UPCOMING NEW CARS

Monday, January 24, 2011

BMW X1 Small SUV: More Teaser Photos Including Dashboard Shot

0 comments Posted by SAPU JAGAT at 3:36 AM

Much to the annoyance of people like ourselves that believe enough is enough, BMW continues to fool around with meaningless teaser shots of its upcoming X1 SUV. Following the release of 140 photos of the X1 in camouflage, a teaser video, four cryptic exterior shots and a blurry photoshoped image of the SUV on the beach, the Bavarian firm has published four more pictures of its small crossover.

The new set of photos provides us with our first (obscure) glimpse of the X1's interior and in particular of the steering-wheel and instrument panel which appears to be hold no surprises.

In case you've been living in Mars or something, the X1 is designed to fit right under the X3 in BMW's SUV range. The first examples of the SUV will arrive in European showrooms this October with the U.S. following sometime in 2011.

Mercedes Plant Produces 750,000th A-Class and 500,000th B-Class

0 comments Posted by SAPU JAGAT at 3:35 AM

The 750,000th A-Class and 500,000th B-Class rolled off the production line at Mercedes-Benz' Rastatt plant in Germany. The two milestone vehicles, a lotus blue A 180 CDI and a horizon blue B 180 NGT with natural-gas drive will be delivered to customers in Germany and Great Britain respectively. Overall, the Stuttgart based automaker has produced a total of more than 2.35 million units of the two model series since the introduction of the first-gen A-Class in 1997 (second-gen model was launched in 2004) and the B-Class in 2005.

After Germany, the largest markets for the A- and B-Class are Italy, France and Great Britain while the biggest market for the two models outside Europe is Japan. At the beginning of 2009, Mercedes-Benz also introduced the B-Class in China.

Custom Built Hummer H1 is one Freaky Creation

0 comments Posted by SAPU JAGAT at 3:34 AM

My eyes, oh my poor eyes... Can't remember for sure if we have seen any custom made vehicle worse than this heavily modified Hummer H1 that's up for grabs on eBay, but it certainly makes the top list. And wait until you see the interior with the ostrich leather dashboard and the number of LCD screens surrounding the driver...

Aside from claiming that the modded H1 "gets more attention than all other exotics" (wonder why...), the seller mentions that more than $185,000 were invested on the vehicle that is powered by a tuned V8 diesel cranking out 195 horsepower and 430 lb-ft (583Nm) of torque.

Still interested? Our condolences for your lost of taste but if you insist, the eBay 'Buy it Now' price for the Hummer H1 is $89,000.

Link: eBay

New GM Backs out of NUMMI Partnership with Toyota

0 comments Posted by SAPU JAGAT at 3:33 AM

Following the announcement on the termination of the Pontiac Vibe that was the last remaining project of the New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) joint venture with Toyota, the so-called 'New GM' said today that it plans to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection without its 25-year old California tie-up with the Japanese automaker.

"Given that, GM believes it is in the best interest of the 'New GM' and its stakeholders that we place our ownership interest in NUMMI in 'Old GM'," the company said in a prepared statement.

General Motors added that the two sides could not reach an agreement on a future product plan that "made sense for all parties" and that there are no future GM vehicles planned for the joint venture at this time.

260 VW Polos form the Supermini's Name at Dealer Gathering

0 comments Posted by SAPU JAGAT at 3:32 AM

In the past three weeks, more than 11,000 dealers and employees from 90 countries visited the Polo Congress at the Autostadt pavilion that is located next to Volkswagen's main factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, to get acquainted with the automaker's new supermini. Along with the presentations, test drives and numerous events, VW also assembled 260 Polo models in red, white and black colors at the parking lot to form the vehicle's name. More photos from the event after the jump.

2010 SAAB 9-5 Sedan and SportCombi: Official Illustrations?

0 comments Posted by SAPU JAGAT at 3:29 AM

A pair of allegedly official computer generated renderings showing the 2010 Saab 9-5 in both sedan and SportCombi (station-wagon) forms have found their way into the net through a dedicated Saab site. The author of the article on Saabsunited, Swade, supports that both CGIs are "original Saab stock" and that the Swedish automaker requested their removal, which he did, but uploaded them again since they had been copied on other sites.

There's no way of confirming their authenticity, they may or may not be official, heck maybe even Saab let the photos slip out for all we know. If you're up to it, you can compare these illustrations with our spy shots of camouflaged and partially unmasked 2010 Saab 9-5 prototypes by clicking here.

Via: Saabsunited