Delay in production of Made in USA Nissan Leaf?

One of Nissan Motor Co. top official said that US may see delay in the start of U.S. built Nissan Leaf electric car because of the disruption caused by the huge quake in Japan.

Hideaki Watanabe, vice president in charge of Nissan's global Zero Emission Vehicle business unit, said many timetables had been thrown off by the March 11 earthquake, as Nissan focused all of its resources on restoring its manufacturing output in Japan.

Watanabe said "there's a risk" of delay but it was too early to estimate how long that might be.

The quake's impact "is putting us in a very difficult situation," Watanabe said at a briefing at the Nissan Technical Center North America in Farmington Hills.

Nissan has sold 7,554 Leaf cars since the model's launch late last year. Nearly 5,000 have been delivered to Japanese customers, and just under 2,100 to buyers in the United States — the Leaf's second-biggest market.

This year, Nissan expects to ship 10,000 to 12,000 Leaf cars to the U.S. — below expectations of as many as 20,000.

Src: [The Detroit News]

World's longest, biodiesel powered bus now runs in Brazil.

Concerned about environment, Brazil starts a bus, named Mega BRT, runs purely on Biodiesel.

The best part of this bus is it is 28-metre-long, has a passenger capacity of 250, with seats for 60 people and standing room for 190, manufactured by Volvo do Brasil.

This bus is put into service in Curitiba city.

Via: [DC]

2011 Ford Shelby GT500 finally gets aluminum engine, loses 120 pounds

Ever since Ford introduced the modern Shelby GT500 four years ago, almost no one has complained about the prodigious power levels produced by its supercharged 5.4-liter V8. With as much as 540 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque in the 2010 model, there was no shortage of grunt. No, the issue was an excess of mass.Before the contemporary GT500 was born, Ford had a blown aluminum block 5.4-

Porsche 911 Turbo S unveiled with 530 HP of goodness

The wunderkinds in Wiessach have wrought a new head of the family in the form of the 2011 911 Turbo S, the first 911 S model in five years and the first for the 997. In Porsche parlance, the S suffix generally means more power and better handling, and this car appears ready to live up to the badge.As we surmised last August, the twin-turbo flat-six is boosted to 530 horsepower, though it sips

Review: 2011 Hyundai Sonata

Imagine, for a moment, that you're forced to invent a new candy with the specific objective of taking a bite out of the market segment comfortably satisfied by M&M's, Skittles and Reese's Pieces. Sounds daunting, right? With that in mind, the all-new 2011 Hyundai Sonata is being placed right back into the middle of the hotly-contested family sedan segment, already occupied by such established

2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon

Brush your long, grungy mop from your eyes, turn down the Nirvana and take a look around. It's the early '90s and an army of sport utility vehicles are flooding the streets. The newest four-wheeled object of America's affection has quickly become the default mode of transportation for everyone from inner city professionals to suburban soccer moms.Fast forward a couple of decades and although

2011 Audi A8 L arrives with 500-hp W12, seating for a king-maker

Audi is pulling out its biggest gun yet for the Beijing Motor Show, and while the big news for the A8 L might be the 6.3-liter W12 and the sedan's longer wheelbase, it's the rear seat accommodations that have us frothing at the mouth.Seriously, just look at it.With an overall length of nearly 17 and a half feet, the A8 L is almost a half-foot longer than its standard sibling, with a wheelbase of

2011 Nissan Versa gets priced, includes minor updates

The Nissan Versa hasn't received any substantial updates since its 2007 debut. It's a shame, since there's some pretty stiff competition on the market these days, especially from the likes of the Suzuki SX4, Honda Fit and Ford Fiesta. Still, Nissan adds incremental updates annually, and the 2011 model year is no different. What's most important, though, is that pricing for the latest Versa has

First Drive: 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe is audacity in motion

