New Lexus CT 200h Premium Compact Hybrid For U.S. Market

It has been announced that the new Lexus CT 200h premium compact hybrid will go on sale in the U.S. in early 2011 as the first dedicated hybrid vehicle in the premium compact segment.

New Lexus CT 200h to compete in compact hatch segment

The sporty five-door will be on display March 31 through April 11 at the 2010 New York International Auto Show. The new Lexus CT 200h debuted at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show in early March and will join the HS 250h as Lexus’ second dedicated hybrid.

“The CT 200h is expected to lead the class in fuel economy and deliver low emissions, but the CT 200h isn’t just about being a hybrid, it’s about having fun,” said Mark Templin, Lexus Division group vice president and general manager. “The stylish CT 200h has an attitude and driving dynamic unlike any other Lexus hybrid. It will excite eco-conscious, young consumers and symbolize urban, luxury living.”

To reach this energetic and technology-savvy buyer, Lexus is taking a new approach to marketing the new Lexus CT 200h. As part of an integrated launch in the U.S., Lexus will release a breakthrough interactive short film that offers a new take on the test drive by providing the viewer a fully immersive way to experience the new Lexus CT 200h.

Hybrid Powertrain

The new Lexus CT 200h is powered by a 1.8L Atkinson cycle four-cylinder gas engine with Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (VVT-i) and Lexus Hybrid Drive technology.

The CT 200h’s Lexus Hybrid Drive technology features two motor generators. Each performs specific functions and can operate as both a motor and generator. The engine-driven generator can charge the battery pack or provide additional power to the drive motor as needed. The drive motor is driven by electrical power from the hybrid battery pack or generator and provides motive force for the front wheels. The hybrid battery pack is located under the rear cargo area within the wheelbase for optimized balance.

The electric motor, generator and power split device are all housed in one highly compact casing the size of a conventional gearbox, with drive to the front wheels provided by Lexus Hybrid Drive’s quiet and smooth shift-by-wire, electronically controlled continuously variable transmission (E-CVT).

New Kia Optima to showcase fresh design direction

The new Kia Optima (currently, also known as ‘Magentis’ in some markets) is set to make its world premiere next month at the 2010 New York International Auto Show.

“The next generation Optima possesses the power to surprise,” says Peter Schreyer, Kia’s Chief Design Officer. “It’s a car that people will simply not expect from Kia – and that’s exactly what we set out to achieve.”

Striking design for new Kia Optima

The new Kia Optima exudes an athletic confidence from every angle and shutline – its raked roofline, the high and pronounced shoulder line of its sculpted flanks and its extended wheelbase are complemented by boldly flared wheel arches and a shallow glasshouse that create a saloon with a muscular and self-assured stance.

The striking visage of the  new Kia Optima features a new interpretation of Kia’s bold ‘tiger’ family face that’s edged by piercing projector headlamps.

Longer, wider and lower than before, the Kia’s coupe-like profile is enhanced by the sweeping chrome arc that flows from A to C pillar, a distinctive design motif that visually lowers the car further still and enhances its cab-backwards proportions.

Spacious, and with class-leading levels of safety and luxury equipment, the Optima’s intelligently configured and driver-oriented cabin underlines this newfound poise and presence.

“The Optima embodies Kia’s confident new design direction,” says Schreyer. “It’s a global car with individual appeal.”

New Opel Astra Wins red dot Design Award in Europe

A great honor for the new Opel Astra: An international expert jury has recognized the compact car with the internationally known “red dot” award in the product design category.

New Opel Astra proves popular

The new Opel Astra can add the red dot to an expanding trophy case that started with the Goldenes Lenkrad (Golden Steering Wheel), by Germany’s AutoBild and its European affiliates and has expanded in recent weeks to three important awards in Spain and a viewer’s choice prize in Romania, proving that the Astra is valued throughout Europe not only for its sleek lines but also for its innovative technologies.

For the first time since the 1973 inception of Spain’s most prestigious national prize, the new Opel Astra has earned the title Car of the Year by ABC newspaper. The compact has also won Readers Choice 2010 from Prensa Ibérica, La Vanguardia and AutoFácil, and the Car of the Year 2010 in the Canary Islands.

In Romania, 30.000 people voted Astra as “Car No. 1” in a competition organized by an automotive TV show. That award was presented March 14.

