2007 BMW M3

AKA “The Daddy” But… what’s up with those mirrors? Just reminded me of the cool mirrors of the E36 M3 version, although these ones look a bit strange… hopefully they will look alright in the flesh. Probably BMW will say that the mirrors were designed with the help of the supercomputer that they are using for the aerodynamic development of the F1 car, and they will probably mention that these were also tested in the wind tunnel where the F1 car is tested... and you know what?... it's probably true.

This car is making people wait patiently. Folks that are looking for a sports coupe (or sedan) are keeping it as cool as possible while waiting for the real thing. Judging by the amount of camouflage it seems the presentation is near. The prospect of revving the V8 engine of this thing past the 8000rpm while still the commercialization is months away is a modern way of torture. Please BMW, hurry up. Oh, why bother, they never do, they always test their cars for ages.

2007 Audi A5

The relentless pursuit of profit in auto companies has many forms. One is to sell a derivative of an existing car at a higher price. Examples: the 3-series coupe vs 3-series sedan; 407 coupe vs regular 407; Mercedes CLK vs C-class. Frequently the derivative versions has a distinct design (see the different front end and rear design of the BMW sedan and coupe) and even a different name for the model (see the CLK vs common C-class). BMW gambled with the prospect of changing the 3-series coupe for 4-series but they give up because the M3 badge is such a strong one and the 3-series designation highly iconic.

The new Audi A5 follows that trend: it is based on the Audi A4 (current version or next platform??) but it gets a different design and different name. And all for a bit more upscale perception and presumably higher selling price. It will be presented very shortly but until then we are curious about how it will look in the streets. Because, although the design is highly related to the Nuvolari concept, master Walter de Silva gave it a more latin touch in the design of the side profile that doesn’t look so teutonic as in current Audis. So a new orientation for Audi?... we will soon see how it turns out.

Chevrolet Volt: the ifs, buts and maybes

The uncertainties...
Some unanswered questions like: what if I travel at 160kph and discharge the batteries until 10%, can the ICE generate sufficient power to charge them with the energy rate I need? How should the discharge cycles be handled? How many full cycles will Li-ion batteries allow in the near future? How will car manufacturers adjust to a series hybrid shift… even if the mechanical simplicity and the fact that the ICE is kept should make them more friendly than if considering a pure electric vehicle? How will Big Oil react to this? What if a higher demand for Li-ion batteries triggers an increase in prices of its raw materials used for manufacturing. Do series hybrids present a challenge for the electrical grid? Is Big Oil going to buy electric companies?

But the biggest question remains? Can we really achieve the necessary robustness in future batteries? Make them last 10 years and be charged/discharged for more than 200 thousand kilometers and without safety/reliability issues? The next 3 to 4 years should give the answer to that.

Batteries are the weak link...

Chevrolet Volt: architecture and technique

Architecture and technique

Starting with a quick look at the design. In the side profile just check how the front overhang is small. This is usually an attribute of luxury longitudinal engine RWD cars. And yet the Volt is a FWD car… however, the E-flex platform allows evolutionary changes in the architecture like this one. The electric engine is placed very low and the small ICE engine is placed behind it, in front of the firewall. This arrangement makes for a lot of free space in the front for radiators (also very small because of the size of the ICE) and in the end you can make the car with very short front overhang. Other benefits of the current E-flex architecture include more space for crash absorbing structures and an easier implementation of pedestrian safety measures because there are much less hard points under the hood.

More good stuff in this architecture: having the ICE placed behind the front wheels and all those batteries sitting low in the center of the vehicle make for outstanding weight distribution, very low center of gravity and a bigger wheelbase for the same vehicle length. This means making an humble FWD with most (if not better) attributes of a RWD car, something impossible in the current paradigm of vehicle architecture.

Another significant note: the ICE is decoupled from the electric engine. Imagine what one can do with that: ICE in the front and electric in the rear wheels, two electric engines for AWD and the ICE in front, ICE and electric together but in the middle for a mid-engine roadster, 2 electrics+ICE and batteries under the platform for a SUV… And when the in-wheel electric engine reaches maturity one can have a truly revolutionary architecture change.

Finally a quick look at the underpinnings. There’s a wonderful real-car feel to it. You don’s see exotic materials (these were used but in the body of the concept), you see stampings, sheetmetal and familiar parts (the rear suspension looks like the one in the Opel Astra). The overall message is: “this is for real, this is meant to go for production…”

The Chevrolet Volt: our Concept Car of the Year 2007

This week Auto-Future is exclusively dedicated to the Chevrolet Volt: our Concept Car of the Year 2007. No need to wait for other concepts for the rest of the year: we made our choice!

