Subaru Advanced Tourer Concept Makes Utility Cool

  While a car with Lamborghini-style doors in front, "suicide" doors in back, a glass roof and no B-pillar is probably not going straight to production, the Subaru Advanced Tourer concept does show a future direction for the brand.

Subaru Advanced Tourer concept

 "It's our way of showing we think there is a market in the future for a small, sporty wagon," spokesman Michael McHale said.

Though it looks larger on the Tokyo motor show stand, the concept is not as big as an Outback or Legacy wagon. Powering the concept is a downsized 1.6-liter direct-injection turbocharged hybrid boxer four.
That's a lot of powertrain componentry, we'd say. There is no such engine in the Subaru lineup at present.
The exterior lines certainly make this concept look exciting, and those lines could carry over to production someday, though Subaru says such a day is "somewhat off in the future."

Source: Autoweek

Green Cars in Spotlight at Waning Tokyo Motor Show

 Green cars rolled into the spotlight at the Tokyo auto show as Japan's automakers look to fuel efficient technology to reinvigorate growth after tough times.

 The showcase for Japan's pillar auto industry was holding its preview for media on Wednesday ahead of opening to the public on Saturday.

Plug-in hybrids and electric cars are centerstage at the Tokyo Motor Show — reflecting both how green cars are growing in popularity and the low profile of foreign automakers at the event.

The show been scaling back in recent years because of the waning importance of Japan as an auto market. Car makers — including Japan's — are increasingly looking to China, India and other nations with greater growth potential.

Ford Motor Co. of the U.S. skipped the show, and General Motors Co. had only a tiny corner booth. Just a handful of European makers such as BMW with a chance at wooing rich Japanese buyers had full-scale booths.

Japanese automakers have had a tough few years due to the strong yen, image problems from Toyota's massive recalls and the large production disruptions from the March disasters in northeastern Japan. But green technology remains a strong selling point for car makers such as Toyota Motor Corp. which pioneered broad consumer acceptance of gasoline-electric hybrid cars with its hit Prius.

Honda Motor Co. said it will start selling an electric version of its Fit subcompact in the U.S. and Japan by the middle of next year. It showed concept cars such as the AC-X plug-in hybrid, EV-STER electric roadster convertible and a tiny electric car called Micro Commuter

"We will continue to offer products with an edge," said Honda President Takanobu Ito before drinking orange juice poured by Honda's Asimo robot, which recently has gained more nimble human-like fingers.

Honda showed a portable battery that people could carry around and put not only in their electric cars and plug-ins but also in small electric scooters.

Nissan Motor Co. had an updated version of its futuristic-looking electric car called Pivo 3, which can drive itself, find parking spaces and swerve around in almost a complete circle.

Koichiro Imoto, who writes about Japan's auto industry, says overseas interest in the show has plunged, except for a handful of manufacturers like Volkswagen AG that do good business in Japan.

"Technology is the only thing Japan has to cling to so the show is trying to highlight those strengths," he said. "Selling the technological superiority is the only way left for Japan."

Toyota President Akio Toyoda was outright emotional at his presentation when he said Japan was going through hard times after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

Japanese automakers, including Toyota Motor Corp., were forced to scale back production as parts suppliers in northeastern Japan were damaged.

That battering was followed by a smaller but similar problem when suppliers got hit by flooding in Thailand, Toyoda said.

"Japan has been plunged into sadness," he said, often gesturing with his hands to emphasize his points.

Toyota must do all it can to work with the people of northeastern Japan and Thailand to propel a recovery, he said.

"Our messages are 'Fun to drive again,' and 'Never give up,' " he said, using English phrases for the mottos.

Mamoru Katou, auto analyst with Tokai Tokyo Research, believes the most interesting models at the show are the ones close to being commercial models.

On display at Toyota's sprawling booth is the plug-in version of its hit Prius hybrid, which will start at 2.75 million yen ($35,200) with subsidies in Japan.

Toyota began taking orders in Japan for the plug-in on Tuesday. In the U.S., where Toyota has already started to take orders online, the car starts at $32,000 without subsidies, which will vary by state.

Toyota, which has sold more than 3.4 million hybrids worldwide so far, is targeting Prius plug-in sales of 60,000 a year globally. The car is set for delivery in Japan in January.

Toyota is also showing an electric car and a fuel cell prototype.

"Overall, interest is going to be diminished because the economy isn't doing so well around the world," Katou said. "But there's still interest in Toyota cars."

