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Friday, April 30, 2010
RPMGO.com (former Auto Unleashed) |
- BMW overtakes Toyota and becomes world’s most valuable car brand
- 2010 Lexus GX460 back on sale, stability fix now available in dealerships
- BMW planning X4 after X6 success
- Ferrari F430 Spyder burns in the streets of Singapore
- Video: Peugeot unleashes first ad for RCZ roadster
- Hyundai presents new Elantra (Avante) in South Korea
- Suzuki extends ‘free gas for summer’ offer for all models
- TVR set to bring Chevrolet Corvette-powered roadster, ponders hybrid tech
- Lotus showcases lightweight, futuristic Toyota Venza
- Mercedes-Benz also announces a carbon fiber future for its models
| BMW overtakes Toyota and becomes world’s most valuable car brand Posted: 30 Apr 2010 02:02 AM PDT  The beginning of the year has been pretty tough on Toyota, thanks to the major recalls and various scandals. While many fans of the Japanese company believed the carmaker would survive and see its public image not too seriously tarnished, a new study shows that Toyota has indeed suffered, in terms of brand value. Millward Brown, in its BrandZ Top 100 list revealed that BMW is now the most valuable car brand in the world, overtaking last year’s former number one, Toyota. The German company is worth $21.82 billion, as opposed to Toyota, which saw its value drop by 27% to $21.77 billion. The podium was completed by Honda, which ranked ahead of luxury carmakers like Mercedes-Benz or Porsche. While drops in value were registered almost across the board for carmakers, there were companies that achieved growth, as opposed to this time last year. Among them were Ford, Volkswagen or Audi. In terms of predictions for the future, Millward Brown analyst say they see Hyundai and Kia cracking the top 10 next year, while Chinese brands, like Geely, will see significant growth. Source: Millward Brown via Autocar Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| 2010 Lexus GX460 back on sale, stability fix now available in dealerships Posted: 30 Apr 2010 01:28 AM PDT  Lexus has just announced that the 2010 GX460 SUV is now back on sale and that the software update for the car’s stability control system is available, so there is no longer the possibility of losing control of the big Lexus. While safety fans will definitely rejoice and drifting fans will be sad, Toyota is scoring this as a big win, hyping up the fact that it acted quickly and no victims were reported because of the tail happy luxury SUV. As you may remember, at the middle of the month, Consumer Reports placed the 2010 GX460 on the ‘Do Not Buy’ list, as the car began sliding out of control if you took your foot off the acceleration in the middle of a corner (aka it started drifting). The Japanese engineers worked diligently and modified the VSC software to take into account new parameters. As was shown last week, the car is now composed and no longer fit for any amateur drifting. Sales will be restarted while current owners are going to get their car fixed free of charge. Source: Lexus Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| BMW planning X4 after X6 success Posted: 30 Apr 2010 01:13 AM PDT  BMW is taking some pretty big risks lately, as highlighted by the launch of the X6 SAV/sports coupe/offroader etc or the 5 Series GT pseudo-shooting brake. According to a new report from Autocar, it seems things are going to get even crazier as the company, after seeing the success of the X6, might launch a smaller version, called the X4. It will slot in, as its name suggests, above the next generation X3 (with which it might share the platform) and under the X5. While the source says a decision hasn’t been made, it makes sense from a business standpoint. From a logic standpoint, the niche just isn’t big enough to warrant such a new model. Plus, don’t forget, there’s the 5 GT which is basically just an X6 without the increased ride height. What do you think? Should BMW try to follow up on the success of the X6 with a smaller X4 crossover/coupe/sports something? Share your thoughts below. Source: Autocar Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Ferrari F430 Spyder burns in the streets of Singapore Posted: 30 Apr 2010 12:56 AM PDT  Supercars tend to offer some extreme thrills, unrivaled by most of the vehicles we see on the road today. Sometimes, owners might get a bit too much than what they bargained for, and get some life threatening experiences alongside their expensive supercar. We’ve seen Audi R8 models burst into flames or catch fire on the road, but now a new incident has been reported, concerning a Ferrari F430 Spyder, which caught fire on the streets of Singapore.  The incident happened two days ago, but not much is known about the whole deal. There were no people in the supercar, and the Singapore Civil Defense Force managed to extinguish the fire eventually. All we’re left are these terrifying photos before the fire crew arrived and after the blaze. Source: SingaporeSeen.stomp.com.sg via WCF Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Video: Peugeot unleashes first ad for RCZ roadster Posted: 30 Apr 2010 12:35 AM PDT  Peugeot is gearing up to release the first model, in a long time, that promises to revamp the image of the French carmaker: the RCZ roadster. As such, the company released the first ad for the attractive coupe. While the message is pretty good, the RCZ, at least from this ad, does appear to a be a bit creepy rather than menacing. Hit the jump to check out the first Peugeot RCZ ad and then share your thoughts about it in the comments sections below. Source: Automarket Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Hyundai presents new Elantra (Avante) in South Korea Posted: 30 Apr 2010 12:25 AM PDT  Hyundai is on a roll these days, and just a week after it revealed the new Accent/Verna compact sedan at the Beijing Motor Show, the South Korean carmaker revealed the Elantra (or Avante, as it is know in Asia) at the Busan Motor Show in its native country. As you can see above, the new Elantra sports the same fluidic design language, as seen on the bigger Sonata and on the smaller Accent. Thankfully the increased dimensions of the Elantra make it sport more attractive looks than its smaller brother.  