Concept and design

How would the reader imagine a new concept car showing a green technology? Perhaps something like a Prius but more exotic. Probably a car with refined aerodynamics (and thus, a compromised design), skinny tyres; a cute look… Now look again to the Chevrolet Volt… what a macho car! The high shoulder line, the strong face, the character lines and the definitive sports car features: the short front overhangs, big tyres and powerful stance. This is the main statement of GM with the Volt: this car is a no compromises green vehicle. The series hybrid technology will allow drivers in the future to greatly reduce their environmental impact while keeping the comfort, features, safety and driving pleasure of today’s cars. Moreover, series hybrids are a key technology to keep the liberty of choice: you will not have to drive something like a Prius, you can have something similar to the E-flex platform on a car like the Chrysler 300C or a SUV seating up to 7 persons.

But still, if the Volt is for real, it will change habits: it will force companies to put charging stations in parking lots, and in the 3-5 years that it will take for something similar to arrive in the market the photovoltaic industry will have evolved to a higher level. We will discuss that in Auto-Future in a couple of months…

Stars and flops of Detroit 2007

The year is beginning very busy: while the Detroit show is fresh we are already receiving press releases on new cars and concepts for Geneve. So let’s quickly finish the Detroit issue.

Star of the show, concept car of the show and Auto-Future’s Concept Car of the Year 2007: Chevrolet Volt
Auto-Future’s love affair with the Volt will fully develop next week. It’s all Volt all week with analysis and details on the concept that is amazing the world.

The other star concept: Jaguar C-XF
The cool thing of this concept is that the real world version will not be very different, at least judging from the first available spy shots. This is the design that Jaguar needs and another spin-off of Auto-Future’s darling: the 4-door coupe, a type of car whose growth we predicted and discussed before.

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The flop of the show: Lexus IS F
What a pathetic joke! What was the Lexus philosophy in design?... ah, L-finesse or something like that. The IS F is the complete opposite, a tacky design without any sort of class or finesse. We could even try to warm the rear exhausts but the side skirts of this thing would still ruin the design.

2007 Mercedes C-class

We should see the first official pictures in the next days but for now here is a picture of the bodyshell. The W204 is a very important car. It will be the new reference of this segment. People that can afford it have nothing more to bother choosing, unless they prefer a sportier drive: then the choice is the BMW 3-series. For those that can't pay there are plenty of alternatives but for now the top spot in this class of cars is known: The new W204 and the E90 are the undisputed leaders.

The road to EV future: Chevrolet Volt video

Guess what: Auto-Future is awarding the Chevrolet Volt as Concept Car of the Year 2007. Shouldn't we do this only at the end of the year considering so many new models and concepts will be presented? Well, check the title of this joint again: Auto-Future. We just know this is the most important concept of the year.

For further joy check this video presented by Motorauthority on the Volt. It shows the car charging, moving, interviews with different folks from the design team and even the instrumentation.

2008 VW Golf VI

There is a new article from German magazine AutoBild with lots of juice on the next Golf VI. The pictures present what looks like a major restyling of the current model. That's because the generation VI will indeed be only a heavily restyled Golf V, with emphasis on cost-cutting changes. A prediction of a new 1.6TDI brings novelty in the engine range this being , of course, a common-rail diesel.

Other than some politics the article presents explanations for the unusual short cycle life of the current model and why the new one will keep so much stuff from current one. Some of the explanations presented by AutoBild are incorrect: the Golf V is not not expensive and for sure it is not premium, at least in Europe. It certainly is more premium than a Kia but, unlike what happened with generation IV, it is now very far from the exclusive BMW 1-series/Mercedes sportcoupe league. We are not sure if a major restyling will be enough to revive the VW Golf. The game has moved on, maybe it's time for a new start?... For sure, the current Golf V will have a place in history but for the worst reasons: This is the Golf that failed!

The road to EV future: Chevrolet Volt

Oh what a pity, it’s still only a concept. Auto-Future already mentioned this vehicle in a previous series-hybrid post. The concept car was finally presented in all its glory. It’s a series hybrid: fundamentally an electric car where the ICE only works as generator to charge the batteries when needed. Please Toyota, build it! LOL, just being mean!

