June 3, 2010
Jeff Koons reveals his new BMW art car
American artist Jeff Koons has unveiled his new brightly coloured BMW M3 in Paris – his contribution to the world famous and long-runnning BMW Art Cars project.
The M3 GT2 is the 17th car in the art car series – a project that has featured Andy Warhol and David Hockney – the car was unveiled in artistic surroundings of Paris’ Centre Pompidou. The same venue where American pop artist Roy Lictenstien revealed his dramatic reinterpretation of the 320i in 1977.
“These race cars are like life, they are poweful and there is a lot of energy,” says Koons.
‘You can participate with it, add to it and let yourself transcend with its energy . There is a lot of power under that hood and I want to let my ideas transcend with the car – it’s really to connect with that power.,” he added.
June 1, 2010
Jaguar Land Rover Plans Plant In China
Tata Motors CEO, Carl-Peter Forster, has revealed that Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover plans to build cars in China.
Speaking at a press conference in London, Forster said that up to 40,000 JLR products a year could be Chinese-built. Production could begin within two years, with Land Rover models first, followed by Jaguars. The aim is to cut production costs to keep JLR products competitive in the burgeoning Chinese luxury car market.
“China is one growth market,” said Forster. “We need to grow everywhere else as well. We need to grow in China, in Europe, South Africa, South America. We have lots of growth markets.”
The Chinese-built models aren’t likely to be heading for the UK, however – their destination will be China and other south-east Asian economies.
A JLR spokesman also told PH that the new production plans will not affect JLR’s UK-based production facilities, as the volume for Chinese-built cars will come from sales growth and will not replace British-built production. The parts for the Chinese Jaguars and Land Rovers will also be largely UK-sourced and shipped to China for final assembly.
May 27, 2010
Volkswagen Buys Italdesign
VW is expanding its empire with the announcement that are to buy the Italian design house that gave us the original Golf design.
VW will take a 90.1 per cent stake in Italdesign – Italy’s largest design and engineering firm, employing some 800 people – via Lamborghini Holding SpA, while the Giugiaro family will retain the remaining 9.9 per cent of shares in the company.
“The Volkswagen Group will be continuing its model initiative over the coming years and will benefit from the capacity and competence of Italdesign,” says VW’s CEO, Martin Winterkorn. “The company will therefore be making an important contribution to our 2018 global growth strategy.”
For his part, car design legend and Italdesign’s co-founder, Giorgetto Giugiaro, said: “Becoming part of the Volkswagen Group means revaluating ourselves and our strength. Entering Volkswagen means to open up a promising perspective for the company.”
Italdesign has created many models and concepts for the VW Group since the company was created in 1968, including the first Golf and concepts the first Passat, Scirocco and the Audi 80.
May 26, 2010
New front wheel drive Range Rover aimed at company cars drivers
Land Rover announced a few weeks ago that they will be making their first ever front wheel car, which is an attempt to lure the lucrative company car drivers away from their typical Audi’s and BMW’s.
With emissions reported to be less than 130g/km, the dinky Range Rover will fall into the much lower company car tax band than any previous models.
When it goes on sale sometime in 2011 it will be taxed 19% of its list price rather than the 28% of the current low emission Range Rover.
The company is also trialling hybrid technology in a Range Rover Sport model. The electric motor is allied to the 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine, and the aim is for the Range_e model to cover 20 miles using electric power only.
A production version is scheduled to go on sale in 2013.
Lower tax bills with the new BlueMotion VW Golf
When you decide on your company car, the tax for it can quite often be the deciding factor, VW have recognised this and have just announced that their new Golf will be a lot cheaper when it comes to paying company car tax.
The new 140bhp 2.0 litre TDI diesel will now incorporate BlueMotion technology which was pioneered in ultra frugal Polo. The new Golf will feauture stop-start technology.
Other good news is that you will be able to guise you new Golf with the GT trim or the new match trim. The Match version replaces the SE trim level and adds £1,600-worth of extra equipment for a £300 price rise. The Match versions gain 16-inch alloy wheels, leather multi-function steering wheel, DAB digital radio, Bluetooth, front and rear parking sensors and touch-screen stereo with six-CD changer.
The 2.0 litre will see monthly tax drop from £58 a month two the base rate of £42 a month. And the 1.6 TDI in BlueMotion Technology trim returns near-70mpg economy and CO2 emissions of 107g/km. This puts it in the lowest diesel benefit-in-kind tax band (13%) for the next two years.
May 24, 2010
Have the cuts begun already? Hampshire police unveil pedal-powered patrol car
Allo ‘allo ‘allo, what’s all this then?A pedal Police car? You betcha.
PC Keith Waller has designed this five-gear go-kart with the help of school children from his beat, in Ringwood, Hampshire, to compete in the British Pedal Car Grand Prix on July 11.
But besides being £1,000, 20mph racer, PC Waller has also been using it to crack down on anti-social behaviour – presumably by making would-be ne’er-do-wells laugh so hard they’re too busy chuckling to get up to anything even vaguely reprehensible.
He’s not taking himself, or his mean machine, that seriously however, admitting: ‘People have made comparisons between me and Mr Plod from Noddy but I take it all in good spirits – It’s just a bit of a laugh.’
On top of his go faster yellow and blue stripes, there’s also a siren on board and even a roll bar in case things get a bit too hairy chasing a criminal pensioner around a tricky corner. But he’s only likely to catch ‘those with Zimmer frames’ adds PC Waller.
