Archive for the ‘Europe’ Category

The good news for Saab keeps on rolling: last month, we mentioned that the company's sale to Koenigsegg was looking like a done deal (thanks to a €400 million loan from the European Investment Bank), and now comes word that Saab is developing a new, small concept vehicle to presage the company's future lineup.

The concept vehicle is set to debut within the next 12 months. Saab's Director of Global Operations, Knut Simonsson, says, "It's going to be very important and will indicate what the Saab message is going to be." In short, it will "define the new Saab".

Although Simonsson declined to elaborate on the vehicle's particulars, he did say...

Tomorrow marks the big unveiling of Chrysler's five-year recovery plan. There's been a lot of speculation about the company's new strategy, and now comes a bit more: sources familiar with the recovery document say that CEO Sergio Marchionne will scrap plans to sell most Chrysler brands outside North America. The sole exception? Jeep, which will instead receive a boost to its international marketing budget, especially in emerging markets like Brazil. Chrysler vehicles will appear on distant shores, but only as part of the shared technology underpinning other brands like Lancia and Alfa Romeo. Stay tuned for full, factual details tomorrow. [...

Is it 1973 all over again? Volkswagen is amping up for a fuel-economy battle with Honda and Ford, right here in America, with a new hatchback. Only this time, some of the names have changed, and so have the rules. Come 2011 or so, it's the VW Polo readying for a fight with the Honda Fit and Ford Fiesta. The fuel economy sea-changes and financial crises? Those things are reassuringly chillingly familiar.

Now, the Polo you see here--the one we drove in Germany recently--isn't the car you'll see in the U.S. in about two years' time. This Polo's a mid-lifecycle freshening of the current car, with the added spin of a three-door hatchback joining...