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| 28 Oct, 2011 |
| Muller
surrendered. Saab sold to Chinese. |
 100 percent of Saab is to be sold to Chinese firms Pang Da and Youngman, the company announced today. If you have been following closely the crisis of Saab, you are unlikely to be shocked by the news. Saab has been struggling for survival since it halted production in April due to the lack of cash. In the next two months, it got two new investors - Pang Da, a car dealer group in China, and Youngman Automobile, a small car maker in central China. They agreed to invest a combined €245 million in exchange for 54 percent of stakes in Swedish Automobile, the holding company of Saab. However, the deal has never materialized. Not only the Chinese authority looked reluctant to approve it, but Pang Da and Youngman were actually waiting for a better time to buy Saab at cheaper price - the later the cheaper, of course. Without getting paid, Saab's workers union asked the local court to declare the company bankruptcy, but CEO Victor Muller successfully defended by applying bankruptcy protection. The court appointed Guy Lofalk as administrator for the reorganisation. Seeing no signs to get money from Pang Da and Youngman, Mr. Lofalk flew to China to talk directly with them. It is believed that he suggested them to take over the whole Saab rather than taking a stake in Victor Muller's holding company. This angered Muller and he announced to scrap the previous deal with both firms. Obviously, the Dutch cares more about his own investment than the fortune of Saab. Nevertheless, Muller ran out of options, but Lofalk still had one trump card on hand. Last week, he submitted request to the court for terminating bankruptcy protection. Mr. Muller had no choice but to surrender. He immediately agreed to sell Saab wholly for €100 million, which is just a fraction of the price originally agreed by the Chinese companies ! It must be noted that the so-called deal is still in the form of memorandum of understanding. The formal contract is to be finalized, and it will need the approval by both the Chinese and Swedish authorities. However, as the scale of investment is substantially reduced, I think it will be easier to get greenlight this time. Having said that, the sale may not secure the future of Saab as a Swedish car maker. Who knows if the Chinese firms just want the brand and some of its assets? |
| 27 Oct, 2011 |
| Audi A4
facelift |
 In response to the new BMW 3-series, Audi is introducing a facelift to the A4. Predictably, its new fascia gets closer to A5 and A6, with a hexagonal grille and more angular headlights. Changes to the interior is subtle, with only minor upgrades in trimming, a new steering wheel and a simplified MMI. Thanks to the inclusive of automatic engine stop-start and brake energy regenerating alternator on all engines, fuel economy is said to be improved by an average 11 percent across the range. The engines themselves also received slight improvement - the 1.8 TFSI gets an extra 10hp to 170hp. 2.0TDI engine gets a new flywheel damper to reduce vibration. Like A6, the 265hp Valvelift 3.2-liter V6 is replaced by 272hp 3.0 TFSI supercharged V6. At the top, S4 continues to be powered by the 333hp of the 3.0 TFSI engine.  As before, A4 offers as many as 4 types of transmission for selection - Multitronic CVT, 6-speed manual, 7-speed S-Tronic dual-clutch and ZF Tiptronic automatic. The latter is now upgraded to 8-speed. Other improvements include a new Quattro system with crown-gear self-locking center differential, optional active rear sport differential and new electromechanical power steering. In fact, all these changes have already been applied to its sister car A5, no wonder they sound familiar to us. |
| 27 Oct, 2011 |
| Mazda
Takeri concept |
 Mazda is going to show this Takeri concept car at next month's Tokyo motor show. It is deemed to be a preview of the next generation Mazda 6. The car is pretty stylish, with a Ferrari-like flowing waist line and a prominent grille that make it very different to today's car.  Takeri also showcases the company's new Skyactiv technology, including a lightweight chassis construction and lightweight, low-compression 2.2 turbo diesel engine wth 175 hp. |
| 14 Oct, 2011 |
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| BMW
3-Series F30 unveiled |
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  BMW has just unveiled the new, 6th generation 3-Series. Codenamed F30, the new car has grown larger again. Compare with the current E90, it is 104 mm longer and runs a 50 mm longer wheelbase. Although width is marginally reduced, its front and rear tracks are 37 mm and 47 mm wider respectively. Below shows how it compares with the old car and its key rivals:
 The design is hardly surprising. Basically, it combines the elements from the new 1-Series (mostly the bumper), 5-series (bonnet) and a restyled double-kidney grille similar to i3 / i8. The tail is very close to the old car. Overall, its design might disappoint those expecting BMW to strike back Audi and Mercedes. The basic chassis layout and rear suspension design are similar to the old car, but up front it employs double-wishbone suspensions instead of traditional MacPherson struts, like the current 5 and 7-series. Like the old car's, the front suspensions use aluminum components extensively. At the back are the tried and trusted 5-link suspensions. Another new feature is the optional electronic adaptive damping. The power steering has also been converted to electric assistance - no surprise after Porsche adopted such system in 991.  The chassis naturally employ higher grade of steel to add rigidity (up by more than 10 percent) while reducing weight. BMW mentioned ultra-light construction many times in the press release, but it did not give any details. It seems that the body-and-white monocoque is still largely made of steel. Use of aluminum could be limited to some body panels, such as bonnet and/or front fenders, and maybe the front crumple zone structure. Anyway, a new 328i weighs only 1430 kg, 50 kg less than the old 330i (though partly due to a lighter four-cylinder engine). The chassis still guarantees a 50:50 weight distribution. Aerodynamic drag has been reduced further to 0.26, thanks to extra underbody sealings and a front apron shaped such that to produce "air curtains" to cover the wheels.   