Toyota Etios

Toyota Motor Corporation just launched the Etios sedan which will be manufactured in India. With this model, the Japanese automaker hopes to increase sales in Asia's second fastest growing major economy, where Toyota is ranked at 7. Akio Toyota, who is the company's president, introduced himself the Etios in Bangalore, which is a premiere for him to participate at an overseas car launch as the SEO of the company. The Toyota Etios is the company's most affordable automobile, available at a starting price of $10,900 (496,000 rupees).

At the moment, the Japanese automaker has a 2.8% market share in India and is desperately attempting to grab a large numbers of customers from General Motors, Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki India, in its try to grab 10% market share in the next 5-7 years. According to Darius Lam, who is an analyst at J.D. Power & Associates, "Toyota has been very slow in getting its act together in India. It's hard to overstate the importance of Etios to Toyota's future success in India. The company has spent the past five years making sure it delivers exactly what Indian car buyers expect. The Etios finally allows Toyota to compete in the heart of the Indian light vehicle market."

The Etios is a major release for Toyota, being the only model from the automaker that was not delayed amid the world economical crisis. The model will compete with the Hyundai i20 and the Suzuki Swift subcompacts, in the second most populous country of the world. The Toyota officials affirmed that "we are aiming for a full-scale presence in India. With the Etios, we are able to serve an ever broader range of customers."

At first, the Etios will be sold as a small sedan and starting with April 2011, a hatchback version of the car will be put on sale. The car will be manufactured at a Bidadi-based plant, in the near vicinity of Bangalore. In the future there will be other variations of the Toyota Etios which will be available for sale in countries like Thailand, Brazil and China.

According to a statement made by the company, the Japanese automaker hopes that it will ship 70,000 cars in its first year of life. Toyota sold only 62,000 units in India until October, in comparison with Maruti Suzuki that managed to deliver 874,000 cars and Hyundai that sold 299,000 cars. According to J.D. Power, Maruti Suzuki controls 39% of the light-vehicle market in India in comparison with Hyundai that has 13% market share, ranking 3^rd.

Toyota Etios

With the Etios, Toyota also hopes to diminish the sales gap with Volkswagen and General Motors in China, which is at the moment the world's largest automotive market. This year until October, the sales made by the Japanese automaker in China grew by 17%, reaching 644,000 units. General Motors did even better than that, selling 36% more cars, totaling 1.98 million vehicles. VW holds the number 2 spot with 1.65 million vehicles shipped.

Toyota did not mention an official date for when it will launch the Etios model in China. In the present, the most affordable Toyota model in China is the Vios, which is however, 23% more expensive in comparison with the F3 compact manufactured by BYD. More than that, the F3 is the most popular automobile in China that has a base price of $10,620 (70,800 yuan). When designing the Etios, the people over at Toyota took into consideration the fact that the car will be targeted towards the emerging markets, hoping that an affordable car will grab new buyers, but at the same time maintaining Toyota's image for reliable vehicles. Until the Etios was launched in India, the Innova minivan was the most affordable car produced by Toyota, priced at 862,433 for the standard model.

This might not be a good time for Toyota to start making the Etios as Nissan is planning on introducing to the Indian market, a car that costs only $3,000 and will be supplied by Bajaj Auto Ltd. We should mention the famous Tata Nano, which at the moment is the most affordable car in the world, priced at only 131,331 rupees. The success or failure of the Toyota Etios might depend upon the exports, following the same faith as the Micra built by Nissan Chennai.

Ashvin Chotai is the managing director of Intelligence Automotive Asia and he affirmed that "this is a good milestone for Toyota in India. The segment that the Etios hatch is being targeted at is seeing a lot of competition from all foreign players." He added that "Nissan has been able to ramp up production mainly with exports. A lot depends on a healthy balance between exports and local sales."

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Toyota Etios Launched

The United States trucks and cars sales rose by 17% in November, raising high hopes that the automotive market will end on a very high note, creating a solid momentum for 2011. Last month, the number of light vehicle sales went up to 873,407 cars, which is the 11^th market advance in the past 12 months. The car sales until November, reached 10.45 million units, topping the 2009 sales figures that totaled 10.43 million.

