The more General Motors European division and PSA Peugeot-Citroën deepen their newly formed strategic partnership, the more rumors come out. Earlier today, Germany's Spiegel magazine and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung business daily reported that GM decided to move development of the next Opel Zafira minivan from Germany to France. Opel's response came in quickly via a statement attributed to Opel/Vauxhall CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke who denied the reports. "As part of the initial announcement earlier this year, GM/Opel and PSA stated their intent to cooperate in several areas including product development. Whatever the final split will be among the agreed common projects, no jobs will be lost in the engineering center in Ruesselsheim due to the alliance – in fact, the nature of the alliance is that it is a balanced one," Stracke said in the statement. "Opel is leaving no stone unturned to enhance the efficiency and future viability in order to achieve sustainable profitability as quickly as possible in a difficult market environment," he added. In a separate report from Reuters, GM and PSA Peugeot-Citroën are said to have sealed several deals over the past month, including expanding the number of cars they will build on shared platforms. "Work teams are in place, meeting regularly and hopefully soon we will be able to share the first update on alliance progress," GM stated. While GM may not be willing to release details, Peugeot Director General Frederic Saint-Geours was more than happy to show his cards during an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera. Saint Geours said that the two automotive groups will "launch a raft of new models on shared platforms from 2016". "We will launch a D-segment car, a crossover, a compact minivan, and two models in the B and C segments," he told the Italian daily. "After that, we will launch a shared-platform eco-friendly car." To explain, by D-segment car, the French executive means something in the likes of the Opel Insignia/Peugeot 508, by compact minivan a vehicle similar to the Citroen Picasso, while a B-segment car translates to an Opel Corsa/Peugeot 208 and C-segment to the Opel Astra/Citroen C4. PHOTO GALLERY
The Volkswagen brand has done it again breaking its own record for the longest distanced travelled on a single tank of fuel, this time with the U.S. built 2012 Passat TDI SE sedan equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox. John and Helen Taylor managed to drive the diesel-powered Passat for an impressive 1626.1 miles (2,617 kilometers) through nine states on one tank of fuel improving the previous record held by a VW Passat 1.6 BlueMotion diesel (1526.6 miles) in Europe by 99.5 miles (160.1 kilometers). The couple began their journey on May 3, 2012 in Houston, Texas and finished on May 5, 2012 in Sterling, Virginia. VW says that in order to make the drive as realistic as possible, they added 120 pounds of luggage and drove only during daylight hours to simulate normal traffic conditions. They each took turn on the wheel and didn't drive more than 14 hours a day. The Passat TDI's 2.0-liter turbo diesel produces 140 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque and with a manual transmission returns an EPA estimated fuel economy rating of 43 mpg (5.5lt/100km) on the highway. Over the course of three days, John and Helen Taylor achieved an average fuel economy of 84.1 mpg (2.8 lt/100km), which VW says comes to 4.65 cents per mile. The Taylors aren't your normal driving couple, however, as the pair has participated in many events all over the world having collected more than 90 world fuel economy and vehicle-related records from their drives. “We’re excited to have broken the record for the longest distance driven on one-tank of fuel,” said John Taylor. “The Passat TDI was the perfect car for the trip. It offers plenty of interior and cargo space, yet is frugal enough to help us achieve this record.” PHOTO GALLERY
Bad news for those of us expecting to watch the original Top Gear on our tellies as Jeremy Clarkson has confirmed the rumors that there will be no more episodes of the show this year. "There's a rumour in internet land that there will be no more Top Gears this year. I'm afraid that apart from an Xmas special, it's true," Clarkson wrote on his Twitter account. On the bright side, Top Gear, which also features Richard Hammond and James May, will return with new episodes in January of 2013. "We will be back in January," said Clarkson, who added, "The good news is that the longer we have to make the films, the better they will be". As for the reason why Top Gear is taking a break, Clarkson pointed the finger to Simon Cowell and his high-rating show, The X-Factor. "Would love to be back in the Autumn but Sunday nights then will be full of fat people singing," he said. "Top Gear is a medium sized van. Cowell is a juggernaut. When he has finished his singing competition, our new series will start."
