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Automobiles

Report: Nissan design to show more Chinese influence

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By Brandon Turkus

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Nissan is going to be leveraging the weight of the Chinese market by selling cars influenced by the People’s Republic in other markets around the globe. The influence of Chinese design is further proof of the country’s importance on a global scale. Nissan isn’t the only manufacturer that’s looking to leverage China’s burgeoning design talent, as BMW, Volkswagen, and General Motors have all set up facilities.

In fact, VW and GM have both used Chinese talent to design cars, in the Passat and Buick LaCrosse, respectively. Nissan has already tested the waters with its Beijing studios, penning the Friend-Me Concept from this year’s Shanghai Auto Show. Where GM and VW used their Shanghai-based studios as more consultancies than anything else, though, Nissan is aiming to have the Beijing studio design a global car.

According to Nissan’s global design head, Shiro Nakamura, that’s already happening. Nakamura told Reuters that Nissan is two years from launching a Chinese-designed global model that will see sales in both North America and Europe, in addition to its home market. While Nakamura wouldn’t elaborate on what the new model’s styling would entail, there’s a focus on what the Chinese call daqi.

A difficult to describe and translate word, daqi is what Chinese customers look for in their cars. Whether daqi translates to global markets remains to be seen, though. We’re cautiously optimistic, based on what we’ve seen over the years. The looks are more advanced, more dramatic and are rapidly leaving behind the photocopier designs which typified much of the country’s early design efforts.

If you’re still nervous about a Chinese-designed car, just know this – the design Nissan chose beat out competitors from London, San Diego, and Nissan’s home studio outside of Tokyo. That has us looking forward to what comes out of the People’s Republic.

Nissan design to show more Chinese influence originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Jul 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Automobiles

Get A Glimpse Of The 2014 Audi A3 Sedan On Audi’s Media Channel

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By Kurt Ernst

Audi teases the 2014 A3 Sedan on its new video channel

Audi teases the 2014 A3 Sedan on its new video channel

Americans don’t like hatchbacks, or so the gospel according to German automakers goes. With this guiding principle, Audi will drop the A3 hatchback from the United States market, replacing it with the all-new A3 Sedan. While that may be bad news for hatchback lovers, it’s good news for driving enthusiasts; word is that Audi will even offer the sedan in S3 or RS3 forms (or possibly even both).

The A3 Sedan won’t make its official world debut until April’s Shanghai Auto Show, but it will be previewed in New York on the eve of the New York Auto Show. An event like this is by invitation only, but Audi is happy to hook up its loyal fans. Thanks to a new “Audi Media TV” video channel, you can catch the reveal live as it happens on March 27.

As far as we can tell, there’s no need to pre-register. Simply head on over to the Audi Media TV website at 8:00 p.m. (EDT) on the 27th and you can catch the reveal as it’s happening. You can also see a teaser shot of the A3 Sedan’s cloth-draped exterior, as well as a brief view of the new car’s quilted-leather back seat (which looks like S3 trim to us).

You’ll probably want to bookmark the Audi Media TV channel, too, since the German luxury brand will use it to screen future world premieres and press conferences. You’ll get the information at the same time we do, without all those pesky missed flights and bad hotel coffee.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Automotive Addicts

Automobiles

Detroit Electric Announces New Battery-Powered Sports Car

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By Kurt Ernst

Detroit Electric's upcoming two-seat electric sports car - image: Detroit Electric

Detroit Electric’s upcoming two-seat electric sports car – image: Detroit Electric

Calling itself the “fourth automaker born out of Detroit,” startup electric car manufacturer Detroit Electric has just announced that it will be showing a two-seat electric sports car at the Shanghai Auto Show in April, and that it will begin customer deliveries in limited markets by the end of August.

Those are ambitious plans for a conventional automaker, let alone one dedicated to battery-electric power. Detroit Electric, however, isn’t exactly a new company; the original (which more or less folded in 1939) was one of the most successful electric car manufacturers of the early 20th century, and the brand has been working on a modern vehicle since being reborn in 2008.

The man behind Detroit Electric is Albert Lam, who was formerly head of the Lotus Engineering Group and Executive Director of Lotus Cars of England (which explains why the teaser image looks so much like a Lotus). Lam also spent time leading divisions of Apple and Sun Microsystems, so he’s well-versed in both the automotive and technology sides of the business.

Detroit Electric’s plans don’t end with a single two-seater, either. By the end of 2014, it plans to launch two other “high-performance” electric vehicles. We’re a bit skeptical that no details are being provided on a car set for unveiling in just one month, and reportedly bound for production in just 150 days, but we’re willing to cut Detroit Electric some slack. After all, who doesn’t like an underdog?

The firm’s CEO, Don Graunstadt, is equally bullish on the startup automaker’s future, saying, “We are proud to become the fourth car manufacturer born out of Detroit, and the first to manufacture a pure electric sports car from Michigan. We are committed to doing our part for this great revival of Detroit through innovation, entrepreneurship and determination – what we like to call ‘Detroit 2.0′. Our investors and management team are thankful to the State of Michigan for the help provided in allowing Detroit Electric to carry on the legacy that began in Michigan so many years ago.”

Can Detroit Electric meet its highly-ambitious goals for new product launches? Can the firm succeed where others have struggled or failed? Will electric sports cars become a viable business in the near future? We’re asking these questions ourselves, and we’d love to hear your take on things.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Automotive Addicts

Automobiles

Detroit Electric returns with 100% electric sports car teaser

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By Sebastian Blanco

detroit electric ev teaser

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Now here’s an old story. Back in 2008, Zap revived the Detroit Electric name, a name that had cachet for building and selling around 13,000 electric vehicles in the early 20th Century. But, in 2009, after losing the Zap connection, the Detroit Electric revival kind of faded away, at least in public. Today, almost out of nowhere, the brand bounced back. That’s because Detroit Electric just announced it will have its headquarters in the Fisher Building in Detroit.

Details on the new vehicle are only teased, but the new Detroit Electric company will unveil its all-electric, two-seat sports car early next month, so we don’t have too long to wait. The show debut will happen at the Shanghai Auto Show later in that month, where Detroit Electric will “share an exciting announcement about a major partnership with a global carmaker.” After all these years of silence, Detroit Electric is moving fast, and will start production of the new EV in Michigan in August. Annual capacity is supposed to be 2,500 cars.

And speaking of tease, you can make out what look like LED headlights and the general shape of the front of the car in the image above. Detroit Electric says its plan is to “create over 180 sales and manufacturing-related jobs over the next 12 months” as it moves the car to market. Perhaps more interesting, Detroit Electric says that a, “diverse family of high-performance electric vehicles to follow,” including two other high-performance models that should arrive by the end of 2014.

Detroit Electric is headed by Albert Lam, the former Group CEO of the Lotus Engineering Group and Executive Director of Lotus Cars of England, who said in a statement that the electric sports car’s DNA “will be translated across to our future sedans; all our cars will be fun to drive and deliver exceptional performance within their class.”

Continue reading Detroit Electric returns with 100% electric sports car teaser

Detroit Electric returns with 100% electric sports car teaser originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 19 Mar 2013 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog