There’s no point, or so the saying goes, of closing the door once the horses have bolted. So shortly after the first handful of images leaked their way onto the Internet, BMW has released the full kit n’ kaboodle on its new entry-level model.

The all-new 2012 1 Series is expected to make its world debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show this fall. And when it does, it will be a substantially different car than the model it replaces. The new model – code-named F20 and based on the same platform that underpins the (now only slightly larger) 3 Series – has grown considerably over the E81 it succeeds, with every dimension but height increasing. The changes benefit both interior and cargo space, two aspects where the outgoing model fell short.

The new sheetmetal has also bears revised styling, with a bigger face incorporating the giant eyes featured on BMW’s latest concept cars, a more pronounced swage line and taillights moved outboard across the wider track to offer a larger liftgate aperture for increased ease-of-use. The Bavarians also appear to have paid close attention to the interior fit and finish to improve on the previous model’s rather spartan cabin.

2012 BMW 1 SeriesUnder that long nose, the new baby Bimmer is being launched exclusively with four-cylinder engines, and while more variants are expected to follow, for now it’s just the five-door hatch. A pair of 1.6-liter gasoline engines pack direct injection and offer 136 horsepower in 116i trim and 170 in the 118i. Three 2.0-liter turbo-diesels are also being offered overseas, ranging from 116 horsepower up to 184 in the flagship 120d. A 1.5-liter three-pot is expected to come in gasoline and diesel variants, while the top 128iS is slated to get a 245hp turbo 2.0-liter gasoline four to take the place of the current six-cylinder 130i.

All engines come mated to either a six-speed manual or an optional eight-speed auto from ZF, with an array of earth-friendly technologies including stop-start ignition and regenerative braking. Of course, this being the latest offering from a leading German automaker, all manner of electronic assists are on offer, from self-adjusting high-beams and lane departure warning to automatic traffic sign recognition and a back-up camera.

We’re hearing less and less about the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the resulting supply chain disruptions, but that doesn’t mean the issues have gone away. Inside Line reports that the brand new Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet is the latest vehicle hurt by the natural disaster.

The earthquake struck Japan just as Murano CrossCabriolet production was ramping up, and as a result the automaker was able to ship only 40 to 50 vehicles to customers. That’s bad news for any new vehicle fresh off a launch, but it’s especially damaging to a convertible at the beginning of the summer buying season. With the production of the CrossCabriolet stalled, Nissan likely won’t be able to make up volume until fall or later, and convertible sales almost always drop along with the temperature.

The Murano CrossCabriolet delay is bad news for a unique, ultra-niche vehicle that’s a bit of a risk in terms of function and price. After all, there aren’t many Nissan models that start at $47,190, and there no other crossover coupes with a stowable top.

Hopefully, Nissan can jump-start production of the Murano CrossCabriolet before it’s too late, if only to give Nissan’s topless gamble a fair shot at success.

This is General Motors’ brand new Opel Astra GTC revealed more than two months ahead of its world premiere at the 64th International Motor Show in Frankfurt, Germany, in mid-September. The newest member of Opel’s ever-growing Astra family will go on sale across Europe including the United Kingdom where it will be available as a Vauxhall later this year. Recent reports also suggest it may come to the States under the Buick brand.

GM’s European subsidiary is confident about its new Astra GTC with Vauxhall going as far as to claim that it will “lay down the gauntlet to VW’s Scirocco and Renault’s Megane Coupe with a heady mix of dynamic excellence, dramatic design features and competitive pricing”.

The production version of last year’s Paris Motor Show concept GTC sports a far more athletic appearance than the rest of the Astra range thanks to the uniquely designed body that includes a more rakish roofline. According to Opel, the only elements the GTC shares with its five-door and estate siblings are the door handles and roof aerial as even the wheelbase and tracks are different.

Compared to the five-door Astra, the ride height of the GTC is lowered by 15 mm while the wheelbase grows by 10 mm, from 2,685 to 2,695 mm and both tracks are wider, at 1,584 mm (+ 40 mm) in front and 1,588 mm (+ 30 mm) in the rear.

Opel and its sister brand Vauxhall say the Astra GTC is a more driver’s car than the five-door model as the company’s engineers having made several changes to the chassis including the adoption of the HiPerStrut (High Performance Strut) setup used on the 325HP Insignia OPC / VXR instead of the standard McPherson suspension.

At the rear, the GTC continues to use a Watt’s link axle, while as an option, Opel offers the fully-adaptive FlexRide chassis control system with a choice of three settings – Standard, Tour or Sport.

Moving on to the available lineup at launch, the Astra GTC can be ordered now with a choice of four engines. However, Opel said more powertrains will be offered around its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show adding that the sportiest versions including the future high-performance OPC model will follow in 2012.

