Blog on 2040Parts

Webinars: Autodesk Visualization

Autodesk's last Webinar in the recent four-part series, dubbed 'Visualization', is now available to view online for those who missed the live event. The Webinar's aim was to teach participants how its new visualization technology can enhance the design development process. It also showed how it helps to share designs with peers and looked at the different visualization technologies and where they fit into the process. Robin Oldroyd of Autodesk presented the Webinar and explained which tools are used at different stages of the design process. Oldroyd has strongly focused on Industrial design and visualization during his six-year stint at Autodesk, and has an in-depth of knowledge of solutions for creative design in Automotive, Transportation and consumer products.

GM and PSA announce four joint vehicle programs

PSA Peugeot/Citroën and General Motors have confirmed they will develop four future vehicle projects as part of their ‘Global Strategic Alliance' as both parties grapple with dwindling sales and spiraling costs in the European market. The first is a joint program for a compact-class MPV for Opel/Vauxhall and a compact-class Crossover Utility Vehicle for the Peugeot brand. The second project has been confirmed as a joint MPV program for the small car segment for Opel/Vauxhall and the Citroën brand.

Renault DCross concept

Renault has unveiled its new DCross concept at the Sao Paolo motor show. This C-segment SUV concept is based on the Dacia Duster and is aimed at the Brazilian market, having been designed at Renault Brazil's design studio in Sao Paolo. As with the other Brazil-focused concepts revealed at this year's show, the DCross features exaggerated wheel arches, a raised ride height and heavy underbody protection.

Audi R8 e-tron: Killed off before it launches?

It’s being reported that the electric Audi R8 e-tron is close to being killed off before production starts, as Audi question its viability. But it now looks like Audi has finally woken up and seen the light and they have put the R8 e-tron plans on hold indefinitely as they realise there is just no market for an electric car, never mind an electric supercar. Car and Driver are reporting that Audi’s new head of R&D - Wolfgang Dürheime – has halted all work on the R8 e-tron and it seems highly likely the project will be scrapped altogether.

Ford to shut up shop in Belgium in 2014

Ford has revealed plans to stop producing cars at its production facility in Genk, Belgium in 2014. Production will move to Spain and Germany. Finally, the inevitable is happening – Ford is moving to reduce its manufacturing capacity in Europe.

Your new Volvo will drive itself by 2014

Volvo is ready to offer an autonomous driving system in their cars by 2014 that will drive the car for you in traffic jams. Every petrolhead on the planet will throw their hands up in horror at the news that Volvo are to introduce a semi-autonomous driving system in to their cars in 2014. But they shouldn’t.

Jaguar Land Rover Virtual Showroom

Jaguar Land Rover has developed a Virtual Showroom allowing customers to engage and interact with almost life-size cars. If you were at the debut of the 2013 Range Rover and new Jaguar F-Type in Paris last month you may well have seen Jaguar Land Rover’s new Virtual Showroom on display,  and it looks like JLR have big plans for their new high-tech way of exploring new cars. JLR’s Virtual Experience allows customers to interact with an almost life-size digital wall image of their chosen car, not just looking but interacting too.

CAR magazine app - the second edition goes live

The second edition of the CAR magazine app is on sale - now with added GBU data section. In it is everything you'll find in the printed magazine: all the same news and features, columns and regulars, brought to life with interactive extras, unpublished photos and new words. What's in the November issue?

LeMans winner Johnny O'Connell answers your driving questions

The guy's been racing professionally since 1987. He's won at LeMans four times. He's used to success, but this week he's an instructor at Bondurant, trying to make a halfway decent driver out of your humble editor.

First teaser video for new Chevrolet Corvette posted

Glimpses--of a clay model, wheels, body panels--is what we get for the first teaser video of the redesigned 2014 Chevrolet Corvette. The minute-long video also sprinkles in some driving footage, from the driver's point of view, of the "Lutzring" test track at General Motors' Michigan proving grounds. It's all part of the promotion effort for the new Corvette that leads to the scheduled unveiling of the car on Jan.

2013 Lotus Evora gets $68,285 base price

Lotus is adding its Intelligent Precision Shift automatic transmission to the supercharged version of the Evora for the 2013 model year. The automatic was available on the naturally aspirated Evora for the 2012 model year, while the Evora S offered only a six-speed manual. The base 2013 Lotus Evora carries a sticker price of $68,285 including $1,485 in destination, while the S model with the rear seats will sticker at $80,085.

