Saab is manufactured by the Chinese automaker Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation. With the venture turning out to be successful, the automakers would have become a minority investor in Koenigsegg. But as the company backed out, the Chinese automakers approached General Motors at the earliest. But as per recent reports, two more independent American investment groups, namely, billionaire investor Ira Rennert’s Renco and Wyoming-based Merbanco are also interested in procuring the brand for themselves. These are the latest brand names in the market showing interest in acquiring Saab.

On Thursday itself, Christopher Johnston, who is the President of Merbanco, affirmed the news in an interview with Bloomberg. He said that the company has every inclination to hold a majority share in Saab. Johnston said he doesn’t go by the fact that after the buyout of Saab, the Chinese automakers would close their operations. According to him “Whoever buys Saab, or if GM keeps Saab, there’s a lot of work ahead but I believe that the company should survive.” This indicates that he has faith in General Motors and expects it to do well in the future as well.

Though the reports have been confirmed by the spokesperson of Saab, yet officially, there has been no declaration of any formally written proposals so far by any group. Saab’s spokesperson, Gunilla Gustavs confirmed to Reuters that they have had quite close discussions with several companies. He also said that the companies which are interested in buying Saab are maintaining close contacts with the Chinese Automobile Corporation.

In an interview with the TT news agency of Sweden, Maud Oloffson, the enterprise minister of Sweden said that the government has no role in finding out a buyer for the Chinese automakers. He shared that, “It is Saab owner General Motors that should find a new buyer, not the government.” General Motors is solely responsible for searching out a new buyer for Saab. He has also expressed his opinion and appreciated the fact that General Motors is quite positive about the venture.

This car has undergone a rigorous marketing campaign. It is a “sports coupe” or in other words a premium hatchback. The design is customized for first time Volvo buyers and the youth market. 75% of the sales are targeted at the European market whilst production is expected to be 65,000 units a year.

The exterior design of this car is based on a previous version of Volvo, the 1800 ES. The chief studio designer of Volvo, Simon Lamarre stated that “this version has become a benchmark for all future Volvo designs”. The production car was revealed at the Paris Motor Show in the year 2006. The interior design is similar to the S40 and V50, with the majority of parts including the steering wheel, instrument panel and floating center stack being the same.

Around late 2006, the C30 was launched in Europe. It went on sale in the USA in October 2007 as a 2008 model and in Canada in March 2007 as a year 2007 model. The sound system includes a Dolby Pro Logic II surround, digital 5×130 watt ICE Power amplifier along with 10 loudspeakers from the Danish firm Dynaudio. The year 2008 saw some minor changes in the car including an auxiliary audio socket and adapting the interior to the newer versions of the S40/V50.

Further changes were made in the year 2009 and they were unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. A new sport chassis was made available for it. Many new additions along with this have taken place including new exterior and interior color choices like the “Orange Flame Metallic” paint. The engine and transmission choices have remained the same. The front end including the grille, front body panels and headlights have been revamped. This new update will go on sale in the year 2010 as a year 2011 model in North America.

This car features a lot of safety measures which Volvo prides itself on including a Blind Spot Information System in the driver’s view to the rear which is used to overcome ‘blind spots’ or ‘dead areas’ so that the drivers risk of accidents are minimized. It also has a four-wheel anti-lock breaking system (ABS), electronic stability program (ESP) traction control and airbags all around for side impact and rollover protection.

The wheelbase of the new CTS Coupe is similar to that of the wheelbase of Cadillac’s sedan. The overall height and length of the Coupe is just around two inches less than its sedan models. It abandons the typically prevalent B-pillar styling of the coupes. The door handles of the coupe are also dissimilar to the door handles that were used in manufacturing the Chevrolet’s Corvette. GM is certainly marking distinct changes in its own productions.

