Xenatec is using the Geneva Motor Show to unveil its one-off Cruiserio Coupe, a customer-ordered hyper-luxury car based on the Maybach 57S. The coupe was designed by Fredrik Burchhardt to a customer's exact specs, then hand-built by the Xenatec team.
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We've heard rumblings of a more-powerful XKR. We saw spy shots of the rumored two-door as it blew through the English countryside wearing a dash of camouflage. And now it's official: Jaguar is bringing a more powerful XKR to the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, and goes by the name XKR-S.
Niche manufacturers rarely offer more than one model line. In Wiesmann's case, that line consists of the GT, with its various BMW-sourced propulsion options, and its Roadster counterpart. Like the German car maker Gumpert, Wiesmann will move into Geneva with the the Weismann Spyder, a new model for our consideration.
Motor Trend may prefer the Chevrolet Volt, but the well-heeled readers of the Robb Report have a considerably different set of priorities when it comes to picking the best of the best. That's why the luxury magazine has decided to name the Ferrari 458 Italia as its Car of the Year.
The 458 scores high marks for its exterior design, interior materials and overall performance, and the Prancing Horse beat out thirteen other vehicles for the award. The stunning Italian sports car topped the Audi R8 V10 Spyder, Porsche 911 Turbo S, Aston Martin V12 Vantage, Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG, Bentley Mulsanne, Maserati GranTurismo Convertible, Audi A8L, Aston Martin Rapide, BMW Alpina B7, Rolls-Royce Ghost, Jaguar XJ Supersport, Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, and Lotus Evora.
Porsche is planning to double its sales to about 200,000 per year with the help of more money and manpower. The German automaker is planning to hire 1,000 employees in which half of them will be building the company's forthcoming small crossover under the working name 'Cajun,' while the other half will be developing new vehicles. If the sales target are met, they would add another 500 employees by 2018.
Porsche would also expand its lineup from four to seven models to reach its sales goals, while also forking over up to 750 million Euro to upgrade its Leipzig factory. The latter is believed to be the main candidate to build the Cajun when production begins in 2013.
The Volkswagen Group wants to reach the number one in global sales and profits. In order to achieve it, Volkswagen has to increase its production of Audi. Audi has been struggling to meet the demand for A3 and A6 and hence buyers have been waiting for 3 to 4 months to take delivery.
Though the waiting times are longer, car buyers are not willing to leave Audi and choose BMW and Mercedes-Benz. All these three automakers have reported record sales in January and the waiting times are much longer for vehicles like BMW X3.
While all these three auto makers are struggling to meet the demand, Audi is in the toughest spot with wait times up to 2 months longer than its competitors. Since Audi contributes 47 percent of VW's profits, Volkswagen group should address this problem in a timely manner.
The new 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8 holds a 6.4-liter HEMI V8 putting out 465 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque will find a welcome bay in the garages, and this Charger is no exception. The five-speed automatic is a bit of a disappointment in this day and age, but something tells us a few 12-second trips down the good ol' 1320 ought to ease that bit of pain, as would an autobahn blast at the Charger SRT8's 175 miles per hour top speed.
Toyota has already began to make sales predictions for the year 2020. The automaker is confident that Prius will continue its spot as Japan's best-selling model. However it seems that that the exceptional sales volume of Prius may drive Toyota to drop its price.
Japanese car buyers consider the mainstream Prius as a "friendly" model and not a "leading edge" vehicle. This "friendly" image pits the Prius in direct competition with vehicles such as the bargain-priced, subcompact Honda Fit. Kitagawa, who polled 1,972 Japanese car owners, tells this, "As the Prius becomes more of a mass-market car, it may be time to think about lowering the price."
Gas-electric Prius are not sought by tech-savvy Japanese buyers but now it's the mainstream model, Kitigawa argues, that the cutting-edge appeal, which commanded a premium price has faded away.