In terms of engines, a new 1.6-liter direct injection inline-four cylinder unit will be available at launch, capable of 138 HP and 123 lb-ft of torque. The unit will be coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission, resulting in an improved fuel average by 10%. The new Hyundai Elantra/Avante is set to go on sale in the carmaker’s native South Korea later this year. Expect it to reach other territories like North America or Europe around the beginning of 2011. Source: Hyundai Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Suzuki extends ‘free gas for summer’ offer for all models Posted: 29 Apr 2010 11:59 PM PDT  Suzuki launched a very interesting offer last summer, when it offered free gas for the whole season to anyone who purchased either the SX4 Sport or Crossover models. Now, seeing as how summer is rapidly approaching and people are already thinking about going on vacation, the Japanese company has restarted the ‘free gas for summer‘ offer. The promotion is now available across the model range, and includes the attractive new Kizashi sedan. Customers who purchase a new car will receive a card that that ranges in value from $280 to $442, good enough for three months of fuel. The amount of money is based on the EPA fuel average numbers for each model and on the NHTSA estimate that people drive around 1,000 miles each month. Source: Suzuki Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| TVR set to bring Chevrolet Corvette-powered roadster, ponders hybrid tech Posted: 29 Apr 2010 11:38 PM PDT  The UK had small sportscar manufacturers by the dozen in the glory days, but things aren’t looking that good in the present. One company which was deemed pretty much dead by the media was TVR, which didn’t reveal anything big after it was purchased by Russian rich guy Nikolai Smolenski. For fans of the sportscar manufacturer, Autocar managed to track the Russian down and grilled him about the future of the once popular brand. It seems that the company has been restructured, according to Smolenski, but now it has some big plans for the next few years. The TVR owner revealed that it has finally decided on what type of engine will power the next model. It seems that the future TVR roadster will use an American Chevrolet Corvette engine. No details on what engine will be chosen, either the 505 HP LS7, found in the Corvette Z06, or the 638 HP supercharged LS9 unit, found in the top of the range Corvette ZR1. According to Smolenski, we will know more until the end of 2010. While lightweight, rear-wheel drive, American-powered roadsters might be on the wish lists of many rich people, Smolenski also wants TVR to do a bit of research in hybrid technology and also work on automatic transmissions, a feature that the next model can’t support, given its chassis and technology. It seems that loyal TVR fans don’t have to worry so much know, as the company is slowly getting back on its feet. Source: Autocar Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Lotus showcases lightweight, futuristic Toyota Venza Posted: 29 Apr 2010 11:18 PM PDT  These days, practically all carmakers are trying to make their models as light possible in order to achieve the best fuel average. But while some may proclaim that aerodynamics also play a key role in keeping fuel consumption down, lighter is still better. In order to further highlight the importance of reduced weight, Lotus, a sportscar manufacturer specialized in releasing lightweight models, has been asked by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to take a mainstream model, the Toyota Venza, work its magic, and see how the reduced weight will impact the fuel average. The British engineers went to work and revealed the 2020 version of the Venza, now 38% lighter. The reduced weight did come at a rise of 3% in the cost of manufacturing, but the fact that its fuel average was improved by 23% does make it up for it. The futuristic people carrier had almost half as many parts as the current model, and used aluminum and other lightweight materials extensively. Do bear in mind that the 2020 concept used technologies that will become viable around that time, so Toyota won’t go asking for plans from Lotus for the next Venza. Still, it does highlight the importance of keeping weight down in carmaking. Source: Lotus Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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| Mercedes-Benz also announces a carbon fiber future for its models Posted: 29 Apr 2010 11:00 PM PDT  It seems carbon fiber won’t be just a thing high end supercar manufacturers or tuners use on specific vehicles. After BMW announced that it will build a carbon fiber processing plant in the USA, and use the material on its future models, including the electric Megacity, Daimler has also revealed that the material will be used on Mercedes-Benz models. As such, the German company partnered up with Japanese carbon fiber specialist, Toray Industries. While many of you might not be familiar with this company, it controls around 34% of the global carbon fiber market. Future Mercedes-Benz will benefit from carbon fiber reinforced plastic body parts and other such materials, in order to achieve a lighter weight and improved fuel averages. The first car to boast such things will be the SL Class. Source: Green Car Advisor via Autoblog Post published on Rpmgo.com Related posts:
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