Automobile News

This is one news that’s’ going to fascinate not just the car lovers but football lovers and everyone else. Steven Gerrard has decided to put his Range Rover on sale and not through some showroom or anything but simply on the internet. For his fans that is like an opportunity of a life time, if you have the requisite money, that is.

His 3.6 litre Range Rover Vogue GT is available at £ 52,990 for any one to buy. The Liverpool captain has only used this car for a year or so. Though he bought it for £ 61,000 only he has spent quite an amount on many extra features.

The V8 engine vehicle has impressive alloy wheels, a great DVD system, wool rugs and many other features. And interestingly Gerrard has sold many cars in past and through the internet as well. He had sold his Range Rover Sport last year through the same process. For any Liverpool fans, the souped up Vogue GT will make a much better collector’s item than Gerrard’s old Adidas Predator Absolute X TRX SG foot boots, in our opinion. As for the car itself, it has covered some 20,000 miles but is still in a very great shape. And in case you end up buying it you’ll join the esteemed company of John Terry, Jermaine Defoe and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

This is a going to be a collector’s item and any one would love to get his hands behind its wheel. What will make it more memorable is that you’ll always see the number 8 Gerrard has got etched on the armrests, a cool reminder of Liverpool skipper’s jersey number.

In case you are football fan then this is definitely not the time to let this great opportunity pass by just like that.

The Panamera is another addition to the Porsche family. This car is a four-door sedan costing $ 89800. This super fast car matches the best sports cars in quality and style. This Panamera car features the 400hp 4.8 liter V8 engine, which is capable of reaching a speed of 60mph in 5.2 seconds. It can reach a maximum speed of 175 mph, which is an amazing feature. The next addition to this family is the Panamera Turbo, which comes with a twin-turbo engine. This car is capable of clocking a speed of 60mph in 4 seconds. It has a maximum speed of 188 mph and comes with a price tag of $132,600.

According to the latest news making headlines, the Porsche car manufacturers have recently established collaboration with the German manufacturers of audio systems for their new products. In short, it is a dual package of super performance vehicle and high quality audio system. The quality of the audio system complements the power of the vehicle in the best possible manner. This high quality audio system is equipped with 16 loudspeakers. These speakers provide sound of utmost clarity.

The software is specially designed to suit various seating positions. The cabin and engine noise is well compensated and is developed exclusively for Porsche. This Porsche Design car is all set to take the automobile world on October 17 this year. So for all those ardent sports car lovers on the look out for a new sports car, this car is something to watch out for.

Tags for this article: high end, panamera, porsche, v8 engine

The world renowned chipmaker Nvidia has produced the new Audi Q5’s navigation graphics system. This system is named MMI or the Multimedia Interface by Audi. With the help of the new navigation system, users can view the maps of urban centers in 3D format. All the landmark buildings are highlighted with a new texture. This feature helps drivers recognize places easily. The topographical maps are also described in 3D format, which helps users understand the pattern of the terrain ahead.

The navigator comes with a 7 inch screen. This device gives traffic updates and enables the user to escape from heavy traffic. The Nvidia powered device not only comes with amazing graphics but also features some great techniques. Nvidia graphics chips are usually reserved for computers or laptops, like the Sony Vaio VGN-AW11M/H, and this represents one of the few times the world’s leading graphics chip maker, Nvidia, has worked on a sat nav. This system has adapted the hard drive-based navigation system. The 10GB space reserved for music is a good choice as listening to music while driving is a popular culture today. The 10 GB space allows users to save their favorite songs. Audi also offers the speech-to-text facility. With the help of this, you can make calls to anybody in your phonebook just by uttering their name. On doing this, the car will make the call to the person mentioned and provides hands-free calling.

To make matters much easier, the Audi car company has added another feature namely the inclusion of joystick to its console dial. The joystick can be used to surf around the map as you drive. It is very comfortable to access, as compared to the keys found in other navigators. Go for a drive in the Audi to know what luxury feels like.

Tags for this article: audi, navigation, system

The worldwide economic crisis has entailed huge consequences to many big name Japanese automobile manufacturers, such as Toyota and Honda, that are normally resilient in the face of such pressure. Struck by unfavourable economic conditions, sinking demand in North America and Europe, as well as a strong Yen, Japanese carmakers have seen losses pile up and exports plunge. After the typically stalwart Toyota posted its first ever recorded operating loss and opted to cut production, including closing down domestic plants for 11 days, other companies are following suit. The latest cost cutting measure by Honda has hit the UK as well, as the manufacturer opts to shutdown its Swindon plant for a full two months, in addition to cutting domestic production of its automobiles in Japan by 56,000.

