Suzuki Kizashi concept car for Frankfurt

Kizashi? The Europeans are gonna have a bit of trouble pronouncing that one.

Suzuki, best known for its ultra successful small cars such as the Alto and the Swift, are now getting serious about the large car business. And the Kizashi is concept car on which those plans are based. The Kizashi concept will be unveiled before the public at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2007, starting on Sep 13th.

The photos of theSuzuki Kizashi concept look a bit over the top to me. But we can be sure the production versions based on this will be a lot more sober than this!

The plans are to develop the Kizashi platform with a hatchback, a stationwagon and a sedan. A 1.6-litre variable valve engine producing 110 bhp and a 2.0-litre engine with 138 bhp are being considered.

The Suzuki Kizashi cars are going to be the company’s largest production car, and will take the battle to the Toyota Corolla and the Honda Civic.

Suzuki’s other mid-size car that has been succesful in some markets is the SX4 - in India, a sedan and in other countries, a hatch. The only serious SUV from Suzuki has been the Grand Vitara, which has been reasonably successful in the international markets.

What you are seeing here is a rendering - not a photo. No official photos have been released yet, but when it happens - we expect a couple of days before the opening of the Motor Show - we will have a photo gallery ready for you.

Volkswagen Tiguan launch in February 2008

Volkswagen's Tiguan is all set to debut in February 2008. The compact 4x4 SUV was showcased at the Frankfurt motor show in September 2006.

The Tiguan will be available in three different variants, namely Trend & Fun, Sport & Style, and Track & Field. The Track & Field variant will have a different front, will be custom made for all terrains, and will come with electronic devices for better off-road performance.

The company is making sure that all engines are turbocharged and some of then will sport an additional mechanical compressor. Volkswagen will also introduce a new new electro-mechanic power-steering system and the vehicles’ minimum wheel size will be 16/265/65.

The Tiguan, which will be larger than the Touran MPV, is reported to be 4.4 m long and 1.6m wide. It will initially be available with a choice of either a 2.0-litre 138bhp TDI diesel engine (the expected best-seller) or a 1.4-litre 148bhp PS TSI petrol unit. Another diesel and two more petrol engines will be added to the range later in 2008. The Tiguan has VW's 4 Motion four-wheel-drive system and an 18-degree angle of approach.

Volkswagen has said that Tiguan’s name is derived from the suggestions made by around 3,50,000 readers of Germany’s Auto Bild magazine, who chose Tiguan over four other equally strange titles. The name is a fusion of the words Tiger and Leguan, which means iguana in German.

Diesel engine cars from GM by 2010

Come year 2010, and auto behemoth General Motors (GM) is likely to roll out diesel-engine cars under the Cadillac and Saturn brands in the United States.

An auto industry magazine has said that GM would thereby join Daimler, Volkswagen, Japanese major Nissan Motor, and Honda Motor in promising diesel cars compliant with the American Tier 2 bin 5 emissions standards. GM is likely to exhibit its new diesel engine at the Frankfurt auto show, in September 2007, on an e-flex Opel Vectra.

The GM e-flex machine would come with a traditional engine that recharges a battery pack, which provides power for an electric motor. The company is also expected to show case the same variant at the Detroit auto show in January on a Saturn, most likely the Aura sedan. The diesel engine will power the Opel Vectra in Europe in 2008, and the next-generation Aura in the United States if all goes as planned.

With the United States starting to enforce strict regulations for harmful nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions by 2008, these companies would begin work on their diesel cars. The nation expects that automakers would use clean diesel engines in passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, and other light-duty trucks. It has been reported that emissions hardware and control systems needed to meet the standards would add another $2,000 to $2,800 to the $1,000-$2,000 premium that already exists for diesels over gasoline-engine cars.

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor seems to have decided not to join the growing list. The reason being cited is that clean diesels would end up being more expensive than gasoline-electric hybrids, a segment the company dominates.

