Section: Economy Cars
Written By: Seyth Miersma
May 14th, 2008 4:00 PM
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Ford has announced that it will be sponsoring an interesting new design contest which will challenge students to envision a 21st Century version of the fabled Model T.
Not quite as simple as slapping a blue oval and a T on any old thing, the automaker is specifying quite a few challenging specifications for the new peoples car. The T must have a target base price of only $7,000, a range of at least 125 miles, offer seating for a minimum of two people, and be of a concept that offers “solutions that address assembly, powertrain and sustainability.”
Ford has presented the Model T challenge to students at five universities worldwide including the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Lawrence Technological University, and the University of Michigan-Dearborn here in the U.S. Sadly the company hasn’t said anything about actually building a modern T, though perhaps if the winning design is really good…
+ Edmunds Inside Line: A 21st-Century Model T? Ford Kicks off Design Competition
Written By: David Yang
May 14th, 2008 8:00 AM
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Though Chery’s fleet at the Beijing Auto Show may not have garnered as much praise as Geely’s did, the Anhui-based carmaker is no doubt one of the toughest players in the compact cars department for the Chinese market. At the end of this year, Chery will roll out its first two-door compact into the market, the QQ5, which bowed at the Shanghai show in 2007.
The oddly styled compact model will be powered by Chery’s SQR473F engine, a 1.3-liter DOHC four, which is expected to be attached to an automatic manual transmission. The powerplant can generate a maximum output of 84 horsepower, giving the QQ5 a top speed of 103.8 mph. The new compact will likely be priced around 26,800 RMB (roughly $ 3,835 USD).
Aside from the new QQ, Chery will possibly launch its A3, in both sedan and hatchback form, on to the market before June.
Written By: Seyth Miersma
May 13th, 2008 10:00 AM
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Ford has released images of its new 2009 Focus coupe along with an announcement that it plans to show off the car to the wider American public during tomorrow’s episode of the hugely popular American Idol. The Ford brass should cross its fingers that Paula doesn’t accidentally call it a Chevy.
The new coupe version of the surprisingly popular Focus offers most prominently a restyle, inspired in part by Ford customer feedback. Thankfully the ungainly chrome fender vents from the standard Focus have been eighty-sixed, with the coupe offering a less cluttered, if slightly slab-sided profile. There’s also a new front fascia, a pair of fog lamps, and a set of really nice 17-inch “Dark Chrome” wheels.
Under the hood the Focus coupe will offer drivers a bit more power thanks to a sport-tuned exhaust. That boost with a new final drive ratio (in the SES automatic) will make the coupe faster to 60 mph from a standstill, while still being rated for 35 miles per gallon. Have a look at the new car in our gallery below or click through the jump to read the Ford press release.
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Written By: Seyth Miersma
May 12th, 2008 2:30 PM
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With the small car market in the U.S. as hot as it’s ever been, Kia Motors seems to be making a solid move by announcing it will bring its new compact Soul to the U.S.
An unidentified source within Kia has said that the company will begin exports of the Soul to both the U.S. and China by March, though Korean analysts have said they expect the car to hit American shores in the early part of 2009.
First shown as a concept at the Detroit Auto Show in 2006, the Soul is a five-seat small car built to take on the likes of the Honda Fit and the Toyota’s Scion products. The car appeared again in Geneva in a trim closer to production and sporting a new-look “tiger nose” grille.
+ Automotive News: Kia to bring small car to U.S. (subscription required)
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Written By: Seyth Miersma
April 28th, 2008 4:00 PM
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In the April 16th issue of its print magazine, Autocar is reporting that Toyota is looking keenly at India as a location for small car manufacturing.
Referring to “Toyota’s budget small car, which has been under development for at least two years,” quite possibly meaning the iQ shown in Geneva, Autocar envisions India as the likely building place. Toyota senior managing director, Akira Okabe, has reportedly been visiting Indian manufacturers that could serve as future suppliers for the car.
If the iQ (or another small car model?) is indeed chosen for Indian production, it would seem likely that the car would be launched on the subcontinent as well.
+ Autocar
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Written By: Seyth Miersma
April 23rd, 2008 8:00 AM
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Members within the Volkswagen group seem to be getting pretty excited about the possibilities for the rear-engined Up! city car, but none more than Czech subsidiary Skoda.
