Pininfarina Sergio Concept coming to Geneva!

Most of us will agree some of the most beautiful cars in the world are created in Italy, and many of them were designed by Pininfarina, so every time the Italian company announces they will reveal something new we get a little excited and eager to find out what we will see.

Unfortunately we have to wait for the Geneva Motor Show, and for now we just have to show a picture.

Pininfarina will attend the 2013 Geneva MotorShow with a tribute to the man who headed the Company for 40 years and created cars which entered the legend, Life Senator Sergio Pininfarina, whopassed away in July last year.Universally recognized as the “Maestro”of Italian style, Sergio Pininfarina went through and signed with his creative genius the entire history of design, since the period of great coachbuilders to modern industry, often anticipating trends.

To celebrate his talent and his work, Pininfarina will present as a world premiere in Geneva a concept car which renews the spirit of the extraordinary achievements born from Sergio Pininfarina’s pencil, translating it into a modern vision in the name of exclusivity, innovation and passion.

The tribute to the man who was crowned by the international press “King of Design”, will be necessarily called Sergio.

To discover the Sergio, the appointment is for March 5, 2013 at 1pm on the Pininfarina stand.

 

SsangYong brings the SIV-1 concept to Geneva

Yesterday i wrote an article about the new SsangYong Korando Turismo, also known as the Rodius or Stavic in some markets, and i said the car was ugly, like most cars the Korean company built over the last years, but this new concept is really promising.

From what we can see from these two images the crossover looks good, really good. The car looks agressive with his large fenders and sharp lines. Not much is known for now, but the car has a length of 4500mm, a width of 1880mm, a height of 1640mm and a wheelbase of 2700mm.

The rest we will have to wait for the Geneva Motor Show.

Source: autoforum

Kia Cross GT concept CUV for the Chicago Auto Show

Kia already announced they were going to show a new concept at the Chicago Auto Show, but at that time they only released one (bad) image. Today more images and information was revealed to the public. And like most concepts this one serves as a hint for the brands future design language.

At least it will be the base for the brands larger vehicles, and with 4897mm (192.8inches) it is big. Compared with the Sorento it is longer, wider and lower, making look more aggressive.

The powertrain used by the Cross GT is a 3.8 liter V6 hybrid drive with an eight-speed automatic transmission and torque-vectoring all-wheel drive. Combined, the petrol engine and the electric motor produce over 400hp and 677Nm (500lb/ft), while the batteries have a range of 32km (20miles).

Citroen Technospace Concept. A fancy name for a car we already know, the C4 Picasso.

Are you serious Citroen? In the last few days we have seen the new C4 Picasso several times without camouflage, so we know how the car looks, why did you release several images of a car similar to the Picasso and call it the Citroen Technospace Concept?

But at least Citroen revealed more information about the upcoming model. The new C4 Picasso will have a length of 4.43m, a width of 1.83m, a height of 1.61m, and a boot capacity of 537 liters. Not bad for a car that Citroen describes as having a "Previously unseen proportions". Couldn't agree more, but they also added it has "Strong, expressive design with dynamic lines and high-tech headlamps complemented by 3D-effect tail lights inspired by the latest CITROËN concept cars".

I already said this earlier, but we knew the new MPV was going to be more efficient, part thanks to the also new EMP2 platform (don't worry, this won't destroy all electronic devices within a radius of 5km), known as the Efficient Modular Platform 2, which is 70kg lighter over the previous one. This means a record CO2 emissions level of 98g/km.

One thing was confirmed, besides the multiple technologies for enhanced comfort, Citroen will have available a high-definition 12inch panoramic screen. That is larger than many laptops.

Don't miss the official presentation at the Geneva Motor Show next month.

Subaru Viziv concept shows a new direction in design

Like most brands Subaru will present a new concept at the Geneva Motor Show. And like most car makers this is also a new crossover with the objective of showing the brands direction of new designs and new technologies.

According to Subaru this concept embodies the brand value of "Enjoyment and Peace of Mind", while the model name is a coined word inspired by the phrase "Vision for Innovation". I think Subaru is trying to confuse us, and they haven't learned we only want to know power, torque, top speed, acceleration, how the car looks, and alter the price. Then we find out its too expensive and move to another vehicle.

So lets all wait for the Geneva Motor Show to find out more relevant informations about this new crossover that "expresses a future vision for innovation, and a concept car suggesting the brand's direction".

Honda will bring to Geneva the Civic Wagon concept, the NXS and a new engine.

