Author: EuroCarBlog.com

Skoda is working on a minivan based on the Volkswagen Touran and that would debut in 2013. The MPV model fills a gap in the Skoda line-up and would be priced below the Touran. It’s part of a move that sees Skoda return to making more pared-back and economic models, of which we will also see a low-cost sedan that would compete with the Dacia Logan.

The future Skoda MPV will hit a competitive segment and should prove a tough adversary to models such as the Renault Scenic and Ford C-Max. It will also be able to avail itself of the latest fuel and diesel engines of the VAG group, making it a strong offering. The recent restyling of the Fabia and Octavia, with larger headlights and front grille, should also make an appearance on the Skoda MPV.

Source | Automobile-Magazine.fr

Here is the first rendering of the Volkswagen Rocktan: a brand new crossover in the works that could be based on the Suzuki SX4. The Rocktan will be the first Volkswagen-Suzuki joint project where Volkswagen will take up where Fiat left off with the Sedici – twin to the current SX4.

The Rocktan will be a city SUV and will sit between the CrossPolo and the Tiguan in the Volkswagen range. The model should replace the CrossGolf, which was developed on the base of the Golf Plus, and should compete with Japanese rivals, the Toyota Urban Cruiser and the Nissan Juke. It will also most likely be a low-cost model, with a price somewhere below the 20,000-euro mark.

The Rocktan engine range will have the 1.4-litre TSI fuel engine, and most probably the 1.6 and 2.0 TDI units. Currently, no news is available as to when the Rocktan might be presented, especially as no official green light for production has yet been given. If that does occur, however, the vehicle will be produced at Hungarian facilities in Esztergom.

Source | AutoInternationaal

The Porsche 911 GT2 RS now has its own mini-site and car configurator. The top range Porsche is equipped with a 3.6-litre turbo, six cylinder unit and has 620 hp. It already has the Nurburgring record of 7.18 minutes for Porsche which is 14 seconds faster than the Carrera GT. Overall, the 911 GT2 RS weighs 1,370 kg and can accelerate to 100 km/hr in 3.5 seconds. It has a top speed of 330 km/hr and a weight-power ratio of 2.21 kg/hp.

It’s a pretty machine with a pretty price tag, too. The Porsche 911 GT2 RS will go on sale in Germany in September and will cost 237,578 euros. Only 500 units will be made and it’s not just the performance stats that make this a special car. The 911 GT2 RS will have PASM (Porsche Adaptive Suspension Management), PSM (Porsche Stability Management) and carbon fibre features inside and out. Check it out in all the pics and the two videos below – the second one is well worth the watching.

At the 2010 Worthersee event Volkswagen presented two new special version Golf GTI models: the Adidas and the Excessive. The Golf GTI Excessive, seen in these live pics, will be strictly a show-car model and features a new Firespark Metallic paint and BBS CH Black Edition 19-inch wheels. Other internal sports features on the Excessive model include brushed aluminium finish, sports seats and twin colour red and black upholstery.

The Golf GTI Adidas will be on sale in June and as its name suggests, features styling from the international Adidas sports brand. It has Serron 18-inch wheels, sports seats, bi-xeno lights and rear LED lights. The Adidas model is expected to be as successful as the 1983 and 2007 Pirelli GTI models, and the 2006 Edition 30 GTI.

The Worthersee event, which dates back to 1982, celebrated the Golf GTI model which is enjoying a long and successful career. The first Golf GTI to be built was in 1976 and since then, 1.7 million models have been sold throughout the world.

Excessive pics from TopSpeed

This funny car video comes from the Netherlands and shows a Dodge-branded Fiat 500. The Fiat 500 is the first Fiat model to reach US shores, with plans for a December debut of the small retro model. The marriage between Fiat and Chrysler is well underway with design work already near complete on a series of Fiat-based Chrysler models.

The models were originally expected to be presented in 2012, but CEO Sergio Marchionne has said that some presentations could take place in the fourth quarter of 2011. An overhaul of the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger models will also take place by the end of this year.

Source | Autoblog.it and Autocar

The PSA group will produce a Citroen Peugeot SUV based on the Mitsubishi ASX. The announcement comes after an agreement between the two companies which confirms rumours of recent months. The move will allow Citroen and Peugeot to offer a mid-size SUV in addition to the current C-Crossover and 4007 models, which are based on the Mitsubishi Outlander. Peugeot could call its model the 2008.

The new PSA SUV will be presented in Europe in 2012 and sales of about 50,000 models a year are expected. According to the group, the compact SUV market could grow about 60 percent by 2015. Plans are that the model will have either front wheel or all-wheel drive and will use the 1.6-litre HDI engine. In a two-wheel drive version, fuel consumption would be about 4.7 l/100 km with CO2 emissions of 123 g/km.

The Audi vs BMW challenge is getting serious with this funny picture of the Hong Kong Audi dealership adorned with an enormous BMW billboard above it. It seems that when the going gets tough…. After BMW’s not very exciting EfficientDynamics video with the prococious child genius, Audi has produced a “friendly competition” video and one called “the spell”. So far we have to give Audi and BMW 1-0 for creativity in advertising. Although having nabbed that space above the Audi dealership, BMW could be a step ahead in guerilla tactics. See the videos after the jump.