Carlos Ghosn, chief executive at Nissan — which has been aggressive on electric vehicles with its Leaf car, but has been a straggler with hybrids compared to Toyota and Honda — said no single green technology was going to dominate.

In about a decade, electric vehicles will make up 10 percent of the auto market as concerns grow about global warming, and governments in the U.S., Japan, Europe and China encourage their sales, he said.

"Zero-emission cars are going to become more and more popular," Ghosn said on the sidelines of the show. "You need to prepare the technologies."

Suzuki Q-Concept

 Part car, part motorcycle and all circles, the Q-Concept is a tandem two-seat electric vehicle that's perfect for trips of less than 6 miles, according to Suzuki. You can even replace the single rear seat with a pair of child seats and turn it into the world's coolest baby stroller
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Toyota Boshoku T-Brain

  Toyota Boshuku is a subsidiary of Toyota that specializes in automobile interiors. Apparently pinstripes will be in around 2020
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Daihatsu FC SHO CASE

 Although it looks like a rolling digital billboard, which it sort of is, the FC SHO CASE features an innovative liquid fuel cell powerplant that uses no precious metals, potentially driving down the cost of this zero emissions technology
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Daihatsu Pico

 Less of a rolling billboard, and more of a hazard sign on wheels, the doorless, 880 pound two-seat Pico electric commuter can display information on its exterior to tell pedestrians and other vehicles exactly which way its going and how fast. With just a bar for side impact protect, avoiding contact with anything seems like a good idea
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Nissan PIVO3

 The PIVO3 concept comes with its own valet (not the guy standing next to it, that's Nissan CEO Carlos Gohsn.) The electric car features a system called Automated Valet Parking which would allow a driver to get out of the car and let it seek out a vacant spot on its own, preferably one with an inductive charging pad to refill its batteries.

 And it shouldn't have too much trouble finding one. The three-seat vehicle is less than 10 feet long and has four-wheel steering, allowing it to drive practically sideways and make a U-turn in the tightest spaces.

Source: Foxnews

Hot Concept Cars

Bmw i3

Dubbed 'The Megacity Vehicle', the i3 is an electric-only machine with rear-opening rear doors and a small turning circle that will help it fit right in on the mean streets of future cities, whether mega or otherwise. Light weight is intended to help boost the total range.

 

 Audi Urban Concept

 The future of urban motoring? Probably not, because it rains in cities and the Urban Concept has no roof. But a roofless concept car goes down best judging by the number of them at Frankfurt, and the Urban Concept takes a stab at how personal, in-town mobility will develop in the future.

 

BMW i8

BMW haven't been the quickest out of the blocks with hybrid technology, but they're hoping to make up for it with their 'i' sub-brand. The i8 sports car can achieve about 94mpg, and sprint from 0-62mph in less than five seconds. But probably not at the same time.

 

Cadillac Ciel

It's been a while since Cadillac released any new design ideas that really translated what used to be so great about the brand into the new millennium, but the Ciel changes that. Low, long and effortlessly cool, the Ciel is a proper Caddy through and through.

 

Chevrolet Miray

Arguably one of the best looking cars at the whole show, the Miray is a roadster straight from a sci-fi film. The shallow windscreen leaves your head a bit open to passing insects, but it'd be a sacrifice worth making to park such a fabulous machine on your drive every day.

 

Citroen Tubik

Yes, it looks like an angry warthog from the front, but picture the Tubik as a fashionable activity van for the 21st century. Loads of space and in-car entertainment is great for, say, driving to Cornwall and having a beach party, if you're into that sort of thing.

 

Ford Evos

Sadly, we're not likely to see the day when gullwing-type doors become the standard for family cars, but the Evos looks great with them. Lovely proportions and a bold new grille would make the Evos, if it were directly turned into a new Mondeo, a sure-fire hit in the showrooms.

 

Mercedes A-Class concept

Marking a major departure from the rather bland mini-MPV dimensions of the current A-Class, the concept is nothing short of stunning from every angle. The nose, which is designed to invert the idea of a honeycomb grille, is a particular highlight, but it's beautiful from top to tail.

 

Renault Captur

This striking mix of wacky ideas and future Renault design cues combines seats made of rope and tyres that act to continue the design of the wheels themselves. There's also a central exhaust and mock diffuser, but the front grille design is actually not that far from production-bound styles.

 

Volkswagen Buggy Up!