Other than the great internals and technology, the Chevrolet Volt is also a great-looking car! It as a sort of 5-door coupe style with a high shoulder-line. We love high shoulder lines. What is lacking for this thing to be built? Only the robustness of the Li-ion batteries and a reduction of their price. Hopefully, these issues should be solved in the beginning of the next decade. Until then the countdown continues, we are on the road to EV future.

2007 Citroen streetlounge

... or whatever other name they will come up with. The car pictured below fits in a sub-segment that is widespreading, although cars in this class are generally not very successfull. We are talking of variants of Puntos/Corsas/Clios etc. that have monospace features in design and space. Cars like the Renault Modus; Fiat Idea; Skoda Roomster; Opel Meriva are based on smaller car platforms but are made with a higher roofline and seating position in order to increase space. This is generally well accomplished but unfortunately all of these cars look like crap, hence the lack of sales success.

It seems that the poor thing pictured below will follow the same path: more space and more uglyness. We could not care less about such things but actually the great success of the Ford S-max and C-max models exposed a savoir-faire of Ford in making great-looking monospace cars. We wonder if the future Ford B-max will have an improved design compared to other brand's approaches. For now this Citroen thing is just another forgetable also ran.

Ford Interceptor concept

The new Ford Interceptor concept is making a lot of people happy. More precisely, it's making a lot of people dream because such thing will probably never be built. But maybe if enthusiats show enough appreciation... Auto-Future is doing just that and showing the best part of the car: the short front overhang. It's not just pretty, it means that underneath the car there's a longitudinal engine RWD platform.

However, rumours state that the Interceptor uses the Mustang platform, and these rumours go along others that prospect a future 4-door version of the classic muscle car. Although we thing RWD is a great thing for a medium or large sedan, fact is the Mustang platform is too simple for this kind of car. A new platform shared with Australia's next Falcon would be more appropriate.

2008 Peugeot 608 CGI

The next Peugeot 608 is generating interest amongst car enthusiasts. But it’s difficult to see why. It will not feature any major breakthrough; it will still be a FWD top of the range saloon which is a bit strange: how can the top model of a car manufacturer use such simple architecture as FWD? Peugeot really needs to move up a level.

Maybe the interest is because, regardless of the humble architecture, Peugeot can make the best use of it and improve on the already great features of the current 607: comfort, handling, diesel engines. The 607 is probably the best car you can buy today out of the E-class/5 series/Lexus GS/ A6-quattro usual luxury choices. The design will be an evolution of the 607 following several themes presented in recent concept cars. The front design of the next CGI is not accurate but the side profile is representative of a subtle approximation to the 4-door coupe class pioneered by Mercedes in the CLS model.

Mazda 6

A new CGI on the replacement for the Mazda 6 has surfaced. It incorporates several current design features of Mazda in a very nice design. However, since Mazda is coming up with a new design language (just check their new concepts for Detroit) we are not sure if this photoshop could already be outdated...

The road to EV future: the series hybrid already arrived

… to fleet vehicles of course. The auto community is highly anticipating the series hybrid concept that GM promised to show in Detroit. Series hybrids are very interesting because these are essentially EVs where the only function of the internal combustion engine (ICE) is to recharge the batteries. A very small generator can thus be used, working in the most efficient conditions and providing significant range extension. Want to know more about series hybrids? Check this link.

However we have just find out that serial hybrids are already available. French company Cleanova has been testing their own system where a small 40kW engine is mainly used as generator although it can also provide assistance to the electric engine. Used with lithium-ion batteries the system provides up to 200km of autonomy (in full-electric mode) and maximum speed of 130km/h. In the mode “hybride a predominance électrique” the system provides unlimited autonomy as long as you can find fuel for the ICE-generator (BTW, it accepts gasoline or bio-ethanol).

The system is being tested by fleets of French companies (EDF and La Poste) and is expected to be available for public sale in 2008. The current test vehicle is based on the Renault Kangoo although, hopefully, in can be commercialized in the future with more attractive vehicles. Incidentally the Renault Kangoo keeps the same cargo-space as the original ICE version which is indicative of the maturity of Cleanova’s hybrid system.

We wish the best to Cleanova although in reality we would like to see a collaboration with PSA or Renault in order to make available in the future this kind of vehicles from major manufacturers. Until then just check how nice this sounds: hybride a predominance électrique…

2008 Ford Fiesta CGI

A new CGI has surfaced showing Autozeitung's interpretation of the next Ford Fiesta. It borrows several styling cues of current Ford vehicles mixed in an unelegant way. Let's hope the final design is different and closer to previous CGIs. Incidentally the magazine also points to a 2009 market introduction which differs from other (usually well informed) sources.