Land Rover LRX concept to debut at the Detroit Auto Show

The Detroit Auto Show that gets underway in January 2008 will see Land Rover showcase a concept with futuristic designs. Land rover's LRX concept will debut at the Detroit Auto Show.

The concept is said to be a bold evolution of Land Rover design that indicates the brand’s progressive shift into new areas of the market, while remaining true to its core values. The compact three-door LRX comes with a lighter weight and sustainability focused technologies. An auto news report has pointed out that that the LRX concept may deliver the powerful message that the company has about sustainability.

The new concept comes with a Land Rover design and carries features into a segment where the brand has never been before, it added. Described as a cross-coupe, the concept has been conceived as a premium car, designed to appeal to new customers in the luxury and executive sector.

The first all-new Land Rover revealed since Gerry McGovern became the company's design director, LRX is a natural extension of the Land Rover range, complementing the existing models with a car that will help to define a new segment. Its many recognizable Land Rover design cues include bold new interpretations of the signature clamshell bonnet, the floating roof, and the solid ‘wheel-at-each-corner’ stance.

Land rover has said that the LRX is a design born out of passion for the brand, but is different, relevant, engaging and exciting because Land Rover has never built ordinary cars. It has a highly desirable identity and the design alludes strongly to its capability, while clearly underlining our forward-looking philosophy – it's a Land Rover that would be comfortable on Bond Street or Fifth Avenue, but wouldn’t flinch at getting its wheels dirty, the report added.

The company is said to be determined to make sustainability a key element in its future product design, creating vehicles that have a strong emotional appeal as well as fulfilling people's practical needs.

Fiat 500 is the Car of the Year 2008

An international jury comprising as many as 58 specialist journalists from 22 European countries has picked the Fiat 500 for the Car of the Year 2008 award.

Fiat’s compact car bagged the award raking in as many as 385 votes, more than Mazda 2’s 325 votes and the Ford Mondeo’s 202 votes. An auto industry report said that this was the second time that an A-segment model has won the most prestigious award in the world car industry.

Pointing out that the first such laurel went to the Fiat Pandain in 2004, it added that the record has pushed up the total Fiat Group wins to 12. While the Fiat 124 won in 1967, Fiat 128 won in 1970, Fiat 127 in 1972, Lancia Delta in 1980, Fiat Uno in 1984, Fiat Tipo in 1989, Fiat Punto in 1995, Fiat Bravo/Brava in 1996, Alfa 156 in 1998, Alfa 147 in 2001, Fiat Panda in 2004 and now the Fiat 500 for 2008. The award ceremony for Car of the Year 2008, organised by the German magazine Stern, will take place in Berlin on 28 January 2008.

The Fiat 500 model was unveiled at the start of July 2007. Customers poured into the showrooms and more than 105,000 orders were taken in just four months in Italy and France. The report added that the rest of Europe is also all for it with a total of 6,300 orders already placed in Germany after the car went on sale just a few weeks ago.

Auto analysts certify that this is the first time that a car barely 3.55 metres long has been awarded a 5-star crash safety rating by Euro NCAP and also the first time a car in this segment has seven airbags fitted as standard, with the advanced ESP available on all models. Another first is the fact that a model has been launched with the entire range of power units, i.e., 1.2 69 bhp, 1.3 MultiJet 75 bhp with DPF and 1.4 16v 100 bhp, Euro 5 emission standards.

A broad range has also brought to Fiat 500 brownie points. Customers can also choose from 15 interiors including the prestigious Cordura and Frau Leather, nine types of road wheel, and 19 sticker treatments, for a total of more than 500,000 variations.

Mercedes-Benz Bionic Car modelled on Boxfish! News and photo gallery

The Mercedes Bionic concept car offers exceptional aerodynamics, fuel Consumption and emissions. Browse the photo gallery

DaimlerChrysler is using a new concept vehicle to examine the great potential of bionics for automobile development, and has achieved outstanding results for fuel consumption and emissions with a combination of pioneering diesel engine technology and innovative emission control methods. The Mercedes-Benz bionic car study had its world premiere at today's DaimlerChrysler Innovation Symposium in Washington.

