Ferrari set to unveil hybrid

Ferrari will unveil a hybrid at the Geneva Motor Show in March, the company's chairman confirmed.

Rumors of a hybrid Ferrari prototype based on the Ferrari 599 GTB, which debuted at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, have long been making the rounds.

Ferrari filings with the European Patent Office for a "4WD system with hybrid propulsion" were reported in June. At the time, Ferrari confirmed it was developing hybrid technology and hinted at a release within the year, but did not specify when.

Since then, there has been much speculation (and outrage by some purists) about a hybrid version of the iconic sports car. Thursday was the first official confirmation that it will appear at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show.

"It has to be the avant-garde in automobile technology. We're constructing cars with an enormous part of the innovative technology. We'll present a 599 hybrid in Geneva, which will represent a great path towards the future," Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo said in Maranello, Italy, at the presentation of the 2010 Formula One Ferrari.

Confirmation of his statement and a video of the event were released simultaneously on Ferrari's F1 Web site.

What remains to be seen is whether the prototype makes it to even limited production and whether Ferrari aficionados and buyers will find such a car blasphemous or forward-thinking.

Honda's fuel cell vehicle gets free energy

Honda developed and put into operation a new solar hydrogen station at its Los Angeles research center to refill the Honda FCX fuel cell vehicle.

The new station delivers a trickle of hydrogen, designed to put half a kilogram into the FCX's tank over an eight hour period, enough, according to Honda, for most drivers' daily commutes. The FCX has a hydrogen capacity of about 4 kilograms and a range of 240 miles, so a half kilogram will run it for 30 miles.

Honda developed prototypes of this station previously, but most were inefficient because of the need for a compressor to pressurize the hydrogen. The new station combines compressor and electrolyzer in what Honda calls a "high differential pressure electrolyzer."

While the station can use electricity from its 6-kilowatt solar panel array to power the electrolyzer and generate hydrogen, Honda envisions most people hooking the FCX up to the hydrogen station overnight and using nonpeak capacity electricity from the grid. The solar panels would send electricity back into the grid during the day, when the FCX owner is at work.

Given the slow fill rate of the hydrogen from this station, public hydrogen stations, which can fill the tanks in 5 minutes, would still be needed.

Nissan says to offer 9 models in India soon

NEW DELHI - Nissan Motor Co will soon offer a line-up of nine vehicles in India including five built locally as it aims to catch up with rivals in the fast-growing market, the head of its Indian operations said.

"I'm often asked whether Nissan has taken too much time to enter India," Nissan Motor India CEO Kiminobu Tokuyama told Reuters at the Delhi auto show, where Nissan is not an official exhibitor.

"And I always say: It's not too late."

Japan's No. 3 automaker currently only imports a small number of cars to India, selling only around 400 X-Trail SUVs and Teana sedans last year.

But it is scheduled to start producing a new compact car at its first Indian factory in May with production volumes that are expected to surpass Honda Motor Co's local volumes next year given its plans to turn India into an export base to supply more than 100 countries.

The Chennai factory, co-owned by French partner Renault SA, plans to ship 110,000 units of Nissan's new global compact car in 2011, mainly to Europe, expanding that to 180,000 "in the near future", Tokuyama said.

Nissan has not disclosed how many of the compact cars it will build for local consumption. But Tokuyama said Nissan wanted to at least match its global market share of about 5.5 percent in India as soon as possible.

The new compact car, which will replace the March/Micra subcompact in Europe, will first be available as a hatchback, adding a sedan version next year and another body type later. Diesel models are also in the pipeline.

Renault said a day earlier it would also offer a model based on the same "V" platform for Nissan's global compact car as they aim to make the most of their comprehensive partnership.

Nissan will offer two other locally built models in India which Tokuyama said would likely include a light commercial vehicle (LCV) co-developed with Ashok Leyland Ltd. LCVs for the Nissan badge will also be produced at the Chennai plant, he said.

The nine-model count would not include the ultra low-cost car that is due to be developed and built by Bajaj Auto Ltd and marketed by Renault and Nissan.