The United States sales, for the second consecutive month achieved an annual selling rate of 12.26 million units, according to the information revealed by AutoData Corporation. In 2009, the light vehicles delivered reached an annual rate of only 10.86 million vehicles. According to Edmunds.com, larger vehicles, crossovers and pickup trucks are more popular among buyers. The redesigned or new models coming from Hyundai, Nissan, VW as well as other car manufacturers, helped raise the sales figures.

Ford sold 20% more trucks and cars in comparison to 2009. GM's sales also went up by 12% and its four remaining brands grew by 21%. According to the Chrysler Group, the November request for new cars rose by 17%.

Today, the General Motors officials predicted that a gradual economic recovery will most likely continue to strengthen the request for new vehicles. Jim Bunnell, who is the general manager of U.S. sales for General Motors, stated that "the economy is continuing to gain traction. We believe we will see meaningful job creation in the coming months."

Moving on, the Hyundai Group (and Kia), sold this November 41% more cars. The demand for Honda cars in the United States grew by 21%. Porsche also is doing well, benefiting from 49% more sales. Jaguar Land Rover sales climbed by 22%. Nissan is also benefiting from an increased number of sales, the deliveries for their vehicles rose by 27%.

On the contrary, Toyota sales, including Scion and Lexus, went down by 3% in November, totaling 129,137 cars, although the company spent more on incentives in comparison to 2009. The situation clearly illustrates the problems the Japanese automaker is having in winning back the trust of the United States customers, after more than a year since the automaker started recalling millions of cars that shattered Toyota's good image for manufacturing high quality cars that are very safe on the road. Toyota and Mazda were the only two manufacturers that did not post double-digit sales gains in November; Mazda's sales went up by only 7%.

Almost all of the General Motors cars shipped were 2011 models, which allowed the company to increase the average transaction prices, according to Don Johnson, who is GM's vice president of United States sales operations. Through last month, the average price of a GM car went up by $1,300 in comparison to the similar period of 2009. Johnson added that the incentives averaged 10.4% of GM's transaction prices, which is just about the same as the rest of the industry.

Volkswagen AG sold 24.2% more cars last month, the Jetta Sedan being the most successful model as sales grew by a healthy 49%. Analysts affirm that the sales made in the final weekend of the month went up due to the Thanksgiving holiday deals that were sponsored by individual manufacturers and dealers, including Nissan and Toyota.

Numbers in this table are calculated by Automotive News based on actual monthly sales reported by the manufacturers and may differ from numbers reported elsewhere.

Source: Automotive News Data Center

Note: Other includes estimates for Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Lotus

*Includes Mini and Rolls-Royce
**Includes Maybach, Mercedes-Benz and Smart
***Includes Volvo through July 2010
****Includes Saab through February 2010
†Includes Acura
††Includes Kia
†††Includes Infiniti
‡The sale of Saab was final on February 23, 2010
‡‡Includes Lexus and Scion
‡‡‡Includes Audi and Bentley
‡‡‡‡The sale of Volvo to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group was final on Aug. 2, 2010

Source: AutoNews.com

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November U.S. Sales, Up By 17%

Nissan Leaf

After its most dangerous battery car rival, the Chevrolet Volt, managed to grab various key endorsements, the 2011 Leaf from Nissan has managed to grab a big prize. We are talking about the "European Car of the Year" award that went to this compact battery-electric vehicle – BEV. The Leaf managed to beat some serious competition coming from conventional as well as other eco-friendly cars.

This Nissan model is the first electric car that managed to grab the big prize and even more than that, it is the first time ever an electric vehicle even made it to the final round of the competition. Nissan Leaf managed to overtake the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, the Opel Meriva, the Citroen C3/DS3, the Dacia Duster, Ford C-Max and the Volvo S60. Nissan's CEO Carlos Ghosn said that "this award recognizes the pioneering zero-emission Nissan Leaf as competitive to conventional cars in terms of safety, performance, spaciousness and handling. It also reflects Nissan's standing as an innovative and exciting brand with a clear vision of the future of transportation, which we call sustainable mobility."

