Recently Ford unveiled its newest small car, the 2010 Ford Fiesta sedan, at the Guangzhou Auto Show in China. Based on Ford’s Verve Concept car introduced last year as one of the flagship sedan’s in Ford’s new “Global Ford” product line-up, the Ford Fiesta sedan unveiled yesterday will begin production in Beijing in early 2009. Although Ford has yet to confirm or deny whether the new 2010 Fiesta sedan is U.S.-bound, industry experts expect both a three-door and five-door sedan/hatchback combinations to make their way stateside.
In a bit of good news from Mitsubishi, the Tri-Star badged automaker is reportedly intending to distribute its first plug-in electric car in Japan, North America and Europe beginning next year. The 100 mile driving range i MiEV was previously only destined for mostly fleet duty, but after positive developments in preparation for mass production, the company has decided that increasing production is a potential cash cow for the typically second-tier sales producing Japanese automaker. The new plan involves launching the i MiEV electric car in Japan as early as the summer of 2009.
Recently, a new Audi mule was caught testing in the industrial district in France. Although we can’t confirm anything as of this moment, the new model appears to be droptop coupe heavily based on the Audi 2500. From what we can see, it also seems as though Audi has entirely eliminated the need for a gas tank, and we’re interested to find out exactly what is powering this fuel-efficient little compact.
In addition to the super fuel efficient up! concept micro car VW debuted last year, the German automaker is also apparently planning to add another little fuel-sipper to the family, this one even smaller than the up!. Sources say the future tiny car will be based on the up!’s platform, but apparently borrowing its powertrain from Schwinn, will be equipped with a newly-developed 1.0L 50 horsepower engine. The two-seater whispering metal deathtrap is rumored to achieve 117 mpg and is intended to crush other minor competitors like the Toyota iQ and the smart ForTwo.
Recently, the experts at Auto Express managed to confirm that the rumors surrounding Audi’s intention to produce a compact car are indeed correct: Audi is currently developing a small, eco-friendly city car. The Audi city car will share the same underpinnings as VW’s newest micro car, the up!, and engineers are currently burning the midnight Öl developing two super fuel-efficient, 600cc twin-turbocharged engines (one diesel, one petrol). Sources say the tiny Audi is expected to average around 95 mpg and produce less than 100g/km of CO2 emissions, earning it a spot in the fuel-efficient micro car competition next the likes of the 56 mpg Ford Ka and the 80 mpg Toyota iQ.
Today, Nissan threw down the small car gauntlet when it announced the release of the new, bargain-priced 2009 Nissan Versa 1.6 into the U.S. market. Scheduled to go on sale November 18, the 2009 Nissan Versa 1.6 will be priced to start at $9,990, officially earning it the distinction as the most inexpensive new car currently available in the United States. That 10k price tag does not include those ominous “dealership” and “handling” fees, however, but as long as you’ve mastered the fine art of negotiation and/or advanced hand-to-hand combat, you should be able to sign off on an ‘09 Versa 1.6 that’s well within the $9,990 range. As a word of caution, though, should you find it necessary to resort to aggravated assault when haggling with the Nissan dealer, it is not recommended that your escape plan rely heavily on your newly acquired Versa 1.6 inasmuch the 107 horsepower, 1.6L 4-cylinder engine is not likely to be much help in putting distance between you and the pursing 5-0.
As if their queer little cars weren’t frightening enough to look at, Smart decided to sponsor a Halloween Costume Contest inviting all Smart ForTwo owners to create custom costumes for their rides. While I’m admittedly no big fan of the Smart ForTwo, I have to admit I got a kick out of some of the costumes, especially the toaster.
Just last month, Chrysler’s GEM brand announced it’ll be producing a ultra-compact, zero-emission electric vehicle called the Peapod. It’s aimed at urban drivers, but it’s still a confusing move considering the specs on this thing. It has a range of 30 miles and a top speed of 25 mph. Granted, in a downtown area you generally don’t get up past 25 mph, but I still think that speed is going to seriously limit the car’s appeal.
There are six different models: two-seater, four-seater and six-seater passenger cars plus three different utility types. The six-seater and utility versions seem perfect for airport transit cars or security guards in a gated-community.
Yes, that hydro you just hit might have been laced with something, but no, you’re not hallucinating. Dubbed “The MINI Aldridge Special”, The MINI Cooper pictured above is part of legendary artist Alan Aldridge new exhibit, The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes, currently on display in London’s Design Museum.
Aldridge, who is most famous for his work as an album cover artist for the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Mr. Subtly himself, Elton John, created the MINI Aldridge Special in part to celebrate the MINI’s 50th birthday in 2009. Described as a “retrospective display” of Aldridge’s past work, the MINI Aldridge Special is a recreation of a similar MINI piece by Aldridge, featured on the cover of Sunday Times Magazine in 1965.
Looking to attract that desirable 18-24-year-old demographic, Toyota has announced plans to rebadge their newest micro car, the Toyota iQ, as a funky, fruity little vehicle for their Scion lineup. Apparently, concerns over the iQ’s intrusive affect on sales of Toyota’s current super sub-compact, the Toyota Yaris, inspired Toyota to forego introducing the iQ into Toyota’s U.S. family altogether. Instead, Toyota will swap the iQ’s current 3-cylinder engine for a slightly more powerful 4-cylinder and pitch it as Scion’s trendier, less expensive (yet equally as fuel efficient) response to the smart ForTwo.
Expected to be priced somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000, a preview of the Scion iQ is tentatively scheduled to make its grand debut at the ‘08 LA auto show next month.
Still no word on whether Toyota has worked out that screaming-metal-death-trap-for-rear-seat-passengers bug yet.
