The first we saw of Audi’s e-Tron concept car was at the Frankfurt Motor Show where it remained nothing more than a concept. Now, Audi has come forth to tell Autoweek that the 4,500nm torque of beast is on the drawing board to become a production vehicle. There’s not telling on when we will be seeing it at dealerships but Audi of America Johan de Nysschen reportedly expects pre-production models within the next 2 years.

For those who don’t know, the e-tron is a fully electric vehicle capable of a outputting 313hp (230kW), 4,500nM of torque (over 3,300 pounds-per-foot) and will hit 62 miles from a stand still in just 4.8 seconds and reach top speeds of 124 mph. Best of all, on a full charge the e-tron will be able to travel a full 154 miles.

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If you were anxiously awaiting to get your hands on Lexus’ latest HS 250h hybrid vehicle, you’re in for some bad news. Recent reports suggest that the HS 250h hasn’t been able to keep up with the demand as over 10,000 orders were filed in Japan on the first month. In comparison, Toyota estimated they would see 500 sales per month of the 250h, boy were they wrong.

This reportedly resulted in a severe supply shortage that could possibly delay the North American release next month. Considering there has yet to be an official announcement regarding a delay, we’ll just assume the Lexus HS 250h is still set to hit dealerships next month.

We’ll keep you posted if that changes.

via autobloggreen

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Earlier this month we were given word that GM could potentially be seeing a drought of Chevy Volts due to limited production. Today, however, buzz suggets that GM will be producing a lot more cars than previously though.

If/when the public takes to the Volt, CNET sees the Chevy Volt reaching production of up to 70,000 vehicles each year. This would be after the ~400 GM plans to build in 2010 alone so it will most likely be a ways off until we see these kind of numbers.

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Daimler has today announced that their smart ed all electric vehicle is all set to enter production this November. The first production models are expected to hit dealerships sometime in early 2010.

If you’re not familiar with the smart ed, this vehicle features a lithium ion powered electric motor good for a range of 71 mph. Just because it’s such a small car doesn’t mean it has to be excruiatingly slow as the smart ed’s 30kW electric moter will make for a sprint from 0 to 60 km/h in 6.5 seconds. Not bad for such a car.

via Press

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With all of the hype surrounding the Chevy Volt you would think GM would get their gears in motion and pump out as many vehicles as they can but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

According to recent reports, GM only plans on producing between 200-400 Volts from November-December of 2010, the vehicle’s launch window and then proceeding to slowly increase production throughout 2011. Furthermore, GM reportedly hopes to have 10,000 Volts on the road (or in dealerships) by the time we hit 2012.

Like I said before, the hype surrounding the Volt is massive which would lead one to think that the demand for such a vehicle will be just as high. Oh well, GM, I hope you know what you’re doing.

via AutoblogGreen

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Cash for Clunkers continues to prove itself to be nothing short of a massive success as Ford has recently announced that the will be increasing their vehicle production of 10,000 for Q3 of this year.

This is due to the fact that Ford has seen an enormous increase in sales after the Cash for Clunkers program began, particularly their Escape and Focus models which will make up for most of the increase. Furthermore, Ford has also let us know that due to the  increased success they will be increasing Q4 vehicle production 33%  every year from this year forward.

Let’s just hope automakers don’t get too optomistic over Cash for Clunkers because that’s what put us in this horrible mess after all, right?

via Jalopnik

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Chevrolet Motors decided to walk us through the manufacturing of the upcoming Volt, from the molding process to the priming in the paint lab. The video offers great insight into the industry and how it all gets started.

The Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid, will be out next year.

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The extremely low-cost Tata Nano has been the talk of the internet for some time now having recently made its way through European crash testing with generally good results.

Well, it seems that the first production model has finally rolled off the line and into the hands of a consumer. The consumer in question is Ashok Raghunath Vichare of Mumbai who was reported to have paid around $2,053 for said vehicle.

With it’s low price and estimated 56MPG the Tata Nano is sure to make waves when it hits the market world wide.

via Autoblog

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All-electric vehicles are definitely the future considering gas prices continue to go up and the world’s supply is being depleated at an alarming rate. Founder of Magna International, Frank Stronach, knows this and this is why he wasn’t to begin production of all-electrics as soon as possible.

