Fisker's Karma plug-in goes on tour this month

DETROIT -- Fisker Automotive is taking its Karma plug-in hybrid on a 10-week tour of its dealerships across the United States and Canada starting April 2010.



For many of the 1,600-plus people who have deposited $5,000 for the sedan, the events will be first time they have seen the Karma in person, said Marti Eulberg, Fisker's vice president of global sales and marketing.

The dealership events will not include test drives of the sole touring Karma. Ride-and-drive events will be held later this year, she said.

Fisker expects the customers who put down the first 1,600 deposits to take delivery on their Karmas in the first quarter of 2011.



The tour will stop in 42 cities in 26 states, plus three Canadian provinces. Fisker has 37 retailers in North America, with several dealers owning more than one showroom.

People who have made Karma deposits won't be able to see which options and trim levels will be available until the third or fourth quarter.

The tour was the retailers' idea, and dealers can invite prospects, Eulberg said.

The West Coast accounts for the largest concentration of Karma deposits, but Florida, Arizona, and parts of the East Coast also have done well in attracting interest.

BMW 6-Series coupé spied New 6-series From BMW Cars

BMW 6-Series coupé spied
Fresh 6er gets a sleek new look with more space and efficient engines.



BMW's 6-Series is playing it smooth! These latest spy-shots reveal a cleaner overall design for the sleek coupé including a flatter and smoother rear-end that signals the end of the current car's Chris Bangle design.

Other exterior changes include a longer, wider and even taller design which should help boost the space in the previously cramped interior. Meanwhile, fresh side sills and headlights complete the new look.



Under the bonnet, the 4.7-litre V8 in the current model is likely to be replaced by the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 which features in the 7-Series range and produces 402bhp. A 3.0-litre twin-turbo diesel engine will also be borrowed from BMW's executive saloon. The M6 model gets the 547bhp from the X5 and X6M cars and will sprint from 0-62mph in just over 4 seconds.

The standard 6-Series will go on sale in the middle of next year and will start at around £60,000.

Under the bonnet, the 4.7-litre V8 in the current model is likely to be replaced by the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 which features in the 7-Series range and produces 402bhp. A 3.0-litre twin-turbo diesel engine will also be borrowed from BMW's executive saloon. The M6 model gets the 547bhp from the X5 and X6M cars and will sprint from 0-62mph in just over 4 seconds.



The standard 6-Series will go on sale in the middle of next year and will start at around £60,000.

Nissan March Nissan plans to launch their next generation small car modelin 2010

Nissan plans to launch their next generation small car model Nissan March in 2010, in India. The Nissan March would mark Nissan’s entry into the automatic passenger car market.



Shouhei Kimura, Nissan Motor India managing director said: “It will be launched in the ‘A´ segment category in India and will have 80% of localization.”

At this point, there is no information on the number of cars to be produced for India, or on the price of the Nissan March when it is launched here. As an A-segment car, the March would be competing against the Hyundai Santo, Chevrolet Spark, the Hyundai i10 etc in India.

This might be a good car alright in the A-segment – but somehow those faux-Beetle looks are not very convincing. The front treatment is European – shoddy European, in my opinion. The rest is tolerable. But like Renault did with the Logan, changing the front grill design of the Nissan March to suit Indian tastes would not be too difficult.

The Nissan March will be manufactured at Nissan’s plant in Oragadam. The Nissan March is one of the nine cars that Nissan plans to launch in the Indian market – the company already sells the Nissan X-Trail SUV in India. Renault Nissan will invest Rs.40 billion ($833 million) in the plant, that would have a capacity to manufacture 4,00,000 cars every year for local and overseas markets.

Kimura also said that the Nissan March would be included in the 110,000 units that would be exported by the second half of 2010, following the signing of an MOU with Ennore Port Ltd.

Nissan plans to scale up the number of units for export to 1,80,000, over the next few years.

Most of the exports of the passenger vehicles and LVCs would be aimed at the European markets.



The Nissan March will be built on Nissan’s new platform.

Kimura was quoted as saying, that since Ennore Port Ltd sanctioned 1,40,000 sq.m of land for exports, the Nissan March would be exported from the Oragadam plant.

The development of a ‘A’ platform is part of intiatives taken for Nissan GT 2012, Nissan’s new five year business plan.

The Nissan March would be launched from Nissan’s Thailand plant first, and then from India. Nissan has said that in its global manufacturing network, India is one of the five leading competitive countries to produce and export the Nissan March.



Nissan has not revealed how many units of Nissan March would be manufactured in India.

Ennore Port will invest Rs 110 crore to create a multi-cargo berth facility for Nissan. Ennore Port and Chennai Port Trust will together handle around 5,00,000 cars by 2011.

The Chennai Port Trust and Ennore Port are working to build infrastructure to match expansion plans of car manufacturers.

The 2010 Nissan March, that is in the design stage, is expected to have a more aggressive or sporty feel to attract male buyers.

Hyundai Avante 2010 A Brand New Car From Hyundai

Hyundai Avante will be the refurbished version of the Elantra. The innovative details and contemporary looks have added to the appeal of Hyundai Avante. Hyundai Avante will have a roomy cabin, advanced instruments and soothing blue backlighting. Twin front airbags, digital climate control and refined machine make up the other features. The car looks best from the rear with the corolla type tail lamps and chunky bumper. Hyundai Avante would have 2 litre DOHC petrol engine and a 1.6 liter CRDi diesel engine. It would be priced between Rs. 9-11 lakh.

Lamborghini Minotauro Design Concept-2020

Andrei Avarvarii, a student getting his Master's degree at Milan's Scuola Politecnica di Design, designed this tasty electric Lamborghini concept. With assistance from Lamborghini Design head Filippo Perini, he used a "soft design language" in penning the Minotauro.



The concept would use four electric motors and split the power 30%/70% front to rear. A Li-Tec flat-cell battery out back and a KERS system in the front would be providing the power.

The press release goes on to explain the bonus of no big, bad V12 out back: "The absence of a big V12 engine in the rear creates enough room for a third passenger in a central position." That's right, seating for three







While the driver's door would be normal, the passenger side's would be bigger to provide access to the back seat.

But the coolest design idea of all? Look no further than those triangular intakes/exhausts. "[They] serve for battery cooling and visually replace the traditional exhausts...[and] also act like the tubes of a subwoofer, channeling the sound of the electric motors, placed behind them."

Then there's the fact that owner's would theoretically be able to upload their own track ghosts to an online community.

If a real racetrack has been / is being covered, the GPS would record car placement / track time, allowing people worldwide to challenge an owner's record.

BMW M5 Sedan -2012 Realistically Rendered

A member of the F10 bimmer forums has put his photoshop talents to good use creating a series of realistic renderings of the upcoming 2012 (or 2011, depending on which side of the Atlantic you're on) BMW M5 Saloon.













Due to arrive in 2011, the Bavarian automaker's new high-performance super saloon will be powered by a downsized, 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine that was first used on the X5M and X6M.

In those two models, the V8 produces 555HP at 6,000 rpm and 680Nm or 501-lbs/ft of peak torque. However, it has been suggested that BMW's M division may further tweak the twin-turbo engine boosting output closer to the 600HP mark.

New Honda CR-Z Coupe Launch Film for Europe, Middle East and Africa

Honda has released a new promotional film for its recently revealed CR-Z mild-hybrid coupe. The 90 second film was commissioned by Honda Motor Europe and will be used for press and marketing across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.



The film was produced by Gaucho Productions, a London-based film and digital agency. Directed by Ben Hume-Paton and produced by Kwok Yau, the clip was shot over a day and two nights in southern Spain. You can watch it after the jump.