PHOTO GALLERY
April turned out to be a very positive sales month in China for two of the world's largest automakers, General Motors and Toyota. The Detroit firm and its joint ventures in China set a domestic sales record for April of 227,217 vehicles, up 11.7 percent from the same month last year. In the first four months of 2012, GM's sales totaled 972,369 units, an increase of 9.4 percent on an annual basis. “GM and our joint ventures today [May 7, 2012] sold our 1 millionth vehicle in China this year,” said Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group. “This is the sixth time and the earliest in our history that we have reached this important milestone in China. It has put us on track to once again set a new sales mark for the year as a whole.” On its behalf, Toyota and its two local joint-venture partners sold about 81,700 vehicles in April, an increase of 68 percent over the same month a year ago. According to a company spokesperson, for the first four months of 2012, the Japanese carmaker delivered 293,200 vehicles, up 14.3 percent from a year ago. Toyota said that it is on track to sell 1 million cars in China this year, up from around 883,400 vehicles in 2011. PHOTO GALLERY
Two more crossover models could soon join the ranks of the compact Tiguan and the mid-size Touareg in Volkswagen's lineup, according to a report from German business publication, Handelsblatt. Citing unnamed company sources, the newspaper wrote that a subcompact crossover built on the underpinnings of the Polo, which would potentially go up against the Nissan Juke and Opel Mokka, as well as an even smaller model based on the Up! city car, are "certain". A Volkswagen spokesperson would not confirm the models on the report, but said, ''SUVs are very interesting. Our modular production system allows us further spinoffs. We haven't made a decision yet.'' Autonews Europe said that in concern of the subcompact SUV, VW had originally planned to base this model on the Suzuki SX4 and that it was to be called the Rockton, but the divorce proceedings between Volkswagen and Suzuki "killed off the project". As for the smaller crossover, Volkswagen has already shown a couple of crossover-ish concepts of the Up! including the Buggy Up! study at last year's Frankfurt Show and the Winter Up! and X Up! at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. Albrecht Reimold, the boss of VW Skovakia, which manufactures the Up!, told the German business daily that the city car's lineup would be expanded with new variants in the future, without revealing any specific details. "It's certainly an area we must look at," he said. The newspaper added that an Up! based SUV would sell for "well under than €20,000" (US$26,100) in Germany. In VW's home market, the Tiguan starts from €24,175 (US$31,500). PHOTO GALLERY
The facelifted BMW X1 will go on sale in Britain this July priced from £24,660 for the X1 sDrive18d. The Bavarian company's Audi Q3 rival features minor exterior styling tweaks combined with a subtlety-refined cabin, a new flagship diesel model and two new trims, Sport and xLine. Proving the popularity of oil-burners in the UK, the X1 will be offered exclusively with diesel engines topped by the new X1 xDrive25d, which is only available in four-wheel drive. The 25d is powered by a twin-turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel producing 215hp (218PS) at 4,000rpm and 450Nm (331 lb-ft) at 1,500rpm for a zero to 62mph (100km/h) time of 6.8 seconds and a top speed of 142mph (229km/h). The xDrive25ds returns a combined fuel consumption figure of 51.4mpg UK (42.8mpg US) and CO2 emissions of 145g/km. The other diesel engine options for the X1 are a 141hp (143PS) 2.0-liter unit for the 18d models, plus a 181hp (184PS) version of the same four-cylinder for the 20d version. The most fuel efficient model in the range is the sDrive20d EfficientDynamics available only in rear-wheel drive form with a manual gearbox. Its 2.0-liter unit delivers 161hp (163PS) and 380Nm (280 lb-ft) of torque, while returning a combined fuel economy of 62.8mpg UK (52.8mpg US) and CO2 emission of 119g/km. Aside from the existing SE and M Sport trim lines, the 2012 X1 gains two more grades. The new Sport specification sits above the SE models adding 17-inch wheels, a dark chrome exhaust pipe finish, while the kidney grille slats, bumper trims and side sills, along with the roof rails are all finished in a high gloss black. Inside, it gets sport seats in Anthracite with Coral Red highlights, high gloss black decorative trim accents along with sports leather steering wheel, gearshift gaiter with red stitching and floor mats with red piping. The second new trim level is the more premium xLine specification, which brings 18-inch wheels, a chrome finish for the exhaust tail pipe and kidney grille slats, and a silver finish for the all exterior trim sections, side sills and roof rails. The xLine's interior features Nevada leather seats, Dark Copper trim, switchable ambient lighting and floor mats with matching piping.
PHOTO GALLERY
