Hot News: Cadillac Plans 7 Models

Cadillac is set to explore a seven-model expansion plan as part of a new initiative.

Following a sales boost last year of 35 per cent year-on-year for 2010, GM’s luxury brand aims to attract more buyers to its showrooms and hopes to build on the fastest sales growth seen amongst premium car manufacturers in the US.

According to insiders, the firm is looking into a small SUV, a large flagship saloon, a subcompact car to rival the Mini Cooper (inspired by LA's ULC concept) and a Cadillac take on Chevrolet’s Traverse model and Buick's Enclave – both SUVs. Next year will also see the introduction of a larger XTS saloon and a compact car.

The company’s sales rise was led by the SRX SUV and the CTS coupe – which made up 66 per cent of its sales - so the new model line-up is hoped will ease the firm’s reliance on these versions.

Cadillac’s first step will be adding to high-volume luxury models, followed by more specialised variants. According to Don Butler, the brand’s U.S. marketing vice president: “We have got to get the core covered with a compact, a mid-sized luxury car, a mid-sized crossover SUV and a large car.”

As well as new models, the company is also making special efforts in its marketing department to reduce its average customer age of 62, to a younger and more affluent demographic.

Thanks to: Autocar

Hot News: Mercedes Plans BMW Mega City Rival

Mercedes-Benz has kicked off styling studies into a range of new alternative-drive city cars as part of a project known internally under the working title Mega City Mobility.

Aimed at providing Mercedes-Benz with an answer to the much-hyped BMW Mega City Vehicle and a new all-electric Audi model set to come off the same platform as parent company Volkswagen’s new Up city car, the car is being styled at the company’s Yokahama-based studio in Japan under the direction of Holger Hutzenlaub.

Autocar’s exclusive photographs reveal a range of ideas that have already come out of the Mega City Mobility project, including sketches and a clay model of a stylish new one-box offering that’s thought to have been conceived to sit on the rear-engined underpinnings of the upcoming second-generation Smart ForFour.

Mercedes-Benz says the decision to base the Mega City Mobility project in Japan stems from the country’s acute lack of space and the solutions that are being generated to provide an increased standard of living in large cities. “We been looking outside the automotive industry, including the trend towards mini city houses, to generate new ideas on space utilization and packaging,” Hutzenlaub told Autocar.

One of the first products to stem from Mercedes-Benz’s Mega City Mobility project will be the new Smart E-scooter, which has now been granted production approval following its unveiling at last September’s Paris motor show.

Thanks to: Autocar

Hot News: Mercedes Plans 320 hp Hatchback

Mercedes-Benz is planning to enter the hot hatch market in 2012 with a 320bhp AMG-badged A-class.

The hot AMG version of the new, third-generation A-class will have a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine and four-wheel drive. It is being developed by Mercedes’ AMG performance arm under the direction of its new boss, Ola Källenius.

The hot A-class is due on sale in the UK in September 2012. It will be priced to compete with the Audi RS3, Volkswagen Golf R and an M Sport-badged, turbocharged four-cylinder version of BMW’s second-generation 1-series hatchback — which suggests that it could be around £35k.

The new A-class will be based on Mercedes’ MFA (Modularen Frontantriebs-Architektur) platform — a newly developed unitary construction structure that ditches the heavy and expensive ‘sandwich floor’ of today’s model.

Codenamed W176, the car is radically different from its tall predecessor. It takes on a much lower and more conventional two-box silhouette, overlaid with taut surfacing and styling cues first seen on the F800 Style concept car.

The racy new look will be previewed on a concept at next year’s Shanghai motor show. It is designed to attract a younger customer than today’s A-class.

The look will be further embellished on the AMG version by uniquely styled bumpers, pronounced sills, chromed tailpipes and 18-inch wheels. The car is likely to be badged A25 AMG, according to insiders.

AMG had planned to use a 2.0-litre, direct injection engine running an electrically operated turbocharger from Swiss firm Hyprex. But concerns over its complexity and related production costs have forced a switch to a more conventional powerplant using a mechanical twin-scroll turbo.

Insiders with knowledge of the 2.0-litre, aluminium-block engine suggest that AMG’s powertrain department is aiming for a power output in excess of 300bhp. One source told us: “Something in the region of 320bhp is realistically possible with the technology at hand.”

By providing the car with a new six-speed, dual-clutch gearbox and a Haldex-style four-wheel drive system with a multi-plate clutch, Mercedes is hoping to dispel any concerns about traction. But in a bid to provide the A25 AMG with the dynamics to match its badge, the new driveline will feature a positive rear-drive bias, together with an electronically operated torque-vectoring clutch to juggle drive between each of the rear wheels.

Thanks to: Autocar

Hot News: Rolls-Royce Plans 3 New Models

Rolls-Royce is ramping up three variations of its new Ghost saloon: a long-wheelbase version, a drophead coupé and a coupé. All three variants are due to go on sale within the next three years.

Rolls-Royce has previously confirmed that the Ghost lends itself to body variations, and this stretched version is expected to arrive first. All of the extra length is added aft of the B-pillars, requiring a new roof and elongated rear doors. The wheelbase is expected to grow by up to 150mm. The 6.6-litre, twin-turbo V12 powertrain remains unchanged.

The pair of two-door models will follow, although it’s not yet clear in which order they will appear. Unlike the Phantom Drophead Coupé, which was previewed by the 100EX concept, there will be no show car introduction.

Rolls-Royce is also exploring the possibility of greener models. “We will evaluate alternative propulsion next year,” Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös told Autocar. “We want to find out what our customers expect.”

The company is less pressured than some on ‘green’ issues, at least in terms of corporate average CO2 emissions, because it’s counted within the BMW Group. The relatively high emissions of Rolls’ low-volume range are easily counterbalanced by the Mini and EfficientDynamics BMWs.

Müller-Ötvös also predicts long lives for its models. “Our customers don’t expect to be at the forefront of technology. Our cars are about arrival and departure,” he said. “They need to have long lives because they’re icons. Our customers are not interested in quick change, because that costs a lot of money.”

Thanks to: Autocar

Hot News: Jaguar Reveals Crossover Plans

Jaguar is considering giving the green light to a crossover SUV according to well placed sources inside the company.

New boss Adrian Hallmark is firmly behind the plan too. “We need a crossover and we need to stop being a saloon-based company,” he told Autocar at a private dinner last night.

Hallmark also revealed that four-wheel-drive saloons will need to be part of the company's future in order to boost its appeal on the east coast of the US and parts of Europe.

He also confirmed that an estate XF was imminent - the wagon will account for a fifth of the model’s sales - and said that lightweight cars are part of “our future DNA”. That’s likely to add fuel to rumours that the next-gen XF and sports cars will be made from aluminium.

Jaguar Land Rover boss Ralf Speth also revealed that Jaguar’s Castle Bromwich plant was the factory under threat from closure before the decision was made to save it earlier this year. Earlier reports had suggested that the Solihull plant was the most likely to go.

Thanks to: Autocar