CarBuyersNoteBook

Lotus Evora Wins Performance Car of the Year Award

The Lotus Evora beat out 29 other cars to win the title of Performance Car of the Year for 2009 from Car Magazine. The list included marquee car brands like Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Porsche, giving you an idea of what this vehicle brings. All 30 cars went through subjective and objective testing on the driving roads of Great Britain. Among the highlights of the Lotus Evora during this event included the smooth navigation and steering.

And to refresh your memory, the Lotus Evora features a 280HP 3.5 litre V6 petrol engine paired with a 6-speed manual transmission gearbox.

(Source) Auto Spies

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Hyundai Skips Tokyo Motor Show

The Tokyo Motor Show officially opens on October 24, hosting a wide roster of automakers to show off their latest vehicles set to be released in the market. And just when many people were looking forward to the event, Hyundai has begged off from the Tokyo Motor Show despite having paid a non-refundable reservation fee of $122,000.

There were no definitive reasons given for Hyundai’s pull out but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it has something to do with expenses. If Hyundai participated, they would have to address other costs that include outlays, staffing and other support materials for any new model they would be unveiling as well as the space rental for the duration of the event. as well as the space rental for the duration of the event.

With their pull-out, the Tokyo Motor Show looms like a showdown among Japan’s familiar car brands. Only two other foreign car companies remain for the event and these are Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen and Lotus. With 3 weeks to go, will they stay or will they go?

(Source) NY Times

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BMW Announces Buyout Packages to Employees

BMW has announced that they will be offering buyout packages to their employees despite their earlier premise of additional jobs needed at the Greer Plant. It doesn’t take a genius to note that this is in line with the growing problems of the economy but what is really contradicting is their continued expansion efforts.

There were no details of the buyout packages as of yet. Similar to the fate of most popular car brands, BMW is likewise succumbing to the economic pinch and the best they can do for now is look out for the welfare of their workers in an orderly manner.

By BMW’s estimates, about 5,000 people work at the local plant, including some contract workers may be cut due to the poor sales and rising operation expenses being incurred by the company to date.

(Source) News Observer

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Harman International Launches Audio and Infotainment Platforms for Automobiles

Harman International has made good its promise to stay on top as the leader in automotive entertainment as it reports a successive launch of 13 major audio and infotainment platforms for the automotive industry. The list of car enhancements include custom in-car audio, navigation, hands-free communication and driver assist technologies.

Among the brands that have benefitted from this massive effort include marquee car brands like Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Hyundai, Mercedes, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroen, and Ssangyong.
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Porsche and Ford Top 2009 Ideal Vehicle Awards

Among the new bumper crop of vehicles out in the market, there are certain features that people would love to change among them. But if there are two cars which have the least number of attributes that potential car buyers would change, two familiar brands popped out above the rest. The two car brands are Porsche and Ford which topped the 2009 Ideal Vehicle Awards (IVA). The IVAs are based on owners’ ratings of their new 2009 model year cars and trucks across 15 key vehicle attributes.

“In today’s economy, car buyers take many factors into consideration – styling, safety features, fuel economy and more,” says George Peterson, president of AutoPacific. “IVA winners deliver the most of what consumers are really looking for in their vehicles.”

The selection doesn’t seem that easy. Most cars offer great features while others leave it up to the buyers to modify. The Porsche and Ford Motor vehicles are equipped with one of the common and yet unique features which some would leave if the survey is any indication.

But basing it on tradition, these two car models have lived up to their name and such a selection should not really be surprising. For 2009, the top-rated premium brand is Porsche, outscoring Buick and Jaguar for the most ideal premium vehicle brand honors. The top-rated mainstream brand is Ford, outscoring Mercury for top mainstream brand results. Porsche and Ford were also the highest scoring premium and mainstream brands in the 2008 IVA rankings.

(Source) Press

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Jaguar and Land Rover Debut in India

Tata Motors kicks off one leg of its new found business, launching the Jaguar and the Land Rover in India. The re-branding prowess of Tata Motors starts by unveiling the two luxury car brands in Indian waters, launching three models of each brand.

Jaguar will be unveiling the XF, XFR and the XKR sedans while Land Rover will start its business with Discovery 3, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover sport utility vehicles. Being fully imported models, all the six cars carry a heavy price tag starting Rs 63 lakh and going up to Rs 92 lakh.

“The launch of Jaguar and Land Rover is something that is quite memorable in the context of our history and heritage of Tata Motors. This is a company that belongs to us and we are proud of it.”

While the economy is still in turmoil for most parts of the world, no sales forecasts were unveiled by Tata Motors just yet. Right now, all they can do is stay optimistic, similar to what most business are banking on today.