The Nissan Leaf took the first place by beating at a very score Italy's Alfa Romeo Giulietta that scored 248 points, 9 points less than Leaf's 257. It goes without saying that the juries of this 58^th edition of the European Car of the Year took their time discussing not only the basic facts of the Nissan EV, but also the general situation of battery-powered automobiles, and how Nissan managed to implement the technology in their revolutionary Leaf model.

Hakan Matson, who was the chief juror of the competition, stated that "In spite of the lack of a large recharging network and the limited range, the LEAF represents a technical and commercial bet that might otherwise satisfy many potential consumers, especially where public incentives will come to reduce the paying price."

The car also won other awards like the "Green Car of the Year", given by TheGreenCarWebsite.com. However, its rival, the Chevrolet Volt also grabbed a few awards, like the "Motor Trend Car of the Year", "Automobile of the Year" (given by Automobile magazine), and Green Car Journal's Green Car of the Year.

Nissan Leaf

A very important award that will be given in the near future is for the "North American Car of the Year". The finalists for this competition will be announced in about two weeks, and both the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt will most likely be among the five finalists. The winner of the NACOTY award will be announced on January 10^th, 2011 at the North American International Auto Show which will be held in Detroit.

In the United States, the Nissan Leaf is available for a starting price of $32,780, but the car qualifies for many incentives plus a $7,500 federal tax credit. Last month, EPA gave the Leaf a formal mileage rating of 99 mpg, which is a figure that is designed in order to reflect the Leaf's  fuel efficiency equivalent if it were running on conventional fuels.

During his speech, Ghosn stated that Nissan and its luxury branch, the Infiniti, are at the moment developing three more electric vehicles, while Renault who is Nissan's European affiliate is also developing four electric cars. By 2015, Renault-Nissan will manufacture about 550,000 electric cars annually.

Here are the final standings for the "European Car of the Year 2010":

1. Nissan Leaf (257p);
2. Alfa Romeo Giulietta (248p);
3. Opel Meriva (244p);
4. Ford C-Max (224p);
5. Citroen C3/DS3 (175p);
6. Volvo S60/V60 (145p);
7. Dacia Duster (132p).

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Nissan Leaf Is The European Car Of The Year

2011 Subaru Legacy Sedan

Subaru of America sales went up by 22% in November, breaking the annual sales record set last year. Subaru is the only automaker that increased its sales in America for three times in a row and managed to deliver 20,792 units last month, rounding up the cars sold number to 237,126 this year. This is more in comparison to 2009 when Subaru US managed to sell 216,652 automobiles.

According to Tom Doll, who is the COO of Subaru America, the records were set for the Outback, Forrester crossovers and for the stylish Legacy Sedan. Doll affirmed that "Our core product lines continue to do very well because they fit nicely into the marketplace. When gas prices started to increase, the trend was to move into smaller and mid-size SUVs. People looking for vehicles with utility now consider Subaru."

He added that the company is spending little money on incentives – an average of approximately $1,000 / vehicle. Doll believes that the reason why the sales went up again is due to the rising awareness of the brand, thanks to the "Love" marketing campaign as well as for the various awards the models received for high retail and residual value. ALG – Automotive Lease Guide (formerly known as), estimates that the Subaru cars and trucks of next year will retain 53.2% of their value after three years, which is the highest score of any brand in North America. According to Kelley Blue Book, the Subaru cars will hold 39% of their value after 5 five years, which is the highest score for any automaker with at least four models.

2011 Subaru Impreza STI

As far as the number of sales for the Impreza model, which is Subaru's smallest car, the numbers went up by 33%. The current model will be replaced in 2012. Doll stated that the car is "living off traffic being generated by the other car lines." He also strongly believes that the sales this year can exceed 250,000 units, thanks to the fact that the December sales will most likely go up because of the "Share the Love" event which is organized every year. Instead of paying their customers incentives, the automaker will give $250 for every new car sold to one of five charities, including here the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Habitat for Humanity charity. Doll stated that the company will donate $5 million to the five charity groups.

