2009 Seat Bolero...

... or maybe Toledo, the name is not 100% sure although highly probable. And it makes sense, because the 4-door saloon disappeared from Seat's catalogue being replaced by the pathetic thing that the Toledo currently is. A new name will signal a new car, different from the current Toledo in design and architecture because, surprise... the new Bolero will use the platform of the current Audi A4. This means longitudinal engines and optional torsen AWD. More, not only the platform is used but also the design is highly inspired in the A4 model with only changes in front and rear to respect current Seat design language. Incidentally, the Bolero name was already used in a concept car from 1998 that is a sort of 4-door coupe. Google for it and the reader will notice how beautifull that concept was and wonder with Seat did not build it!

So what about the picture below?... we had to illustrate this with something so don't worry it will look much better than that. The important news bit is that the new car is for real (that means approved by VW group management). It might also mean that VW group still cares about Seat... maybe they won't sell the brand to the Chinese after all. Oh dear, nasty rumour this last one!

Opel Agila

Pictured below are a recent spyshot of a future Opel small car and a CGI. Let’s call it Agila since it’s the name of the equivalent vehicle in current Opel’s lineup. Note that Opel is trying to establish their own fashion in car dressing with the use of black net in the lateral windows… most prototypes use black plastic or tape, sometimes Peugeot-Citroen use a sort of plastic bags to disguise the cars, Toyota uses some ridiculous things that look like cardboard bits and recently Renault started dressing their cars in white. Not sure if black net in the windows is the new black of prototype-disguising fashion but I think the test-driver must feel very sad in that thing.

The new small-Opel is a tall vehicle obviously engineered to maximize space. Other followers of this trend include the Renault Modus, Honda Jazz or Peugeot 1007. None of these cars is a great sales success… actually the most popular small and cheap cars in Europe are the triplets 107/C1/Aygo that are of the small and cute type. The new Twingo is also small and cute as well as the next Ka and Fiat 500 that is small and super-cute. And it makes sense that young people buying their first car search for a cool design instead the practicality of a bigger luggage space. This means that the next Agila will not be a sales success. Probably product planners didn’t research properly or had the necessary vision when they chosen this type of design but I’m sure they have figured out by now that their next small car will not do well. And they must feel sad because of that.

Of course they could have asked Auto-Future for advice and we would give it for a nice chunk of money (because it’s Opel, for most of other brands we would do it for free). But when the design of the car was frozen (probably about one and a half year ago) this joint didn’t exist yet. This blog made its first anniversary in March 6th. Actually I forgot about it and didn’t signal or commemorate the event. I feel a bit sad because of that. So today we have a sad test-driver, some sad product planners and designers and a sad blog writer. Why not having a look at sniffpetrol site for some fun?... but guess what, the bloke that writes in that joint did the February issue and promised the next month issue for March 9th… and until today nothing! I hope he’s ok!

2007 Mazda 6

The next Mazda 6 is very close to public presentation. It will be greatly improved over the current (and important) version. We wonder if Mazda should take more risks with the new car… what was once fresh when the original 6 was launched could now become boring and predictable… specially since so many competitors in this class are taking a very emotional approach in design. Well, that was just a thought, because the next 6 will start from a basis of very happy customers of the current model so probably the more strong design evolution can wait for another generation.

2008 TSX/Euro-Accord

Expect news on the next Euro Accord/Acura TSX very soon, maybe on New York Auto Show. Interestingly it is not sure yet if the European model will be the same as the Acura TSX or the American Accord. The design of the coupe concept of the next American Accord could very well fit European tastes... and the later concept cars from Acura have been very strange... Just hope Honda gets the proportions right this time: the current Euro Accord is too narrow for the common practice in European cars which hurts its road presence.

2009 BMW 4dr. coupe

A very nice interpretation has surfaced on the future CLS from BMW. Noticed how these 4-door coupes look so good?... it seems designers just can't ruin this type of car. The future BMW will use the platform of the next 5-series so it might arrive later than 2009. It just seems the CLS caught everyone off-guard, even BMW.

The road to EV future: battery manufacturers make it to mainstream press

The keywords here are mainstream press. But going back a while, when did auto-future realized the great prospects for electric vehicles. I guess it was when rumours of a future Toyota Prius with Li-ion batteries surfaced. And when were we sure about it? Just a few days ago when Toyota’s boss confirmed the new battery pack for the next Prius. This is the main reason for this EV week: now we know for sure that EVs are for real and will arrive sooner than later.

Of course, now the mainstream press is giving attention to the subject so we were happy to find an article on The New York Times about A123Systems, one of the key battery manufacturers for the next EV revolution. They are now an important company because they signed a contract with GM for the development of automotive batteries and also, in a business full of illusionary claims, because their battery chemistry delivers their promises and is already being used (and abused) in electric tools (Black and Decker/Walt). Now we just need to wait for manufacturers to ride that “robustness improvement” curve and we will have real-life EVs available (and plug in hybrids) to dramatically change future transportation.