For now, diesel options are limited to a 2.0-liter CDTI common-rail turbo unit delivering 165HP and 380 Nm of torque in overboost function. It is fitted with a diesel particulate filter and a six-speed manual transmission, plus a new Start/Stop system. With this engine, the GTC can reach 100 km/h (62mph) in 8.9 seconds en route to a top speed of 210 km/h (131 mph), while returning a combined fuel consumption of 4.9 lt/ 100 km (48 mpg US or 57.7 mpg UK) with corresponding CO2 emissions of 129 g/km.

The most powerful engine is a 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline unit with 180-horses linked to a six-speed manual gearbox offering the GTC a top speed of 220 km/h (137 mph). A 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine available with 120HP and 140HP completes the petrol lineup.

In Britain, buyers can place their order now for the Astra GTC with prices ranging from £18,495 for the 120HP Sport 1.4 Turbo to £22,430 for the 165PS SRi 2.0 CDTi. For more details on UK pricing, check out the list below

Ford’s C-Max MPV arrived on our shores at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show boasting seating for seven, but that model apparently had an asterisk lurking in the shadows. Ford announced today that the C-Max heading for North American showrooms will only feature seating for five.
In addition to its reduced seating capacity, Ford also announced that the C-Max will be arriving sans a gasoline-only model. C-Max buyers will instead have to choose between a gas-electric hybrid and plug-in hybrid.

The C-Max Hybrid and C-Max Energi are scheduled to enter production in 2012 at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant. The C-Max models will share the Michigan Assembly Plant with the Ford Focus and Ford Focus Electric, marking the first time a plant has produced gasoline-powered, pure-electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles under one roof.

Ford currently sells about 35,000 electrified vehicles annually, but anticipates that figure will grow to over 100,000 units

There are plenty of things to admire about a company like Aston Martin, and not the least of them is that it loves racing as much as it loves making sports cars.

Take its latest product, for example. After its debut at the Villa d’Este concours, Aston announced that it would take the V12 Zagato for a short race at the Nürburgring and then a full 24-hour assault later this month. The first one already took place, and the second one hasn’t rolled around yet, but Aston has already found time to fit in an extra race in between.

After the solitary entry failed to finish the last round of the VLN series it contested at the ‘Ring, Aston will now field two entries at this weekend’s race. One team will be headed by the company’s CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez, the other by Chris Porritt (the chief engineer on the One-77 project, along with Evo magazine’s Richard Meaden).

The race will take place over four hours from noon local time on Saturday, which you can follow on the company’s Twitter feed.June, 2011. Aston Martin’s new V12 Zagato endurance race car concept will return to the Nürburgring this weekend for final preparations ahead of the 24-hour race hosted at the famous German circuit at the end of the month.

Competing in the 51st ADAC Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen VLN5 four-hour race on Saturday will be two examples of the V12 Zagato endurance race car which won the Concorso d’Eleganza Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes at its first public appearance at the Villa D’Este Concours last month.

This warm-up race – used as a test session ahead of the Nürburgring 24-hour race which takes place between 25th – 26th June – will be the first time two new V12 Zagato race cars have been in action together after one of the pair enjoyed its first running under race conditions at the 53rd ADAC ACAS H&R-Cup VLN race last month. This weekend will be used to refine race setup and allow further driver familiarisation with the new cars on the gruelling 25.378km circuit.

Aston Martin Chief Executive, Dr Ulrich Bez will lead the driver team joined by the company’s Nürburgring Test Centre Director, Wolfgang Schuhbauer plus experienced amateur racer Peter Cate in the first of the two V12 Zagato’s. The sister car will be driven by One-77 Chief Engineer Chris Porritt, experienced sports car driver Oliver Mathai and automotive journalist Richard Meaden.

Introduced as a modern interpretation of the famous Aston Martin and Zagato collaboration in the 50th anniversary year of the iconic DB4GT Zagato, the V12 Zagato revives a collaboration which has produced some of the most beautiful and sought-after cars in the world. The partnership takes inspiration from the past to create a modern interpretation based on Aston Martin’s ultimate performance interpretation of the Vantage range: the V12 Vantage.

The 51st ADAC Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen VLN5 four-hour race starts at noon Central European Time on Saturday 11th June with live updates on the progress of the Aston Martin V12 Zagato available by following @astonmartin – the company’s official Twitter feed

models in Europe, the South Korean has decided to introduce a third shift at its Zilina plant in Slovakia and hire another 1,000 new employees. The company expects the recruitment process to be completed by December and have the three-shifts operational in the first quarter of 2012.