2008 Honda Accord

A new CGI of the next "Euro" Honda Accord surfaced. It looks really nice with some clues from the 4-door coupe current fashion. Expect improved engines, including turbocharged gasoline and the excellent SH-AWD system.

Hopefully Honda will do their homework better this time: the current Euro-Accord is an excellent car but it should have been made wider. The body width is too narrow for European tastes and practice. Also the interiors are not very appealing. The USA version (Acura TSX) has a much nicer instrument panel and materials quality. Same thing for the Acura MDX/RDX vs Honda CR-V. The new CR-V needs better interiors. Don't forget: we Europeans are a bit maniac about quality interiors, so please Honda, deliver that!

The road to EV future: Renault EV in 2010

After the announcement of Nissan Green Program 2010 (NGP2010) that includes the development of an EV it comes without surprise the news of a similar program by Renault (Renault Commitment 2009) that, amongst other measures, will feature the development and commercialization of an EV. Interesting to note the tile of the programs and the slight difference in schedule (2009 vs 2010). It makes really clear who is the leader in “L’Alliance”.

Until 2010 both companies will be riding two curves: one downwards of battery prices and another upwards of robustness and validation of lithium-ion batteries. Hopefully these two curves will follow an expected pattern that will make high-production city EVs available in the beginning of the next decade. It is not known yet if the new EV will use an existing platform of some small vehicle like the new Twingo or if Renault will develop a new platform optimized for EV architecture.

Peugeot 207 SW

The picture presents the next Peugeot 207 SW. Expect everything you can find in a regular 207 plus some space… but not much. This SW is meant for style instead of pure practicality.

The reader might wonder if this is in reality a 308 SW. It wears a lot of camouflage and looks quite big but the top of the instrument panel gives clues to a 207 derivation. But the 207 is well known now so we wonder why so much disguise?

The road to EV future: Nissan's EV after 2010

Today Nissan annouced a series of measures included in a green program. Amongst these, several are EV related: Launch Nissan electric vehicle early in the next decade; Develop Nissan’s original hybrid vehicle (not the Altima hybrid using Toyota technology) targeted for launch in FY2010 and accelerate development of plug-in hybrid technology. Nissan also announced a new company focused on the development, production and marketing of lithium-ion batteries. Are these good news? Well, we have had many good news about EVs recently, but these are great because they mean a solid approach from a big and well-stablished manufacturer.

2007 Calendar

And no, it's not the one from Pirelli. Autozeitung just presented a calendar with all the new cars for 2007. A nice way to visualize all the juice for next year. Check this link for all the info.

2009 Audi A1

Now that the production of the next Audi A1 was confirmed for Belgium we can expect more photoshops to surface and also spy shots during the next year. The new small Audi will feature typical Audi design cues like the front singleframe and high shoulder line plus the usual high photo-perceived interior quality. All this mated to some small Seat underpinnings for maximum profit. Business as usual for Audi. Let's just hope it has at least a proper rear suspension to fight the MINI's handling behaviour or... well forget about it, with good suspension or not this will appeal mainly for people who like handbags anyway!

2010 Alfa Romeo small SUV

... or crossover, whatever! There is a new craze in Europe about small compact-based SUVs. We will have the VW Tiguan, the Focus small SUV, the Nissan Qashqai, Mercedes GLK, BMW smaller-than-X3-SAV... and also an Alfa 149-based crossover. It will, for sure, look very good and the mechanical credentials already exist (4-wheel drive with torsen differential is available in the Alfa 159). So why arriving so late? Hurry up Alfa!

The road to EV future: the new TH!NK city

Shall we put a name in this? How about: “The road to EV future”. This means you will be hearing a lot about Electric Vehicles in the future (and mainly the pure stuff not just fuel cells). And since this joint is named Auto-Future then… let’s start something about the electrification of automobile.

The news today is about a near future EV by Norwegian company Think that will present a modern version of the old Ford TH!NK EV with improved styling and internals (range now in excess of 180km). It does look very good for a small city-car and let’s hope it’s for real and available in all Europe.

2010 Nissan EV

Another EV expected for 2010. Following the footsteps of, hopefully, Mitsubishi (i-EV); Subaru (R1e); Smart (Fortwo EV?), Nissan announced the introduction of a sub-compact EV using proprietary lithium-ion batteries. We are not sure of what sub-compact means: Yaris-size in the USA or something even smaller in Japan. Anyway, this is great news that can point to a future snowball effect in the EV market. The original news is from a Japanese journal via GreenCarCongress.