There was a time when General Motors was a design leader. Before the Aztek, before the Catera, before the Sunfire and before the Citation, GM was synonymous with bold, strong, emotional automotive design. The General was so good at it that in the 1950s it was able to flood dealerships and stress factories just by tweaking a given model's sheetmetal a few shades. Imagine anyone caring about a new

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Hyundai prices the 2011 Sonata starting at $19,915

Hyundai's all-new 2011 Sonata goes on sale at dealers all over North America in the next few weeks and now it has an official price tag. The "fluidic design" challenger stakes a claim in the biggest segment in the U.S., starting at $19,195 (plus $720 for destination and delivery) for the GLS sedan with a six-speed manual transmission. That's $500 more than the base 2010 model, but $200 less than

European Car market sees Red again

Latest stats from European Automobile Manufacturers Association, shows the shrinks of Euro Car market.

Registrations of new cars in Europe declined by 2.7% in annual terms in December to 1.05 million vehicles.

The European passenger car market was down 4.9% year-to-year at 13.8 million vehicles in 2010, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said in a statement Friday.


In December, there was sharp decline in demand for new cars in major euro countries like Spain, Italy and the U.K., with declines of 24%, 22% and 18%, respectively. France posted a small decline of 0.7%, the only euro country with green light was Germany, where the car market increased by 6.9% year-to-year.

Here are some of the car makers stats for Euro Zone (Red: Decrease, Green: Increase):

Daimler AG: 1.9%

Mercedes Benz: 4.2%

Volkswagen: 1.3%

PSA Peugeot-Citroen: 6.3%

Ford: 26%

Fiat: 19%

Toyota: 7.6%

Hyundai: 16%

BMW AG: 13%

General Motors: 16%

Via: [WSJ]

People like Silver on their Autos.......

According to annual Automotive Color Popularity Report by DuPont, when it comes to auto color preference, Silver is the King, closely followed by Black.

According to its previous survey, Silver held the most popular color title for seven years until 2007, when it was dethroned by white and white metallic, fighting back, claimed its position back in 2009, but again with this latest report, Silver is facing tough competition against the classic black color.

According to report, of all the cars sold around the world, 26 % were silver painted cars, trailing by 2% with 24 % were black coated cars.

Via: [Auto Blog]

Src: [Dupont]

PRESS RELEASE

DuPont Says Silver, Black in Race for World's Most Popular Car Color

2010 DuPont Global Automotive Color Popularity Report Includes South Africa for First Time;

Protection of Color Represented in This Year's DuPont Color Trend Show

WILMINGTON, Del., Dec. 7, 2010 – Silver and black are in tight competition for the title of "world's most popular car color," according to DuPont. As the global automotive coatings leader, DuPont issued its 58th Global Automotive Color Popularity Report today, which includes automotive color popularity information and regional trends from 11 leading automotive regions of the world. Each year, the DuPont report reflects data from established and emerging growth markets in the automotive industry; and in 2010, for the first time, includes trends from South Africa. DuPont's study is the original and most comprehensive report on global automotive color popularity and remains the first of its kind compiled on a global basis.

Only two percentage points separate silver from black as the leading vehicle color globally, and black's popularity in key automotive markets outside of North America is substantial. White and gray are tied for third place, with gray's popularity increasing three percentage points from last year's survey. Red, the only non-neutral color in the top five, is increasing in popularity, taking the fifth spot on the global color popularity rankings. The top 10 global vehicle colors are as follows:

1. Silver – 26 percent

2. Black/Black Effect – 24 percent

3. White/White Pearl and Gray – 16 percent each (tie)

5. Red – 6 percent

6. Blue – 5 percent

7. Brown/Beige – 3 percent

8. Green – 2 percent

9. Yellow/Gold – 1 percent

10. Others – <1 percent

Increase in demand for Volkswagen Polo, Vento in India.

Looks like for the first time the German Auto-maker Vw is enjoying success in India with it latest model Polo(Hatchback/wagon) and Vento(sedan).

German Auto-maker Volkswagen said that there is an increase in demand for its Polo and Vento models in India due to which the waiting period for these two models had gone up to 2-3 months.