So soon in fact that he has been quoted to have said that the company hopes to begin production in Canada within the next three years. This means that both the cars themselves and the electric components will be produced entirely in Canada.

As a side note, Stronach has also said that he has plants to invest up to $300 million dollars in Canada’s all-electric campaign.

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Last year as part of their bankruptcy filing Dodge was rumored to have put the Viper brand up for sale due to slow sales in 2007. This means that the car itself has a grim future with no future Chrysler production models planned.

However, now that Chrysler is under new leadership it was announced that the Dodge Viper SRT 10 will in fact continue production. This will come as great news to supercar fans everywhere as the current rendition of the car features a 8.3L V10 capable of 600HP and 560 pounds of torque.

There are no details on the new model but we will be sure to keep you posted.

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Now here’s a big milestone — Chevrolet Product Marketing Director, Karen Rafferty, took the stage this month at the meeting of the Greater Atlanta Automotive Media Association to let everyone know that the 1,500,000th Corvette has officially been produced.

Rafferty was quoted to say the folowing:

The 1.5 millionth Corvette is a great example of how Chevy is America’s Brand. For nearly 60 years we have built America’s Sports Car and this milestone is a solid proof point.

If you wanted to know, the lucky vehicle was apparantly a white convertible 3LT complete with red interior and black top which Muscle Car Blog reports is the same as the 1st, 500,000th and 1,000,000th vehicles produced in 1953, 1977 and 1992.

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GM has recently released word that they will suspend production of their 2010 Chevy Malibu Hybrid. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they will stop making the car indefinitly but it just means that there are enough 2009 Malibu Hybrids to go around.

GM’s Brian Corbett added that while this car’s production will be temporarily suspended that doesn’t imply anything about the future of Chevrolet hybrid cars. Furthermore Corbett also says that GM will debut a next-gen mild hybrid system sometime in 2011. This new hybrid system will have smaller batteries, increased fuel economy and the ability to propell vehicles using nothing more then electricity.

I don’t know about you guys but it seems like GM has a lot of catching up to do especially when compared to automakers such as Toyota who are already very established in the hybrid market.

Read (KickingTires)

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Despite being put on hold in the middle of last month, Volkswagen was recently quoted to say that their BlueSpor troadster is ready to go into production and would cost around $30,000.

There’s not even solid word on if the BlueSport roadster will ever make it off the production line but AutoBlog is reporting that if it does it will find its way into US dealerships as early as 2013.

For those not paying attention, VW’s BlueSport roadster will get an estimated 42 miles per gallon diesel fuel and features a turbo-chared, direct-injected engine. All I know is that I’d definitely choose this vehicle over the similarly priced all-electric iMiEV anyday.

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Mitsubishi just released word yesterday that they have begun production of their all electric iMiEV and already, presumably to stirr up hype, the company has release pictures of an actual production model.

That’s not all as Mitsubishi has also clarified that commerical and government buyers will be able to get their hands on the iMiEV in July while actual retail customers won’t be able to get their hands on until next April.

The real bummer here, however, is that before tax breaks the little car pictures above will be priced at ¥4,380,000 or around $45,500. After a ¥1,390,000 tax break, however, AutoBlogGreen reports the car will be bumped down to a more reasonable $31,000. Still, is anyone besides the filthy rich willing to spend over $30,000 for the little car pictured above?

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Do you remember Mitsubishi’s iMiEV? The vehicle that looked kind of like a smart car except it was powered entirely by electricity?

Well, Mitsubishi has announced today that they have begun producing the car and hoipe to build 2,000 before the end of this fiscal year. As for next year, Mitsubishi is hoping to increase production of the iMiEV to 5,000.

For those who don’t know, Mitsubishi is saying that the iMiEV can get around 100 miles per charge and is in the ballpark of $31,000. Then again, that price is what is expected if the iMiEV ever makes its way to American shores.

Read (AutoBlogGreen)

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