...hopefully better looking than this Hypermini thing...

2007 Renault Laguna III (White Ghost)

Renault has been showing us the fashion-dressed Laguna III. White is not my cup of tea but hey, it’s more original than the usual black tape and plastics. Now AutoExpress has caught it in video which is nice to see more angles of the White Ghost. Check this link for their video and while at it check their video section for more on other cars and raise the volume for that BMW M3 V8 sound. Brilliant stuff!

The exterior final design of the Laguna is not known yet. The illustration below was presented by French magazine L’Auto Journal and looks very good although it’s not entirely accurate. In a typically French manner the inside information is good but the illustration skills are poor. Although many people still speculate about such trickery as the availability of 4-wheel steering the underpinnings of the Laguna III are already well known and will be much more vulgar…

New Sniffpetrol issue!

There is a new Sniffpetrol issue. We usually wouldn't bother to spread the news but this one is very good indeed. The piece "BMW M5 in manual mix-up" is brilliant. And also the picture of Pischetsrieder with the Pope that we publish without permission below. We will miss Pischetsrieder... remember when he arrived at VW, he had this ideas of making a small MR roadster like Toyota´s MR2 and a uber-VW using the RWD transaxle platform of the Maserati quattropuorte... he was a funny dude, and the accountants that run the company must have found him funny too.

Hyundai Santa Fe

Warning: nothing about the future here! Pictured below is the engine bay of the Hyundai Santa Fe, the V6 version. Have a good look because we will get back to that. We already expressed some good will about Mitsubishi and will do the same about Hyundai or whatever other company that wants a piece of the European market: If you need help about choices for your cars that need to meet the tastes of European consumers just ask auto-future. We will be glad to help and for free! For example, consider the interior design of the Santa Fe. It uses some blue lightning for the instruments. Had Hyundai asked about that and we would approve. It’s a copy of other manufacturers choices but it looks good and suits the brand well. Now consider how they used wood in the interior. Had Hyundai asked about that and we would disaprove. There are some dos and dont’s about the use of wood inside cars and the way Hyundai did it it’s wrong because (assuming it uses real wood) it makes real wood look fake.

So the engine bay then. Doesn’t it look like the engine is off-centre? Well it isn’t, the problem is that Hyundai used the engine cover to make it look like it’s longitudinally mounted when in reality it is transversally mounted. And in the process they dit this illusion in a rather clumsy way. Hyundai is lucky because European consumers will mainly buy the diesel version so this litlle illusion in the V6 will go off notice. But next time please ask advice because consumers over here can be very critical of such moves.

2009 Ford Mustang

New sketches for a future classic. The original article is from Auto Motor und Sport where they mention the possibility of a 3-door van-hatchback thing. Or in German language, a kombi.That would be a muscle kombi then. Please Ford, bring it to Europe this time!

2008 Ford Fiesta

Pictured below is an interpretation of the 2008 Ford Fiesta. This is an important car for European Ford since it will replace a very successful model that doesn’t have a very exciting design but is indeed a very good product. This is typical of recent Euro-Fords. Now, with some excitement added in the design (just check the S-Max and the new Mondeo), Ford of Europe is up for a good fight against the native European brands.

This photoshop of the Fiesta is not new, and it is of course based on the Iosis concept. So it didn’t catch our attention at the time… until some spy-shots of the next Mazda 2 surfaced (photos by Lehman and presented in Worldcarfans). The small Mazda and the Fiesta are evil twins, sharing most of the underpinnings and being manufactured in the same factory in Spain. But the thing that caught our attention in the Mazda spy-shots was the design of the wheelarches (plus a disturbing resemblance to the Yaris in the back and the fact that it will look gazillion times better than the current Mazda 2). This wheelarch design follows the theme presented in the CX-7 crossover and also previewed is a Mazda 6 CGI. And, most important, they are similar to the wheelarches previewed in the Fiesta CGI. Very interesting, indeed… could this Fiesta prediction be more real than we thought initially? Fact is, it looks too good to be true!

