http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=25&CntID=1224
Last time we went to this was in 2007. I must say that the show and exhibits have greatly improved from what I've heard of the 2008 and 2009 shows.
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BMW X5 Facelift with M Sport Package First Photos
http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=1225
New photos of the 2011 BMW X5 M Sport Package have surfaced on the company's German car configurator.
While details are limited, the package seems to include matching body colored aero kit including front and rear bumper fascias, side skirts, and exclusive 19-inch wheels. Inside, the cabin will likely be outfitted with sport seats, an M Sport steering wheel, and special aluminum trim.
In terms of performance, the X5 should feature Adaptive Drive and an increased top speed limiter (in the U.S. anyways).
Look for more information to be released in the coming weeks.
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Opel to cut 8300 jobs and to develop own cars
http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=1226
Opel (including Vauxhall) has announced that it will cut 8,300 jobs in order to resuscitate itself. Of those, 4,000 are based in Germany. The company also said it will refresh 80 percent of its product lineup and return to profit by the year 2012.
"Opel/Vauxhall has a clear vision to be a leading European manufacturer of high quality, desirable automotive products, based on German engineering," company CEO Nick Reilly said in a statement.
Part of the grand plan includes launching as many as eight vehicles this year alone. Cars such as the all-new Meriva, Corsa, Astra Sports Tourer and the Movano are on this list. In 2011 another four vehicles will be released into the market. One of them is the Ampera, a car destined to become Europe's first extended range electric car. It will be the poster boy for Opel's alternative propulsion technology and should share some inner workings with the fabled Chevrolet Volt.
The company says all these plans and more can be achieved in part using money it aims to borrow. It reckons a figure of €3.3 billion (US$4.5 billion) will be enough to run the company while it restructures. European governments hosting Opel/Vauxhall operations such as the UK, Spain, Poland and Austria are potential co-funders and €1.2 billion (US$1.6 billion) in outright loans or loan guarantees is being requested of them. Germany has already been asked to contribute €1.5 billion (US$2.06 billion) towards the total.
While things are moving towards a black 2012, Opel will start developing its own cars in the meantime. "If they are based on a vehicle architecture developed elsewhere, they will return to Rüsselsheim early to ensure they deliver on the Opel/Vauxhall brand promise," said a company statement.
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Spyker Secures Further Financing
http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=1227
Dutch automaker Spyker has secured further financing to help solidify its deal with GM for the purchase of the Saab brand.
Spyker has received a convertible loan of $25 million (US) from an investment group which is part of the Heerema Holding Company, Inc. The term of the loan is for 2 years, with a Eurobor interest rate of 10 percent. The loan is also convertible into stock priced at 4 euros per share. The loan is contingent upon Spyker receiving a €400 million loan from the European Investment Bank to finance its purchase and takeover of Saab.
A $25 million payment has already been made to GM as of January 26, 2010. By July 15, Saab will have to make a final $24 million payment to GM against the $74 million purchase price.
The Saab deal has been guaranteed by the Swedish government, in a move approved by the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition.
Spyker CEO Victor Muller said in a press release, "We are delighted that Heerema has decided to become an investor in our company."
Pieter Heerema, of Heerema Holding Company, Inc., believes that the investment will pay off and that Spyker can turn the Saab brand into a success.
"We are confident that when the company's management gets the opportunity to implement the business plan we will see a good financial return on our investment as well," Heerema is quoted as saying in the Sypker press release.
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2011 Volvo S60 Detailed Prior to Geneva Debut
http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=1228
Volvo has presented video, pictures and details of the all-new Volvo S60 three weeks before its scheduled coming out party at the Geneva Motor Show. As expected, the car will hit the market with a new Pedestrian Detection system that forces the car into a full stop if a collision with a person is imminent.
Although the five-minute long video shows the car cruising around downtown Los Angeles, the S60 is not expected to make its debut in the U.S. The footage only shows the car from different angles, and does not include scenes of the finalized crash prevention system.
With the accident avoidance system, the car is capable of avoiding collisions at speeds up to 35 km/h. If the car is travelling at a faster rate, the system is able to significantly reduce speed to reduce impact. The fatality rate of people hit by cars with this system is thus reduced by up to 20 percent, according to the automaker.
Accidents with other vehicles are also reduced at speeds of up to 30 km/h.
Just because the car is safe, does not mean it underperforms. With the range-leading 3.0-liter inline-six petrol engine the car is able to sprint to 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds. The 224 kW engine produces up to 440 Nm of torque, and gets the car to a 250 km/h top speed. Despite this, fuel consumption has been reduced by 10 percent to a combined 10.2 liters per 100 km.
Initially, the car will be offered with one other petrol, a new turbocharged 2.0-liter GTDi direct-injection unit that produces 151 kW and 300 Nm for a 7.7-second 0-100 km/h time. Also on offer are 2.4- and 2.0-liter diesel engines producing 153 kW / 420Nm and 122 kW / 400Nm, respectively.
In the car's second production year, three more petrol engines and one more diesel will be added to the lineup. These range in output from 86 kW to 179 kW.
If the new safety features and engine choices are not enough to pique interest, perhaps the new design will. Volvo engineers kept the same basic idea as the Volvo S60 Concept, significantly toning down the futuristic look. The front of the car has been rounded off more, integrating a new grille, new headlight and daytime running light design. The bumper is also less boxy than the 2009 model, which now includes air inlets to cool the brakes.