Honda had already announced its intentions to close the plant for the months of February and March, as the company has now decided to extend the stop in production into April and May. While the production cuts do entail lower wages for the Swindon plant workers, Honda insists no redundancies for automobile plant workers are on the horizon, and that the measure will in fact safeguard jobs. Workers have nonetheless expressed unease at the move and are afraid of what will happen next. Aside from the removal of 3,100 temporary jobs in Japan, Honda has not made significant cuts to its workforce, which includes 4,200 employees in the UK.

The car sales statistics in Europe are no less reassuring than those in the rest of the world, as December saw car sales in Europe fall by a staggering 17.8%, to an overall 7.8% decline on the year. The yearly decline was the worst in 15 years and the numbers do not bode well for any carmaker, including Honda. The forecast is even more grim in the UK where new car sales fell by 21.1% in December and unemployment recently hit an 11 year high.

Tags for this article: economy, honda, sales, swindon

Porsche, one of the foremost car manufacturer’s of the world, has confirmed reports that they are ready with a new model, the new Panamera grand tourer, which they have decided to showcase at this year’s Shanghai Auto Show to be held in April. Company sources also reveal that the original plan was to launch the model a month earlier at the Geneva Motor Show, but it had to be postponed because of unavoidable circumstances.

If things goes as planned the public can get a glimpse of the car on the 19 April when it goes on stage, a day before the Shanghai show gets underway. According to reports emanating from the company, the shift was made to accommodate the growing potential of China to consume these products, as well as its neighbours India and Russia who are fast turning out to be a fertile market for the car manufacturers. The cars that are slated to be revealed at the show, it has been expected, will include the normally aspirated V8 as well as the twin-turbocharged V8 variants.

The potential of the Chinese market is taking centre stage of late, what with major car maker Stuttgart selling a record 8,190 units in the last financial year. This is in direct contrast to what has been observed in established markets like Germany, where sales dropped by more than 5% over the same period, forcing the manufacturers to chalk out their future strategies as well as long term business policies.

Porsche CEO, Wendelin Wiedeking was quite forthright when speaking about the growth of new markets, while established markets take the tumble, as he stressed the need to make their presence felt in still nascent markets like China and the Middle East. Even Porsche accessories, such as cologne, perfume, and trainers like the Adidas Porsche Design S2 mens trainers, are being targeted at these emerging markets as well. The Porsche name carries with it a reputation for luxury and class that is recognised worldwide.

The company has already set a production limit of 20,000 cars per year to meet the demands of the discerning customer, with the provision to chop it down in case sales don’t live up to the anticipated levels.

Can you believe this one? Before coming to what I want to discuss here, first let me know what you usually do on a New Year’s Eve. You light fireworks, break glasses, and the like, right? Then you are in for a very good surprise, because the French have an entirely different and bizarre way of celebrating the occasion, and that is by torching their cars! I am really gulping for breath, what about you?

Reuters has come out with the astounding piece of news that this year the party loving French burnt as many as 1,147 vehicles, up 30.64% from what they did last year, 878 during the same period.

The funny thing about the whole affair is that it is frequently shrouded with a lot of chaos and mishaps, as police reported as many as 445 cases of car burnings, while they made 288 arrests during the same period, indicating a sharp improvement from the statistics available from last year when only 372 torched cars and 259 arrests were registered.

There were only a few stray incidents of revellers clashing with police, but the authorities are still at a loss of explanation regarding the reason behind the exponential increase in torched cars.

A police official said that it is a bit weird that though there are few cases of face to face confrontation with the police, gendarmes and fire services, the number of torched cars is substantially higher. He regretted the fact that they don’t have any conclusive explanation at the moment, but promised to dig deep into the matter. In addition to the now obligatory GPS sat nav, like the TomTom Go 920 Traffic, it looks like French drivers would do well to invest in the latest automobile security measures to protect their precious four wheeled treasure.

Even the generally docile city of Strasbourg hasn’t been spared by the Car Holocaust as no less than 50 cars were burnt in the eastern parts of the town, while 17 arrests were made.

The excitement of welcoming 2009 can be seen everywhere. So what are your plans for the New Year? I bet you have lot, but are you also planning to buy a new car in 2009? Well, even if you don’t have any such plans, read on to discover the hottest cars that are likely to hit the market in the coming year.

So let’s take a tour of the top eight cars that will rock the automobile market in the arriving year:

Volkswagen Golf MkVI: Made to lead the hottest car lists of 2009, the Golf MkVI is expected to mark its presence in January. As you might have guessed, it is an improved version of the earlier Golf.

Toyota Prius: Likely to be seen in September 2009, the new Prius promises to hit 75mpg and a mileage of 100g/km. sounds good! Sp would you not like to take a look at this compact yet powerful model?

