Peugeot wants to change, but is the SR1 the right path?

Peugeot wants to take a big step forward. In fact, three, as it aims to become the seventh biggest automaker in the world (it is currently the tenth). Besides changing its badge for the one you can see at the end of gallery below, it has announced 14 new cars from up to 2012. Will it work? If the new design directions it takes are well received by the public, perhaps. And the SR1 Concept gives us a hint on what this new design direction will be.



Some have called this car stunning, but it really does not look that striking or revolutionary for us. It's nice, to say the most. Anyway, the car presents other qualities that may help it sell well, if it manages to reach the production lines.

The SR1 is 4.83 m long, 1.92 m wide, 1.25 m tall and bears a wheelbase of only 2.60 m (not enough for a car this big). It points out one of Peugeot's main problems lately: big overhangs. They may help the car look beautiful (discussable), but are a pain in the neck for handling.

In a straight line, anyway, the SR1 is able to go from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.7 s, a respectable mark. This is due to the total 230 kW (313 bhp) the car has available. Follower of the HYbrid4 concept (preached by Peugeot for a long time, but still not accomplished), it uses a 1.6-litre turbocharged THP engine, good for 160 kW (218 bhp), for the front wheels, and an electric powerplant, able to generate 70 kW (95 bhp) for the rear wheels. All that with only 119 g/km of carbon dioxide.

The transmission is a six-speed automated manual gearbox. No double-clutch mentioned, a sign Peugeot should be concerned about other things rather than design. Double-clutch automated transmissions are considered to be the best units of the world and should become predominant in the years to come.

Peugeot also says the car is a unique 2+1 vehicle (as if it was something to be proud about; Toyota iQ, that tiny little thing, is a 3+1) and will present the car at the Geneva Motor Show, in March, with shiny 20" alloy wheels. We still ask: will that be enough to reach the seventh biggest automaker goal? Car buyers will decide.


















Source: Peugeot

LEAKED! - New generation Chevrolet Aveo appears ahead of Detroit Auto Show

Here are the first images of the new Chevrolet Aveo, a relief for all the ones that were expecting the new car to be anything like the South American Agile.



No info has been released so far, but expect the new car to be equipped, in its top version, with the same engine that powers the Cruze, a turbocharged 1.4-litre four cylinder engine able to pump out 140 bhp. More news and images to emerge very soon. Stay with us!




Source: Auto.Blog.RS via Autoblog

Nissan teases its small crossover, the Juke

Nissan praises very much its crossover range, which nowadays goes from Qashqai to Murano. But the Qazana concept, presented at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, has indicated the company intended to have a smaller crossover to offer customers. Little more than one month before its official unveiling, in February 10, the company has decided to tease customers with a glimpse of the production version of Qazana. And it will be named Juke.



In Europe, the car will be built at the plant of Sunderland, United Kingdom, which already produces Qashqai, Qashqai+2 and Note. After its unveiling to the public, in the 2010 edition of Geneva Motor Show, it will go on sale in the Old World by October.

Source: Nissan

Tata presents Nano's version for Minibus, the Magic Iris

If the VW Beetle has managed to have its own van, the VW Minibus, why would not the future people's car, Tata Nano, come up with the same variety of bodies? This is what Tata intends to do with the new Magic Iris, a microvan built over Nano's platform in order to take rickshaws out of Indian streets.



Powered by a rear 611 cm³ diesel engine able to produce little more than 11 bhp, Magic Iris has a top speed of 55 km/h and carries five people (including the driver), what makes it a faster and safer option of public transport compared to rickshaws. If prices are as low as the ones charged for a Nano, soon there will be no more three-wheeled vehicles carrying people in India. Nor in other emerging countries of the world.

Source: Tata

Toyota introduces Etios, its EFC, to Indians in Delhi

Emerging countries have already become a focus of attention from automakers, but it has never been so intense as it is today. Besides Honda and Nissan, which are planning to develop and sell respectively the New Small Concept and the new Micra specifically for these markets, Toyota has also made an effort in this direction. And the effort has been named Etios.



Expected to be sold in India and Brazil by 2011, the car has been shown today at Delhi Auto Show in sedan and hatchback bodies. The new sedan resembles Dacia/Renault Logan very much, not only in appearance, but also in its construction, which has been planned to be cheaper and easier than that of other vehicles. The most evident example of this is the dashboard, mounted in the centre of the car, what will allow Toyota to sell it in right-hand drive and left-hand drive countries with minimum changes.

Equipped with a 1.2-litre engine, the hatchback has a sportier interior, in black, as you can see below. It is a paradox, we know, but the car will certainly have other engine options. It will be necessary for Toyota to achieve the goal of 70,000 sales in its first year of production in India.





One of these engines will certainly be the 1.5-litre engine that is under the hood of the sedan. More familiar, this car bears a white interior. Not that the production vehicles will reproduce these details, but they give us a clear idea of the intentions of Toyota for both cars.







Source: Toyota

Honda presents in Delhi its New Small Concept

Honda produces great reliable cars, but they are not very affordable, especially in emerging countries, where the company has built itself a premium carmaker fame. It all seems to be about to change with New Small Concept, a car that aims to be cheaper, but to keep the quality standards Honda is widely known for.



Expected to be presented in India and Thailand by 2011, the New Small Concept will also be sold in other emerging markets, such as China, Russia and Brazil in about the same time, maybe a little later. Honda does not want to be in the dust of Toyota, with its new Etios, nor of Nissan, with the new Micra.

Although technical specs are non-existent, the car is expected to have a 1.2-litre engine, possibly running on petrol.




Source: Honda via Paultan.org