(Source) Business Standard

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Ford Brand Hanging In There with Japanese Car Brands

For the 8th year in a row, Ford Motors has kept in step with the consistent Japanese car manufacturers as far as brand quality is concerned. While many would think that Ford would have dropped due to the impending crisis and of course the celebrated “Bailout” issue, Ford is still up there with its Ford and Mercury brands.

Ford is in a statistical tie with Japanese car brands based on a study by J.D. Power and Associates. Overall the Ford brand improved by 10 points since last year’s study.

“It is gratifying to see our commitment to quality paying off,” said Bennie Fowler, Ford group vice president, Global Quality. “Ford has demonstrated consistent and continuous quality improvement. We’re now tied with the best of the Japanese automakers and we won’t be satisfied until Ford is the industry’s global quality leader.”

Among the cars that have contributed to Ford’s success included the Ford F-150, Mustang, Edge and Mercury Sable. But as far as Ford is concerned, that achievement is nothing. The goal, like any other car company to date, is to be the global leader in the car industry.

(Source) Press

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Samsung Vehicles to be Sold at Saturn Stores

If everything goes well, we may soon see Samsung Vehicles being sold at Saturn stores. That is if Roger Penske gets anything concrete from his initial ice-breaking meeting with Renault executives. For the record, Samsung builds four passenger vehicles, all on Nissan underpinnings.

It’s not known which vehicles would be sold by Saturn or whether they would be current Samsung offerings or new ones based on Renault engineering. Also unclear: the corporate relationship between Penske and Renault-Nissan.

Curiously, it seems that Penske wants to place something new in the market. And with the turn of most motorists towards alternative cars outside that of the usual reliable car brands, you have to think what type of market study Penske saw that opened this all up.

It costs a lot to build cars in Europe, and the Astra, which, while finished more like a premium model inside than most in its class, was also priced a little bit higher and therefore didn’t sell as well as it could have, especially in this down market where price is everything. The new Saturn owner certainly won’t want to make that mistake.

(Source) CNet

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Carooma Guides Car Buffs Online

The secret towards being conservative in the auto industry is not on the cars you buy but on how well you know your car components. While some rely heavily on word of mouth, there is an online site that can help you visualize your car and make the necessary adjustments to be a wise motorist.

Carooma (carooma.com) today announced the beta launch of its online service which lets users configure and visualize auto parts and accessories on their own cars. As consumers spend less on new cars and more on options and parts, Carooma helps them get what they’re looking for.

According to a Reuters report dated September 3rd, 2008, U.S. auto sales in July sunk to a 16-year low and are have been falling for 10 straight months. Of 33 car brands sold in the U.S., only five posted increased year on year sales in August, while the rest reported an average decrease of 22.8% in sales, Autoblog reports.

To capitalize on this increasing demand, Carooma built an online application that lets users configure and view different combinations of auto parts from a variety of third party manufacturers with realistic 3D models. “With consumers spending thousands of dollars on customizing cars, we wanted to give them greater confidence in their purchase decisions, and help ensure that they’re getting what they want,” says AJ Mak, co-founder of Carooma.

Carooma also calculates the cost of selected parts so you know if what you are seeing is within budget. “When you talk about shopping for customized products, static pictures alone just aren’t going to work anymore, your shopping experience needs to be customized too.” said Mak.

(Source) Press

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GfK Asia Enters the Tire Industry

Initially known to be a familiar figure in the world of scooters and motorcycles, GfK Asia is expanding its niche towards the automotive industry, particularly tires. GfK Asia is expanding its industry sector coverage into automotive; and in South East Asia developments, Malaysia will pioneer its launch. GfK Malaysia will launch its first passenger car tire retail tracking report in June 09 and hope to expand further to engine oil and other replacement parts in future.

GfK Asia Commercial Director, Stanley Kee said, “In Europe, we have been tracking automotive since the 1980s and within automotive sector, Tire is one key focus. About 50% of the world rubber supply is traded via Singapore and recently the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) has moved its office from London to Singapore. South East Asia key countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia contributes as high as 70% of the world rubber supply for tires, confirms the importance of this region to the world of rubber supply. Malaysia is crucial and domineering country in tire trade, and after its launch we plan to roll out Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Korea on top of China, as our initial phase of the automotive business. The second phase would include countries Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan.”

GfK Malaysia sees the region split of spare parts shop, garages and tire specialists excluding car brands service centers concentrating 37% in the Central Region, 26% in the North, 23% in the South, 8% on the East Coast and 7% in East Malaysia. The ratio of 674 automotive vehicle to one spare parts shop, garages or tire specialists, in Malaysia presently indicates good business opportunity but not without steep competition in today’s competitive world.

(Source) Press

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