The VW faction is wrangling to get a brand new factory within the Czech Republic that would be able to pump out up to a quarter of a million cars per year. British weekly Autocar is also reporting in its April 9 issue that VW is considering a low-cost version of the Up!, seemingly tailor-made for markets like Eastern Europe, which could push production at the theoretical Skoda factory to 500,000 units per year.
Refresh your knowledge of the VW Space Up! concept in our gallery below.
+ Autocar
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Written By: Seyth Miersma
April 22nd, 2008 8:00 AM
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Ford has unveiled the Chinese version of the Fiesta hatchback in Beijing, a five-door hatch trimmed out for Auto China as the Fiesta S.
While the Chinese version of the car seems to be largely the same as the European Fiesta that was shown this year in Geneva, the car’s S trim package offers a funkier body kit which could hint at performance variants of the Fiesta yet to come. The more aggressive front air dam and five-door layout certainly seem to work well on the car’s architecture though, and make us wonder how well the Fiesta five would do stateside, competing against cars like Honda’s Fit.
Take a look at the five-door Fiesta S in our gallery below or click through the jump to read Ford’s press release.
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Written By: David Yang
April 19th, 2008 8:00 AM
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China’s Lifan will debut its new 320 minicar tomorrow at the Beijing Auto Show. As the first minicar the company produced, we can see from the pictures that the Chongqing-based carmaker went a bit overboard with the “Mini” vibe.
The front drive Mini-copy has a five-speed manual transmission only and is powered by a 1.3-liter four. Lifan’s own LF479Q3 engine kicks out a topspeed of 96 mph. The car is expected to have a 1.1-liter version available later and will roll out to the Chinese market this August. The hatchback model will be priced under RMB 50,000 (roughly $7,149), aiming to compete with the Chery QQ2 and the Geely Panda.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Written By: David Yang
April 15th, 2008 3:00 PM
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Chrysler LLC penned a deal last July with Chery, the largest independent automaker in China, in a production venture that will see Chrysler sell Chery cars to the U.S. Under the contract, Chery will export its A1 model under Chrysler Group’s Dodge brand.
During a recent interview, Chery’s chief executive and chairman, Yin Tongyao, said that the Chery A1, a 1.3-liter compact hatch, has almost completed its road and crash testing overseas. The compact A3 sedan will then follow into the American market.
(Click through the jump to read more or on the thumbnails below to check out the Chery A1.)
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Written By: Seyth Miersma
April 15th, 2008 9:00 AM
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Chrysler and Nissan have announced a product-sharing deal that would ostensibly help to bolster each automaker where it is weakest in its North American product range.
Chrysler will be getting a Nissan Versa-based small car, built to Chrysler’s design in Nissan’s Japanese factory, and aimed at competing in North America, Europe, and other global markets. In return Chrysler will begin to build pickup trucks for the Japanese partner, allowing Nissan to discontinue its Titan full-size truck. The Chrysler compact cars will likely be available around 2010, while the Nissan-badged trucks will start to arrive in 2011.
The deal follows an announcement last January that Chrysler would get a Versa-based car to sell in South America. Chrysler co-President Tom LaSorda called the product-sharing arrangement, “critical to the long-term success of Chrysler.” Both companies said in a statement that a dialogue will be kept open for future product-sharing opportunities as well.
+ Automotive News: Nissan, Chrysler strike deal for truck, car (subscription required)
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
Written By: David Yang
April 2nd, 2008 3:00 PM
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The sedan version of Mazda2, called Jingxiang Chinese, made its world debut at last year’s Guangzhou Auto Show. The car is scheduled to start Chinese sales on April 2 with prices ranging from RMB 86,800 to 115,800 (roughly $12,400 - $16,500).
The Mazda2 is the first B-segment car released by the company into the Chinese market. The 4-door sedan version will then be launched next, joining its 5-door hatchback sibling. Traditionally, many Chinese customers have a special liking for sedan models, which are considered more roomy, and stylish.
The front-wheel drive sedan has two standard burners available: a DOHC 1.3-liter 4-cylinder and a DOHC 1.5-liter version. The 1.3-liter engine has a maximum output of 86 horsepower, while the 1.5-liter engine reaches a max output of 104 horsepower.
If you’ve got an idea for Question of the Day, a funny photo for Caption It, or just want to share a news tip, let us know at windingroadtips@gmail.com
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