Wheel arches are more pronounced, and side panels are more sculpted, matching the look up front. However, instead of throwing out the squared look in the rear, it was simply toned down. The rear diffuser may be fitted with a dual-tailpipe exhaust system. Taillights comprised of LEDs now extend to the boot lid, wrapping less around the sides than the outgoing model.
"The sporty design delivers a visual promise of enthusiastic driving characteristics and I can assure you that the all-new S60 truly lives up to that promise," said Volvo Cars executive Stephen Odell. "Its driving properties are better than those of any previous Volvo."
The all-new Volvo S60 will be delivered to customers as early as this summer.
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Renault Clio 20th Anniversary Special Edition
http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=1229
Renault will sell several 20th anniversary limited edition versions of the Clio. The models getting the special treatment include the three-door Clio, five-door Clio Estate and the Clio RS.
As part of the package, the Clio RS will be painted in Pearlescent Givre (a.k.a. white), with black roof. More choices will be available for Clio and Clio Estate purchasers, including metallic Cassiopee Grey, Dyna Red, Grey Blue, Pearlescent Black, and Platine Grey. Non-metallic Glacier White is also available. All of the vehicles will get "20th" badges on the b-pillar, along with glossy black front bumpers and side mirrors. Inside, both cars get visible stitching on the dash, cloth upholstery in grey, and floor mats. While the RS air vents are lined in chrome, the Clio's trim is anthracite grey.
The limited edition models have different standard equipment in different markets. This could include Bluetooth, climate control, cruise control, darkened rear window, satellite navigation, and an upgraded stereo. The RS also comes with 17-inch diamond-effect alloys from Be Bop.
There are no performance upgrades included on either car. In France, the ordering period begins today, with sales in other European markets starting in March.
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Drivers panic in emergencies
http://www.maxauto.co.za/CntView.aspx?CatID=26&CntID=1230
You're driving down the highway and suddenly your car starts accelerating on its own.
Knuckles white, going from 100km/h to 145km/h in a couple of seconds, you do what comes naturally - hit the brakes. But what if the car keeps going?
There are options: Put the car in neutral or switch off the ignition. But experts say those choices would be almost impossible for most drivers to consider when they're in a panic, because frightened people often can't remember even simple steps to protect themselves.
That - coupled with increasingly complicated gadgetry - makes cars a dangerous place to be when you're facing an unexpected situation.
"You're stamping on the brakes and your attention is going to be focused on where you're going and steering. There's no cognitive space left to think of alternatives," said Dr Boadie Dunlop, a psychiatrist and director of the Mood and Anxiety Programme at Emory University.
"To do something that's not natural, such as turning off the engine, is just not going to come to mind."
Toyota said on Tuesday it is recalling about 437 000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix a problem with brakes that are momentarily unresponsive in certain driving conditions.
High speed crash
That follows the manufacturer's recent recall of 5 million vehicles because of reports of unintended acceleration, and it's changing the accelerator pedals to prevent floor mats from jamming them.
Complaints about unwanted acceleration in Toyota vehicles go back at least to 2003, according to US government filings.
The issue gained new urgency last August, when a high-speed crash near San Diego killed an off-duty California highway patrol officer and three family members. The officer's loaner Lexus ES350 reached speeds of more than 190 km/h, struck an SUV, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames.
The family frantically called police from the car, telling the dispatcher the pedal was stuck and they couldn't stop.
It's not known what exact steps the officer took in that case, but Dunlop said in such a situation, the brain can't handle all the information it's getting.
"When people are in an intensely fearful situation, their ability to problem-solve is greatly diminished," he said.
Panic
Venkat Thannir had his own brush with panic a few months ago. The 48-year-old college instructor from South Carolina was pulling his 2010 Toyota Camry out of a Burger King parking lot when it sped up without warning.
He panicked for several seconds before pushing hard on the brake pedal and stopping the car.
"The vehicle was out of control," he said. "If I was not in a parking lot, it could have been a whole different story."
Thannir never figured out exactly what happened, but believes the pedal was defective, since he considers himself a safe driver. He got the accelerator pedal repaired last Saturday, and says he feels safe driving the vehicle for now.
Drivers have an array of safety features, including push-button stop in some cars.
But the lack of standardisation for those features further hinders peoples' ability to react to unexpected situations, since they vary from vehicle to vehicle, according to Paul Green, a research professor at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
Consumer Reports has criticised Toyota for the push-button ignition in Toyota and Lexus vehicles, which requires drivers to hold down the button for three seconds to turn off the vehicle in an emergency.
Drivers of Cadillacs, Nissans and Infinitis can shut off the engines by pushing the button more than once.
Work differently
"The design solution is to make them all work the same way," Green said.
Green said there's also been little research into the way safety features are laid out in the car.
Is it easy to reach down and put the car in neutral? Should neutral be in a different order on the gear selector so it's faster or easier to act?
With push buttons, he said, one of the biggest concerns was whether children would be able to reach over and press them, not whether they were intuitive for drivers to use in an emergency.
Green said vehicles are getting so complex that the extent to which drivers can understand their cars is diminishing.
In one recent analysis, the institute projected that the owner's manual and navigation manual for a luxury vehicle will grow to 1 000 pages over the next decade.
"Can you conceive of a person reading all this stuff and remembering all of it?" he said.
In the meantime, prepare yourself. Peter Norton, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Houston, said drivers should sit in their cars and go over the steps they could take in an unexpected situation.
It's the same reason military personnel practice simulated battles or flight attendants repeat safety instructions on every flight.
"It's most helpful for a person, when you do go into panic mode, to resort to a natural tendency," he said.
"If you practice something over and over, that will be the thing that happens."
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