5th May 2008, 09:35 am
Volvo Cars came out top in Britain’s Power of Aluminium Awards for the company’s new load-anchoring system installed in the new XC70 and V70. “The system with its embedded eyelets is unique. It means a lot to Volvo Cars that we have won this award,” says Karin Lejonbäck, group manager at the Interior & Climate department.
Set into the floor of the luggage compartment of the new XC70 and V70 are load rails made of aluminium. Running in the rails are four sliding hooks or eyelets that are used to secure cargo.
What is unique about this solution is that the eyelets lie flush with the floor’s surface when they are not in use, they can be moved steplessly and they are self-locking in the raised position when in use.
The Power of Aluminium Awards ranks the concept very highly - it was given first prize in the Transport category. The award was presented recently at a ceremony in Warwick in England.
“This is the first time Volvo Cars has received this award. We have also made it to the next round of this year’s Henry Ford Technology Award, an internal innovation contest, with this function,” relates Karin Lejonbäck.
The solution is developed in cooperation with aluminium profile supplier Sapa.
5th May 2008, 09:29 am
accroding to http://www.easycarblog.com/
Toyota is facing its first profit drop in almost a decade, so they have decided to raise their prices in the U.S due to high raw material prices and the weakening of the U.S dollar.
Toyota will first raise the prices of the cars imported to the U.S, whilst the cars which are locally manufactured will only raise later in the month. Toyota has a strong focus on fuel-efficiency and reliability, and this should stay the same even though there will be new prices.
The petrol-electric Prius should get around a 1.8% price increase, meaning the base model will be around $380 more expensive and the Touring model will be around $420 more expensive. The Toyota Yaris will have a price increase of around 1.7% so it will be around a $200 price increase.
Toyota is set to build a new plant in India for range of low cost cars which will be designed to rival the Tata Nano.
Auto insurance quotes should not raise due to the price hike.
and accroding to http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/toyota-to-raise-prices-in-us
NEW YORK —
Toyota Motor Corp will raise its automobile prices in the U.S. market later this month. Toyota said it will lift its suggested retail price by 0.9% for the 2009 model year Camry sedan, 1.6% for the 2008 Yaris sedan and 1.8% for the 2008 Prius hybrid vehicle.
The suggested price will go up by 1.1% for the 2008 RAV4 sport-utility vehicle and 0.3% for the 2008 Tundra full-size pickup truck. The company decided on the markup by taking into account the impact of the yen’s recent appreciation against the dollar and the pricing strategies of other automakers, a Toyota spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Toyota will keep unchanged the prices of five models, including the Corolla car, the Tacoma pickup truck and the Sequoia full-size SUV.
5th May 2008, 09:20 am
My old friend Mike Melville has just done the unthinkable: he’s invested in the car business. Sounds crazy, but he’s having fun, and his business–selling and servicing new and used exotic and classic cars to rich folks–may be a bit better positioned to weather the current economy (a huge slice of his sales are to Europe right now). His company, Grand Sport Performance Automobiles is Michigan’s only official Callaway dealer, and he recently invited Motor City Blogman Lassa and I up to sample a supercharged 2008 Callaway Corvette he had in stock.
Continue reading ‘Fast and Easy’ »
5th May 2008, 09:07 am
In case you missed our update on the original post: mere days after rolling out a neoclassic Challenger done up like the lead character in Vanishing Point, Erich Heuschele stuffed it into a tire wall at Road America. Hey, things happen. At least only his ego was bruised; the damaged car was driven 200 miles without incident, proving that the scarring was little more than a flesh wound.
The nice thing about being in an automaker’s inner circle is that you can make a phone call and get a car dropped off like a cup of coffee from an intern. Breaking the early morning stillness of a Sunday sunrise, an orange Challenger SRT-8 sporting black stripes rode into the pits at Iowa’s Mid America Motorplex. One Lap rules preclude running for points after a vehicle replacement, so co-drivers Heuschele and Gillies are competing for giggles and exposure at this point. Never fear, though, the white-dunked Challenger is currently undergoing repairs, and should resurface for the Targa Newfoundland.
[Source: CarDomain]