Honored for the evolution of Opel’s bespoke design language

The new Opel Astra, developed at Opel’s European Design Center in Rüsselsheim, continues the natural evolution of Opel’s design language, ‘sculptural artistry meets German precision’ first introduced on the Insignia and bringing it newly interpreted for the compact class.

“It is a very special honor to receive this endorsement from an international jury of non-automotive designers. It confirms once again that Opel is on the right track by offering the highest quality components and materials matching the upscale execution,” says Mark Adams, vice president of Opel/Vauxhall Design.

This prize is added to the impressive list of awards already attributed to the new Opel Astra since it went on sale in December 2009. So far, the elegant compact has received 16 awards, including the 2010 Golden Steering Wheel award. The Astra was also named 2010 Car of the year in several countries like Spain.

New Alfa Romeo Spider 2uettottanta Concept

To mark its own 80th anniversary and to celebrate Alfa Romeo’s 100th birthday, Pininfarina has released at the 2010 Geneva International Motor Show its proposal for a new Alfa Romeo Spider, one of the models that has defined Alfa Romeo for more than half its history and in which Pininfarina has had a strong guiding hand.

Alfa Romeo Spider goes into concept phase

The Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta Concept is designed to be exciting and a delight to drive, for drivers looking for a mixture of extrovert entertainment, and the pleasure of life in the open air. The name, 2uettottanta, evokes the legendary Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto but also a very Italian product, which has become an export brand, representing the inexhaustible talent that the world associates with Italy.

The Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta Concept reflects Pininfarina’s determination to look to the future with optimism following tradition, restating its excellence in design and its acknowledged capacity for aesthetic and technological innovation. It is a concept that represents an innovative approach, projected into the third millennium, to a topic that is firmly rooted in Pininfarina history, the 2-seater spider. And like the best Alfa Romeo sports cars to come from Pininfarina’s pencil, the Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta Concept exalts the driving experience and concentrates on the excitement of being at the wheel of an open car with a great aesthetic personality.

The Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta Concept is also a tribute to Alfa Romeo, which celebrates its centenary in 2010: the alliance between Alfa Romeo and Pininfarina is one of the most significant and durable in the history of the car, one of men and of passion, of design and cutting-edge technical solutions, which has generated an inestimable number of good-looking, innovative cars with plenty of temperament but with a predilection for sports cars and convertibles. The aim is to replicate all this with the Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta Concept.

For this project, the Pininfarina creative team were given carte blanche to express the values inherent in the Alfa Romeo spider “by Pininfarina”, the values that are deemed to have made the Giulietta Spider or the Duetto all-time classics. To achieve this result, the car was given a particular set-up, with a low centre of gravity and a passenger compartment that is very exposed so as not to isolate the occupants from the surrounding environment. The result is to bring the road “nearer” to the eyes of the driver and to increase the sense of dynamism even at low speed.

Source: Alfa Romeo

Ford Police Interceptor purpose-built to lead market

The all-new, purpose-built Ford Police Interceptor sedan was revealed today, showcasing a car for law enforcement officials that will exceed the durability, safety, performance and fuel economy of the industry’s leading police car – the Ford Crown Victoria – while also confirming production of a Police Interceptor utility vehicle.

Law enforcement improved with new Ford Police Interceptor

Ford, the police vehicle market leader for 15 years, specifically designed and engineered as an all-new Police Interceptor to handle the rigors of police work, including industry-leading powertrain, safety and technology innovations.

Ford will also add a second Police Interceptor to the lineup, a utility vehicle to provide customers a choice of the best vehicle to suit their needs. More details will be released in the third quarter of this year.

“Police nationwide asked for a new kind of weapon in the battle for public safety, and Ford is answering the call with a purpose-built vehicle – engineered and built in America – that’s as dynamic as it is durable,” said Mark Fields, Ford president of The Americas.

To develop the all-new Ford Police Interceptor, Ford engineers worked hand-in-hand with Ford’s Police Advisory Board of law enforcement professionals, which provided input on key vehicle attributes such as safety, performance, durability, driver comfort and functionality.

“Their feedback mattered to us,” said Scott Tobin, Ford vehicle line director for cars and crossovers. “Safety and durability were at the top of their list. So safety and durability were at the top of ours.”

Aprilia RSV4 Voted Sports Bike of the Year

For the second year in a row, European motorcyclists pick the Italian Aprilia RSV4 that made an astonishing debut at the SBK world championship, as their firm favorite for the year.

