Motorshow: 2010 LA Auto Show

At the recent LA motor show, there were several global debuts of numerous news cars, new concept cars like the Cadillac ULS and more.

Toyota revealed the revised Corolla sedan and the RAV4 EV. Hyundai debuted the all-new Elantra and Sonata Hybrid sedans. Check out the pictures after the jump.

 

Ultimate Aero From Shelby Super Car (SSC) To Be Launched Very Soon In India

The US-based Shelby Super Car (SSC) will launch the world’s fastest car capable to reach 400+ kmph named as Ultimate Aero.

Ultimate Aero will be out in India with a price tage of over Rs 6 Crore that will make it the costilies car sold in the country.

The company has decided to launch the car in India the first launch would be in Mumbai and in span of few month it will reach New Delhi.

The Aero, produced only in the US, costs around $654,400 (more than Rs 3 crore). Indian customers will have to pay much more for the Aero because of the country’s high import duties of up to 100%. The Mercedes-Benz Mayboach, currently the costliest car sold in India, is priced around Rs 5 crore.

“Sales of super luxury cars are on the rise in emerging economies such as China and India. These are seen as stable markets for such cars,” said an industry analyst who asked not to be named.

Luxury car sales in India beat the global downturn

A recent Merrill Lynch Capgemini report had revealed that the growth in the number of millionaires is the fastest in India. Luxury car segment – comprising top models from Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Bentley – is the fastest-growing segment in the domestic auto industry.

The Aero is fitted with a fuel-injected 6.35-litre twin-turbo charged V8 engine delivering 1,183 bhp of power and is capable of reaching 0-60 km/hour in 2.7 seconds.

Shelby expects to sell a few dozen of Aeros in India every year. The conservative estimate is due to the high price tag and the poor condition of Indian roads. Asia’s third-largest economy will take a few years to see such super cars in large numbers, as it doesn’t have the kind of highway infrastructure required for such vehicles.
Aero would be the first high-speed car sold in India. The world’s top luxury carmakers like Bentley, BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar have seen their sales zooming in the past few years in India.

The Aero – which will compete with other supercars such as Ferrari, Lamborghini
, Bugatti and Koenigsegg – comes with a host of luxury features including customised supple leather seats and suede interior, multi-speaker music system, on-board video and DVD screen, automatic back-up camera, navigational backup, power windows and mirrors.

The car is built of lightweight titanium and carbon fibre material to minimise weight. The two-seater, butterfly door (up sky-folding) car runs only on premium unleaded 91 high octane petrol, which is now available in some of India’s largest cities.

The Indian luxury car market has traditionally been a saloon and sports utility vehicles market, mostly from the BMW and Mercedes-Benz stable.

India, the world’s second-fastest growing car market, has seen the sales of luxury cars growing at a fast rate in the past one year, despite a global downturn that affected sales in developed markets such as the US and Europe. Sales of high-end cars is expected to cross the 10,000 mark by 2010.

Mercedes-Benz has launched its famed AMG series in the price range Rs 2-3 crore. BMW will launch its two-seater Z4 roadster in October with a price tag of Rs 60 lakh.

The cars in the Rs 1-4 crore bracket – Audi R8, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Lamborgini, Mercedes-Benz – are posting robust sales in the country. Custom-made cars like Bentley and Rolls-Royce – which have a quota allotted to each market – have sold out their entire quota for India for the past three years.

The Indian market has also been witnessing the launch of an array of super bikes such as the Suzuki Hayabusa, Yamaha VMAX, Honda CBR1000R, American iconic brand  Harley Davidsons Fat Boy and Italian Ducati bikes in the price band of Rs 10-60 lakh.

Lamborghini Gallardo - Italian State Police Car - Interior

Italian State Police Car - Interior

Lamborghini Gallardo Pics

The Lamborghini Gallardo (Italian pronunciation: [?a??arðo]) is a sports car built by Lamborghini. The Gallardo is Lamborghini’s most-produced model to date, with over 5000 built in its first three years of production.[3] Each car costs about $180,000 to $210,000. The car is named after a famous breed of fighting bull. The Spanish word gallardo translates into “gallant,” and from Italian into “striking”.
The Gallardo offers two choices of transmissions, a conventional (H-Box) six-speed manual transmission, and an advanced six-speed electro-hydraulically controlled semi-automatic robotized manual, which Lamborghini abbreviates to “E-gear”. The “E-gear” allows the driver to make shifts much faster than a manual transmission would. The driver shifts up and down via paddles behind the steering wheel, and does not and cannot manually actuate the clutch.

 

Lamborghini Gallardo

Lamborghini Gallardo interior

Lamborghini Gallardo

NHTSA probes '07 Optima over transmission defect (U.S)

The feds are probing the 2007 Kia Optima after receiving three complaints stating that the automatic transmission cable could disengage. The investigation involves around 41,000 Optima sedan.