To realise the Mercedes-Benz bionic car, the engineers at the Mercedes-Benz Technology Centre and the DaimlerChrysler Research department have for the first time looked for a specific example in nature which not only approximates to the idea of an aerodynamic, safe, comfortable and environmentally compatible car in terms of details, but as a formal and structural whole. The example arrived at was the boxfish.

Despite its boxy, cube-shaped body, this tropical fish is in fact outstandingly streamlined and therefore represents an aerodynamic ideal. With an accurately constructed model of the boxfish the engineers in Stuttgart were able to achieve a wind drag coefficient of just 0.06 in the wind tunnel.

In order to use this great potential for automobile development purposes, specialists at DaimlerChrysler first created a 1:4 car model whose shape was substantially based on the boxfish. During tests in the wind tunnel, a drag coefficient of 0.095 -- a previously unprecedented value in automotive engineering -- was measured for this clay model. It corresponds to the values achieved with highly streamlined shapes (Cd 0.09) and other aerodynamically ideal forms.

DaimlerChrysler utilised the findings from this research during the development of the Mercedes-Benz bionic car, a fully functioning and roadworthy compact car with a length of 4.24 metres and space for four occupants plus luggage. With a Cd value of just 0.19, this concept vehicle is among the most aerodynamically efficient in this size category.

20 percent lower fuel consumption and up to 80 percent lower nitrogen oxide emissions

In addition to superb aerodynamics and a lightweight construction concept derived from nature, the 103 kW/140-hp diesel engine and innovative SCR technology (Selective Catalytic Reduction) greatly contribute to fuel economy
and a further reduction in exhaust emissions. In the EU driving cycle the concept car has a fuel consumption of 4.3 litres per 100 kilometres - 20 less than a comparable series-production car. In accordance with the US measuring method (FTP 75) the range is around 70 miles per US gallon (combined), which is about 30 percent more than for a standard-production car. At a constant speed of 90 km/h the direct-injection diesel unit consumes only 2.8 litres per
100 kilometres- corresponding to a range of 84 miles per gallon in the US test cycle.

DaimlerChrysler is currently testing its SCR technology worldwide. By this means, and with the additional operating fluid "AdBlue", the nitrogen oxide emissions of the direct-injection diesel engine can be reduced by up to 80 percent. The aim of these trials is to avoid the fuel consumption disadvantages by optimising the in-engine combustion processes. This is where Mercedes-Benz car engineers are benefiting from the experience gained by their colleagues in the commercial vehicle sector, where SCR technology is already in successful use. DaimlerChrysler also intends to use the great potential of this process for diesel passenger cars in future, and will initially be offering SCR technology in the USA when the trials have been completed.

"AdBlue" is an aqueous urea solution which is sprayed into the exhaust system in precisely metered quantities, depending on the engine operating status. This converts the nitrogen oxides into harmless nitrogen and water. The reservoir for this service fluid is located in the spare wheel recess of the concept car, and its capacity is sufficient for a mileage corresponding to the service interval for a current Mercedes diesel model. The Mercedes-Benz bionic car study is also equipped with a maintenance-free diesel particulate filter.

Great rigidity and low weight - a growth principle designed by nature

The boxfish, the aerodynamic model for the concept car, is also a prime example of rigidity and light weight. Its skin consists of numerous hexagonal, bony plates which provide maximum strength with minimal weight and effectively
protect the animal from injury.

DaimlerChrysler researchers examined this bionic structure and transferred this principle to the Mercedes-Benz bionic car study with the help of a special calculation process. The process is based on the principles of bone formation and for instance allows up to 40 percent more rigidity to be achieved in the external door panelling than would be possible with
conventional designs. If the entire bodyshell is calculated according to this bionic principle, the total weight is reduced by around one third with undiminished strength and crash safety.