We could have sworn the V12 Zagato production car had already made its debut, but no, we've only seen the concept plus a couple racecar prototypes that Aston raced in the Nurburgring 24 Hours. Turns out we'll get to see this top car in the Vantage series next month at the 2012 Geneva Auto Show, following its official debut this month in Kuwait. We imagine it won't have gotten any cheaper by the time it arrives in Switzerland, but we'll enjoy looking at it all the same. Aston will build 150, and deliveries begin this fall.
Just don't name this one Zig... OK, guys?
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Categories: Aston Martin,Geneva Motor Show,Luxury Cars,Sports Cars
At this year's Geneva Motor Show, Infiniti will be showing off an all-new range-extended sports car concept they've now named EMERG-E.
The press release is thin with information saying only, "The INFINITI EMERG-E will be the first car from the brand to have not only a range-extender drivetrain offering vivid performance with zero emissions capability but also one mounted in a mid-ship package for optimal handling."
The market for a mid-engined range-extended Infiniti seems small to me. I could be wrong, but let's just go ahead and assume that the EMERG-E will not make it out of the concept stage. We'll bring you more next month from Geneva.
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Categories: Geneva Motor Show,Hybrids,Infiniti,Sports Cars
The Fiat 500 was, in bluntest terms, a sales flop in the US. They estimated that 50,000 of them would fly off of dealer lots when in reality only something like 20,000 did.
To solve the problem of America they've taken the easy route and simply made the car BIGGER. Despite more doors, the 500L is less than 3-inches longer than the normal 500 at 13.6 feet. Width is 5.8 feet and the 500L stands 5.4 feet tall. The 500L (guess what L stands for) is a B-segment car with the "feel of a small SUV." Just what we've always wanted? Let's hope Fiat gets some more power out of the 1.4-liter Multiair; 101 hp barely cuts it in the 500.
The 500L makes its debut at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show and will go on sale in the US in 2013. It will be built in Kragujevac, Serbia.
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Categories: Fiat,Geneva Motor Show,Hatchbacks
"The B-Max combines an exciting, innovative design with features that only previously have been found in bigger cars. It's a brand-new car that responds to the needs of an increasing number of customers who want much more from their small cars." Ford of Europe CEO Stephen Odell forgot to add "except Americans" to this statement about the new B-Max as it is extremely unlikely that this new MPV will ever make it to our shores. Ford also didn't come through with specific details on what these features that meet our needs will be.
The new big hatchback sports a cool, pillarless design with a trapezoidal face and will offer best-in-class cargo space. The B-Max will be powered by Ford's new 1.0-liter Ecoboost engine for the gas version and a diesel will be available.
More will become clear at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show when this car gets its official debut.
Categories: Ford,Geneva Motor Show,Hatchbacks
Not that we're not excited about the upcoming Chicago Auto Show, but at this time of the year, our eyes are firmly locked on the spectacle that is the Geneva Motor Show.
One of the cars being shown at Geneva is the next-generation Mercedes-Benz A Class and this teaser video gives us our first look at the new five-door. Last year Mercedes-Benz showed off the A-Class concept at both the New York and Shanghai Auto Shows and now we're seeing how that shape translates into a real car.
For the American market (sometime in 2013), expect to see a turbocharged 1.8-liter four-cylinder and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic driving the front wheels.
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Categories: Geneva Motor Show,Hatchbacks,Mercedes-Benz
In March, Mitsubishi is set to do something they've never done before: Debut a new car in Europe. That's right, at this year's Geneva Motor Show, Mitsubishi will not just be in attendance hoping to catch a glimpse of Lapo Elkann patroling the uber-stylish show, they will be showing off the all new...well, whatever this concept turns out to be.
And whatever it turns out to be will be the first car in Mitsubishi's "Jump 2013" business plan for a "greener and more global Mitsubishi." This includes i-MiEV, 4N1 Clean diesels, Green Plastics and a PHEV.