“The creation of the third shift at Zilina is the latest step in Kia’s long-term process of building cars locally to best meet local consumers’ needs and tastes,” commented Paul Philpott, Chief Operating Officer, Kia Motors Europe. “Strong demand for all our models and especially our new Sportage compact SUV, made here in Europe, means we need to significantly increase production at our Slovakia facility.”

The Zilina factory produces the Sportage SUV, the Venga compact MPV and all versions (3-door, 5-door and estate) of the C-segment Cee’d. Kia has invested more than €1 billion ($1.35 billion USD) in its European production facility in Slovakia, which is flexible enough to produce completely different models and adapt to demand.

Yet with sales increasing 18.7% in Europe, 24.4% in China and 36.9% in the USA, Kia was compelled to add a third shift at Zilina, creating more jobs not only in its own plant but also to local suppliers.

The Korean carmaker will also add a third shift at its West Point plant in Georgia, which produces the Sorento SUV and the Optima saloon, and increase its workforce to 3,000 employees.

In 2010, 34.2% of Kia’s total production of 2.1 million units, which accounts for 729,000 cars, were manufactured outside of South Korea.

Due to the increased demand and the expanding operations in the Slovak Republic and the US means that this number is about to increase substantially

hen Kia released a single picture of the five-door hatchback, but today, the Korean automaker dropped a few more photos revealing the car’s profile and rear end.

Kia’s upcoming entry in the VW Golf segment features a more mature and upmarket styling with the large lights on either end of the car taking center stage. The Cee’d also gets Kia’s new signature grille encompassed in a chrome surround.

We’ll have to wait a bit for the interior shots, but according to the South Korean automaker, the new Cee’d will get a “driver oriented dashboard and refined interior, with a strong focus on quality of materials”.

The five-door hatchback will make its first public outing at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show in March before it goes on sale across Europe in the beginning of the summer.

The Cee’d will be followed up by a replacement to the three-door Pro_Cee’d and later on, the Cee’d Station Wagon.

Hot on the heels of a facelift for the 2012 Toyota Land Cruiser, its stablemate, the Lexus LX 570, receives a substantial frontal facelift.

Debuting at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, changes for the 2013 Lexus LX 570 only involves the new GS 350-inspired front end that finally includes HID low-beam headlights and LED running lamps, as well as new 20-inch wheels, new mahogany wood trim in the cabin, additional 120-volt power adapters and a new instrument cluster.

Expect the new model to reach UAE showrooms within the next few months

Available features include an automatic start-stop system, lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, active park assist, blind-spot monitor and MyFord Touch multimedia system with SYNC.

Ford says the Fusion will be built in Mexico and the United States for the American market later this year. It will go on sale in Europe and Asia next year as the Mondeo, so potential buyers in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE hThe all-new 2013 Ford Fusion midsize sedan has debuted at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, touting styling that seems to meld an Aston Martin front end with the rear of a Ford Mondeo. Interestingly, the same car will also be launched in Europe as the Ford Mondeo, so it remains to be seen what it will be called in GCC markets.

Ford will offer the Fusion in various versions for the U.S. market, including a hybrid. The standard version comes in several trims and has a choice of three engines. The base Fusion is powered by a 170 hp 2.5-litre 4-cylinder motor. The next offering is an efficient 179 hp 1.6-litre “EcoBoost” turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. The top Fusion comes with a 237 hp 2.0-litre “EcoBoost” turbocharged 4-cylinder powerplant. There is a choice of 6-speed manual and automatic gearboxes, depending on engine. Some Western markets will get an all-wheel-drive option alongside the front-wheel-drive model.ave a long wait

The all-new 2013 Cadillac ATS joins the General’s luxury line-up, a compact rear-wheel-drive sedan hoping to go up against the BMW 3-Series and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

There are three versions. The base model has a new 200 hp 2.5-litre 4-cylinder with 255 Nm of torque. The mid-range one has a 270 hp 2.0-litre turbo 4-cylinder with 352 Nm of torque. The top engine is a 318 hp 3.6-litre V6 with 362 Nm of torque. Transmission choices include a 6-speed manual and a 6-speed automatic. Weighing in at 1545 kg, the car’s development included plenty of track-time at the Nurburgring and supposedly offers nearly 50/50 weight balance.

Inside, there is a choice of real wood or carbon-fibre trim. It also features stitching on the dash and seats, while available features include performance seats with adjustable side bolstering, CUE technology with Bluetooth and an 8-inch LCD touchscreen which opens up to reveal a large storage area. There is also a 5.7-inch display nestled inside the gauge cluster, a colour heads-up display and more.

Expect the new Cadillac ATS to be offered in the GCC by the end of the year, after its debut at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show

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