New York auto show offers up teasers
Fisker to replace all batteries; VW adds ‘four-door coupe’
We’re less than a week from the opening of this year’s annual New York auto show, and as usual, rumours of what will debut at the show are hot and heavy.
Toyota has just released a teaser image of what it says will be an “all-new, designed-in-america sedan.” Based on what we know about the automaker’s product cycles, the betting line has this mystery car as the next Camry-based Avalon sedan.
Nissan will also be front and centre in New York with several debuts. In addition to the new Altima midsize sedan, Thedetroitbureau.com reports that we should see the debut of the luxury Infiniti version of the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle as well.
CHEVROLET MAY GET ANOTHER SMALL CROSSOVER
In addition to its full-size Traverse and midsize Equinox, it looks like Chevrolet will be getting a third crossover.
Patent drawings for a subcompact Chevy CUV have been released by the French L’automobile magazine. Speculation suggests it’s based on the same General Motors global platform that also underpins the European Opel Mokka and the new 2013 subcompact Buick Encore that’s coming to Canada.
In Europe, where these types of small-but-practical vehicles are popular, GM positions Chevrolet as an entry-level brand underneath Opel. It’s expected the new Chevy crossover may be called Captiva.
FISKER BATTERY FIX WILL COST SUPPLIER $55 MILLION
After a much-publicized battery failure with a Consumer Reports Fisker Karma test vehicle, the company that supplies the gas-electric hybrid’s batteries has agreed to spend $55 million (U.S.) to replace the defective battery packs.
According to the Detroit News, Fisker says the supplier, Michiganbased A123, will replace the battery packs in the 2012 Karma models. It will also expand its battery warranty from 80,000 to 96,000 kilometres in North America.
In brief, the CR car died after about 300 kilometres of driving. It was flat-bedded back to the Fisker dealer for a new battery pack.
TEENAGE GIRL DRIVERS NEED TO PUT DOWN THEIR CELLPHONES AND STOP BEING DISTRACTED
Teenage girls are twice as likely as teen boys to use cellphones and other electronic devices while driving, according to a new study just released by the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety. The data came from an analysis of video clips collected as part of a study of 50 North Carolina families with first-year teen drivers. Overall, the girls were also nearly 10 per cent more likely to be seen engaging in other distracted behaviours, such as reaching for an object in the car, and eating or drinking. For breaking news about the auto industry, plus analysis, go to:
VOLKSWAGEN TO ADD SECOND ‘FOUR-DOOR COUPE’
Smaller than the mid-size CC, Volkswagen is planning to introduce a compact Jetta-based “fourdoor sedan with coupe-like styling.” In an Auto-week article, it’s reported that the new four-passenger (internally named SC, for “sport coupe”) will join the current five-seat Jetta sedan around 2015. Volkswagen said U.S. market studies revealed the more conventional, Jetta-based New Compact Coupe two-door, first seen at the 2010 Detroit auto show, received only a ‘lukewarm’ response from potential customers, hence the marketing decision to release a coupestyled vehicle, instead.