Autos Car Design

Slowing Demand in China Forces Luxury Carmakers Like BMW to Offer Big Incentives

China is the land of opportunity for any carmaker - but especially for, luxury brands that have been breaking one record after another. However, last year’s 18 million sales will most likely not be repeated in 2011, as the government has stopped its tax incentives and wants fewer, and less polluting, car on the country’s streets.

Not that sales are plummeting – on the contrary. It’s just that, according to J.D. Power, the increase in the luxury car segment this year is slowing down to 29%, compared to a 48% growth in 2010. And this despite the fact that overall car sales in China are expected to drop by 5% compared to 2010.

Posted on 15.35 / 0 comments / Read More

Convoy of 2013 Porsche 911 Turbo and Cabrio, Cayman and Boxster Prototypes Filmed in San Francisco

It’s not every day that you get to see a parade of subtly camouflaged Porsche prototypes parked one behind the other on the streets let alone away from Germany and in San Francisco.

If you watch the two videos posted after the break, you will see the new generations of the 911 Convertible, 911 Turbo, Cayman coupe and Boxster roadster, none of which have been revealed yet.

Our best guess is that Porsche held a special driving event either for journalists or North American dealers (perhaps both).

Posted on 15.09 / 0 comments / Read More

Mazda Bids Farewell to RX-8 with Japan-Only Spirit R Special Edition

We already knew that Mazda has decided to kill-off the RX-8 four-door coupe sooner rather than later. More strict fuel economy and CO2 emission regulations saw to that, forcing the Hiroshima-based carmaker to pull it from overseas markets and keep it alive in Japan only.

Today, Mazda announced that it is launching a final special edition of its rotary-engined sports car, which will only be available in the domestic market with sales set to start on November 24. Production will be limited to 1,000 units.

Posted on 14.38 / 0 comments / Read More

Ay Ay Ay! How to Rattle the Nerves of Even the Calmest of Drivers

If there's one thing that's sure to grind the gears of any driver in the world, that would be a fellow driver that does not know what he or she is doing causing a traffic jam in the process.

The following video seems to have been filmed from an apartment balcony somewhere in Spain. It shows a female driver in a three-door Audi A3 first talking to a lady on the road (perhaps she was asking directions to the parking on the side of the road) , then constantly going back and forth in an attempt to enter the garage.

Funny to watch, but towards the end of the clip it gets a bit more serious as another driver –apparently frustrated from the wait- approaches the Audi and starts yelling to the woman while also bashing her car.

Posted on 13.29 / 0 comments / Read More

SCOOP: 2012 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG V8 and G65 AMG V12 Caught Undisguised in Dubai

While spy shooters are searching for camouflaged prototypes of the facelifted 2012 Mercedes-Benz G-Class on the roads of Germany, the team over at "3rabacars" was fortunate enough to discover an entire garage of barely disguised examples of the upcoming AMG variants in a garage in Dubai.

From what we understand, 3rabacars took pictures of both the V8-powered G63 (or G55) AMG and the V12-powered G65 AMG. According to the poster, the G63 AMG's speedometer went up to 280km/h (174mph) while the G65 AMG's stopped at 320km/h (199mph).

Posted on 12.39 / 0 comments / Read More

Jeep Announces New Ad Campaign for Italy

Jeep is one of the two mainstream brands within the Fiat Group – Chrysler LLC alliance (the other one being Alfa Romeo) that are destined to play a major global role in the company's growth plans for the future.

To mark Jeep's renewed lineup in Italy, the automaker is launching a new TV campaign under the tagline "Don’t' adapt to conventions". The first spot is named "Never Adapt" and it will begin airing on Italian television channels on Sunday, October 9.

Posted on 11.51 / 0 comments / Read More

GM Says Opel Astra Convertible's Replacement to be a Standalone Model Like the VW Eos

Earlier this year, General Motors European arm laid out its plans for the replacement of the Opel / Vauxhall Astra Convertible with a new model that will enter production in 2013 at the Gliwice plant in Poland alongside the new Astra models.

And while we know that the open-top model will be based on the new generation of the Astra compact, what the General didn't say is whether or not it will carry the Astra nameplate.

Up until now, that is, because in an interview with Car Magazine, the European design chief at GM, Mark Adams, said the new convertible will be a separate, standalone model in the likes of the Volkswagen Eos hardtop cabrio.

Posted on 11.17 / 0 comments / Read More

McLaren Delays MP4-12C Deliveries to Fix Software Glitch

McLaren keeps opening one showroom after another around the world, yet there are stories circulating the web that the Woking-based carmaker has stopped production of the MP4-12C supercar due to safety concerns.

Tony Joseph, director of McLaren North America, admitted that there are some delays, but they have nothing to do with safety: “There are no safety concerns for the delay. We’ve had some quality-related issues in a few cars we wanted to address before we continue to deliver customer cars”, he told Autoweek magazine.

Posted on 10.46 / 0 comments / Read More