LEAKED! - 2011 Kia Sportage appears ahead of Geneva

These images from the 2011 Kia Sportage have leaked from the European patent office and they present the car in full details. They would only be better if the interior of the vehicle had also been revealed, but the images already allow us to know what to expect from the new crossover when it is officially released at the Geneva Motor Show, which will take place in March.



Based on the Hyundai ix35, also named Tucson in some markets, such as the USA, the new Sportage is ahead of its sibling due to the visual identity Peter Schreyer has given Kia (and Hyundai still did not manage to present). We can see the high waistline as a promise for a crossover that has a good handling, but this is something we will only be sure about when we drive it.

Considering ix35 and Sportage have so much in common, we can try to guess its final technical specifications: 4.41 m long, 1.82 m wide, 1.66 m tall and a wheelbase of 2.64 m. Engines will probably be a petrol 2-litre four-cylinder able to generate 123 kW (165 bhp) and a turbodiesel 2-litre four-cylinder that produces 135 kW (180 bhp), both managed by a 6-speed automatic transmission.

If the new-generation Sportage is not presented at the Geneva Motor Show (what is not very likely, considering these images have leaked from the European patent office), it will make its world premiere in April, back in its homeland, South Korea.







Source: Autoblog.bnl

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

VW reveals first pictures and details of Amarok, its first mid-size pick-up truck

Amarok is a funny name for anything, including a new mid-size pick-up truck, the first one from Volkswagen, but the vehicle itself is not, especially for its competitors. Let's start from what is most visible: the style of the new car, which will be built solely in Pacheco, Argentina. At least for the time being.



The first body option for Amarok will be a double cab. The single cab will also be available, but its presentation will only happen in the first half of 2010. Since sales will also begin by this time, it is quite likely both body options will be available from the start. But Amarok will offer much more than this in what relates to choices.

Engines will be the smallest turbodiesel units available in mid-size pick-up trucks. They will both be based on a 2-litre four-cylinder, but the entry-level one will generate 122 bhp and 340 Nm at 2,000 rpm. The strongest option will produce 163 bhp and amazing 400 Nm at as low as 1,500 rpm. Volkswagen still does not mention that, but it will surely offer a flex fuel option for the pick-up truck, a relevant choice in the Brazilian market, where ethanol plays an important role. This flex fuel engine will probably be offered for the cheapest versions of Amarok, or else, the single cab. Depending on demand, a double cab with this powerplant can also be offered.

There will be three trim levels. The basic one has no name and will not include many features. In fact, its bumpers will not be painted and it will be powerless. Not in what relates to the engine, but to windows, doors and rear mirrors. They will all bear manual adjustments. Wheels will be 16", made of steel. A hard working vehicle, not willing to search or offer any sort of luxury or comfort.

Trendline versions will be much more sophisticated. They will have power windows, power doors and power rear mirrors, bumpers will be painted in the same colour of the body and other equipments, such as air-conditioning, CD player, cruise control, 16" alloy wheels and fog lamps are standard.

The top version is called Highline. Besides the things Trendline offers, it also brings chromed rear mirror caps, fender skirt extensions to house the 17" alloy wheels, colour contrasting instrument panel and Climatronic air-conditioning system.

Volkswagen states all Amarok units will come with ABS, ASR and EDL (Electronic Differential Lock) available, but we do not thing the base versions will get these equipments, at least not in South American markets. It's always a matter of cost...

As for traction option, there will also be three: a rear wheel drive, a switchable all wheel drive, for the people that will really face difficult terrains, and the 4Motion AWD, aimed at on road performance.







Source: VW

Buick will have a small crossover based on Agile. GPix will give you a hint

Now that most sources have already confirmed what MotorTips has told about the new Agile being produced in Lake Orion, in Michigan, Automotive News brings us another piece of very interesting information, one that confirms the production of Agile in the USA. According to Automotive News, Buick will have an entry level crossover based on Agile. What they have not told you is that the final forms of this car already exist. The car will be heavily based on the GPix concept, revealed last year at Sao Paulo Auto Show.



It is said that the Buick version of the car will have a four-cylinder 1.6-litre turbocharged engine able to pump out 160 bhp, but this is an engine we have never heard of. We surely expect it so show up, but the engine that is more likely to be under the hood of this new crossover will be the turbocharged 1.4-litre engine that will recharge the batteries of Volt and power the upcoming Chevrolet Cruze.