May 17, 2010
Buyers warned of cloned cars
Consumers are still being swindled with “cloned” cars and they stand to lose their vehicle and their money, it has been revealed.
Criminals clone cars by using stolen vehicle documents to change the identity of a stolen vehicle to match that of a legitimate car.
As many as 1,300 cloned vehicles, worth more than £13 million, have been recovered since 2006, according to the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo).
It is thought that the cloned-vehicle problem could is far greater than this, and worryingly more than 100,000 stolen registration documents are still in circulation.
The problem was highlighted today, at the start of car crime awareness week, by Acpo and by car-buying assistance organisation CarEnquiry.co.uk.
Paul Boddington, founder of CarEnquiry.co.uk, said: “Buyers are at greater risk from cloned cars than ever before and it’s clear those cars recovered are just the tip of the iceberg.
“Today, it really is ‘buyer beware’, with established dealers the best way to stay safe.”
AA president Edmund King said: “Car buying is fraught with pitfalls, from rogue traders to car cloning and forged documents. It always pays to shop with your head, not your heart, and deal only with those who can deliver you genuine cars, from accredited dealers.”
April 22, 2010
WhipCar – make your car make you money
A new car rental company WhipCar started business today, car owners can turn their motors from being a drain on their finances to money-making prospect following the launch of a website which allows them to rent out their vehicle when are not using it.
WhipCar, which opened for business this week, allows motorists to register their car to rent for anything from a few hours to weeks at a time to people in their neighbourhood.
“Our research has shown that there are many people who would be happy to pay for car rental services if they could be delivered locally,” he said.
“WhipCar enables owners to put their cars to work, and for those in need they can literally rent the car next door.”
WhipCar is initially only operating in London, but Gupta said he hoped to roll the service out to the rest of the country in a few weeks.
He said that unlike traditional car rental operations his scheme did not need a high concentration of potential users to make it work. “You could be the only car owner in the village and put your car up for rent to provide a service for you neighbourhood,” he said.
So how does it work?
To take part, a car owner registers his or her details and decides how much to charge for an hour or a day.
Cars must be no more than eight years old, have a valid MOT and road tax, existing insurance, and be clean and in good condition. WhipCar carries out checks to make sure the car is roadworthy and has not been stolen. It is then advertised on the site.
Rental charges are paid into the owner’s bank account each month after WhipCar has deducted a 15% commission.
Cars may not be rented by anyone under the age of 21 or over 70, or anyone with more than six penalty points on their licence, a drink-driving conviction within the last five years, or any convictions relating to driving without insurance. They must also have had no more than two accidents in the past three years.
Renters also have to register with the site, and WhipCar checks their age, licence details and whether they have any convictions. They pay the agreed hourly or daily cost, plus a charge for fully comprehensive insurance on the vehicle and a £2.50 charge which goes to WhipCar.
Gupta said: “Claiming against this insurance does not affect the owner’s normal car insurance; the no claims bonus will not be affected. Also, if a courtesy car is needed this will be extended to the renter for the remaining rental period, then to the owner until the car is repaired or replaced.”
Once someone applies to rent a car, the vehicle owner is sent an email and text alert containing his or her details, a photo, their hire history and a feedback form other car owners.
The owner can reject a rental application and can make stipulations, such as maximum mileage or no smokers only.
Once the booking is accepted the renter is sent details of where to meet the owner, who is given the last four digits of the renter’s driving licence to verify identity.
April 21, 2010
Toyota’s Graham Smith says Plug-in hybrids ‘better solution than Electric Vehicles’
The managing director of Toyota Motor Erurope told delegates today at the international Automotive Conference in Scundeland “it will take time” for consumers to adapt to the idea of driving a car that you can plugin to a socket.
But he still thinks “Hydrogen powered cell vehicles” are the answer and new hybrids will “bridge the gap”.
He thinks that it will be the better solution for the consumer as electric cars won’t work for long journeys. But reckons “they will have a role to play but not a major one.”
Toyota will launch a 36-month trial of plug-in hybrids this summer in London using 20 vehicles. The trial has already started in France, he said.
The advantage of plug-in hybrids is that for journeys under 10km they run of electric power only and are zero emission. For journeys under 25km – which represent 80 per cent of trips -the vehicle will run in hybrid mode using the petrol engine, with CO2 emissions 60 per cent less than the Prius Mild hybrid, he said.
Toyota will launch a 36-month trial of plug-in hybrids this summer in London using 20 vehicles. The trial has already started in France, he said.
April 19, 2010
Video: The world’s fastest Nissan GT-R
Some steroid eating Americans have just posted this video on Youtube that shows a their newly tuned Nissan GT-R posting a standing quarter mile run in 9.9 seconds.
To put this in perspective – a Bugatti Veyron posted a 10.2 second standing quarter mile, and that thing is spitting out over 1,000 bhp.
At the the Supra and GTR nationals event in Texas, AMS decided to lay down the law and show the public what a nine second car looks like.
The ‘roid-head’ GT-R packs a new exhaust system, upgraded ball-bearing turbos, upgraded intercoolers and fuel injectors, high-flow intake piping and a recalibrated fuel system to allow for normal petrol or high octane stuff.
On the top-quality juice, AMS reckon their mods will push the tuned 3.8-litre twin turbo’s power output to 850bhp.
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