Not that we can tell any of that from this teaser. What we do know is that it features Mitsu's re-focused design language and is "envisaged as an open design concept, meant to be flexible enough to suit specific vehicle requirements whilst staging Mitsubishi's famous Three Diamond logo accordingly."
It sort of looks like a more masculine Forte which isn't a bad thing. We'll know more in Geneva.
Categories: Concept Vehicles,Geneva Motor Show,Mitsubishi
If we're to believe Fiat head Olivier Francois, the Fiat 500 looks to be following in the footsteps of the Mini Cooper and adding a larger version for the U.S. market.
Sales of the 500 have been disappointing in part due to a limited roll-out and in part due to what Olivier Francois says was the misrepresentation of the 500 as a "click car." "There is now no excuse, the brand's brief was wrong, and all the responsibility lies here...Soon we will have the sporty masculine version that we missed because we tucked into the feminine DNA of the 500."
Also helping to bolster US sales will be a five-door model "related" to the 500 that will debut at the Geneva Motor Show this March. The new model will go on sale in the U.S. next year.
Fiat sold fewer than 20,000 500s in 2011. Marchionne previously had predicted that it would sell 50,000 units. "We thought we were going to show up and just because of the fact people like gelato and pasta, people will buy it. This is nonsense." said Marchionne told reporters on Jan 11th.
Simply making it bigger seems like the same way of thinking, doesn't it?
Categories: Fiat,Geneva Motor Show,Hatchbacks
Although our spy photographers have caught Jaguar engineers testing the production version of the company's new sports car several times, Jag will not admit that the C-X16 two-seater is a go. Instead Jag will drag the concept version of the Cayman fighter to more auto shows, including Los Angeles in November, to "gauge reaction."
But...
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Categories: Concept Vehicles,Coupes,Frankfurt Auto Show,Future Vehicles,Geneva Motor Show,Hybrids,Jaguar,Luxury Cars,Sports Cars,Spy Photos
"Sebastian Vettel to Unveil his Perfect Infiniti" reads the title of the press release. And then there's a picture of an FX on big wheels with a body kit, rear wing and some LEDs. Expect to see carbon fiber trim on the dash, paddle shifters and maybe the pedals, too.
In case you were wondering, yes, Sebastian Vettel is 24.
We'll get to see the real thing in Frankfurt in just a few weeks.
Categories: Geneva Motor Show,Infiniti,SUVs
With apologies to Metallica, in what the two Swedish companies are calling "the fastest combination of commercial car and roof box on the market," rather the Thule Lightning rides the Koenigsegg Agera R. Part of an option package, the 100-percent carbon-fiber Thule Lightning box is integrated into the Agera R's special-order winter roof, which replaces the removable regular roof that can be stored in the front boot.
If you need to get to the slopes really fast, together the two can hit 186.5 mph and go from 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds. Plus, Koenigsegg will throw in a pair of personally customized skis designed and produced by the Swedish company Extrem. And the package also includes Michelin snow tires and a trip to the Sweden's Copperhill Mountain Lodge to try a few turns in the car on the road up and on the skis once on the hill.
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Categories: Concept Vehicles,Geneva Motor Show
One of Sergio Marchionne's short-term goals is to boost sales of Alfa Romeo to 500,000 units by 2014. That's no small task as in 2010, Alfa's sales rose to 112,000. Part of Marchionne's plan is to bring Alfa back to the States to be sold in Fiat stores -- most of which will be open this fall.
And now we have Alfa Romeo CEO Harald Wester confirming that the 4C -- the concept we first saw at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show -- will be sold in the US. Production of the 4C begins in 2012, the same year that Alfa is set to return to the US.
As a reminder, the 4C is to be priced between $55 - and $62K, weigh in the 1,800-lb range, have a twin-clutch transmission, 200 horsepower and a carbon-fiber chassis.