The road to EV future: Mitsubishi i MiEV prototypes

Mitsubishi and Subaru seem to have engaged in a race to deliver the first real-car-series-production-EV. A few days after Subaru showing the R1e in Geneve, Mitsubishi announced the delivery of prototypes to electric companies in Japan. In this case Mitsubishi also commited to sell a production version in 2010 for about 17000 US dollars, a rather interesting price. Well, the race is on, and now that we are sure the EV future is going to happen we anxiously wait for other competitors.

The road to EV future: the big picture of battery development

The graphics below represent the best form of visualization of why we are hearing so much about Li-ion batteries; development of plug-in technology; series hybrids and electric cars. And why we give so much attention to these issues here at auto-future. Because we will the technology available for all those developments in a close future: we will have Li-ion batteries available with adequate power density at affordable cost. Arguably we might have it today but in reality we have two curves to ride. One of cost reduction that is closely linked to the graphics below. The other is concerned with the increase of robustness of the technology and this is where more effort is being spent and why we will have to wait for the beginning of the next decade for the real growth of EV offers. Meanwhile please take note of the following: Toyota just confirmed that the next Prius (expected for 2008) will have a Li-ion battery pack. This means a simple thing for the future of automobile: electric cars… series hybrids… Li-ion technology?...It will happen!

The road to EV future: Subaru R1e

We were delighted to see the Subaru R1e in the list of novelties for Geneve auto show. Unfortunately Subaru was only displaying the car and hinting at a possible future commercialization. So nothing solid and official yet. This (or other small Subaru) are one of the best bets for a future large scale production of a proper electric car. Subaru says it’s testing a fleet of Li-ion R1e with Japan’s electric company.

There was some disappointment regarding the EV field on this year’s Geneve show. Not many new hybrid models or concepts and the biggest novelty, the Toyota Hybrid-X, is not only very ugly but also Toyota did not give many details about technical details. The only thing we know for sure is that Li-ion batteries are in the program for a 2008-2009 model and that the next Prius will be able to run for about 9 mile on electric-only mode. Nothing was confirmed about it having plug-in ability.

2007 Audi A4

The new Audi A4 is expected at Frankfurt for immediate commercialization in Europe. Pictured below are a couple of recent CGIs, the left one from Autozeitung and the other from Auto Motor und Sport. Mind you, the one on the right is more reliable.

Much has been said about this new car, the main reason for this contribution is related to the technique and platform. The new Audi A5 confirms some of the rumoured improvements in the new platform (common to both the A5 and next A4) that were referred in previous Auto-Future reports (here and here). The reader can go back to those references but simply stated that means: smaller front overhang and more power to the rear-wheels: good. Bigger front overhang and FWD: bad. The new Audi A5 confirms the improvements and these mean good news for Audi customers. In the drawings below one can compare the new A5 vs the current A4. Although not as good as the current luxury references from BMW and Mercedes (the new C-class has a front overhang of only 765mmm), the next A4 should be a major improvement over the current car.

Peugeot 308 as seen by some crappy mobile phone

We love our cultural differences in Europe. Noticed how we never get this kind of scoops from German manufacturers?... because Germans don’t let folks walk around in their factories with mobile phones. But in the case of Skoda, manufactured in Tchek republic, we had a few weeks ago a major scoop with photos of a new car being published. And the PSA factory in Spain has been a major source of scoops, again with folks photographing and even getting videos with mobile phones of the Picasso. And what about Italians? Well the new Bravo had so many events of this kind that Fiat gave up and stopped bothering about hiding the car. The official presentation of the Bravo was a simple pro-forma since everyone knew how the car would look like.

Unfortunately people are still using crap mobile phones for this so the images you see below don’t do justice to the car design. It will look much better in catalogue photos (well, of course!) and believe me, it will look much much better in the streets!

BMW M3

Humm... not much left to hide! What do we have here?... a F1-inspired rear extractor born in the wind tunnel or some freakish thing?

Peugeot 308

“Wow what’s this, is Auto-Future trying to fool us with a picture of the 207?” Well, it certainly looks like that although the reader is really seeing one of the latest computer generated images of the highly expected Peugeot 308. The image is based on some 207 picture but it is also, according to inside information, the most similar to the real thing. Hummm… does Peugeot really hires designers or they only have a couple of blokes redesigning the same car over and over and just changing the size?

Anyway, the truth is that the 308 will look like the 207 only a bit fatter. And, again according to people that have seen it, it will really look like a current Peugeot 307 with 5 people and some luggage… this meaning that it will be a modernized version of the current car with the height reduced for a bit more sporty feel.

2009 Opel Astra

Autozeitung magazine presented an article on the future Opel Astra and VW Golf VI, actually, they also call it Golf "five and a half" just like Auto-Future. Anyway, we found the Astra photoshop very atractive although one needs to have in mind that Autozeitung's CGIs are usually very nice but not very reliable.

