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This could be a car interior designed by a group of rogue Apple engineers, trying to woo their way back into Steve Jobs' heart--or it could be the cockpit of the 2011
Chevrolet Volt.
The stray image, with no details or claims to its veracity, is posted on the forums over at
MotiveMag, where the lads in charge offer no explanation of it either. Based on conversations with GM's designers, we're thinking the possibility is there --
Cadillac designer Clay Dean told us how GM's been working on the integration of touch-style controls into its cars, and pointed to the flip-up screen in the new
Cadillac CTS as a source of particular pride.
The 2011
Chevrolet Volt will be seen out in public soon enough--there's word the company will show the production version at its centennial celebration on September 16th, in advance of the
Paris auto show. Stay tuned here for more Volt details as they surface.
Posted in : 2011, Chevrolet, GM, Hybrid Cars
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General Motors will be spending $500 million in the U.S. alone to launch its new 2011
Chevrolet Cruze, the company said today.
Most of the dollars involved will go to retooling the Lordstown, Ohio, plant where the Cruze will be built, once the current Cobalt lineup is evicted. That's not expected to happen until after the 2010 model year, since the Cobalt is enjoying a surge in popularity as gas prices remain high.
Fuel economy will be a hallmark of the new car. While today's
Chevrolet Cobalt XFE gets upward of 37 miles per gallon, GM's Bob Lutz says the new Cruze could top 40 mpg with a high-economy turbocharged 1.4-liter engine.
GM showed off the Cruze yesterday in high-resolution photos and also showed a mockup of the real car at the announcement of the plant investment. The rest of the world has to wait for the
Paris auto show in October to get a look at the Cruze compact.
Europe gets the Cruze next year; we'll have more from the
Paris auto show.
Posted in : 2011, Chevrolet, GM, Manufacturing
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Due for a
Paris auto show launch this October, the 2011
Chevrolet Cruze is here now--at least in visual form.
These are the first photos of the Cruze, which GM is calling a "four-door coupe," which should have Benz and VW patent lawyers counting billable hours. The Cruze has a dramatic new profile, compared to the Cobalt it will replace, with a much airier greenhouse and a more interesting, angular front end. It's all part of a new global design language for the
Chevrolet brand, GM adds. Inside, the Cruze uses a twin-cockpit theme and higher-grade materials--but we'll have to wait and see at Paris to confirm.
In Europe, engines will include a 112-horsepower, 1.6-liter four and a 140-hp 1.8-liter four, as well as a 150-hp turbodiesel 2.0-liter four. Five-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmissions will be the norm.
Sales start over there in March 2009; the U.S. Cruze is due as a 2011 model as
Chevrolet sees its Cobalt getting a second wind in sales.
Posted in : 2011, Chevrolet
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Toyota,
Honda, GM, and
Ford are some of the world's biggest car companies--and
Hyundai wants to be in their clique. So while all those brands offer a range of
hybrid vehicles, so too will
Hyundai, starting with a gas-electric version of the Sonata sedan.
Automotive News reports that Hyundai's American product chief John Krafcik confirms the Korean automaker is working on a
hybrid powertrain for its mid-size sedan. He tells the News that the
hybrid will feature a lithium-ion battery--the advanced kind being developed by
Toyota, GM, and others--and that a prototype will be shown this fall.
The
hybrid Sonata likely will be modeled after the next-generation Sonata; the current sedan bowed in 2006. The new
hybrid is expected as a 2011 model. And while it will offer battery-augmented power, it won't be a plug-in, Hyundai's Krafcik adds.
Posted in : 2011, Hybrid Cars, Hyundai
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Ford's popular SYNC system has boosted sales across its lineup. And though Ford's exclusive on the system is set to expire soon--Hyundai is rumored to get a similar setup in 2010--the automaker's keeping it at the center of its in-car communications package, right down to the tiny
Fiesta subcompacts coming for the 2011 model year.
At a
Lincoln backgrounder during the Pebble Beach Concours weekend,
Ford president of the Americas Mark Field said the SYNC system would indeed be available in the
Fiesta from launch.
Earlier this month, I sat in the new
Fiesta at the London
auto show and had doubts as to where the existing SYNC would fit, but a ride this week in the
2009 Ford Escape shows the way--instead of using a touchscreen interface like that on upscale
Ford models, the
Fiesta likely will use a set of buttons and a slim readout screen like the one on the new Escape.
Fitting SYNC in the
Fiesta is just one of the tasks ahead for
Ford. Last week, the company said it was putting 40 engineers on a
new tech team devoted to in-car connectivity, and prior to that, the company committed to making the
Fiesta and
2011 Ford Focus the
highest-quality cars in their segments.
To be built in Mexico, the new
Ford Fiesta arrives in both four- and five-door versions in early 2010. Stay tuned as we bring you more as the model rollout continues.
Posted in : 2011, Ford, Technology
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