Although there are no plans to build the Buggy Up! at all, it's actually a really smart design. It's a well proportioned and genuinely stylish update to Volkswagen's beach buggies of decades past. It's easy to imagine it rolling along the sea front anywhere in the world.

 

Source:Yahoo Auto

Toyota Unveils High-Tech Concept Car ahead of Show

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota's president unveiled a futuristic concept car resembling a giant Smartphone to demonstrate how Japan's top automaker is trying to take the lead in technology at the upcoming Tokyo auto show.

Toyota Motor Corp. will also be showing an electric vehicle, set for launch next year, and a tiny version of the hit Prius gas-electric hybrid at the Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public this weekend.

But the automaker's president, Akio Toyoda, chose to focus on the experimental Fun-Vii, which he called "a Smartphone on four wheels" at Monday's preview of what Toyota is displaying at the show.

The car works like a personal computer and allows drivers to connect with dealers and others with a tap of a touch-panel door.

"A car must appeal to our emotions," Toyoda said, using the Japanese term "waku waku doki doki," referring to a heart aflutter with anticipation.

Toyota's booth will be a major attraction at the biannual Tokyo exhibition for the auto industry. Toyota said the Fun Vii was an example of what might be in the works in "2011," giving no dates.

The Tokyo show has been scaled back in recent years as U.S. and European automakers increasingly look to China and other places where growth potential is greater. U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co. Isn’t even taking part in the show.

Toyota's electric vehicle FT-EV III, still a concept or test model, doesn't have a price yet, but is designed for short trips such as grocery shopping and work commutes, running 105 kilometers (65 miles) on one full charge.

The new small hybrid will be named Aqua in Japan, where it goes on sale next month. Overseas dates are undecided. Outside Japan it will be sold as a Prius.

Japan's automakers, already battered by years of sales stagnation at home, took another hit from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which damaged part suppliers in northeastern Japan, and forced the car makers to cut back production.

The forecast of demand for new passenger cars in Japan this year has been cut to 3.58 million vehicles from an earlier 3.78 million by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Toru Hatano, auto analyst for IHS Automotive in Tokyo, believes fuel efficient hybrid models will be popular with Japanese consumers, and Toyota has an edge.
"The biggest obstacle has to do with costs, and you need to boost vehicle numbers if you hope to bring down costs" he said. "Toyota has more hybrids on the market than do rivals, and that gives Toyota an advantage."

Toyota has sold more than 3.4 million hybrids worldwide so far. Honda Motor Co., which has also been aggressive with hybrid technology, has sold 770,000 hybrids worldwide.

Toyota is also premiering a fuel-cell concept vehicle, FCV-R, at the show.
Zero-emission fuel cell vehicles, which run on hydrogen, have been viewed as impractical because of costs. Toyota said the FCV-R is a "practical" fuel-cell, planned for 2015, but didn't give its price.

"I felt as though my heart was going to break," Toyoda said of the turmoil after the March disaster. "It is precisely because we are in such times we must move forward with our dreams."

Source: Yahoo Auto

EPA Rates Fisker Karma at Only 20 mpg in Range-Extender Mode

This week the 2012 Fisker Karma ($96,895 base price) cleared its last hurdle for sale in the U.S., having finally received emission certification and fuel economy ratings from the EPA and thus allowing dealers to begin selling the car.

However, the story is not all good.

The Karma appears to have fallen short of several of Fisker’s original performance claims for the car, according to the EPA at least.

The 2012 Fisker Karma in electric only mode is rated at a combined 52 MPGe, the EPA’s newly formulated methodology for rating electric cars. Essentially, this unit reflects how far an electric car will run on the same amount of battery energy as is contained in one gallon of gasoline.

Firstly, you’ll note that the Karma’s 52 MPGe rating is well short of the Nissan Leaf’s 99 MPGe rating and the Chevrolet Volt’s 93 MPGe figure. Secondly, in electric only mode, the Karma will only take you 32 miles according to the EPA, well short of the Leaf’s 73 miles and the Volt’s 35 miles. Fisker, however, still stands by its claims that you’ll get at least 50 miles of electric only running.

Once its batteries are depleted, the Karma, like the Volt, kicks into range-extender mode where a small internal combustion engine acts as a generator and is used to top up the batteries. The real shocker is that in this mode, the Karma will only return 20 miles to the gallon. That’s right, the same as one of its V-8 powered rivals.