Also of interest is the information that the 5-door version of the next Astra will be a notchback instead of a hatchback. So a 2-1/2 volume car like the previous Astra H. This is interesting considering that every car in this class is now a hatchback with a thick C-pillar. Could this be a way of Opel to express their leadership in this class? (Yes, the Astra sells more than the Golf in Europe). The article also refers a multilink suspension in the rear (about time!) and that it will be a world car with the platform spreading for models in different continents. So another step in the trend for global platforms as explained in a previous article at Auto-Future.

Mercedes GLK

We, EU folks, are known for being generally environmental conscious. That is, we embraced diesels long ago, we don’t drive big cars, we like fuel efficiency and even our politics seem to care (just check the latest proposals for emissions reduction in Europe). So why oh why so many new SUVs from European manufacturers? Well, one thing is that some of these small SUVs are meant for the NA market where crossovers and smaller SUVs are gaining momentum. But we also like our not-very-off-road-capable-but-very-nice-looking-tall-machines… only we do it smaller and more eco-friendly. So we have the BMW X3 (and possibly a future X1), the next Focus SUV, a future small Renault SUV, the VW Tiguan and also the Mercedes GLK.

A new impression of the small Mercedes SUV has surfaced. It shows a really boxy design that I think fits well with this type of car. It looks a bit like a smaller GL. I always imagined that the perfect design for the Land-Rover LR2 would be just a scaled down version of the big Range Rover. It didn’t quite turned out like that although it still is a good design. The GLK has that scaled down feel of a much more expensive car. Not that the GLK will be cheap…

The road to EV future: Toyota Hybrid X

In the next month at Geneve car show Toyota will present a hybrid concept that "proposes a new design language for hybrid models and will act as a technology showcase for future hybrid cars". Well if Toyota says so it will be an interesting concept to follow, can we expect a preview of the next Prius design, the display of plug-in technology or even a series hybrid concept?

Other than that we can also take other things for sure. Namely that every next motor show will present new concepts of hybrids and electric cars. Volvo will present a series hybrid C30 concept also in Geneve and we can expect for other manufacturers to follow. Particularly interesting will be the Tokyo show at the end of the year where I'm sure several interesting novelties will be shown and maybe even real production cars either fully electric or predominantly electric hybrids.

Future vehicle platforms

CSM worldwide has used a crystal ball to predict the top 10 vehicle platforms in 2012. We think this is a bold move considering how far we are from 2012 but hey, it’s the future and that word is in the title of this joint.

Today the VW group is well established as the king of platform sharing. The PQ35 (that’s the current Golf underpinnings) is a fine example of optimization of resources and cost cutting. Just marvel at how a humble Seat Leon is transformed in a posh compact like the Audi A3 while sharing everything except exterior panels and some tactile-pleasing plastics. Accountants at VW-group love it, people-that-can’t-quite-afford-a-1-series-or-a-Merc-sportcoupe love it, and we love it too: those nice metal-polished door handles and chromed air vents… brilliant engineering!

But, for the 2012 prediction CSM says the Toyota Camry platform will be established as a real world car, spreading through more than 20 vehicles including bi-fuel, gasoline, diesel, hybrids and possible hybrid plug-ins (according to CSM the next Prius will also be based on the Camry platform). Also note as in 2012 the Ford C1 platform designation changes from “Euro Focus” to “Global Focus”. That means more Euro-Fords for America.

Ford Focus III

The current Focus is a great product. The only thing Ford needs to improve is the design and add an extra layer of desirability. The photoshop presented below follows that theme and is clearly inspired in the new Mondeo's design. Make it look like this and add some flair in the interiors and the Focus III will be an even greater success than the current model.

2007 Hyundai Arnejs/FD

Let’s start this entry with the related cousin, or actually, brother of the Hyundai: the Kia Cee’d. The Kia has been tested by European magazines and is getting some good reviews. It rides and feels like an European car: ride quality (multilink suspension), interior quality, space, mechanical credentials (7 year warranty) and a small diesel, everything one might expect from a native European car. We wonder how it will do in the market because with all those qualities it still has a rather generic and bland design… and we Europeans are a difficult crowd to please.

This gets us to the Arnejs. Not sure if Hyundai will use such a stupid name but they kept Cee’d for the Kia so it seems they want to build a tradition of stupid names. The Hyundai is expected to have all the features of the Kia plus the extra pluses that might make it more appealing. A bit more style in the design, a bit more attention to detail in the interiors, improved sound proofing materials and overall refinement. The extra layer that can justify a higher price than the Kia and that might just be the ticket for success in Europe. The design is the biggest question here but we will only have to wait a few weeks to meet the production car.

2007 Peugeot 308... and future hybrid HDI

The next Peugeot 308 is ready for a market introduction in September at Frankfurt Auto-show beginning comercialization shortly after. Until then the car undergoes the latest tests in typical PSA black plastic bags dressing... But the pre-series are already being assembled and shown to people that... are telling us what they saw: Expect a great design, an evolution of the 307 but more sportier. And surprise... the diesel hybrid is for real, the new car was designed having that version previewed from the beginning. But it will arrive later than 2008...