2009 Infiniti G37 scores “Excellent” in Consumer Reports’ upscale sport sedan category
Even though the 2009 Infiniti G37 faces strong competition from three new-updated vehicles, the sports sedan still came out on top in Consumer Reports’ tests. The 2009 G37 scored “Excellent” in the overall road test score, CR’s highest-rated vehicle in this category.
Consumer Reports’ said that it tested three other vehicles including the redesign Acura TSX, Audi A4 and the Volkswagen CC. All of the Infiniti G37 “rivals” scored an overall test score of “Very Good.”
“The Infiniti G37 continues its reign as top in the class,” said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center. “The drivetrain is still the highlight of the car, delivering very strong performance while getting better fuel economy than the previous generation. The G37 is very quick and handling is agile and fun.”
The 2009 Infiniti G37 gets a more powerful 328-hp 3.7L V6 mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission in place of the 5-speed automatic. It also gets best overall fuel-economy with 21 mpg on premium fuel.
Chrysler bankruptcy documents reveal Fiat 500, Alfa Romeo MiTo coming to the U.S.
Chrysler’s bankruptcy documents reveal that the Fiat/Chrysler alliance would give Chrysler four vehicle platforms, two engines and two transmission families from the Italian automaker. The documents said that specific vehicles would include the Fiat 500, Alfa Romeo MiTo and the Milano 940.
The affidavit of Tom LaSorda, Chrysler’s vice chairman and president, said that access to Fiat’s technology and platforms is a critical part of the partnership between the two automakers. ”Fiat would give Chrysler access to its 3.0-liter diesel engine and 1.4-liter gas engine technology, critical pieces for Chrysler to meet the new fuel economy standards,” LaSorda said.
“Chrysler and Fiat have identified four vehicle platforms and two engine and transmission families that can be used in the alliance,” said LaSorda. “Among those platforms are Fiat’s highly successful C-EVO platform, which Fiat and Chrysler have agreed to manufacture at one of Chrysler’s U.S. plants, and Fiat’s small car F500 and Fiat’s hatchback.”
LaSorda said that the shared technology and platforms will bring huge cost savings to Chrysler. He said that without Fiat, it would cost Chrysler nearly $8 billion to $10 billion to built four new platforms, two engines and two transmission families. Time wise, LaSorda said it would take Chrysler four to five years to achieve these goals.
Audi A3 hybrid expected to arrive in 2012
Just the other day AutoCar brought us the updated info on the next-generation Audi A3, which will be offered in the U.S. with a sedan variant in early 2011. The UK publication is now reporting that the next A3 will also get a hybrid model that will be a part of Volkswagen’s TwinDrive program.
Last year, Volkswagen announced that it is testing a fleet of plug-in hybrid Golfs in Berlin, which should be ready for market launch in 2010 as a 2011 model year. The Volkswagen TwinDrive Golf plug-in hybrid is powered by a 2.0L turbo-diesel making a total 122-hp. Mated to an electric motor that is powered by a lithium-ion battery pack (made by Sanyo), the TwinDrive golf can get 30 miles on a full charge.
Volkswagen says that the production model will have a 1.4L 4-cylinder gasoline engine making 100-hp.
As for the hybrid A3, AutoCar says it will get a slightly larger 1.6L 4-cylinder unit making 105-hp. Unlike the TwinDrive Golf, the Audi A3 hybrid will get a 30kW electric-motor in the front and two 30kW electric-motors powering the rear wheels. This will allow the A3 to have all-wheel-drive capabilities.
The Audi A3 hybrid should arrive sometime in 2012.
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Ford outsells Toyota in April, GM reports better than expected sales, Chrysler down 48%
Sales of the Ford Fusion Hybrid helped FoMoCo grab a big slice of the U.S. market even as its sales dropped 32 percent. According to the Wall Street Journal Ford outsold rival Toyota for the first time in at least a year. Toyota’s sales fell 42 percent.
Domestic rival General Motors reported a sales drop of 34 percent in April, a decline that was better than analysts expected. Chrysler reported a 48 percent decline selling a total of 76,682 units.
Ford ended up selling 133,979 light-vehicles in April. Sales were up from the March to April period by a total of 2,878 units.
Ford said it sold a record number of Fusions with a total of 18,321 units sold.
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Video: Michael Schumacher takes the Ferrari 430 Scuderia around Mugello
Michael Schumacher unveiled the Ferrari 430 Scuderia almost two years ago at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. It is said that Schumacher was fully involved with the production of the stripped down Ferrari.
With the launch of Ferrari’s new website, the Italian automaker (apparently Fiat’s most profitable division) has released a video of Schumacher taking the 430 Scuderia around the Mugello Circuit.
Note: In November of 2008, Ferrari unveiled the Scuderia Spider 16M at the World Finals in Mugello.
Refresher: Both models are powered by 4.3 liter V8 engine that produces 510-hp. 0 to 62 mph comes in 3.6 seconds (3.7 seconds for the Scuderia Spider 16M) with a top speed of 198 mph.
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Hold the Excitement: Pontiac Killed by GM – Feature
There’s no room for Pontiac in GM’s steadily shrinking—and still leaky—lifeboat. Here, a requiem for and history of the brand.
BY TONY SWAN
The killing of Pontiac is analogous to the sudden death of an old but distant friend; you were aware he wasn’t well, but you didn’t think it was as bad as all that. And when the news arrives, you wish you’d done something to help somehow, the regretful—and futile—hand-wringing that so often follows abrupt departures.
To be accurate, the brand’s departure won’t exactly be abrupt. GM’s initial announcement states merely that the division will suspend operations sometime in 2010. That leaves plenty of time to get good and bummed out.
But sentiment has little weight in business, and GM’s current desperate straits means the company has room for none at all. So we will apparently bid farewell to another of the General’s middle divisions, as Pontiac follows Oldsmobile into the sunset.
The Beginning
Pontiac was very much homegrown by GM, but not, as some historians seem to believe, a rebadged clone of the Oakland Motor Company range. Organized in 1907, Oakland became part of the General Motors empire since 1909, one of the earliest acquisitions of the irrepressible William Crapo Durant, who had established the giant-to-be earlier that same year. It held a solid position in the aspirational product hierarchy set up by GM president Alfred P. Sloan: Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Oakland, Buick, and Cadillac.
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