( Automotive News )
Categories: Alfa Romeo,Auto Industry,Geneva Motor Show
If you've been following our coverage of the 2011 Geneva Auto Show and can't get enough of exotic cars, the new Car Wallpapers HD app lets you carry automotive eye candy around on your iPhone. The free app is heavy on European luxury and exotics, with a few American muscle cars thrown in for good measure, and lets you choose a cool-car iPhone wallpaper by favorite makes and other categories.
And if your rockin' the iPhone 4, the app is optimized for the the device's Retina Display technology for crisp, clear pics of gorgeous cars.
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Categories: Car Tech,Geneva Motor Show
It was all about the exotics at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show. With high-profile unveils from Lamborghini and Ferrari, the show floor was, automotively speaking, one of the sexiest places on the planet. You had to feel sorry those poor car-show models, who looked plain as concrete in comparison with all the mouthwatering sheet metal on display -- better luck next year, ladies.
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Categories: Alfa Romeo,Aston Martin,Ferrari,Geneva Motor Show,Jaguar,Lamborghini
The Geneva Auto Show is known for two things: A truly spectacular selection of automobiles, and a truly spectacular selection (and quantity) of young women being paid to stand next to said automobiles. And these aren't just random girls near cars. No, Geneva is a fashionable show and these women are dressed, primped, preened and arranged like it was a fashion show. After all, Lapo Elkann, personally selects the representatives for the Fiat group.
You asked for it so here they are... The Product Specialists of the 2011 Geneva Auto Show.
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Categories: Geneva Motor Show,Miscellaneous
This week here at Inside Line, we were primarily occupied with the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, but besides that, we drove the 2012 Porsche Cayman R, Dyno and Track Tested the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca, introduced our Long Term Honda Odyssey Touring and we ran a gallery of the best Liquid-Cooled Porsche 911s.
Next week? Another Long Term Introduction.
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Categories: Ford,Geneva Motor Show,Honda,Porsche
Didn't get enough of the Ferrari FF from our Geneva coverage? Here's a video, hosted by our own Alistair Weaver, with more...
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Categories: Ferrari,Geneva Motor Show
The Volkswagen Bulli Minibus was one of the favorites of the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. With its fairly simple, classic VW van styling and sleek interior, the Bulli is one of those few concepts that's only a few tweaks away from production.
To see more on the little bus, watch our video after the jump.
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Categories: Geneva Motor Show,Minivans,Volkswagen
Riswick: "How was the Geneva Auto Show? What was the highlight?"
Magrath: "It was good. Highlight? Did you know Skoda got a new logo!"
Riswick: "Show me!"
Magrath: "OK!"
Riswick: "That's the same."
Niebuhr: "No it isn't, they took the rounded Hamburger-Helper fingers off."
Magrath and Riswick: LoL
More Skodas after the jump....
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Categories: Geneva Motor Show
By now we know pretty much all we'll know on the Alfa 4C. We know that the 4C's designer, Lorenzo Ramaciotti (now Fiat's design head), designed the Ethos for Pininfarina in the early 90s and that that car inspired the Lotus Elise. We know it's got a carbon-fiber tub*, weighs some 1,875 lbs, has a 1,775cc direct-injection motor producing "over 200 horsepower," a twin-clutch transmission and could cost as little as $55 - $62,000.
*More on this: The chassis developed with Italian racecar builder, Dallara Automobili. The structure is related to the KTM X-Bow, but has a different structure which includes the addition of doors and a roof.
So we know all of that. Here's a gallery from the show floor.
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Categories: Alfa Romeo,Concept Vehicles,Coupes,Geneva Motor Show
Fiat surprised the show floor when it took the wraps off of its 500 Coupe by Zagato at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show. The "just a prototype" features 17-inch chrome shadow wheels, burnished chrome trim, and Zagato signature double-bubble roof and special side glass.
The prototype is aimed at young, dynamic males, but the "Pop yellow" is aimed to lure in the ladies, too. Power comes by way of a 105-horsepower TwinAir I4.
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Categories: Coupes,Fiat,Geneva Motor Show,Tuners and Modifications