In order to cater this demand, company plans to ramp-up production at its Chakan facility in Maharashtra.

"At present, we have at least two to three months of waiting period for the Polo and Vento. We are ramping-up capacity at our Chakan facility to meet demand," Volkswagen Group Sales India (Passenger Cars) Director Neeraj Garg said.

Volkswagen sold 4,613 units of Polo and Vento in November this year. It sold over 26,000 units across models from January-November this year.

- PTI Inputs

Tata to hire 1500 engineers for its UK Jaguar plant

TATA's Jaguar Land Rover, come with good news as the company has started recruiting for new posts.

It has already announced 1500 new UK posts. But three times that number may be needed if the company's strategy goes to plan, The Telegraph reports.

During recession, JLR was set to close one of its three UK manufacturing plants. That has now been shelved.

The company says, it has received 13,000 applications for 1,500 new jobs.

The latest, smallest and most fuel-efficient Range Rover will be built at the Halewood plant on Merseyside.

- ANI Inputs

India's Environment Minister thinks that Driving heavy, luxury personal vehicle should be liable for criminal offense in India.

With the increase in the SUV and luxury car from Europe which doesn't have any fuel efficiency sense is worrying India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.

Use of Sports Utility Vehicles in countries like India is 'criminal', Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said and pitched the need for evolving an effective fuel policy regime to discourage the use of such vehicles that emit more carbons.

"The luxurious growth of large-size vehicles like SUVs is really a growth of concern... use of vehicles like SUVs and BMWs in countries like India is criminal," Ramesh said at a UN function here.

"I think, we seriously need to think about fuel policy regime," he said.

The Minister said there should be a reformed diesel policy as the real beneficiaries of the diesel subsidy are the owners of the 'BMWs, the Benzs and Hondas' and not farmers.

Ramesh said the transport sector contribute 7.5 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions in the country and this is expected to be 15 per cent in the next 15 to 20 years.

"We are worried and we are looking at how to control these emissions from transport sector. For this to happen, there should be mandatory fuel efficiency standards," he said.

The minister added that a national transport policy committee has been constituted and the committee will give its recommendations in next 12 to 15 months.

- PTI Inputs

Which type of wheels are required to break the 1,000mph speed record?

We all know the British Bloodhound project which aims for super speeding car.

Now Researchers from Lockheed Martin UK gets a task to build a super wheel which can with stand 1000mph speed, which they aim to break in 2010.

Research being carried are said to be very critical because during the super speed the the wheel rims will turn at about 10,200rpm, or 170 complete turns each second which produces stresses as high as 150 mps(Mega pascal) (about 1.5 tonnes per square centimetre).

To be build British Bloodhound car, it will be powered by Falcon hybrid rocket and Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine, which will propel the vehicle beyond 1,000mph (1,610km/h).

Researcher had identified Aluminum alloy based wheel rim will be suitable to achieve the task and experiment are being carried out at Cambridge University.

90cm wide and weigh 97kg. aluminium alloy

Src: [BBC]

Ferrari theme based 'Ferrari World' Amusement park at Abu Dhabi, one of the World's Best theme park

We all love amusement parks and we do get more excited when its is theme based. If you are Ferrari fan then head to Abu Dhabi for some, more than F1 experience.

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the world's only Ferrari-themed amusement park, will pump you heart to the max excitement with its adrenaline-pumping rides and an intense multi-sensory experience that makes it a must-visit for enthusiasts, fans and families.

The park has on offer amazing indoor and outdoor attractions, including Formula Rossa – the fastest roller coaster on the planet. Ferrari world was built in just three years. Located at Abu Dhabi's Yas Island, is spread across 200,000 square meters and sits underneath a rood that is made to mimic the profile of a Ferrari GT

Ferrari World's Formula Rossa, billed as the world's fastest roller coaster, which zooms at a top speed of 240 kph.