This Opel Corsa OPC in a tuned version was spotted in tests at the Nurburgring where the prototype was being driven by Volker Strycek. It has some changes compared to the OPC currently available, with larger Brembo brakes, new front spoiler, dual exhaust and new extractor. The yellow colour with black roof is a new look too, all of which could indicate a performance version of the Corsa OPC, with a 1.6-litre turbo engine and 192 hp.

Source | Autoweek.nl

The new Citroen Metropolis concept will be presented at the 2010 Shanghai motor show on May 1st. The large sedan prototype has been designed by Citroen’s Shanghai design centre, but although a luxury vehicle, it still has an ecological focus. It’s a very large sedan (over five metres long), likely to appeal to the Chinese market, but no production plan has yet been revealed.

The futuristic Metropolis concept is equipped with a hybrid plug-in system which produces just 70 g/km of CO2 emissions, according to Citroen. It’s quite a novelty for the PSA group and has an innovative system based around a 2.0-litre V6 petrol engine with 272 hp and a dual-clutch, seven-speed transmission. The electric motor has a constant power output of 55 hp, with a peak output of 95 hp.

Other features of the Citroen Metropolis include 21-inch wheels, 265/35 tyres, and a platform based on that of the Citroen C6. In overboost phase the car can rely on 460 hp and 430 Nm of torque. It has all-wheel drive but it’s not known whether it’s the same Hybrid4 system seen recently. See the video after the jump.

Here is the official gallery of the Zagato TZ3 complete with all the details of the new supercar. The result of the collaboration between Alfa Romeo and Zagato was on display at the Concorso d’Eleganza at the Villa d’Este and was commissioned by German collector, Martin Kapp. The TZ3 Corsa celebrates 90 years of Zagato and 100 years of Alfa Romeo, and has been built with a tubular structure and carbonfibre monoshell with handmade aluminium bodywork.

The Zagato TZ3 weighs just 850 kg and has a weight-power ratio of 2.02 kg/hp. It’s 4.34 metres long, 1.94 metres wide and 1.2 metres high. The TZ3 Corsa is equipped with a 4.2-litre V8 with dry carter and 420 hp and a ‘Tractive’ six-speed sequential transmission. It has an acceleration time to 100 km/hr of 3.5 seconds and a top speed of over 300 km/hr. The suspension is from Ohlins and is described as “push-road” technology.

Zagato TZ3 Corsa – Concorso d’eleganza Villa d’Este 2010

The 2010 BMW 3 Series coupé and cabriolet show some small changes to the style of the range, but this model year mostly focuses on a new engine range updated to comply with Euro 5 anti-pollution laws. The BMW 3 Series keeps its elegant (and successful) style, with a few sports features keeping it interesting enough.

There are new bi-xenon headlights with LED lights and indicators, and a few slight changes to the front of the car. The bumpers get a new design with brushed finish and the front bonnet ‘V’ is more pronounced. The rear keeps its bumper shape with a few changes, again, to the lights. The BMW M3 keeps its design with no changes to the bodywork, including only some touches to the headlights.

The 2010 BMW 3 Series engine line-up is comprised of the six-cylinder TwinPower unit with 3.0-litres, 306 hp and 400 Nm of torque. It uses the Valvetronic direct injection system with to get fuel consumption of 8.4 litres and 8.8 litres per 100 km on the coupé and cabriolet respectively, and acceleration to 100 km/hr of 5.5 and 5.8 seconds.

2010 BMW 3 Series pics

New diesel engines in the range are a 2.0 and 3.0-litre unit. The former produces 184 hp and 380 Nm of torque with 4.7 litres per 100 km of fuel consumption and a sprint time to 100 km/hr of 7.5 seconds. It has a top speed of 237 km/hr (all figures are relevant to the coupé model). The 3.0-litre diesel unit has 204 hp and 430 Nm of torque, acceleration of 6.9 seconds, 244 km/hr of top speed and fuel consumption of 5.7 litres per 100 km. These 320d and 330d models are available with a six-speed manual gearbox or automatic transmission as an option.

The rest of the engine range includes the 320i with 170 hp, 325i with 218 hp, 330i with 272 hp and hte 335d with 286 hp. All wheel drive options with BMW xDrive technology are available but only on the coupé model. The 2010 BMW 3 Series pricing starts from about 35,500 euros for the 320i, while the 320d starts at 38,850 euros. The 335i model is about 49,850 euros and the 3 Series cabrio range starts at 43,650 euros. If you want the M3 models you’re looking at 70,700 and 78,350 euros.

The new Maserati GranCabrio video is very much the ‘beautiful people’ lifestyle video with not much focus on the car itself, apart from a good look at its interior. The GranCabrio is the open top version of the Maserati GranTurismo and has the same 4.7-litre V8 engine with 440 hp. It costs about 135,000 euros and could be considered one of the sexiest cars around.