When the 2008 Fiesta arrives it will also bring a more youthfull interior with some interesting developments in the HMI. Expect a menu-based control system for some entertainment devices. And can we expect a multilink suspension? The latest reports don’t suggest that, although it would be very nice if Ford would lead the pack in this class like it did with the Focus back in 1998. 10 years since the introduction of the Focus-I could well be cellebrated by giving a multilink suspension to the Fiesta and being again the absolute leader in handling.
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Future Human Machine Interfaces

The topic of HMIs has become increasingly important seeking to maximize safety, ease of use and ergonomy in dealing with more and more sophisticated car equipments. Arguably, the biggest technology jump was BMW's I-drive that was (and still is) much criticised although eventually copied by other manufacturers. Much of the future of HMI will use I-drive type controllers, eventually linked to head-up systems for increased safety. The picture below shows a concept for a future vehicle controller (and by the looks of it destined to an American car).
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As a funny note we would like to remember an advert for Mercedes back in 2002 when the I-drive was under great fire of flame criticism. Mercedes took the opportunity to gain advantage on that. Of course, the advertising now looks ridiculous because the new S-series uses an I-drive type controller. The marketing people of Mercedes made a fool of themselves but not the engineers. Mercedes engineers are some of the best in the world and they knew when to change to a superior system.
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Is Hyundai-Kia on the verge of greatness?…

First, this article is strictly Europe-related. Hyundai has installed a design and development centre in Europe (Russelnheim-Germany), hired people from local car companies and let them loose with a strategy to attack the European market. The most visible part of their work is only now arriving to the market in the shape of the new Kia Ceed, but some concept cars have also been presented. And these concept cars are nothing short of amazing.

The professional (Not!) collage shows a series of Hyundai-Kia concepts, but also some of the production models that resulted. Unfortunately, the production models are rather generic and dull, typical of Korean products. Why oh why?! Sometimes, while approving a final design, product managers need the courage to rely on their judgment (and on the designer´s vision). For example, one of the most noticeable features of the concepts is the high shoulder line (that means a smaller window area). This feature is typical of many European products, but it is bound to attract criticism in consumer clinics. People usually bitch about lower visibility and sense of space, and very often designs get compromised because of that. It just seems to be the case with the Kia Ceed and Hyundai Arnejs. The people at Hyundai-Europe need to be a bit more confident in their capabilities.

And that confidence would be well earned. Because with such designs as the Arnejs and Genus, the new 1.6-litre Common-Rail diesel engine, the respected quality and reliability of Hyundai models and hopefully some Euro-class suspension design, Hyundai would have all what is needed to have a strong position in the European market.
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Plateforme 3

It's not often that car companies show you the real meaning of platform sharing. In the link you will be able to see a video showing the "plateforme 3" that is common to the Peugeot 407 coupe and Citroen C6. Although sharing several components, these cars have very different design and some important technical differences, such as the suspension that is a conventional multilink in the Peugeot and hydropneumatic in the Citroen. And yet, the plateforme is shared and the two cars are built in the same factory.

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It might be interesting to watch a similar video for the Audi A3 and Seat Leon. One could find more common parts. Of course, Audi would not make such video since it would be a stupid marketing move. However, a comparison of Audi TT and Golf would be interesting because in this case, although sharing platform, the Audi presents really outstanding features such as the aluminium-steel body.

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Video-PSA

2007 Skoda Fabia

We are well aware that cars are inanimate things, without feelings or even thoughts. But we can’t help to feel sorry for the new 2007 Skoda Fabia: just look at the poor thing in the picture!

Let’s just start by paying tribute to the current Fabia: a well thought supermini with elegant design (that only suffered a minor facelift), good packaging and technology, and a very elegant and well built interior.

Unfortunately it seems that Seat is not alone in being the tacky brand of VW group. Just check this new Fabia and the Roomster. We don’t really care if Seat designs are tacky, vulgar and complemented with pathetic cheap plastic interiors. The Spanish brand is just in idle mode until it’s sold to the Chinese. And when that happens nobody will care, not even in Spain. But please, not Skoda! Please keep Skoda elegant, purposeful and classy. This new Skoda looks like designers tried to imitate the MINI but ended up with a poor imitation of the Suzuki Swift. The good people that work so hard in Tcheck republic factories deserve better!

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Action at the ring

In the last article it is said in the final sentence that the lack of commitment of big manufacturers with EVs does not happen by chance… Just in case the reader is wondering, maybe it’s because those manufacturers are too busy. Just check the video originally presented at site autoholic that shows the Audi R8, next BMW M3, Mercedes CLK DTM “black edition” and the next Porsche GT2. With all these V8s plus the turbocharged boxer-6 of the Porsche, we can’t really blame them for not caring about EVs. But we should blame and they should care. On a side note: so many new high-performance V8 engines: Europe is living its muscle car age, but with high-reving engine concepts.