Designed to simulate the F1 driving experience, the roller coaster is designed to carry 16 passengers (on four cars). Its 2.07 km (1.29 miles) long course features a series of "sharp turns and sudden drops" which generate 1.7 Gs.

Another exciting ride inside the park is G-Force – that will shoot thrill-seekers through the red roof and 62 meters in the air before plummeting back to Earth, thus making them experience the actual G-force of a Ferrari, in a seat directly inspired by the Ferrari Enzo.

Other major attraction inside the park is Fiorano GT Challenge, which is a racing roller coaster. The roller coaster features two, 1-kilometre tracks. The cars of the coasters mimic Ferrari F430 Spiders.

Similary there are ride which make you feel the power of ferrari

Bell'Italia is one of the many child friendly attractions at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. It offers family fun at a more gentle pace driving in smart Italian mini cars around a garden planted with 40,000 miniature trees.

Other attractions a the park include Scuderia Challenge, which is a cutting edge racing simulators similar to those used by the drivers of the Scuderia Ferrari in training

Inside the theme park, visitors will also gain a rare insight into the inner workings of Scuderia Ferrari, the racing team division at Ferrari, at The Paddock and to emulate the experts by changing the tyres of an F1 car.

Ferrari F1 cars are seen inside the "Hall of Fame" of the Ferrari theme park in Abu Dhabi. Ferrari World also offers attractions like the "Speed of Magic" (a 4-D visual tour with the Ferrari) and the "Made in Maranello" (also a virtual tour at the Ferrari factory in Maranello in Italy)

(Photo credit: AFP, www.ferrariworldabudhabi.com)

Iconic James Bond fame Aston Martin's Silver Birch DB5 car to be auction for charity.

We all love the Bond, James Bond tech, particularly his awesome cars with state of art technology and here is a chance to owe the famous Silver Birch DB5 seen in Goldfinger and Thunderball is the only known surviving Aston Martin used in the films which is soon to be auction by its owner Jerry Lee.

The car and its gadgets were designed by special effects expert John Stears, who also worked on the films Star Wars and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Earlier, It was sold for 12,000 US dollars by the Aston Martin factory in 1969 to Bond fan Jerry Lee.

He is now selling to raise funds for his charity work through the non-profit The Jerry Lee Foundation, which focuses on crime prevention.

"It's been an incredible experience for 41 years owning this car," Lee said, admitting "I mean there's going to be a little tears I guess when the car is actually auctioned out but the amount I think I'm going to get for the car is going to put that in the background probably fairly rapidly"

The car is expected to fetch more than 3.5 million pounds sterling (5.54 million US dollars).

Other Bond tech under hammer are the Goldfinger helicopter, as seen flown by Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore and one of the eight green Jaguars used in Die Another Day.

- AP Inputs

US Govt plans to set new fuel efficiency rules for Trucks.

For the commitment to the Greener world, the Obama administration is preparing a draft for proposed fuel-efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks that would begin in 2014 and extend through 2018, according to a some media report.

In May, President Barack Obama signed a memorandum directing the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to co-write the first-ever fuel-efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

"I believe it's possible in the next 20 years for vehicles to use half the fuel and produce half the pollution that they do today," Obama said at a White House ceremony at the time.

Margo Oge, director of the EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, said an announcement would happen “soon,” The Detroit News reported today. The newspaper said details could be released as early as Monday.

In US Heavy-duty trucks account for a large percentage of emissions which consume more than 2 million barrels of oil every day and has an average of 6.1 mpg and emit 20 percent of the greenhouse gases.

This new proposal could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 250 million metric tons over five years, The News reported.

Under the new medium- and heavy-duty truck rules, manufacturers would be encouraged to replace old diesel engines with new, cleaner diesels. The government already has spent $200 million on the effort since 2005.

New diesel engines emit 90 percent fewer environmental pollutants, including those that contribute to smog, compared with engines made 20 years ago, Reuters reported.

- Autonews Inputs