+++ An ASTON MARTIN DB11 equipped with a twin-turbocharged V8 engine will be launched later this year. The future model’s engine is sourced from Mercedes-AMG and is based on the ‘hot-vee’ unit used by the AMG GT. It will produce around 531 hp, which is 77 hp less than the existing twin-turbocharged V12 DB11. Government data confirms this development car testing with a 3982cc engine; the same capacity V8 as is used in the AMG GT. The V8 comes as part of Aston Martin’s deal with Mercedes, which involves co-operating on powertrain development. The 2018 V8 Vantage will also inherit the AMG unit. The DB11 already features Mercedes’ electronic architecture and switchgear, and the same is expected for Aston’s other future models. It is understood that aside from engine development work, the DB11 test car seen here is being used alongside several other V12-engined mules to finalise chassis settings before the first production V8 DB11s are built. Although the first mule was wearing camouflage, the exterior looks unchanged from the V12 version, suggesting both variants will be aesthetically identical. Due to the smaller block under the bonnet, the model will be a little lighter than the 1.770 kg V12 model, but thanks to its lower power output, performance will trail that of the range-topping model. Pricing will also significantly undercut the V12 model. A key rival to the 12-cylinder DB11 is the W12 engined Bentley Continental GT. The V8 DB11 will therefore become a natural rival to the V8 Continental GT. +++
+++ Volkswagen is suddenly experiencing a run on DIESELS. The auto maker’s TDI diesel cars are back on sale after being yanked from the U.S. market 18 months ago, sparking a race among buyers still interested in the niche technology but faced with an extremely limited supply. VW dealerships were barred from selling their signature diesel cars after regulators found software the company designed to sidestep diesel emissions tests. Dealers recently received the green light from regulators to fix and sell the 12,000 new vehicles sidelined by the emissions scandal. Amir Mahmoud, a 36-year-old sales manager at Caterpillar near Milwaukee, contacted about 30 stores nationally before finding a gray 2015 Passat TDI at a dealership close to home. “I think it’s my last chance to get my hands on an unused one”, said Mahmoud, who has owned several Volkswagen diesel models. Dealers sold about 3,100 new diesel cars in April (the first month in which they were being sold) leaving fewer than 9,000 in stock, a Volkswagen of America spokeswoman said. A flood of used TDI cars should begin popping up in coming months as VW processes hundreds of thousands of buybacks that are offered under a $10 billion civil settlement. The German auto giant has indicated it may not return to the U.S. with diesel passenger cars, which are largely unpopular among American drivers but still beloved in Europe. General Motors and Volkswagen’s German rivals are among companies still offering diesel passenger-car options in their lineups. Volkswagen was the leader in the segment until it admitted in 2015 that it equipped about 480,000 TDI Golfs, Jettas, Beetles and other cars dating back to the 2009 model year with so-called defeat devices that misrepresented the level of pollutants being spewed by the cars. VW pegged its U.S. expansion strategy to the TDI engines for more than a decade. Diesel engines account for less than 1% of total car sales in the U.S. Volkswagen is turning to electric cars as a diesel alternative. The decision satisfies regulators, but leaves behind a loyal following of TDI enthusiasts who are hooked on the combination of fuel economy, durability and peppy torque produced by a diesel engine in a small car. Matt Enders typically gets 50 miles per gallon in his 2011 diesel Jetta commuting to his job in operations for a ski-apparel company in Seattle. Because TDI sales were frozen, he considered replacing the Jetta with a gas-powered VW before reading in late March about the 2015 TDIs being cleared for sale. “We were bummed about the idea of getting into a ‘gasser’ and filling up the tank every 300 miles, instead of every 600”, Enders said. He drove 5 hours to a dealership in Spokane last week to pick up a new 2015 TDI Golf Sportwagen. Most of VW’s 650 U.S. dealerships have been storing dozens of the 2015 cars in off-site lots. Some of the cars Enders looked at showed signs of long exposure to the elements, including traces of moss on rubber sections and water spots on the paint finish. At one VW dealership, varmints chewed through the belly pans of dozens of TDI cars that have been stored off-site, requiring repairs or replacement, according to a service manager. VW has been compensating dealers for taking care of the stranded cars. Dealers were instructed to start them monthly and check fluid levels and battery charge. Preparing them for sale is a several-hour process that includes detailing and routine maintenance along with the software fix. “We’ve been sure to feed and care for them every month”, said Matthew Welch, general manager of Auburn Volkswagen outside Seattle. He has sold nearly all of the store’s 20 remaining TDIs in the short time they went on sale. VW is offering significant discounts on the cars, some of which are now more than 2 years old. Buyers are offered $5,000 off the sticker price. Leases come with $8,500 in cash. The scandal “hasn’t deterred me at all”, said Brian Stickney from Portland, Maine, who recently bought a loaded 2015 Golf TDI for about $6,000 less than the sticker price. “It’s just a windfall for me”. +++