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Link to video

More good EV news

Last week Mitsubishi announced the production of a small-electric vehicle based on the Mitsubishi i currently sold in Japan. Unfortunately, it will initially serve only as experimental vehicle for testing with component suppliers and technology validation. And when on sale, it will probably be offered only to lease companies.

But the interesting bits of this announcement go beyound last week’s news. Just like the Zytek-developed electric Smart ForTwo (check previous news on that), the Mitsubishi i has the most interesting architecture for a EV conversion: rear-engine, rear-wheel drive (actually sort of mid-engine and with a 4WD option – and yes, I know this sounds very cool but chill because these are very small underpowered city vehicles not sportscars); elevated driving position with space under-floor. This is all very good to place the electric engine in the back and the batteries under the floor. On top of that, both the Smart and the Mitsubishi are city-oriented vehicles and very light, the ideal field for the beginning of electrification.

It will be interesting to check the handling of these vehicles: the current Smart simply doesn’t handle but the weight of the batteries of the EV version will lower the centre of gravity and hopefully improve things a bit. The Mitsubishi has the advantage of a bigger wheelbase but… yes, chill again with the handling and back to the EV green future. Just look at the i and check how futuristic it looks… just the right shape for a ground-breaking mass-selling EV. In the meantime, while Mitsubishi decides if a future generation of the i-model will be sold in Europe, auto-future announces that will gladly give advice on five or six modifications that need to be done in order to make it more appealing to European tastes. Simple things that can make the difference, and we can give that advice for free, just ask and we will hapilly help. And these are not big changes, probably things that product managers could think about before being distracted with results from consumer clinics.

Other interesting bits. Who are the driving forces of EV research, development and market introduction? People from Tesla, their founders and supporters from Silicon-Valley. Almost completely outside the auto industry. The Smart EV was developed by a British company, Zytek, without input from Daimler-Chrysler until just recently. Mitsubishi is gambling its future on EV because it is now a company abandoned by Daimler-Chrysler, left to its own in a rather cloudy future: a big incentive for thinking (and doing) out of the box. Subaru, another independent company with strong roots in the small-car market in Japan. Their EV R1 model is highly awaited because… yes, because Subaru is no longer independent being associated with Toyota. It will be interesting to watch the outcome of that… So, the big auto companies are not investing a lot in small EV vehicles (or EVs at all). This doesn’t happen by chance…
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2008 Audi Q7 finally manages a 5-star rating in EuroNCAP crashtests

A possible headline for a future car… because the current (brand new) Audi Q7, despite all of the robustness that its design implies, failed to achieve 5 stars in the EuroNCAP crush-tests. Let’s recall what EuroNCAP wrote in the final report:

"Poor welding resulted in rupture of the footwall area. There was separation of the seam connecting the firewall to the footwall and failure of spot-welds in the footwall and its connection to the A-pillar. Audi have informed us that they have now improved control over this part of production but the car lost points for its performance in this area. Structures in the dashboard presented a potential risk to the knees and femurs of the driver."

This event reminded us about the EuroNCAP crash tests. These have become boring simply because almost every new car could achieve a 5-star rating (except the cheaper Korean models). So predictable that people have started discussing the introduction of a sixth star and raise the level a bit. Maybe it’s better to wait a litlle bit until Audi engineers learn this crashworthiness thing.

And yet the most interesting feature about these news is not the result itself. It’s the lack of attention from the media. Make no mistake, had it been the safety leaders Mercedes or Renault having such result and that would be in the front pages with big and bold headlines. But not Audi, they seeem to have invented a sort of reversed-hype for these events. That’s hype, only it works au contraire. Brilliant stuff!

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2007 Subaru Impreza

Hatchbacks for Europe! Mitsubishi and Subaru saw the light and finally understood that hatchbacks are needed to have success in Europe. Both the Impreza and Lancer will present such versions in their next iterations. The pictured linked below is a recent spy-photograph of the Subaru model.
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Most interesting than the predictable 2.0 turbo versions (of course, rally inspired near 300hp monsters) are the diesel versions that Europeans love. Mitsubishi might use the VW 2.0TDI unit, but the Subaru went right to the top of most-awaited with an expected diesel boxer engine. A diesel 4-cylinder boxer... wonder how that thing will sound...
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AutoBild's Impreza spy-shot