The Coupe comes with various changes in its exterior looks of both front and rear ends. The front now features an elaborated opening for the vents installed for providing cooling to the brakes. The rear now features a center-exit exhaust and mesh lower grilles that carry a unique diamond cut-style look. It surely looks better and different than other coupes now.

The CTS Coupe will feature a 3.6 Liter V6 engine of the sedan. The coupe will come with a six-speed manual transmission system gearbox to make driving easier for you. An optional six speed automatic system gearbox might also be available in the coupe. The engine will help you in delivering 304 hp for a powerful performance and will also offer a mileage of 27 miles per gallon, when run on the highway.

The Coupe features an 18-inch wheelbase and the tires are good enough for driving through all kinds of seasons and roads. This is the base Performance Package only. There are other packages too like the Summer Tire Performance Package that comes with a 19-inch wheelbase and sunbelt-friendly rear-wheel drive system. The buyers can choose from either the rear-wheel or an all-wheel-drive package.

The interiors of the CTS Coupe are likely to be similar to the sedan. Yet, the details will be revealed at the LA show. The confirmation by GM states that the standard model of the Coupe will feature an option of 14-way Recaro seats that are to be found in the CTS-V sedan models. It also said that the CTS-V coupe will be launched just after a couple of months of launching the standard model of the coupe.

Mercedes Benz and Bosch had developed the Splitview technology mutually. The technology enables the dual usage of the center-mounted LCD screen that is installed in the S-Class. It lets both the driver and the front seat passenger to watch two different things of their choice at the same time. While the driver can access the navigation system to find the way, on the same screen the passenger can side-by-side watch a DVD too.

Initially, the Splitview technology of the Mercedes Benz was set to be launched in the market a couple of months back but finally the launch got delayed. The delay is attributed to the legal issues over the technology installation. The laws actually bar the driver to watch DVDs or movies while driving. They are not completely aware of the purpose and usage of the dual-view technology and that is why they are not appreciating it much. This is the inhibition feared by the legal system and the German automobile makers.

Ian Callum, who is the design head of Jaguar, said in August that the Splitview technology is “technically illegal.” whereas the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has given a clean chit to this technology.

Though Mercedes is not the first automaker to install this technology, yet the S-Class model would be the first from Mercedes featuring this cutting-edge technology. Jaguar had been ahead of them in using it in its earlier manufactured models like the XJ. It was introduced in Jaguar as an optional upgrade system function.

In various other parts of the world, the British automaker Jaguar has its own Jaguar XJ model that equips the same Splitview technology in the cars. Though, they haven’t announced till date whether the model that they are going to launch in the US will feature the same technology or not.

Nissan GT-R is all set to compete with the major players of its category. Nissan GT-R reflects a very stylish look. The designing part shows the importance given to both the functional and instrumental aspect. The simple and clear instruments are placed in such a way that they are easily accessible for the driver. There is a tachometer installed that displays the gearshift position. The best part of the Nissan GT-R is that it gives detailed information regarding the driving and manual behavior. Powered by a 3.8-liter twin turbo V6 engine, Nissan GT-R gives out 473 horsepower along with 434 ft-lb of torque.

A multipurpose display provides the details of speed, g-force, fuel economy, turbo boost, water and engine oil pressure, transmission oil, front/rear drive distribution, steering angles, braking and acceleration pressure, etc. The audio system with 6 CD changer and 11 speakers with dual sub woofers will surely take you to another world. The seats are well designed keeping in mind the comfort of the occupants. Buyers can select their seat colors from color schemes including black, black with red highlight or gray.

The exterior design of the Nissan GT-R sets it apart from the crowd. It is a combination of muscular, edgy, chunky and flat sides. The model boasts of being one of the most aerodynamic cars in combination with its distinctive looks. The car delivers a super packed performance and has been termed as ‘Supercar’ by some of the buyers. The car is very user friendly and has an amazing visibility. The car is very similar to other normal cars present in the market. The excellent features of the car will make your drive memorable and one to be always cherished.