That little tidbit was revealed by Fisker's director of global communications, Roger Ormisher, in an interview with GreenCarReports.

To be fair, the 2012 Fisker Karma is the first product from a startup yet is still a very capable and fully fledged luxury sedan with decent performance and zero emissions when driven for short distances. We just hope that Fisker’s next model, the U.S.-built Project Nina, will improve substantially on these numbers

Source:Yahoo

Small SUVs, Meet Sex Appeal

There’s no better illustration of the gulf between auto enthusiasts and everyday car buyers than this year’s LA Auto Show. Few automakers rolled out the hybrids and electric vehicles that dominated past shows; those that did were overshadowed by 180-mph sports cars and hot hatchbacks. One automaker — BMW — used its time in the limelight to introduce a trailer of the next the "Mission Impossible" series, along with the film's lead actress, Paula Patton, who extolled some of the Bavarian brand's sportier virtues along with Tom Cruise's driving skills.

2013 Ford Escape

But the new stars with the best box-office prospects were a trio of boxy small SUVs: the Ford Escape, the Honda CR-V, and the Mazda CX-5. Americans' demand for tall wagons with all-wheel-drive — the cross-training sneakers of the auto world — has never been more fervent, and for their makers, the stakes have never been higher.

For Ford, the new 2013 Ford Escape attempts to replace a decade-old model that was once the bestselling SUV in the country. Designed to be sold around the world as the Kuga, the new Escape eschews the block styling for a slipperier shape that mimics the Ford Focus, with which it shares basic components. Three engines — including two EcoBoost turbo four-cylinder models — replace the V-6 and hybrids offered previously, while promising better fuel economy and up to 237 hp.

Although the Escape will boast a long list of tech features — from automatic parallel parking and shutters for better aerodynamics at highway speeds to a liftgate that can open with a kick under the rear bumper — it's no longer available as a hybrid. Ford says the smaller C-Max hybrid will serve the same market when it debuts next year, and that the smaller EcoBoost actually offer betters mileage on gasoline alone, for a lower cost.

Porsche Panamera GTS

Mazda's march to full independence from its days under Ford's control begins in earnest with the 2013 CX-5. Built from a new chassis, and carrying Mazda’s more curvaceous styling cues, the CX-5 sports a 155-hp, 2-liter four-cylinder engine tied to either a manual or automatic six-speed transmission. Those specs aren't thrilling even by small SUV standards, but Mazda's tuned the CX-5 for fuel economy, not power — getting 26 mpg in city driving and 32 mpg on the highway with the six-speed automatic, likely best in class.

The interior offers the requisite entertainment screens and space, with a few tricks like a rear seat that can fold three different ways from a remote switch. The real trick may be getting a wider range of shoppers to give Mazda a chance.

The toughest assignment belongs to the 2012 Honda CR-V, once the class leader of the segment. A combination of natural disasters and lukewarm designs has put Honda off its game this year, and the CR-V needs to perform well from the start.

2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

Built from the Civic chassis, all CR-Vs will come equipped with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder motor good for 185 hp. While the new CR-V gains a few miles per gallon from its predecessor, Honda’s decision to stick with a five-speed transmission means the CR-V will struggle to match either the Ford or Mazda’s mileage.

Outside the breadwinners, there was more muscle flashing than a bodybuilding contest. By the end of the press preview, one Chevrolet executive was issuing challenges to Ford through a Detroit News critic to take the 2013 Chevy Camaro and the 2013 Ford Mustang to a shootout at Germany’s famed Nürburgring. The Camaro ZL1 only has 580 hp, compared to the Ford Shelby’s 650 hp, but a true face-off would be closer thanks to the Camaro’s more modern suspension.

If they race, the pace car could be the Jaguar XKR-S, a 550-hp, $130,000 convertible of which only 25 will make it to these shores. And the undercard could feature an autocross-off between the Fiat 500 Abarth, the 160-hp sport version of the Cinquecento, and the Subaru BRZ, the company’s first rear-wheel-drive sports car shown as a thinly disguised STI concept.

The other mini-trend came in the realm of large sedans, from the flashy Cadillac XTS and flowingHyundai Azera to the revamped Volkswagen CC and Lincoln MKS. Of the four, the XTS offered the most glamorous interior accouterments, but the most striking design belonged to the Azera, a model that had been overlooked in Hyundai's booming lineup. As Hyundai's success shows, a little beauty works wonders for making everyday owners enthusiasts.

Source:Yahoo