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Subaru U.S. Posts Record Sales

Martin Motors Bubble

The 2010 edition of the Bologna Auto Show will be the host of world debuts for new models from Ferrari, Opel/Vauxhall, Chery Automobile and Great Wall Motor.

As far as Ferrari is concerned, the Italians will officially launch the 458 Challenge, which is the track-only configuration of its beautiful V8 coupe. Opel will bring the facelift of the subcompact hatchback model Corsa and the medium SUV model Antara.

The French automaker Peugeot will bring to Bologna the EX-1 sports car concept that features a powerful 340 hp engine, 4WD, and is an electric roadster that has already broken six world records for vehicle acceleration of an electric automobile.

DR Automobili is an Italian company that is rebadging versions of cars that are manufactured by Chery Automobile in China, and will preview the D3 hatchback compact as well as an electric version of the D1 minicar. The company sold from the start of the year until October 3,649 cars in Italy, which is 94% more in comparison to 2009, according to the data provided by the Italian Transport Ministry.

Great Wall is another Chinese automaker that will bring new models at the Bologna Auto Show. They will present the Steed 5 large pickup, the Voleex subcompact hatchback and a concept for a city car, dubbed Kulla.

Martin Motors will launch the Bubble minicar, which is a Smart ForTwo clone, manufactured in China. Three years ago at the Bologna Auto Show, Daimler AG, the company that owns the rights for Smart cars, took legal actions in order to prevent Martin Motors from launching the Bubble minicar due to its many similarities with the ForTwo model manufactured by Smart. After a rough legal battle, Daimler AG lost which means that Martin Motors is entitled to unveil the Bubble.

The Bubble has a length of 3, 3 m and is a four-seat automobile, manufactured by Shuanghuan, also a Chinese carmaker. The Smart ForTwo clone will have a base sales price of $15,000 (11,400 euros) in Italy. For this money, you get alloy wheels, power windows and air conditioning.

Great Wall Voleex

The Bologna Auto Show will open its doors Saturday and will last until the 12^th of the month. Visitors of the show will have the opportunity to road test various electric vehicles from famous automakers like Smart, Renault, Peugeot, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Citroen. The visitors will be able to drive them on an indoor urban circuit that has a size similar to a soccer field.

The show is coming back strongly after 2009, when due to the global financial crisis, many carmakers (including the local Fiat), changed their minds about participating to the event. Last year the show was 4 days shorter and featured only car and motorcycle races, gathering only 460,000 visitors in comparison to 2008 when the number of visitors was 970,000.

According to the managing director of the show organizer GL Events Italia, Giada Michetti – "This year’s show returns to its traditional nine-day calendar and goes on despite the economy not being completely out from the crisis yet. We hope attendance is close to the level seen in 2008."

Unfortunately this year, the most important Asian brands like Lexus, Honda, Subaru, Mazda, Daihatsu and Suzuki plus GM's Chevrolet will be missing from the auto show. European brands like Saab, Jaguar and Lamborghini will be also skipping the show.

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Bologna Auto Show Preview

2012 Audi A6

The sixth-generation of the Audi A6 was revealed yesterday although the public debut of the model will be in January at the Detroit Auto Show. The sales of the new model will start in the second part of 2012 and is considered as the sister car of bigger A7, both of them sharing engines, platforms, high-quality interior appointments, FWD and 4WD combinations as well as electric architectures.

Comparing it with its now 6-year old predecessor, the 2012 A6 now has a more edgy and crisper exterior look. However, the car is still an Audi with its angular headlamps, stylized horizontal taillights, six-corner single frame, prominent shoulder line underneath the side windows and a heavily curved roofline. The new model is now wider and shorter when put side by side with the 5^th generation of the A6. The car is also a little bit lower and sits on a more generous chassis. The wheelbase of the sixth generation has been extended and the front track is also bigger. Although the frontal area of the car is now bigger, the drag coefficient is better, dropping from 0.29 to 0.26.