As expected, the naturally aspirated straight-six has been withdrawn from the new 3-series. Taking its place is the new 2.0-liter four-pot engine with direct injection, Valvetronic, Bi-Vanos and a twin-scroll turbo. It has three states of tune - 184hp (320i), 218hp (325i) and 245hp (328i). Thanks to a stronger torque output, the 328i is actually faster than the old 330i, with 60 mph claimed as 5.6 seconds instead of 5.8 sec. The straight-six still lives on, but only in turbocharged form (single-turbo N55). It continues to produce 306 hp and 295 lbft of torque in 335i. Next autumn, BMW will launch the hybrid model: ActiveHybrid 3. It will combine the N55 engine and a 55 hp electric motor which is integrated within the housing of the ZF 8-speed automatic transmission. Later on, entry-level 1.6-liter turbo will join the range.  In the diesel side, there will be four versions of the 2.0 turbo diesel four, producing 116hp (316d), 143hp (318d), 163hp (320d EfficientDynamics) and 184hp (320d). The existing turbo diesel 3.0 straight-six continues to produce 204hp (325d), 245hp (330d) and 286hp (335d). Transmission include 6-speed manual and 8-speed auto. The latter helps improving fuel efficiency. Talking about economy, all engines have automatic stop-start function, on-demand oil and water pump and an alternator doubled as regenerative braking, just like the old car.   Inside, the F30 offers marginally more room than before - 8 mm more rear headroom and 15 mm more rear legroom. The latter is partly due to sculpted front seatbacks. As the wheelbase has been stretched by 50 mm, its use of space is actually worse than the old car. Luggage space has a similar increase, from 460 to 480 liters. The interior features new infotainment system as well as an optional head-up display. Otherwise, there are few things worth mentioning. |
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| 5 Oct, 2011 |
| Farbio
reborn as Ginetta G60 |
 Remember Ginetta acquired Farbio a year and a half ago? Having spent some time to re-engineer the Farbio GTS, now it becomes Ginetta G60. The company claimed extensive rework inside and outside, including some new body panels (which probably make it less refined visually), realigned driving position, new chassis sub-frame and small revisions to the carbon-fiber tub, suspensions and brakes. The most crucial change is the engine. Replacing the old 3.0 Duratec V6 is another Ford motor - the 310 hp 3.7-liter V6 with DVVT from Mustang. Although it is nowhere as powerful as the outgoing supercharged options (which produced either 350hp or 410hp), Ginetta still claims similar performance: 165 mph+ top speed and sub-4.0-seconds 0-60 mph. The latter is quite unbelievable, even though it weighs only 1100 kg.  Ginetta is not too ambitious for the business case though. It plans to build a limited run of 50 units only. Price is set at a quite reasonable £68,000, about the same as Porsche 911 Carrera. |
| 5 Oct, 2011 |
| Seat Mii |
 Seat Mii is the third and hopefully the last badge-engineered derivative of Volkswagen Up. Just like Skoda Citigo which was reported last week, it differs from its VW sibling by only minor details, mostly the nose, tail and interior parts. Power comes from the same 1.0 three-pot engine with 60hp or 75hp. |
| 5 Oct, 2011 |
| Industrial
News |
| Alfa
to build 300hp 1.8-liter engine The current Alfa Romeo 1750TBi engine produces as much as 235hp in the hottest tune. That's very impressive already for its size, but now the company has announced an even more encouraging development - the next version of the engine will produce 300 hp ! That will be sufficient to power anything wearing the Alfa badge, including the new Giulia (159 replacement), new rear-drive flagship sedan (based on Chrysler 300C) and SUV. Not much technical details have been revealed. We only know it will get dual-variable valve timing, direct fuel injection and turbocharger like the current 1750TBi, but don't be surprised if it adds Multiair technology. Malibu production in Korea Production of the new Chevrolet Malibu has started in GM Korea (ex-GM Daewoo), actually earlier than the US and Chinese plants. In South Korea, it will replace the old Chevrolet Epica. The Korean-built Malibu will also supply Australia and New Zealand market, though the cars will be changed to right-hand drive and rebadged as Holden. Volvo to close C70 plant Volvo's Uddevalla plant, where production of C70 takes place, is going to be closed in 2013 when the current C70 phase out. In the last two years, it built about 10,000 C70s a year, utilizing only 65 percent of its full capacity. Such a low volume does not justify continuing production. The plant was founded jointly by TWR and Volvo in 1989. Throughout the years it built some memorable cars, such as the old C70, Saab 9-3 Viggen and the mid-engined Renault Clio V6. |
| 1 Oct, 2011 |
| BMW
ActiveHybrid 5 |
 The hybrid version of BMW 5-series is based on 535i. Supplementing the 306 hp direct injection single-turbo 3-liter straight six is a small electric motor integrated with the ZF 8-speed automatic transmission. The motor gets juice from a boot-mounted Li-ion battery to generate 54 hp and 155 lbft. System output is 335 hp and 332 lbft. The hybrid hardware adds 150 kg to the car. Compare with 535i, top speed and 0-60 mph acceleration remain the same, but fuel consumption is reduced by 15 percent to 44 mpg (EU combined). A diesel 530d seems to be a better bet, as it offers the same performance while returning 53 mpg and emitting 10 grams less CO2 per kilometer. Therefore the hybrid will concentrate on the US market, while diesel is hampered by the tighter NOx limit. |