+++ While the country is not nearly as in love with ELECTRICS as Norway, for example, and only has about 1k electrics, it will soon snatch the world record for the biggest parking for EVs, with a 250-spot garage set to open in June. Finland seems to be planning in advance (which is thoughtful thinking any way you look at it) and will have a new state-of-the-art, 250-spot indoor structure for electric cars. The facility is still currently unfinished at Varma’s head office in Salmisaari, Helsinki. Work started in April and it should be ready for a June inauguration (the project belongs to Varma in collaboration with Parkkisähkö) the latter taking care of the user transactions for charging. “This is one of the single largest parking facilities in the world to be equipped with chargers at nearly every sparking spot”, commented Jiri Räsänen, CEO of Parkkisähkö. More so, the structure is getting all the technology needed to cope with the massive loads of high-speed chargers, and believe it or not, the energy comes from a sustainable source, because it’s hydro-generated. According to specialists, Finland will have up to 250,000 EVs on the road by 2030, with the only real factor against this kind of adoption being infrastructure. “As electric cars become more common, charging stations will be needed in places where they spend extended periods of time. This has also been taken into account in the environmental certification of buildings, as well as in EU legislation to take effect in 2019 concerning requirements for electric vehicles in properties and new buildings”, added Toni Pekonen, Varma’s Commercial Property Director. +++
+++ The generation that celebrated 50 years of FORD Mustang has already served about half of its main lifetime course, after being introduced for the 2015 model year and now getting a refresh for the 2018 one. The Blue Oval company has taken the wraps off the mildly updated Mustang back in January, but we’ve still been left posting unanswered questions. Some of them will be addressed now, though, thanks to a fleet brochure that has been leaked on the Internet. Unfortunately, the brochure from Ford Motor Company’s Fleet unit doesn’t bring us the much-desired details about the upgraded 2.3-liter EcoBoost and 5.0-liter Coyote powerplants, the only ones left in the offer. It does bring other juicy details, such as the fact that front legroom has surged 0.6 inches, though that was done at the expense of rear legroom which retracted by 1.6 inches. This means the Mustang is not usable by young people anymore (you need to have 2 smaller kids in the back. Though the age bracket is actually very small) they can’t be infants with child restraint seats. Anyways, the 2018 Mustang also gains new color options: Midnight Blue, Tan and Showstopper Red. Packages have also been modified, though there are no details about them yet, other than the change from 401A Premium to Premium Plus. Base Mustang models still have a meager 4.2-inch color LCD, while the 12-inch digital instrument cluster and all-new 10-speed SelectShift (10R80) automatic transmission have been reconfirmed as optional equipment. +++
+++ A Range Rover Evoque development car has been spotted testing with a widened track and new rear chassis components, suggesting the second-generation LAND ROVER car will be built on a new, larger platform to offer more cabin space. The car’s wheelbase is unchanged, but it looks to be using a completely redesigned trailing arm suspension setup. The car also sports changes to its bodywork. The wheel arch extensions and raised rear ride height can be attributed to the chassis and structure changes, while a flattened rear bumper hints at a more compact design at the rear. Expect the next-generation Evoque to sport a design that follows the direction seen in the new Range Rover Velar and Discovery. Camouflage on the car’s nose is a sign that Land Rover is running the mule with parts that could eventually make it to production. My source believes the new front is being subjected to engine cooling tests here. Land Rover has remained tight-lipped on its replacement Evoque model, stating that it doesn’t comment on future models. Nevertheless, my source said that this is the Mk2 Evoque’s platform, and it’s being designed to incorporate JLR’s latest four-cylinder petrol and diesel Ingenium engines which offer improved performance, reduced emissions and better fuel economy. Insurance database information shows that this test mule is running a turbocharged 2.0-litre diesel unit, but whether it’s the four-cylinder unit that’s offered with the current Evoque, or a next-generation powertrain, is yet to be learned. Modifications to the fuel-filler cap suggest the latter is likely. The Range Rover Evoque Mk2 isn’t expected to arrive by 2019. +++
