoln Mercury, Dennis Murphy will celebrate 29 years in business with the unveiling of the 2009 Lincoln MKS. Murphy, pictured in his showroom stands next to the MKX, Lincoln's current hot-seller.

 Reaching higher and into the future is where Dennis Murphy, owner and president of New Port Lincoln Mercury is heading.

A native of Miami, Murphy relocated to New Port Richey in May 1979 to open New Port Lincoln Mercury.

As a sharply dressed Murphy sat in his office last week, he explained that the car industry is the only business he has known. Murphy, and his partner at the time, Bob Nunn, sold their first car at the end of July 1979.

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Big pick-up sales are hit by high gas prices and reduced construction spending. Automaker also expects more production cutbacks.

With sales of full-size pickups in a steep decline, Ford Motor Co. said Friday it is delaying the launch of its new, redesigned Ford F-150 pick-up by two months.

The full-size pick-up, which had been due to enter showrooms in early fall will now come out in late fall, instead.

Ford also announced more production cutbacks. The company said it will produce 25% fewer vehicles in the third quarter of this year than it did in the same quarter of 2007. The cuts will be among Ford's large trucks and SUVs.

Meanwhile, Ford said it is working to boost production of its small cars and crossover SUVs, products that have been attracting more sales this year even as overall auto sales have dropped.

The Ford F-series has been the top-selling passenger vehicle in America for 26 straight years. Big pickups have been a popular and profitable item for Detroit Automakers. But high gas prices and a declining home-construction market have hit truck sales hard.

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The US automobile giant Ford Motor Co proposes to launch its small car for the Indian market by 2010 and will set up a new unit soon to manufacture engines, top officials said on Thursday.

"Small car segment holds 75 per cent in Indian market and when we launch the small car that's when the real volumes will come in," Ford India managing director and president Michael Boneham told media at the launch of the company's new car.

He also said Ford's new engine manufacturing facility will be set up in 2009-10 with a capacity of 250,000 units per year. "The plant will fulfill the entire domestic demand and will also cater to the needs for ford in the Asia Pacific region."

The company also launched a new sports variant of the mid-sized sedan here Thursday - the Fiesta S that clocks 0-100 km in 11 seconds. Also launched was an upgraded SXI variant of the Fiesta featuring new front grille and head lamps.
Boneham said the company has now increased the warranty for all its cars to two years or 40,000 km to two years or 100,000 km, whichever was logged first.

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First the good news for those caring for environment: Japanese auto giant Honda Motors Co. on Wednesday introduced India to the first hybrid vehicle-- the Civic Hybrid that runs on a petrol engine assisted by an electric motor.

The bad news: Thanks to a hefty 104 per cent duty that the government levies on imported cars, the hybrid version would cost Rs 21.50 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), almost double the price of the conventional variant.

The prohibitive pricing may keep out buyers, but Honda hopes it would make a strong statement about the future of the auto industry in the backdrop rising oil prices and concerns of growing carbon emissions.

"We are not looking for volumes here but showcasing our technological prowess. We want the Indian consumers to experience this new technology which surely is the future of cars," said Masahiro Takedagawa, President and CEO at Honda's Indian subsidiary.

A hybrid vehicle is basically driven by a conventional petrol engine with an assisting electric motor that is powered by a battery.  Due to the assisting electric motor the petrol engine is smaller but it delivers the same performance with lower emissions and higher fuel efficiency. The Civic hybrid for example has a smaller 1.3 litre gasoline engine (the normal Civic is powered by a 1.8 litre engine) but delivers around 50 per cent higher fuel efficiency.

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