Ford Ka: Inspired from Fiat 500, the Ka will carry forward Fiat’s gene. You can look forward to buy this car if you are interested in saving more bugs.

Abarth 500: Assume it to the best creation of Abarth. Bold style, freezing swiftness, and easy handling are the major highlights of this upcoming model. Want to go for a test drive? You can go for it in February 2009.

Audi A1: The stunning looks might assist Audi A1 to outshine the charm of MINI. Moreover, it is a mild hybrid model that offers 92g/km. check it out in September next year.

Alfa Romeo MiTo: It is charming…it is hot! Yeah, it is the new Alfa car that is economical and more practical. Test its calibre in January.

Jaguar XJ: It won’t be wrong to call it the most far-reaching XJ model so far. It gives you an option to choose your fuel preference from the diesel or petrol. However, you will have to wait till the end of 2009 to see it on roads.

Ford Focus RS: Revolutionary and amazing! That’s how this car can be defined in simple words. You can expect as much as 300bph from this model. We will get to see it in March 2009.

The World Rally Championship for one is really shattered by the current economic crisis, with the latest setback coming in the form of Subaru who announced that it is no longer a part of the competition. The company cited the on going economic recession as a pretext that forced them to reconsider their Championship future.

This recent development is quite significant as it comes barely a few days after Suzuki withdrew its name from the Championship. Moreover, with the withdrawal of Subaru, the World Rally Championship is now left in the lurch losing two third of its teams in a mere span of 24 hours. The unwanted withdrawal means that Citroen and Ford are the only manufacturers in the FIA WRC competition for next season. This is very problematic for the rally organisation, and if it continues we might not see any more Sega Rally Revo video games, never mind new races. It is important to note that Honda, Japan’s second biggest car manufacturer, made a similar decision to withdraw from the Formula One Championships citing almost similar reasons.

Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), Subaru’s parent company, President Kyoji Takenaka while making this significant announcement at a news conference commented that the current economic slowdown that spread from the US has left the company with no other alternative but to reassess its primary objectives. He also emphasized that automobile industry, in particular, is hit hard by the recession irrespective of their nationality.

The dynamics and policies of the company need a rethink so that it stands a better chance at surviving the gloomy scenario, he added.

Meanwhile, a statement from the company reiterated that there is no other alternative left to the company rather than to withdraw so as to optimise its management resources and to strengthen further the Subaru brand.

Ford is all set to make its first-ever European production car, the new Focus RS, public in the month of May next year, according to company sources. The car will be powered by a turbocharged 2.5-litre, five-cylinder petrol engine which will generate up to 305bhp of power.

One particular quality of the car that should attract a lot of eye balls is the ability of the car to accelerate from rest to 60mph in 6 seconds flat, and in addition has a top speed of over 160mph. these two features alone are sufficient to make hard core car enthusiasts go weak on their knees.

The best part of the Ford car is not dependent on just these two features alone, as there are a host of other car enhancement features as well that should impress even a commoner like you. The manufacturers have taken a lot of pains to ensue that you find it easier to handle the car, and hence incorporated it with a wider track, enhanced drive-shafts and rear anti-roll bar, revised springs and dampers and retuned steering. The icing on the cap happens to be the inclusion of the company’s indigenously and specially developed electronic stability technology replete with traction assist.

Design wise, the model has a distinctive bonnet, front bumper and side skirts, 19-inch alloy wheels and made to perform on 235/35 tyres, like the Kumho KU 19 235/35 R19 91Y XL, for example. Then, there is a rear twin-bladed spoiler and power/heated door mirrors that boasts of a high-gloss finish.

Tags for this article: car, five cylinder, focus, ford, petrol

Inchcape, the world’s largest car retailers is facing a heavy down fall in its profits due to the worldwide recession. An unprecedented and sudden slowdown in the market has badly affected the sales of the company. Inchcape is into the distribution and retail of cars from premium brands, such as Audi and Mercedes-Benz. The stock market crash and drying up of customer’s credit has lead to heavy losses and above this the company will be now facing new import duties in Russia starting from next year.

The financial condition still continues to decline as the GMAC, the company in Australia which provides vehicle finance through Inchcape’s showrooms will stop doing the business with the Inchcape from January onwards. Andre Lacroix, Chief Executive said, “Demand is very weak in the UK, which provides half of our revenues. But carmakers are reducing production to keep supply in line with demand, which is very welcome.” According to him the company had anticipated a fall in the UK sales but didn’t expect such a heavy economic slowdown in the Australia and Hong Kong markets.

However Lacroix also commented that, “Markets will recover in due course and we believe that Inchcape is best positioned to benefit from its strong market positions and its long standing relationships with the leading manufacturers.”