Video captures Bruce Meyer's 200-mph run at Bonneville

Californian Bruce Meyer is really into collecting cars, particularly hot rods. But Meyer is not content to just let his cars sit--he wants to drive. One of his latest efforts was taking a modified 1932 Ford roadster to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in a bid to break the 200-mph mark.

Ford C-Max Energi qualifies for California tax credits, HOV lane

The 2012 Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid will cost as little as $28,495 in California after $5,250 in tax credits available for buyers. It was also just approved for the high-occupancy vehicle lane in the Golden State. The C-Max Energi is rated for 21 miles on electric power only.

First glimpse of the new Corvette ahead of NAIAS debut

The first video and teaser shots of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette have emerged, offering just a glimpse of what we can expect when it is launched at the NAIAS in Detroit in January. The video shows desigers working on a clay model before we get a bit too much gratuitous racetrack footage. It's after this we can finally take a look at some detail shots.

Hyundai HB20X

Hyundai has unveiled its Brazil-exclusive HB20X at the Sao Paulo motor show, a sportier crossover version of the HB20 hatchback. The face features a redesigned bumper with a hexagonal grille that reflects Hyundai's SUV family aesthetic and latest design ‘Fluidic Sculpture' philosophy. The headlamps feature black bezels and chrome details while the fog lamps have been fully redesigned.

Chevrolet Onix

The new Chevrolet Onix compact hatchback has made its world debut at this year's Sao Paolo motor show. The Onix, developed from GM's small car architecture by General Motors do Brasil, is being produced in the GM Complex in Gravataí. Its rather busy face features pulled-back lamps appear to have an awkward relationship with the split grille.

Volkswagen Taigun concept

Volkswagen has unveiled its new Taigun concept car at the Sao Paolo motor show, previewing a future B-segment SUV. The Taigun continues VW's new SUV aesthetic, first shown on last year's Cross Coupe concept, with a similar, full-width grille and lamp and very strong horizontal feature lines. Unlike the crossover Cross Coupe however, the Taigun follows a more traditional, upright SUV format.

New Mercedes A Class: Production increased to meet demand

With over 70,000 orders already in the pipeline for the new Mercedes A Class, Mercedes are increasing production to meet demand. The increase in production at Mercedes plant in Rastatt, Germany, means adding a third shift to effectively increase production by almost 50 per cent and make a dent in the 70k plus orders Mercedes already has for the new A Class. That’s in stark contrast to the recent news that Mercedes is having to slash production of the S Class as sales falter, partly due to a new S Class in the pipeline for 2013 but also because buyers are falling in love with more compact offerings.

Hyundai i30 R Turbo at Geneva 2013

The anticipated ’hot’ Hyundai i30 looks like it’s arriving at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show with the turbo engine from the Veloster. It’s nearly a year since we reported that Hyundai were planning to make a performance version of the i30, with the 1.6 litre turbo from the Velsoter Turbo promising decent performance and up to 200bhp. Now Autoblog in Spain are reporting that a Hyundai i30 RS (or i30 R or i30 GT or i30…) will arrive at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show as a prelude to a 2014 launch.

Skoda Superb Outdoor: Price & Specs

The ‘Allroad’ version of the Skoda Superb Estate – the Skoda Superb Outdoor – will cost from £26,465 in the UK and gets extra equipment. The Skoda Superb outdoor – a rufty-tufty ‘Allroad’ Superb estate – was revealed by Skoda back in June when it appeared the ‘Outdoor’ bit was going to be a bolt-on pack for any of Skoda’s Superb estates. But it seems not.

London Black Taxi maker Manganese Bronze in administration

Manganese Bronze – makers of the London Black Cab – has called in administrators after failing to secure funding following a TX4 recall. Manganese Bronze – makers of the iconic London Black Cab – has had a pretty torrid few years. They sold a chunk of their shares in LTI (London Taxis International) to China’s Geely after years of failure to invest in their taxis left them struggling for sales, cash and turnover.

Jaguar slashes prices – in Australia

Jaguar has slashed prices across its range in Australia – by as much as £40,000 – as it fights for a bigger market share. But there’s also a feeling that all those years of protectionist import tariffs have inured Australians to the high price of luxury cars, and that car makers take advantage of that by keeping prices high, regardless of the level of taxes imposed on their products. That means something like a Rolls Royce Phantom costs £650k and a Porsche 911 starts at £150k.