Honda recently announced that they will show the Civic Wagon concept at the Geneva Motor Show, together with NSX concept that will keep the exterior look and will reveal a potential direction for the interior design and the CR-V will be available with the new Earth Dreams Technology 1.6 i-DTEC diesel engine

The Civic Wagon concept will serve as a basis for the upcoming addition to the Civic lineup, and the NSS has been seen several times, so nothing new there, while the new engine for the CR-V, which is already available in the Civic hatchback, will be offered starting from September in Europe.

Production version of the Suzuki's all-new C-segment crossover in Geneva [Video]

This new crossover is based on the concept shown last year in the Paris Motor Show and not much else is known. That car was called the S-Cross concept and had a little over 4300mm in length, 1840mm wide and 1600mm tall, so this concept should have a similar size.

One thing was confirmed, the car will be available with four-wheel drive, and of course it will have both diesel and petrol engines. Find out more at the Suzuki press conference, scheduled for 1:30 pm, on 5th March 2013.

Opel/Vauxhall Adam Crossover will add the name Rocks

Yesterday we found out that Opel/Vauxhall was planning a cabriolet version of the Adam, and today the German company revealed a few sketches of the parkour-inpired concept called ADAM ROCKS that will have fabric retractable roof. 

The length of the car will remain the same, but it will be higher and wider giving it a more tougher look. The retractable fabric is similar to ones used in the Fiat 500C and Citroën DS3 Cabrio, extending across the entire width and length of the roof.

“With even bolder design than any other ADAM, the ROCKS is an impressive demonstration of how much more potential for individualization our new small lifestyle car still offers after its market launch. It combines the toughness of a crossover with the coolness of open air driving,” says Malcolm Ward, Opel/Vauxhall Lead Design Director. 

Source: opel

Nissan will build a new C-Segment car in Barcelona, Spain.

In total Nissan will invest 110 million euros, almost 150 million dollars, in their factory located in Barcelona, Spain, so they can start building a new passenger car from July 2014. The vehicle is rumored to be a new C-Segment car, possibly with some styling cues taken from the Nissan Invitation concept shown almost a year ago (In reality this concept gave birth to the Nissan Note).

This investment will allow for an additional 80,000 units of annual capacity to Barcelona, and the creation of 1,000 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. Really good in a country getting close to an unemployment rate of 30%.

But this isn't the only investment at the Barcelona plant. Nissan will invest 14 million euros (19 million dollars) to increase the annual production capacity by 24.000 units of the 1-Ton Pickup, and 6 million euros (8.15 million dollars) for the assembly of the gearbox for the Nissan LEAF and Nissan eNV200.

Of course Frank Torres, Nissan Motor Ibérica Managing Director, was really happy with this investment by say that: "I have the pleasure of sharing with you the fruits of the competitiveness agreement reached last week, which have opened the door to new production opportunities. The most important thing now is to be able to ensure the successful launch of these products and keep the competitiveness commitment. If we do, I am sure new opportunities will come."

Adding that "In the coming years, Barcelona plant will work at full capacity, with an annual output over 200,000 units while maintaining its attractiveness to produce new models. Given the current crisis environment, this is not only a great achievement for Nissan, but for the entire industry in this country."

Source: Nissan

Toyota teases the FT-86 Open concept

Toyota will present this concept at the Geneva Motor Show to assess the public's reaction to the convertible version of the GT-86. From what we can see it will keep four seats but we don't know if it will come with a soft-top or a hard-top.

Production isn't confirmed yet, but it seems Toyota is already testing the car pointing to a possible production version to come out this year.

Source: Toyota

 

Kia will show a new concept at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show

In less than one week the 2013 Chicago Auto Show will open its doors for the media and KIA will reveal their concept, the Cross GT, that should not be confused with Volskwagens CrossBlue, specially because they might end up has competitors, since it will be bigger that the Sorento. All we know for now is that this concept is a hint at what will be the brands new design language.

Source: Kia

Kia's new concept for Geneva

Kia will show this new concept at the Geneva Motor Show in March and promises it will be "a provocative and racy new urban concept". Nothing else is known, but the concept won't have the traditional tiger-nose, instead it will adopt a more friendly grille and headlight arrangement.

PSA VéLV concept will be the Twizy rival [Video]

This is a compact, lightweight electric vehicle, with only 2.81m long, it has 3 seats, weighs under 700kg and is considered to be a tricycle because when the car has 2 rear wheels on a track with less than 460mm it is considered as a single-wheel axle.

Power comes from a 20kW (DC)/30kW motor with an 8.5kWh electric battery for a range of 100km. The car is made of an integral one-piece body made of fiberglass and polyester resin, ABS PMMA self-coloured thermoformed body panels, with a front end and door frames made of aluminum profiles.

While the Twizy is not the huge success many expected it to be, the PSA Group also wants to enter this segment that is classified as being the solution for travels in the cities, and i quote "An electric vehicle project to change the way we travel in and around cities".