"We haven't decided yet whether the car would take a Nissan badge," Tokuyama said.

To boost sales, Nissan plans to expand its dealer network to 55 by around 2012 from the current seven, Tokuyama said.

Nissan and Renault's foray into India had been interrupted by the financial crisis, with Renault putting its investment in the Chennai plant on hold in 2008 to save cash.

But Renault said on Tuesday it would resume investment in India, announcing plans to build the Fluence and Koleos premium cars, launched at the Delhi Auto Expo, at the Chennai factory from next year.

The Renault-Nissan alliance is also looking at sourcing parts from India for their factories around the world.

Tokuyama said Nissan had 97 local suppliers for its vehicles in India, covering 85 percent of the components.

Ford brings smartphone Web apps to cars

LAS VEGAS--Ford Motor is making its vehicles an Internet application platform by giving drivers access to streaming media and other smartphone applications.

During a keynote on Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show, Ford CEO Alan Mulally plans to show off the latest high-tech touches to the interior of Ford vehicles, including a redesigned driver interface that will let drivers access smartphone applications through the voice-command feature of the Sync in-car software. Cars equipped with the latest Ford interface, called MyFord Touch, will be available in certain models later this year, according to Ford.  

The first three available applications are the Pandora streaming music service, Stitcher news and audio service, and Twitter, said Jim Buczkowski, director of global electrical and electronics systems engineering at Ford. 

So instead of fiddling with a BlackBerry or iPhone while driving, consumers can use voice commands to navigate through the applications, he said. The connection to the Internet is done using the smartphone's network connection, and the phone talks to the car's software via Bluetooth.

Ford created application programming interfaces (APIs) that will allow third-party developers to modify smartphone applications to work with Sync. More apps will be available over time, such as ways to coach consumers to drive more efficiently, but Ford plans to approve which applications will be available, Buczkowski said.

Lincoln models will have the latest Sync software standard with 2011 models starting with the Lincoln MKX. The Ford Edge crossover and the Ford Focus sedan will also have the latest Sync software, Buczkowski said, adding that the full list will be announced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next week.

Mobile hot spots

Mulally is also scheduled to announce connectivity options built off Ford's Sync software, which uses Microsoft's embedded auto software.

People can use a USB modem to connect to cellular networks and create a mobile Wi-Fi network within the car. The car itself will have Wi-Fi capability and let a driver, when parked, access the Internet using a public Wi-Fi hot spot or home network, Buczkowski explained.

"The approach we are taking is to leverage (networking) devices that are already out in the market or will be in the future," he said.

Giving drivers the ability to connect to online applications creates more potential distractions. But Buczkowski argued that drivers are already using their smartphones in the cars, and voice control is safer because it allows drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

Beijing Autos to buy Saab car, engine technology

Beijing Autos has agreed to buy technology from GM's Saab Automobile, a breakthrough for the Chinese automaker that could clear the way for General Motors Co. to sell the rest of Saab to another buyer.

An announcement Monday from state-owned Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings gave no details about the cost or timing of the acquisition of car and engine technology.

Beijing Autos, also known as BAIC, said it plans to buy the rights to some powertrain technology for Saab's 9-5 and 9-3 sedans, including engine and gearbox knowhow.

The production equipment used to make the 9-5 will be moved to China to produce BAIC cars, and Saab will help integrate the technology into the Chinese company's vehicles, the two sides said.

Saab will also support Beijing Auto's efforts to build its own car brands, using the Saab technology, said the announcement.

"This arrangement is excellent for both parties, now and for the future. We have developed a good relationship with BAIC and look forward to working with them to integrate this Saab technology into their future vehicles," Jan Aake Jonsson, managing director of Saab Automobile, said in a statement released by GM on Monday.

GM is also in talks with another buyer to sell the entire Saab brand, a person familiar with the negotiations said Sunday.

The sale of the technology to Beijing Autos will help Saab financially but won't hinder a deal to sell the Saab brand and its current production lines to another buyer, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the deals.

