Kia sets sights on luxury market

Kia’s front-wheel-drive Cadenza will replace the aging Amanti as the flagship of the automaker’s lineup.

John LeBlanc

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Established luxury brands have another upstart adversary to look out for: Kia.

Named after the Italian musical term used to describe an "elaborate, ornamental flourish for a concerto or aria," the new Cadenza luxury sedan is positioned above the Korean automaker's current Magentis. It replaces the long-in-the-tooth Amanti as the brand's flagship model.

Based on the Kia VG Concept, the new five-passenger Kia sedan is front-wheel drive (unlike the rear-wheel-drive Genesis from parent Hyundai). Expect four- and six-cylinder engines to be offered.

The Cadenza's styling is the antithesis of the dowdy Amanti. Highlights include headlights with LED surrounds, prominent front grille and sleek tail lights.

Luxury features will include a heated steering wheel, powered extendable seat cushions for extra thigh support, and ventilated front seats.

Expect the Cadenza to show up on this season's auto show circuit, and go on sale some time in 2010.

Hidden costs of EVs

As automakers rush forward with the development of purely electric automobiles, a recent report says electric vehicles won't turn out to be that much greener than regular gas-fuelled cars.

"For electric vehicles to become a major green alternative, the power fuel mix has to move away from coal, or cleaner coal technologies have to be developed," said Jared Cohon, the chair of a recently released U.S. National Research Council report called "Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use."

The reports says that electric vehicles will not be dramatically cleaner than autos powered by fossil fuels until they rely less on electricity produced from conventional coal-fired power plants.

About half of U.S. power is generated by burning coal, which emits many times more pollutants than, say, hydroelectric power.

The report also says that electric vehicles have additional hidden costs. Materials in their batteries are hard to produce, which adds to the energy it takes to make them.

In fact, the health and environmental costs of making electric cars can be 20 per cent greater than conventional cars, and manufacturing efficiencies will have to be achieved in order for the cars to become greener, the report said.

VW's new sedan

Fans of one of the least-expensive German-made sedans on the market, listen up: Volkswagen will "probably" drop its Passat sedan and wagon in 2011, when its new U.S.-built mid-sized four-door is expected to go on sale.

According to VW Group of America, the as-yet-unnamed U.S.-made sedan will be larger than the current Passat, but priced lower.

"We'll have two sedans coming out at the same time, and the smaller one will cost considerably more than the bigger one," said a VW spokesman.

VW says it can afford to price its new sedan lower because it will be built at a new factory in Tennessee.

The new sedan will be exported, but has been designed primarily for Americans who are more comfortable with the likes of a U.S.-made Toyota Camry or Honda Accord.

In regards to the Passat wagon, VW says it doesn't need it because its Golf station wagon is only 229 millimetres shorter.

The Passat will still be sold in Europe. A redesigned version is scheduled for 2011.

Passat sales peaked at 96,142 in 2002, but fell to 30,034 last year.

Nissan's new subcompact

In what industry analysts are calling an obvious move by the Japanese automaker to go deeper into small, fuel-efficient vehicles, Nissan plans to bring a new global subcompact to the North America after 2010.

It will be positioned below its current entry-level model, the Versa, which is larger than the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit.

The new, so-called "V" small platform will produce three models: a four-door sedan, a five-door hatchback and a multipurpose vehicle.

They will replace the subcompact Micra that is now sold in markets other than North America.

Which models will be sold in North America, Nissan isn't saying.

Honda hydrogen vapourized?

Has Honda given up its hydrogen car dream?

Honda CEO Takanobu Ito said he would consider launching electric cars in the United States, Europe and Japan.

Strategically, this is a big turnaround for the automaker.

Honda has been aiming to get a leg up on its rivals in the next generation of zero-emission technology by focusing on the development of hydrogen fuel-cell cars.

In fact, Honda was the first automaker to offer series production fuel-cell vehicles. Three-year leases of its FCX Clarity began in July 2008 for U.S. customers.

But the lack of progress in the development of hydrogen fuelling stations has forced Honda to take a closer look at plug-in electric cars, a technology the automaker had dismissed as a short-range option that uses too many expensive batteries.

"There is no change to my view that hydrogen fuel-cell cars will in the end be proven the best," Ito said. However, ``electric vehicles will also be a core option for cars in the future."

Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi plan to offer plug-in electric vehicles globally by 2012. And the Chevrolet Volt is expected to be sold next year.

More videos from Wheels.ca and our partners