It would be the first A-segment car launched by Chevrolet in the US. Chevy had been saying in the past that it had not introduced any such A-segment car earlier in the US, as the market was changing from time-to-time and this had diverted the interest of the Americans from this particular segment. So, any such move earlier would have proved futile. Just like Chevrolet, many other automakers had raised the same doubt for this particular question in the past.

The recent market surveys in America are pointing out to the fact that the Americans are now getting inclined towards smaller vehicles now. These vehicles are becoming the trend now and the “bigger the better” notion has become a thing of the past now. While buying a new vehicle, they are now vouching for vehicles which are more compact in size.

As per GM, the manufacturing of Chevy Spark will now be done in South Korea. Earlier, the location had been the US itself but now they have changed it to South Korea. They actually fear that till the car doesn’t prove to be a success in the US market, it would not be right to manufacture it there itself. They first need to check the potential sales volume in the US and then only wish to proceed further.

Not many details about the soon-to-be launched version have been disclosed. Yet, it is believed that the Spark will come with either a 1.0 Liter four cylinder engine with 66 hp or a 1.2 Liter four cylinder engine offering 47mpg of performance.

The micro car needs to be federalized before GM wishes to set it on floors in the year 2011. Jack Keaton, who supervises GM’s mini car development in South Korea, has very recently said that they are under the thinking process for developing a mini car that people are actually wishing for. They are now setting out the standards to match the expectations of people.

The report for this decision has been announced by Kyodo news. The report also includes news that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is also looking forward to providing a more permanent and durable solution to this problem. They are almost done with the thinking process of the solution and it will soon be worked upon.

Also, Toyota has volunteered to fix or change the accelerator pedals of all the 4 millions vehicles in the U.S. that are involved in the recall. This solution was identified by Toyota as they believe that the accelerator pedals of their vehicles are not at all defective and therefore, doesn’t require a recall by the government.

Today only, NHTSA declared that they are yet to decide what parts would be worked upon and what parts would be changed or replaced. This indirectly suggests that they are not only focusing on the accelerator pedal but are also considering other parts of the car as well. There might be other parts too that need to be fixed or replaced. Hideaki Honma, who is a representative on behalf of Toyota, has said that the talks are still in the process and no final decision has been made as of now by Toyota and the NHTSA. They have not yet reached at a solution of the problem.

The vehicles that would be under investigation and the target of the solution have been mentioned in the report. They would include Toyota’s Prius, Camry, Avalon, Tacoma and Tundra. The Lexus models that would be included are the Lexus IS250, IS350 and ES350 models.

Toyota Corp. has been involved in around 2,000 cases with the same problem of unintended acceleration since the year 2000. There have been around 19 fatalities due to these crashes. The Federal regulators have said that this has been the worse scenario so far in comparison with other automobile manufacturers. There were many class-action lawsuits that were filed against Toyota Corp. due to these incidents and till date, they are still lying in the early stages of hearing and no judgment has been passed upon these cases so far.

This was followed by the recall of Toyota’s 3.8 million vehicles after one of them had met with a fiery crash killing four people on the spot in southern California of the USA.

The plastic fuel tank installed in the SUV is considered quite harmful and hazardous for both the vehicle and the passengers.

These previous versions of the Grand Cherokee contain a plastic fuel tank that stretches below the rear bumper of the car. It makes it an easy target for the vehicles that feature a low front profile of the vehicle that gets affected by pre-impact braking. It gets easily punctured in a rollover or rear-ends accident.

The reason behind this is that the rear sway bar link bolt is positioned just an inch away from the plastic fuel tank that makes the tank more vulnerable to get punctured in the crash. Thus, it gets hugely affected in case of an accident and the guaranty of the security of the person sitting inside cannot be ensured anytime at all.

The petition stated that, “the design is so bad that Chrysler frequently settles lawsuits without extensive discovery and subject to confidentiality agreements.” It also included 172 fire crashes that occurred largely due to the defected gas tanks of the vehicle. These crashes had resulted in 254 fatalities and range from the period of 1992 to 2008.