NHTSA "has received three complaints concerning automatic transmission shift cable detachment and inability to select and engage the gears (Park, Drive and Reverse) in model-year 2007 Kia Optima vehicles," it said. "One of the complaints also reported a rollaway incident after parking the vehicle."

The investigation could lead to a recall soon.

"Kia Motors America is not aware of any injuries as a result of a transmission failure in the subject vehicles and is cooperating with NHTSA in its investigation," said Kia Motors America.

In 2007, Kia delivered a technical service bulletin regarding imperfectly installed automatic transmission shift cables in some 2006 and '07 Optima’s. According to the bulletin, over time these cables can separate from the shifter assemblies' dowel pins, ensuing in the incapability to select or engage drive gears.

GIRL AND CAR

GIRL AND CAR

Jaguar cars

Jaguar Cars Limited is a British luxury car manufacturer famous for its elegantly-styled sports cars and luxury saloons. The company was founded in 1922 by two motorcycle enthusiasts, William Lyons and William Walmsley, under the name Swallow Sidecar Company (also referred to as SS Cars Ltd). Originally based in Blackpool, it was eventually moved to Conventry, first to Browns Lane and then to Whitley. Since 1989, Jaguar Cars Limited has been owned by Ford and it is currently included in Premier Automotive Group (PAG).

The name Jaguar is pronounced "jag-you-uh" in its native United Kingdom, while North American speakers normally pronounce it "jag wahr". The nickname “Jag” is used all over the world.
Jaguar Cars holds Royal Warrants from Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Charles.

Jaguar company history

As mentioned above, Jaguar can trace its history back to 1922. The SS Jaguar name was first used in 1935 when it was given to a 2.5L saloon. In 1945, the entire company changed its name to Jaguar. During the 1950s, the company achieved great fame and success and in 1960 Jaguar purchased the Daimler car company (not the same as Daimler-Benz). Starting in the late 1960s, Daimler became the brand name for the most luxurious saloons produced by Jaguar. In 1966, Jaguar merged with the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and the result was the formation of British Motor Holdings (BMH). After further merges with Rover and Leyland, the company was renamed British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC).
During the 1970s, the company suffered from a reputation of producing unreliable cars. When Jaguar was purchased by Ford, extensive quality improvements were carried out to remedy the problems and re-establish Jaguar as a brand connected with quality and reliability. Soon, the work began to show drastic results.
During the early 1980s, Jaguar was entered as a separate company on the stock market as a part of the Thatcher era privatisations. In 1989, the Ford Motor Company offered to purchase Jaguar, and the offer was accepted in 1990. Jaguar was therefore removed form the London Stock Exchange listings on 28 February 1990.

Jaguar facilities

Originally based in Blackpool, the company was moved to Coventry in 1928 – a region often referred to as the heart of British motor industry. The first Coventry base was located in Browns Lane, but it was later moved to Whitley. The old Browns Lane facility was open until 2005. Today, the Jaguar cars are assembled at the Castle Bromwich facility in Birmingham and at the Halewood facility in Liverpool. Castle Bromwich makes the Jaguar XJ, XK and S-Type, while the X-Type is made at Halewood.

When Land Rover was purchase by Ford in 2002, Jaguar and Land Rover became strongly associated with each other. In many parts of the world, the Jaguar and Land Rover are now sharing the same network for sales and distribution, including joined dealerships. Some Jaguars and Land Rover models even share the same components, and the production facility in Halewood constructs Jaguar X-Type cars as well as the Freelander 2 from Land Rover.

cars

cars

cars

Land Rover recalls 2010 - '11 LR2 (U.S)

Land Rover will recall 2,956 LR2’s due to a faulty front airbag, which may not deploy.

"The shorting bar in the clock spring may become disconnected when the driver's airbag module connector is installed," said the NHTSA. "The driver's frontal airbag may not deploy as intended or at all and therefore will not be able to properly protect the driver, increasing the risk of injury."

Land Rover dealerships will put in a spacer into the driver's airbag clock spring harness connector. The recall is expected to begin on 13th December. Owners can contact Land Rover on (800) 637-6837.

Toyota working on turbos and direct injections to improve mpg

Toyota is working on more ways to improve fuel economy. While hybrid technology is all good and well, the Japanese car maker will start to use turbo charging and direct injection in the future as it looks to boost its overall fuel economy.

Toyota is developing turbocharged and direct injected petrol engines for its small and mid-size models.

“In the next five years, the general trend is downsizing of engines and the use of turbochargers,” head of Toyota’s R&D, Takeshi Uchiyamada, said. “Another development will be direct fuel injection.”

Uchiyamada added: “Eventually, we will see significant numbers of vehicles carrying engines with turbochargers.”

The turbocharged engines are likely to find their way under the Yaris, Corolla, Auris, Camry and Avensis models but no specific dates were given.

Toyota anticipates that just 10-20% of its new car sales in 2020 will contain hybrid vehicles.