Here’s the first pic of the Zagato Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa which will be presented at the Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance (or Concorso di Eleganza). The vehicle has been designed as part of Alfa Romeo’s 100th anniversary celebrations and clearly refers to the TZ1 and TZ2 in a history of Alfa Romeo Zagato’s. Below we give you a few pics of some of the original Zagato models.

The TZ3 will be a coupé model, although details are still scarse. It should have a carbon monoshell chassis and hand-made aluminium bodywork. It has been commissioned as a one-off and should house the 4.7-litre V8 from the Alfa 8C Competizione. Technical collaboration comes from OMP and Pirelli – we’ll be looking out for more pics of this when they emerge.

Source | Autoblog.it

It’s just as well Fifth Gear is still around to give us some serious car test drives, picking up where TopGear has left off (and gotten a little crazy). Besides, we like the woman’s driving style, not that we’re biased or anything. Here Fifth Gear checks out the Porsche Boxster Spyder, describing it as a purist Porsche model where they’ve done the research on how to get it lighter.

While we question whether as a driver you’d actually notice the 0.2 seconds acceleration difference the 80 kg less makes, overall the Boxster Spyder is old-school Porsche sports driving style. It’s basically a pared-back driving machine, so if you wanted a Sunday car drive where you can sing along to the radio, this is not for you (the stereo system has been removed and is now available as an add-on).

The debate over whether you can really drive this with the roof on seems to have been resolved. We had originally suggested that the Porsche Boxster Spyder was strictly for fair weather driving, and while you can have the roof closed, the video does show how noisy and uncomfortable the ride can be at just over 60 miles an hour. If you’re a Mediterranean customer and can be guaranteed plenty of sun in your summer, the wind-in-your-hair pure sports machine could be just for you. Perhaps not recommend for Britain’s less clement weather… See the video for all the details.

The Mercedes Shooting Brake concept will go on show at the Beijing motor show and here is a full gallery of the concept and a video. We had orginally expected the shooting brake to be a coupé style concept, but in reality the car introduces the new Mercedes CLS Station Wagon. The CLS Station Wagon is a model that Mercedes has on more than one occasion announced it would plan, and we should see a production version towards the end of 2011. See the Shooting Brake video after the jump for all the details on the concept.

We’d hardly call this an Audi A1 commercial but rather a trailer for a film that features the A1 and Justin Timberlake. We’ll get the full video of “The next big thing” action movie A1 promotion on May 4th, but what’s really clear is that Audi is spending some serious marketing money on its first compact car. More will be revealed in May and while we might be a bit cynical about the celebrity-focused marketing campaign, we can’t deny the quality and fun of the video.

After seven years at the helm of Fiat, Luca di Montezemolo has decided to resign from his position as Fiat president, although he will remain as the president of Ferrari. The young John Elkann, grandson of Gianni Agnelli, will take over as Fiat president, while Montezemolo will also remain on the company’s board of directors.

The snap press conference took most by surprise, as the 2010-2014 company plan is expected to be announced tomorrow. The 34-year-old Elkann already has plenty of Fiat experience behind him, and marks a new year of the globalisation of the brand and the new Fiat-Chrysler deal. More details to emerge tomorrow.

Source | Autoblog.it

The Renault Vel Satis heir could possibly be presented at the 2010 Paris motor show in October. Likely, it will be based on the Samsung SM5 and will be called the Renault Safrane, as reports German magazine Auto Bild.

The Samsung SM5 is a classic sedan car, 490 cm long, which would be positioned above the Laguna in the Renault range. The green light has not yet been given, but if it is it would be the only French model in its segment, as the Peugeot 607 and Citroen C6 will not be substituted.

If it’s middle-aged men with grey hair who get to drive the Mercedes E63 AMG, then I want to be a middle-aged man with grey hair who can drive like this. If you thought Mercedes sedans were just for people like your dad, you might want to reconsider (the car or who you thought your father was). The Mercedes E63 AMG still has the 6.2-litre V8 AMG engine, and although the new 5.5-litre (to appear on the new Mercedes CLS) will have more horse power and plenty of torque, after seeing this video we wonder if it will give us quite the same emotion…

Forget our environmentally conscious society, it seems the world just can’t get enough of SUVs. The new low-cost Dacia Duster of the Renault group has already sold 5,000 units in just two weeks from the launch date. The Duster is definitely the poor man’s SUV as, at a starting price of nearly 12,000 euros, it has no other SUV competitors in sight of this price point.

Dacia is originally a Romanian brand, and the Duster is made in its home country, ready to produce about 150,000 units a year. The Duster SUV should also be made available in markets other than Europe, including Russia and Colombia where about 60 to 80,000 units will be dedicated.

The entry level Dacia Duster has a 16V, 1.6-litre engine that is then available in 4WD for a cost of about 2,000 euros extra. Other engine options include the 1.5 dCi available in 85 or 105 hp, and the top of the range 1.5-litre in 4WD option.