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Geely to make world’s cheapest car?
Ng Han Guan/AP
A model poses with Chinese automaker Geely's Gleagle IG at the Beijing Auto China 2010 show in Beijing, in April.
The race to capture the wallets of burgeoning motoring classes in Brazil, Africa, India and China — and maybe eventually in Europe and North America as well — has a new “cheapest car in the world” contender.
To date, Indian automaker Tata’s Nano has been widely recognized as the least expensive new car you can buy in the world. But now, according to the China Car Times, Chinese automaker Geely has announced its Geely Gleagle IG will go on sale in the Chinese market in 2012 for as little as $2,250 (U.S.) — undercutting the Tata by $450.
Unveiled at this year’s Beijing auto show, the Gleagle IG city car sported a pair of gull-wing doors and room for four in a pinch. Those doors more than likely won’t see production. But the Gleagle IG will have a metal body, whereas the Tata’s is made of bonded plastic.
Geely recently made headlines with its purchase of Sweden’s Volvo from Ford. It’s not known, however, whether the Gleagle IG or any other Geelys will find their way into Canadian Volvo showrooms.
Volkswagen buys Italian design firm
The Volkswagen Group has been open about its ambition to become the world’s largest automaker. As Europe’s largest automaker, it wants to triple by 2018 the more than six million cars it sold in 2009. And part of that strategy involves purchasing a majority share in Italy’s famed design house ItalDesign Giugiaro.
“The Volkswagen Group will be continuing its model initiative over the coming years and will benefit from the capacity and competence of ItalDesign,” VW CEO Martin Winterkorn said in a statement.
ItalDesign was founded by its current chairman Giorgetto Giugiaro, who some consider one of the greatest automotive designers of all time. He is famous for the original 1970s VW Golf, among others. He also designed concepts for the first VW Passat, Scirocco and Audi 80.
Giugiaro said the firm has contracts with other automakers including BMW. In fact, the 42-year-old company has about another year of work remaining on the new Mini Roadster and Coupe.
In addition to mainstream VW brand, the VW Group consists of Audi, Bentley, Seat, Skoda and Lamborghini, and a partial share in Japan’s Suzuki.
“They have enough brands to fill all our resources,” Giugiaro said.
VW said ItalDesign is also working on VW’s new Up family of minicars, the first of which is an expected electric version due in 2013.
Last Hummer off the line
Banana republic dictators or G.I Joe wannbes looking for their next new set of wheels will be sorely disappointed: the last Hummer has left the assembly line.
As you may recall, last year, Hummer — along with Saturn, Saab and Pontiac — was wound down as part of parent General Motors’ bankruptcy plans. In fact, GM stopped making H3s in mid-2009 as it went through bankruptcy.
But after a failed attempt to sell the quasi military-brand to a Chinese heavy equipment maker, production was resumed at Hummer only in order to fill an 849-unit special order from U.S., rental-car company Avis.
Now that Hummer production has stopped, 200 of the 900 remaining employees at the plant will be laid off by July and the rest of the Hummer staff in Detroit is either leaving or being “reassigned.”
At first, the brand did have a legitimate tie-in to its military image.
The original Hummer H1 was based on the military High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, or Humvee). However, the subsequent H2 and H3 were merely based on GM pickup platforms.
If you are interested, you may still find new Hummers for sale. The brand’s sudden fall from grace has left various H2 and H3 models (the original H1 ceased to be made in 2006) as hard-to-sell items. But buyers beware.
Earlier this month, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recalled virtually all H3s — more than 162,000 in total — for defective clips that hold the H3’s hood’s fake louvres in place.
Audi A2 to be exclusively electric?
Audi had previously confirmed an all-new A2 is a go for 2012. Now, new reports suggest the Audi supermini will launch exclusively as an electric vehicle primarily to take on BMW’s Megacity EV arriving a year later.
The original A2 is still revered by many of its fans for its forward-thinking technology. The four- or five-seat subcompact hatchback had a Toyota Prius-like aero body that was constructed from aluminum. It was the first five-door vehicle sold in Europe with an average fuel consumption less than 3.0L litres/100 km. Produced between 1999 and 2005, there are still many A2s on the road in Europe.
As a technology statement, the original A2 still resonates. But its expensive aluminum body ensured Audi’s financial returns never equaled rival — and less sophisticated — small cars. As such, a report in the U.K.’s Autocar says the second-generation model will forego aluminum for a conventional steel body from the A1 that was introduced at this year’s Geneva auto show.
While the new A2’s looks remain a mystery, to distinguish it from the similarly sized A1, Audi has teased that the new supermini will be inspired by the original’s tall, hatchback design.
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