Unlike the flagship A8 that sports an aluminum-spaceframe build process, the 2012 A6 has a regular unitary steel platform, but in comparison to its predecessor, there is a bigger percent of high-strength steel which adds stiffness and reduces the weight at the same time. The car has now more aluminum parts; the material was used for the doors, bulkhead, trunk lid, front fenders and for the hood. By doing so, the German engineers managed to reduce the weight of the car to 3,472 pounds, which is 176 pounds less than the predecessor.

The 2012 A6 will be Audi's second model that will be available with a hybrid drive, the same gasoline-electric system that is being used on the Q5 hybrid SUV. The car will have a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder power unit, capable of developing 211 hp. This conventional engine will work in combination with a 45-hp electric motor that will draw its battery from the 1.3-kW lithium-ion battery that is mounted within the floor of the trunk.

Conceived as a full hybrid vehicle, the A6 can offer a 100% true electric drive at speeds of max 62 mph. When the driver is traveling at a speed of approximately 37 mph, the car is claimed to provide zero-emission range of 1.9 miles. The hybrid will be able to sprint to 100 km/h in 7.3 seconds and reach a maximum speed of 148 mph. The combined city/highway fuel consumption is about 37.9 mpg.

Besides the modern gasoline-electric hybrid drive that will be available on the 2012 Audi A6, customers can also choose from the regular gasoline and diesel engines, which will all feature the stop/start technology, thermal management systems and brake-energy recuperation. Buyers of the A6 will have to choose from one of the following available transmissions, depending on their choice for the engine: regular 6-speed manual, a more modern continuously variable Multitronic and a sportier 7-speed dual-clutch S-Tronic gearbox.

When the model will be launched, it will be available with a choice of 5 engines, the most efficient one will be the 2.0 TDI that will do 48 mpg (4.9 liters / 100 km) and will have 129 g/km CO2 emissions. It will produce 177 PS (130 kW) and a torque of 280 lb-ft. These figures will allow the A6 to reach 100 km/h in 8.7 seconds and have a top speed of 142 mph (228 km/h).

A more powerful diesel engine will be the V6 3.0 TDI that will produce 204 PS (15 kW) and a 400 Nm torque. It will allow the car to do the 100 km/h sprint  in 7.2 seconds and a maximum speed of 149 mph (240 km/h). The fuel average consumption for this engine will be 5.2 liters / 100 km and the CO2 emissions will be of about 137 g/km.

An even more powerful diesel engine will be another 3.0 TDI that will this time output 245 PS (180 kW) and a massive torque of 369 lb-ft (500 Nm). It will take 6.1 seconds to do 0-100 km/h and the maximum speed will be limited at 155 mph (250 km/h). The average fuel consumption levels will situate at 6.0 liters / 100 km and the CO2 emissions will be about 158 g/km.

2012 Audi A6

The most "peaceful" gasoline engine will be the naturally-aspired V6 2.8 FSI that will produce 204 PS (150 kW) and a 207 lb-ft (80 Nm) torque. Linked to a multitronic transmission, it will need 7.7 seconds to reach 100 km/h and will have a top speed of 149 mph (240 km/h).

The flagship A6 model (until the S6 is launched), will be the powerful 3.0 TFSI V6 direct-injection engine that will be able to output 300 hp and a massive 324 lb-ft of torque. Linked to the 7-speed S-Tronic transmission, the car will be able to sprint to 100 km/h in 5.5 seconds and have maximum speed of 155 mph. It will do about 26.7 mpg using the 3.0 TFSI and the S-Tronic transmission.

The 2012 A6 is the last of the Audi mainstream cars that sports the modular longitudinal architecture underpinnings. The car now has a better weight distribution thanks to the more generous engine bay which helped the German engineers to shift the engine rearward. They also worked on the steering which is now operated by an electrohydraulic pump and uses a more direct 16.1:1 ratio.

Inside the car you will notice the fact that it resembles a lot with the A7 model, having a very similar wraparound dashboard, just about the same multifunction steering wheel. The list of resembles does not end here as the MMI, switchgear and the instrument panel were borrowed from the A7. The list of options available for the 6^th generation of the Audi A6 is quite generous: Bang & Olufsen sound system, online service that was developed with Google, head-up display and an 8" color screen just to name a few.

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2012 Audi A6 Premiere