According to the Automotive News, these were the highest number of fatalities encountered by any other SUV. They are four times higher in terms of fiery crashes reported by other SUV models. The 1993 to 2004 models reported six times higher death rates in comparison with other models of the Grand Cherokee only.

In the year 2005, the fuel tank of the Grand Cherokee was installed with an additional shielding to protect the vehicle from punctures. Since that time, there have been no deaths reported due to the fire crashes in the Cherokee models.
An immediate recall has been requested by the Center for Auto Safety to safeguard the public from such risks and accidents. This recall would definitely encourage NHTSA to start the probe earlier as it had done in previous times for the Ford Pinto and GM.

Toyota has produced a total of 4.0 million units so far, whereas Volkswagen has manufactured full 4.4. million of units till date. These figures are based on the data released in the three quarterly reports of the company. The reason for this can be attributed to the scrappage schemes that were implemented by the government and were quite successful as well and went along quite well with the Volkswagen models. Moreover, Toyota had reduced its production in the first six months of the year, which proved to be a benefit for the German manufacturers.

The scrappage scheme of government does played a major role in early success for Volkswagen but Volkswagen doesn’t entirely depend on them to make it big this time. The model has been doing consistently well and gaining increasing popularity in the German market all along. There only, the growth rate has increased by 26.1% in terms of people registering to buy these models in the month of October although the scrappage schemes had ended by September only.

The cash-for-clunkers scheme really worked for the Volkswagen Group. Toyota Motor Corp.’s models did not gel well with this scheme presented by the government.

The sales of Volkswagen Group for the year 2009 are already on a rise by 34% in the first nine months of the year. The total units produced in this time span were 622,853. The fastest growth is seen in the Skoda brand of Volkswagen. The sales of Octavia are up by 20.4% and the sales of Fabia have increased highly by 92.4% in Germany only.

Ford is another manufacturer that has overshadowed GM as the third largest automobile maker of the world in terms of number of units produced by Ford. The automobile manufacturer has reported a unit production of 3.7 million units whereas GM has manufactured 3.6 million units. These are based on the reports of the production of first nine months of the year only. Ford is no trying its best to secure its current position.

The Ghost was unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September. The Ghost sedan by Rolls-Royce is largely based on the BMW-7 series. It comes with a 6.2 Liter V12 engine that delivers 563 horsepower’s of energy. It has an eight speed automatic ZF gearbox that makes the controlling task much easier for the driver. The car is aimed at delivering extraordinary performances.

Rolls Royce will depend primarily on the parent BMW for producing the hybrid version of the Ghost. The technology for the car would be borrowed largely from the ActiveHybrid 7-Series of the BMW-7 Series. The hybrid version of the Ghost will have a 4.4 Liter twin-turbo V8 engine and an additional electric motor that would be connected to the eight speed automatic transmission gearbox. The technology comes with a start-stop functioning system that would help in increasing the fuel efficiency by an approximate 15%.

The hybrid will be powered through a trunk-mounted lithium-ion battery pack. It would help in providing smooth rides to the passengers and will also start the car quickly thereby consuming less fuel. It will also come with a regenerative braking feature that will serve as a substitute to the electrical necessities of the car. It will be a completely fuel efficient and energy saving vehicle that Rolls Royce is planning to launch in the market.

Both the standard version and hybrid version of the Ghost would be equipped with stylish exteriors and comfortable interiors. They would be elegantly designed with rich quality materials that offer everlasting comfort and style.

Though it has not yet been announced when the hybrid version of the Ghost will be launched, word has already spread about its production. It is possible that it might take a few years to be launched in the market but the excitement is here from now only. CEO of Rolls Royce, Tom Purves is quite excited about the Ghost hybrid and has also said that he might also like seeing the hybrid version of the Phantom as well.