Nissan Extrem: It’s a Micra Urban Crossover

The Nissan Extrem Concept has been revealed in Brazil as an urban crossover based on the Micra platform. The Extrem is, say Nissan, an ‘Urban Rally Car’ designed to be a tough street fighter and penned by Nissan Design in San Diego specifically for the Brazilian market. Based on the underpinnings of the Micra, the Extrem is 3850mm long and 1760mm wide and is, although it’s hard to judge in the photos, a chunk smaller than the Nissan’s current smallest crossover, the Juke.

Hyundai HB20 & HB20X debut in Brazil

Hyundai has debuted the HB20 hatchback and HB20X Crossover at the Sao Paulo Motor Show in Brazil. The Hyundai HB20 – which shares its basic underpinnings with Europe’s i20 – has, say Hyundai, been developed exclusively for the Brazilian market and comes in a choice of nine trim levels and with a choice of a 1.0 litre and 1.6 litre flex fuel engines with a five-speed manual, or an auto option on the 1.6 litre. Changes to the Brazilian HB20 (HB stands for ‘Hyundai Brazil’) include specific setup for Brazilian roads (which can be even worse than ours), cosmetic tweaks to the exterior and a different interior.

Nissan Extrem SUV concept (2012) first official pictures

Nissan is looking to bring a splash of colour and outlandish design to Brazil's streets with their latest creation: the Extrem SUV concept. It's an eye-grabbing response to the 'more affordable locally produced vehicles, which tend to be conservative in design, colour and specification', according to company Senior Vice President Shiro Nakamura. What niche does the Nissan Extrem fall into? If the love-it-or-hate-it Nissan Juke is the marque's jacked-up supermini crossover, the Extrem is the rakish, sportier version of that: a sort of X6 to the Juke's X5, if you will.

Nissan Extrem concept

Nissan has unveiled its Extrem concept at the Sao Paolo motor show, a two-door 2+2 crossover that previews future Nissan design cues. The Extrem concept was designed at Nissan Design Center (NDA) in San Diego, California, in collaboration with Brazilian designers but much of the creative time was spent in Sao Paolo. "We call it Baby Beast," said Robert Bauer, Senior Design Manager for the project at NDA.

Driven: Renault Clio 4

Having pioneered the ‘small car, big-car features' trend with original version, Renault has sold over 12 million Clios since the model was launched in 1991. The box-fresh ‘91 Clio RT Renault displayed alongside its successors at the launch of the Clio 4 is testament to what a successful formula was struck. Will time be as kind to the new Clio 4?

Domino's Pizza Ultimate Delivery Vehicle contest winner announced

Slovenia's Anej Kostrevc has been announced as the winner of the Domino's Ultimate Delivery Vehicle competition, launched in collaboration with Local Motors. Kostrevc's entry, dubbed ‘Pack', earned him $10,000 and Domino's has announced its intention to build a prototype based upon his winning design. ‘Pack' – which is reminiscent of the Renault Twizy – is a compact, agile vehicle with multiple storage solutions designed to easily navigate the urban environment while overcoming different weather and road conditions.

Wayne Cherry to receive EyesOn Design Lifetime Design Achievement Award

Wayne Cherry has been chosen by a panel of his fellow designers as the winner of the EyesOn Design 2013 Lifetime Design Achievement Award. Cherry, who spent his entire design career at GM, joined the company in 1962 after graduating from Art Center and was part of the team that designed the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado and the 1967 Chevrolet Camaro. In 1965 He was transferred to GM's British operations, Vauxhall, and led the design work on the XVR Concept and designed the SRV and the 1978 Equus.

Churchill’s Land Rover sells for £129,000

A Land Rover presented to Sir Winston Churchill on his 80th birthday has sold at auction for £129,000. Sir Winston Spencer Churchill, probably the greatest Prime Minister the UK has ever had, was 80 in 1954, prompting Rover to present the great man with a custom Land Rover so he could be chauffeured round his Chartwell Estate. The Series 1 Land Rover came complete with an extra wide passenger seat, big, padded centre armrest and leather grab handle and had the registration UKE 80 which may (or may not) have referred to Churchill’s age and ‘United Kingdom Empire.