In Brazil, Agile is expected to use a 105 bhp 1.4-litre flex fuel engine and a 129 bhp 1.8-litre flex fuel engine. What is to be confirmed or not is not far for us to discover. Agile must be well prepared, once it is going to face two strong contenders, the new VW Polo (fifth generation) and the new Ford Fiesta. Not to mention any possible competitor Fiat may give Chrysler should this market segment prove to be attrating North American buyers. Besides the crossover based on GPix, there will also come to life a small minivan, a sedan and a pick-up truck. It is possible some of them will also reach the USA market.











Source: Automotive News

LEAKED! - Dacia Duster appear in its final form in Romenian forum

One more automotive mystery is over. The series-production Dacia Duster, developed under the codename H79, has appeared with no disguises at the Romenian forum DaciaClub.ro and soon in the pages of Autos Segredos, from our friend Marlos Ney Vidal, who has warned us about the scoop and authorised us to publish the images.



Duster may follow the same dimensions its concept has presented, or else, it can be 4.25 m long, 1.50 m high and 1.64 m wide, with a wheelbase of 2.80 m. Which such a wheelbase, the same one of a full size car, 7 cm longer than a Ford Fusion. That will make this small and low cost SUV be able to carry five or seven people, possibly in different versions, as it happens with Nissan Livina and Nissan Grand Livina, for example. The version that has been photographed must be the five-seater.

Dacia H79 must really adopt the name Duster and be presented at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. Engines are expected to be the petrol units 1.6-litre and 2-litre that are already used by Renault, as well as some diesel options.




If you want to check the images in a bigger way, click below to see the original images, made by "balaurel_cli", in high definition.





Source: DaciaClub.ro via Autos Segredos

Fiat presents its new Strada Cabine Dupla (double cab) in Brazil

Some of you may have already heard about the new Fiat Strada Cabine Dupla (which stands for double cab). Even if you have not heard about it so far, it is worth taking a look at the first double cab small pick-up truck based on a car of the world.



Fiat Strada is based on Palio, a car that is sold all over the world, but only in emerging countries (what has made it be called third world car instead of world car, as Fiat wanted it to be known). With this new version, it intends to keep its leadership in its market segment in the Brazilian car market. It also wants to be a solution that many countries of the world will want to have. Strada is the most exported car produced by Fiat in South America.

Equipped with a flexfuel 1.8-litre engine that generates 112 bhp with petrol and 114 bhp with ethanol, Fiat Strada CD is 4.46 m long, 1.74 m wide, 1.63 m tall and bears a wheelbase of 2.75 m. Besides the 1.8-litre engine, there will be a 1.4-litre engine version for exports and also for Brazilian companies. Fiat denies it is working on this version, but it has also denied there would ever be a double cab Strada.

Presented in Itaipu, the biggest hydroelectric powerplant of the world in operation, Strada CD has no room for more than four people. The two back passengers also suffer from lack of space, unless they are small people, such as children. They should not be taller than 1.75 m, anyway. Anyone that is taller than that will have no headroom and, depending on how tall is the driver, will also have to travel with its legs open in order to fit in the car.

The car will cost R$ 46,440, about US$ 23,800. If you are not Brazilian, this may sound excessive to you, but I can assure you this price, in the Brazilian market, is highly competitive. In other words, Brazilian people are so rich they accept to pay insanely high prices for cars that could cost half of what they pay. In fact, they cost half in other countries where they are sold. Carmakers blame the government and the government calls automakers greedy. With no one to blame, it gets difficult to have a fair price on cars.





















Source: Fiat

Fiat presents the first double cab small pick-up truck of the world, Strada CD

Besides integrating to Chrysler, Fiat is also busy creating new products, some of them pretty innovative ones. Its latest move towards innovation has received a name: Strada Cabine Dupla, or Strada CD. Cabine Dupla stands for double cab, and it must be the first mass-production small double cab pick-up truck of the world. Have a look at it:



Some of you may think you have already seen double cab small pick-up trucks, but let me clarify that I mean small in South American standards, what implies Strada is 4.46 m long, 1.74 m wide, 1.65 m tall and bears a wheelbase of 2.75 m. Strada is based on Fiat Palio, a small hatchback that is about to be totally transformed.

Engines for the new Strada CD will be a 1.4-litre and a 1.8 litre, both running on petrol. There will surely be diesel units, but they have not been disclosed so far.

Source: Fiat