Aprilia RSV4 voted best of the best

The Aprilia RSV4, the super sport bike that set a new benchmark for engine and chassis performance both on the road and on Superbike world series tracks, was voted the best sports bike of 2010 by motorcyclists from 12 countries.

The Aprilia RSV4’s two road versions “Factory” and “R” won hands-down in a survey among over 100,000 readers of the Italian monthly magazine In Moto and other 11 popular motorcycling magazines: Motorrad (Germany), Motociclismo (Spain), Moto Journal (France), Motoplus (Holland), Töff (Switzerland), Motorevija (Croatia), Motor Revü (Hungary), Motocykl (Czech Republic), Motocykl (Poland), Univers Moto (Romania) and the Brazilian magazine Motociclismo.

The Aprilia RSV4 won the coveted Sports Bike category award with nearly one third of the votes cast by readers, besting other top contenders by over 10%.

The extraordinary 1000 cc bike from Noale scooped yet another international award and its second consecutive Bike of the Year win. As a matter of fact, the Aprilia V4 had been awarded the Bike of Year title in 2009 as well. Another winner was the Aprilia RS 125, that dominated the 125 cc category. Like its bigger sister, the RS 125 won a ground-breaking victory in its category, with 30% of votes cast.

Aprilia RSV4 made its debut in the SBK world championship in the 2009 season. Ridden by Max Biaggi, it conquered one win and other nine podiums and recorded the highest speed ever reached by a Superbike during a race: 329 km/h in Monza.

BMW 5-Series Touring is a special wagon

The new BMW 5-Series Touring is the perfect symbiosis of driving pleasure, efficiency, versatility and sporting elegance. The 4th generation of the Business Touring convinces through powerful design aesthetics, modern premium-level functionality and brand-typical driving dynamics combined with exemplary efficiency.

BMW 5-Series Touring in petrol and diesel variants

The new BMW 5 Series Touring is making its debut with a choice of two straight-six petrol engines as well as a four-cylinder and a six-cylinder diesel. The BMW 520d Touring is powered by a 135 kW four-cylinder turbo diesel power unit featuring an aluminium crankcase and Common Rail direct injection. It is equipped with Auto Start Stop function as a standard feature, and with an average fuel consumption of 5.2 litres/100km and a CO2 emission figure of 137 g/km in an EU test cycle, it achieves the best efficiency in its segment.

The straight-six engine with BMW TwinPower Turbo under the bonnet of the BMW 535i Touring, with High Precision Injection and VALVETRONIC, develops a power output of 225 kW. Maximum power output of the straight-six engine featured in the BMW 523i Touring in lean operation is 150 kW. The BMW 530d Touring features a straight six-cylinder diesel with a 180 kW power output. Thanks to BMW BluePerformance technology it fulfills the EU6 emission standard. All versions of the new BMW 5 Series Touring fully comply with the EU5 requirement.

Travel in style and comfort

Thanks to a multi-functional interior and intelligent detail solutions, the new BMW 5 Series Touring is fully equipped to meet the most diverse demands. The luggage compartment has a capacity of 560 litres. If desired, an increase in capacity to a maximum of 1,670 litres is guaranteed by 40:20:40 split folding rear seats, which are unique in this segment. The backrest angle is variable by up to 11 degrees. The backrest can be folded down using two control levers inside the luggage compartment, the loading space cover of which is automatically lowered when the tailgate is closed. The separately opening rear window automatically swings upwards at the push of a button.

 

BMW Golfsport Collection for golf enthusiasts

For avid golfers, there is no wrong time of the year – maybe just the wrong latitude. But no matter where in the world BMW enthusiasts tee off, their favorite brand always comes along as a trusty companion. With the BMW Golfsport Collection, you’ll have the proper gear for any course. After all, most of the products in this line were developed and produced in collaboration with golf specialist OGIO. The result is uncompromisingly good quality and a design that offers the best of both style and function.

BMW Golfsport Collection for serious golfers

A true globetrotter was created in collaboration with OGIO as part of the BMW golf equipment, the golf bag. Made of black nylon with white and silver accent colors, the nine-inch bag provides ample storage space with many compartments for golf balls and scorecards. It also features a weatherproof, well-lined compartment for valuables. The bag’s main compartment has a soft rubberized edge to protect the clubs.

Golfers will also appreciate the beverage compartment, the three-ball dispenser, as well as the anti-twist cart strap for securing the bag to the cart or buggy. Whatever the destination, the bag always flies first class if encased in the golf travel cover made of black nylon, with an inner strap for securing bags, PVC floor, inline skate wheels, and a padded shoulder strap. And for your head, the golf cap in white or black, with pre-curved sandwich peak, adjustable strap in the back, and BMW pin.