Beijing Autos has partnerships with Germany's Daimler AG and South Korea's Hyundai, but makes only trucks under its own brand name. The Saab acquisition will enable it to build a passenger car to call its own, but the company still has to build up its own reputation and product line, analysts said.

"BAIC may finally get a self-owned brand, however, the benefit from this deal depends on how much they have spent and on how well BAIC manages its Saab assets. We'll see," said Zhang Xin, an auto analyst at Guotai Jun'an Securities.

Earlier this month, GM had said it might phase out the Saab brand if it didn't find a buyer before the end of December. About 4,500 jobs at Saab are at stake.

However, GM said new potential buyers had emerged after Sweden's Koenigsegg Automotive AB dropped out of a deal to buy the company in November.

Private equity firm The Renco Group Inc. and investor group Merbanco Inc. are reportedly also interested in Saab.

Beijing Autos originally was part of the Koenigsegg team and said it would re-evaluate Saab after that deal fell through.

Beijing Autos, founded as Beijing Auto Works in 1958, was the first Chinese car maker to team up with a foreign partner, when it set up its Beijing Jeep Corp. joint venture with American Motors in 1983.

It and other Chinese automakers are keen to acquire technology at bargain prices that might help them leapfrog to higher quality production and build up their brand names in overseas markets. Several have sought to buy the European brands and technology of Detroit's "Big Three" automakers as they restructure.

Daimler says sees market stabilisation for trucks and buses in 2010

FRANKFURT :-

Daimler says sees market stabilisation for trucks and buses in 2010

* Says Daimler trucks and bus units see stabilisation in 2010

* Says cost and capacity management in focus at trucks and bus units in 2010

* Says sees slight recovery in new truck orders in many markets in H2, sees bus orders in 2010 at 2009 level

* Says aims to actively participate in strategic growth in Brazil, Russia,India, China

Toyota to show ‘green’ sportscar with Subaru engine, futuristic electric car in Tokyo

Toyota to show green sportscar with Subaru engine.Besides showing off its well-known hybrids, Toyota will take a slightly different tack at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show to display a green sportscar with a special kind of gasoline engine.

The FT-86, inspired by a sporty Corolla model from the 1980s called AE86, has a Subaru engine from Toyota partner Fuji Heavy Industries, whose pistons are positioned horizontally, instead of vertically as in standard engines.

Subaru and Porsche SE are among the few automakers in the world making that type of engine, which allows for a quiet drive and a low-sitting mean look that’s a trademark for sportscars.

Toyota chief engineer Tetsuya Tada said the ruby-red sportscar, debuting at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month, will appeal to car enthusiasts who remember the fun-to-drive “spirit of the 86.”

It will be relatively affordable at about 3 million yen ($33,700), and it won’t be a gas-guzzler, delivering the mileage of an equivalent standard car, he said.

“Technology has developed in sportscars so much they can be green,” Tada said.

The Tokyo Motor Show opens for the media Oct. 21, ahead of its formal opening Oct. 23. Reporters got a preview of Toyota offerings, which also included a futuristic-looking electric car.

Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, is promising an electric vehicle by 2012.

It trails some other automakers, including Japanese rival Nissan Motor Co., which plans to start selling an electric car called Leaf next year.

Yasuo Kajino, a Toyota manager, said the FT-EV II electric vehicle, a concept model to be unveiled at the Tokyo show, isn’t the 2012 model and won’t be available for consumers for some years after that.

Toyota has led the world in hybrids with the Prius, now in its third-generation since its 1997 debut. The Prius is the top-selling gas-electric hybrid, racking up more than 1.4 million vehicles in global sales so far.

The automaker has long said it believes hybrids are a more practical green car solution because of costs and the lack of recharging stations for electric cars. But it has always had electric car technology. Hybrids are part electric vehicles.

Toyota has leased in small numbers to rental customers an electric version of the RAV-4 sport utility vehicle in the U.S. since 1997. It became available to regular consumers in 2003. Production was discontinued that same year, partly because only about 300 were sold.