Toyota announced a few days ago the first Prius sub-brand that will be presented to the public as the new Toyota Sai.
The hybrid will find its place somewhere between Prius and Crown and will go on sale in Japan starting October 20.
The engine – a 2.4-liter gasoline engine – will be more powerful than the one on the Prius – a 1.8 liter. On the outside, the Sai resemble a lot with the Lexus HS 250h, a car that’s being sold in US from September and in Japan from July.
There’s no info available on the Sai’s travel to US but is this will ever happen it will become a viable competitor to the already famous Ford Fusion hybrid.
In the picture below you can see the Lexus HS 250h in order for you to build a picture in hour head about how the Sai will look like.
Two months ago, in August General Motors announced everyone about their own eBay mega store. This was a California-only pilot that comprised no less than 225 dealers and the result was a total success. Even so, GM decided to put a stop on things despite the proven interest of all 50 US States to participate in this program.
The words saw this project as a failure but for GM this is definitely a successful initiative especially because the main objective was to attract customers that otherwise wouldn’t have bought a GM product.
eBay released to the public a few statistics and according to them the website recorded in the last couple of months 1.5 million views and 15,000 dealer leads.
Apparently there are a few rumors flying around about a new marketing campaign but even if the eBay experiment has come to an end this doesn’t mean that the dealers won’t continue posting their new cars on the already famous eBay Motors.
Folks over at Tommi Kaira worked their magic on the new 2010 Toyota Prius and as you can see for yourself… the result is pretty spectacular.
The original version of this 3rd generation iconic hybrid was doing a pretty good job for itself but now after getting a visual makeover from the Japanese tuning company is simply heartbreaking. A new lip spoiler and air intakes replaced the initial front end while the vertical front lights were considerably emphasized.
The green hybrid features a quad-pipe exhaust system and a new bumper on the back, the ride height has been lowered and the new boots are larger than they used to.
For the time being the price remains a secret but until it will be revealed it will be nice to some good news from the neighbors living under the hood also.
Peter Fong is the Chrysler CEO and the head of sales for all Chrysler Group brands, and these days he announced that for the US, the delicate Fiat 500 will be distributed by Pentastar.
The sales aren’t exactly aiming for the ceiling so, Chrysler decided that there’s no need to build a dedicated dealer network for this petite car, instead it will simply arrange a special Fiat 500 corner in the existing showrooms. This shouldn’t be so difficult because 80% of Chrysler dealers are also offering Jeep and Dodge lines.
The Fiat 500 will be built at Chrysler’s Toluca, Mexico plant in late 2010 or early 2011, and from the total amount of 100,000 units the company is planning to send one third to Brazil (under the name of Abarth).
Let’s wish them all the best and for los brasilenos… Happy Shopping!
The premium car market is all about downsizing these days and that’s no longer a secret for anyone. So, GM decided to launch the new Buick Avant on their very new Lab website. What’s the deal with this website? The famous automaker developed it in order to take a better look on the company’s upper-level brands.
This new Buick Avant Concept boasts with swinging and slide opening doors, a driver’s seat that can move laterally, a opaque or transparent “micro pergola roof” and last but not least a special luggage shelf that brings packages to you.
In addition to all that you can choose from no less than 4 interior concepts and 6 interior themes.
We’ll keep you posted with information on pricing and release date.
Only a few cars in the world can compete against the superb Aston Martin Vantage in a beauty contest but the chances of them winning the podium are very poor.
Today we will focus on the breath-taking 510 hp 6.0L V12 model. Unfortunately folks over at “Car and Driver” are saying that the Vantage won’t be buying a US ticket any time soon because the automaker decided not to import this 1,000 DB9-powered vehicle over the ocean.
On the other hand, CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez announced that showrooms all over US will welcome the V12 after all and if everything goes according to plan the number of units will exceed 1,000. That’s good news, especially if you have enough money under the mattress and you’re shopping for a Hope diamond of motorvehicles.
There should be a picture of the new Toyota Prius in the dictionary next to the word “green” because this car managed to redefine the ECO concept at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show.
The car is very eco friendly and through its cord it feeds in only 90 minutes a 230-volt Li-ion battery. Don’t think about it as a toy because in EV mode, this nasty baby can go 20 km and on electricity alone can run up to 62 mph. For longer distances you should know that there’s no difference between the Prius Plug-in Hybrid concept and any other normal full hybrid.
In terms of comfort and practicality the new car is located very high up the latter offering a wide range of facilities that we all need when sitting behind the wheel.
When it comes to pricing and release date I cannot say much because this info is yet to be determined. So… stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted!
Say hello to the new Black Baron E V12 from Brabus. With E-Class pedigree, this baby runs with a twin turbo, 6.3-liter V12 with 800 hp and an electronically-limited 811 lb-ft, a ram-air system and a tuned ECU. I said “limited” because the engine can produce about 1000lb-ft.
Brabus has on the list of improvements an adjustable suspension and bigger brakes and tires. To make the car run as fast as 217 mph, also electronically-limited, some tweaks were made to the body at the expense of the sexiness.
The car will also have another feature limited: the number. Only 10 will be made, each costing about 600.000 euros. Who said the world is in crysis?
You cannot say „pick-up truck” without thinking about Texas and that’s why fans all around the country will gather two weeks from now at the Texas State Fair.
Especially for this event Ford prepared a great surprise: the official presentation of the 2011 Super-Duty packed with a nasty Scorpion – a 6.7-liter Power-Stroke diesel V8. This new engine will hit mass production in Q2 2010 so until then let’s see what this baby is capable of.
We have no idea about torque or power but we found out about the intake ducting of the inlets that was designed for passive flow control.
Last but not least this baby is the first Ford diesel certified to run on B20 biodiesel.
That’s all for now folks but stay tuned for more!
Mitsubishi and Peugeot don’t share the same blood but it wouldn’t be wrong to day that they are two cousins separated by an ocean. If we think about Peugeot’s 4007 SUV and the reskinned Mitsubishi Outlander it will all start to make some sense.
Frankfurt Motor Show will welcome this year the new Peugeot iOn which is in fact a Mitsubishi iMiEV protected by a lion sign. According to some rumors a lithium ion battery – powered version will be available in Europe by the end of 2010.
Now, let’s take a look at iOn’s specs list. The engine on this baby will deliver 132 lb-ft of torque and 64 horsepower and a full recharge (220 V) will last for no less than 6 hours. If that’s too much, you should know that a fast-charger system will also be available on the market allowing you to benefit from a 80% charged capacity in only 30 minutes.