BMW golf umbrellas will keep you dry 

St. Andrews, Scotland. The Old Course is considered the birthplace of golf, and everyone should play here at least once in his or her life. But it’s only the legendary course that should give you goose bumps, not the proverbial Scottish weather. Luckily, the BMW Golfsport Collection also includes umbrellas. Very fashionable (white with green contrasting stripes) and gentlemanly elegant (black with contrasting stripes in silver and white), these classy umbrellas will brave any Highland shower.

The black umbrella featuring Teflon-coated polyester also comes in handy under beautiful sunny skies, with a UV protection of 50+, it provides a shady spot on the green when used as a sunshade. The umbrella is light and extremely robust thanks to the original birdiepal Windflex frame with fiberglass struts. In fact, engineers at the technical inspection authority TÜV Rheinland were unable to damage it in a wind tunnel test. It has a pin-spring system for convenient opening, a reinforced shaft, and a patented safety tip.

Both umbrellas include a protective sleeve and provide a generous coverage area thanks to a diameter of approximately 120 cm and a height of 98 cm.

Car sales for February 2010 show increase

As noted in previous articles, the car industry is making an impressive recovery from last year’s recession. Car sales figures for almost all of the major brands are on the rise since late last year and things don’t seem to be slowing down.

Consumers are having an easier time spending and there is far less fear regarding the economy and the automobile market. This is great news for car dealerships who really had a hard time in 2009 with really low sales figures and little consumer interest.

February’s car sales figures continue the upward trend though, and many of the big manufacturers are noting impressive continued increases. The new and used car market seems to have made a complete recovery and the future looks bright, especially for these 3 major brands.

BMW Car sales increase 14.0 percent

The BMW Group once again improved sales volumes substantially in February of this year. A total of 91,758 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce automobiles were delivered to customers (prev. yr. 80,474) – representing an increase of 14.0%. The figure for the year to the end of February was 173,911 units – 15.3% higher than the previous year (150,893). Source: BMW

 

Audi car sales maintains strong growth

Mar 8, 2010 – AUDI AG reports worldwide sales of around 75.900 automobiles in February. The sales tally for the month is thus 19.9 percent up on February 2009. For the first two months of the year combined, unit sales by the Ingolstadt-based brand showed a rise of 28.7 percent on the prior-year period. Source: Audi

Mercedes-Benz car sales up by 13 percent

In February, Mercedes-Benz was once again able to continue its momentum of the past months, with sales increasing by 13 percent to 72,100 vehicles (February 2009: 63,600). As a result, the total number of deliveries has risen by 18 percent since the beginning of the year. Source: Mercedes-Benz

The fact remains that these brands are so big it really takes something huge for their sales to drop. This did happen during 2009 but they have rebounded with force and are once again thriving in the new and used car market. Along with Volkswagen, these 4 German car makers are hugely popular in South Africa and as usual you can find a comprehensive list of their cars at Cars.co.za

Alfa Romeo Spider 2.2 JTS from R6,850.00 pm

Drive an Alfa Romeo Spider 2.2 from R6850.00 per month Terms and conditions apply*.

The terms of this payment plan are as follows: R6850.00 per month – 10% deposit – 25% balloon payment – Linked Rate – 60 months – Finance subject to bank approval – Mandatory insurances are not included. Alfa Romeo Financial Services is a division of Wesbank – A division of First Rand Bank Ltd. An Authorised Financial Services and Credit Provider. NCRCP20

Terms and conditions apply, offer valid while stocks last, offer ends 30 April 2010.

Opinion on Alfa Romeo Spider offer

This is rather a strange approach from Alfa, as these kind of special offers are usually reserved for slightly cheaper cars, advertising for only R1000/month or R2000/month etc. From first glance this doesn’t look like the greatest offer as R6800/pm is quite heavy, also noted is the Alfa Romeo Spider 3.2 for R8500/pm which is even heavier on the wallet.

The Alfa Romeo Spider is styling and a pleasure to drive but anyone looking for some kind of bargain is probably better off picking up a second hand version. There will be 70 000 to 80 000 on the clock but the money saved will be huge. I imagine anyone looking to buy an Alfa Romeo Spider new probably isn’t too worried about the price in the first place, so I don’t see Alfa’s target with this kind of a special.