+++ MG will extend its SUV line-up in the next few years, offering both a baby SUV to sit below both the newly revealed XS and a 7-seat version of the GS. Currently, the GS is a 5-seat Qashqai rival, but the model will be overhauled in 2019, according to MG’s UK sales and marketing boss, Matthew Cheyne, and will also be offered with 7 seats. These new SUVs, along with the 3 supermini and upcoming 6 saloon, will make MG’s range six-strong, including the E-Motion electric sports car which will sit at the top of the range as a halo model. E-Motion aside, the line-up will include plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and electric variants, which will start with a PHEV XS, before a full electric XS comes in 18 months to 2 years’ time, said Cheyne, talking at the London motor show. The XS spearheads MG’s new design direction, with a Jaguar-like front grille and heavily styled taillights. The design will first spread to the 3 when it’s facelifted in the next 12 months, before other models adopt the look. Cheyne aims for MG to be selling up to 25,000 cars per year in the UK by 2020 or 2021. Last year, it sold 4,192 models. +++
+++ NISSAN Australia has revealed that it has stopped selling the Leaf electric vehicle for now, but the nameplate will return by about 2019 in its second generation that should leapfrogs its predecessor in key areas. Slated for a world debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September, the significantly lighter newcomer is expected to double the driving range of the current model to about 300 km, which helps to address range anxiety issues that prevent some buyers from looking at EVs. The 2019 Leaf is expected to have an improved driving experience, and better packaging than the outgoing 7-year old model. “There is lots of work being done on next-generation Leaf, and it’s certainly on our plan”, according to Nissan Australia managing director and CEO, Richard Emery. Emery said that Nissan was committed to providing EV leadership for the masses (even if it takes another decade) with a vehicle that better meets the needs of Australian consumers. “We have every intention to continue with the Leaf business”, he revealed. “We’re in the fallow period between the models. But Leaf is very much on our agenda when it comes to market. And our understanding of the new car is really positive as to what it will bring to bear”. While the original Leaf employed a 24 kWh lithium-ion battery pack to achieve up 170 km of range, the 2019 version is expected to switch to a variation of the 60 kWh lithium-ion battery pack that Nissan showcased in the IDS Concept at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show. That also means that the Leaf’s urban performance should increase dramatically, underpinned by an evolved unique EV platform that is said to be less weighty than the hefty 1.795 kg of the outgoing version thanks to an increase in lighter materials such as carbon-fibre, as well as stronger, benefiting steering, ride and handling characteristics. The performance and dynamic upgrades are partly as a result of the success that Tesla has enjoyed with the Model S in luring keener drivers to the fold. This has reportedly spurred Nissan’s engineers on to improve the next-generation vehicle. That same thinking should lead to a Leaf with sleeker and more aerodynamic styling than the existing iteration that first broke cover in 2010. Influenced in part by the aforementioned IDS Concept, the production version is believed to feature a so-called ‘floating roof’ blacked-out C-pillar treatment, more aggressive nose with the brand-identifying ‘V-motion’ grille, and ‘L’ shaped tail-lights. Additionally, the slightly larger and longer body, combined with more efficient packaging of the battery and related electrical technologies, should lead to a roomier and more practical cabin, particularly in terms of cargo capacity and usability. Furthermore, a big jump in semi-autonomous driver-assist tech will be available on some models sometime after launch under Nissan’s ProPILOT system. At the other end of the price scale, Mr Emery hopes Australian consumers will eventually recognise Nissan’s efforts in pioneering accessible emissions-free vehicles. “We believe we did the hard yards with electric cars in the beginning”, he said. “Electric cars and zero emissions remains a strong driver for the business and the brand, and even though we didn’t make any money out of it with our small volumes, we think the market will move to a greater acceptance of electric cars. I just want to make sure that when that happens, people will say ‘Nissan has been at that for 10 years or 15 years’; rather than us having to regenerate ourselves as an electric car company. We want to stay at the forefront. Not driven by the volume or profits, it’s about us being at the forefront of zero emission technologies”. +++