2008 VW Golf VI

The VW Golf VI is still on schedulle for a 2008 release. German magazine Auto Motor und Sport presents an article and a new CGI of the compact model from VW. They include a comparison with the offer from Opel, a restyled Astra expected for 2007. We don't think the Astra is the most important oponent for the Golf, the Peugeot 308 and Ford Focus have better features, design and suspension technology than the Opel. In any case, the Golf VI is highly awaited bringing a more emotional design, much needed improvements in interior materials and quality, and new common-rail diesel engines.
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The real stars of Paris

A different perspective on the “star of the show” election. The Peugeot 908 RC is a fantastic concept car but what about its future? Yes, future, it’s in the title of this joint. It will be present in other car shows, in the wallpaper of many computer screens, will be shot for several magazines but, in 6 months time it will be forgotten and replaced by other concept cars specially made to star in other car shows. But not the Audi R8 or the Alfa Romeo 8C.

These cars were once concept cars but now are real cars. And very important ones. These two cars will be classics in their own time, a very rare feature. In particular, the Audi R8 will be a case study in 10 years time. It will mark another step in the rise of Audi, just as important as the Audi TT once was. A true halo product that will push Audi’s image to the top. The Alfa Romeo could have the same effect but that won’t happen, simply because it will be built in very small numbers: 500 cars. And Alfa Romeo will loose money in every single one. Halo product yes, but too much niche too have a pronounced effect.

The difference with the Audi R8 is that it will be built in big numbers (at least 5000) and sold at an amazing price: near 100K euros. A supercar for the masses? Well, sort off… it certainly is very good value for a Gallardo derived machine, and if you compare with Porsche 911 price the new Audi looks very appealing indeed. So an Audi that is good value then… the result is that, you might find a couple of Alfa Romeo 8C is places like Monaco but that’s it… while you will find Audis R8 in your city, maybe even one in your street (if you live in a nice neighborhood). This kind of proximity is the key for a product to truly have an halo effect.

So both the Audi and the Alfa Romeo are true stars, real cars, future classics and highly influential vehicles. Priska, the other star of the show (see below) is actually quite different from her elegant and sophisticated colleagues at most stands. A bit vulgar then, but place her next to any car in the show and bang, the car disappears.
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Star of the Paris show 2006: Peugeot 908 RC

A French car, bien sur! This spectacular concept car presents a truly bold design, a radical architecture and a fabulous luxury interior. Of course, this could only be a concept-car since Peugeot will make sure such thing will never be built. Peugeot takes proud in pissing-off its fans by presenting concepts that are very far from the reality of the cars they can find at dealerships. And with this one they took it to a different level by actually “inviting” its fans to check other cars from the competition. So if you feel attracted by the idea of traveling immersed in a luxury interior and powered by a V12 diesel you can use the 908 RC as wallpaper and, in real-life, buy an Audi Q7 V12 TDI. Brilliant Peugeot, really brilliant!

Besides the impossible character of the car the thing that really stands out is its architecture. The most important feature in a car. The 908 is a 4-door, 4-seat coupe with a mid-engine transversally mounted. So it follows the next big thing in the industry (4-door coupes are definitely the new black) and throws in a mid-engine architecture. However, unlike most mid-engine V12 (or V8 or V10) supercars, they place it transversally! Of course, with 4-seats and a longitudinal mid-engine this thing would be close to 6 meters length… This is very interesting as thinking exercise. How about the idea of a mid-engine saloon? It’s not the most space efficient design but it is cheaper to migrate a transversally 4 or 6 cylinder engine from the front to the middle than engineer from scratch a RWD architecture. Of course, this would be a really bold move, something that one could expect maybe from Citroen.
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2008 Peugeot 308CC

The next Peugeot 308 will be fundamentally a major restyling of the current 307. (Check previous reports on auto-future about this car here or here). And for good reasons since the current car is very good and the possible improvement areas are well known. However, the coupe-cabriolet version will suffer a major improvement by adopting a three-part retractable roof that fits neatly in its storage space without requiring ill-proportioned rear section designs. So the 308cc will have a much better looking design than the current version. Also note the character line running along the side profile. This is now found in several cars (for example, B-class and A-class Mercedes amongst others). And, just like the Peugeot 308, many other cars will feature such detailing. This sculpted profile helps create concave-convex surfaces that convey a dynamic impression. It looks as if these were created by a flame sculpting the surface…Wait! Yes, “flame surfacing”! The design leaders set influences for others to follow…

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