+++ In the UNITED KINGDOM, vehicle registrations are down by a fifth as buyers looked to avoid the new tax rates in April but they’re still up on last year. New car sales plummeted by 20 percent in April as buyers looked to avoid the new, higher Vehicle Excise Duty rates introduced in the beginning of the month. Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show 152,076 new cars were registered in April, down 19.8 percent on the previous year. Overall registrations have reached 972,092 in the first 4 months of the year. The SMMT said much of the fall was down to buyers trying to beat the 1 April tax hike by purchasing their cars in March. Demand across private and business fleets was down, with private buyers down the most, at 28.4 percent. Fleet and business demand was down 12.3 percent and 21.0 percent, respectively. Diesel cars took a bit hit in April, with demand down by 27.3 percent. Comparatively, demand for petrol cars was only down by 13.1 percent. Curiously, even alternative fuel vehicle demand, which has grown by 23.8 per cent from 2016 was down 1.3 percent in the month of April. Despite taking a 30 per cent fall in registrations in April, Ford continues to top the list for the best selling vehicle with its Fiesta. The Ford Focus is the second-best selling car in the UK, with 27,307 registrations since the beginning of the year. Although the Vauxhall Corsa has the third highest registrations from the beginning of the year (23,765) it didn’t even make the top 10 list for April’s best-selling cars. Overall registrations for the Luton make were down 33 percent for April. However, despite poor numbers for April, overall vehicle registrations remain 1.1 per cent up compared to 2016, which was a record year for vehicle sales. Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive said: “With the rush to register new cars and avoid VED tax rises before the end of March, as well as fewer selling days due to the later Easter, April was always going to be much slower. It’s important to note that the market remains at record levels as customers still see many benefits in purchasing a new car. We therefore expect demand to stabilise over the year as the turbulence created by these tax changes decreases”. After the Ford Fiesta (43,162 registrations), the Ford Focus (27,307), the Vauxhall Corsa (23,765 registrations), the rest of the top10 best selling British cars are the Nissan Qashqai (23,501), Volkswagen Golf (22,446), Vauxhall Astra (21,261), Mercedes-Benz C-Class (19,238), Volkswagen Polo (18,253), Mercedes-Benz A-Class (15,855) and Mini (15,417). +++
+++ The VOLKSWAGEN brand plans to rapidly and substantially grow its stable of crossover vehicles in the coming 3 years. During the brand’s 2017 annual session, Herbert Diess, head of the Volkswagen marque, said, “By 2020, we will expand our worldwide SUV model portfolio from 2 to 19”. This year, the brand plans to launch 10 new models. Vehicles already unveiled include the Atlas 7-seat SUV for the North America, the Arteon 5-door ‘coupe’, the long-wheelbase Tiguan Allspace, and the revised Up for Latin America. Due in June is the next-generation Polo, which has already been spied without any camouflage. Coming in August is the new Polo-based T-Roc SUV, and the plug-in hybrid version of the China-only Phideon range-topping sedan. At the tail-end of the year, Volkswagen will release the third-generation Touareg, a new Jetta, and the South America-only Virtus small sedan. To arrive at its magic number of 19 new SUVs, the company may be counting the Atlas and its Teramont Chinese sibling as 2 separate models, with the Tiguan and the long-wheelbase Tiguan Allspace likely also accounted for in a similar manner. It’s possible a few of these new SUVs will be region-specific, most likely cars designed specifically for the Latin American and Chinese markets. Diess also reiterated the company’s commitment to pivoting away from diesel vehicles to EVs in the aftermath of the Dieselgate scandal, with production electric vehicles due from 2020 based on the group’s new flexible EV architecture. So far, the company has previewed MEB component set via a series of concepts, including the ID, ID Buzz, and ID Crozz. Volkswagen’s stated aim is to sell 1 million electric vehicles per year by 2025. The CEO of the Volkswagen marque noted, “The brand’s success hinges on its strategic reorientation”. Regarding vehicles fitted with emissions testing cheat devices, the company hopes to have its “conversion plan” completed in Europe by the end of year. For North America and other regions, Volkswagen says it wants to have cars fixed “as soon as possible”. +++