2024-03-27 20:03:41
Car production has resumed at the PSMA Rus plant in Kaluga. Contract assembly of crossovers Citroen C5 Aircross from Chinese car kits is being carried out by order of the company Automobile Technologies LLC, which has been importing finished Citroen and Peugeot cars from China for a year now. Kaluga Citroens should go on sale by May, the estimated price is 4.3 million rubles, although now similar Chinese-made crossovers from last year can be found for less than 4 million. An Autoreview correspondent attended the production launch ceremony and very soon we will publish our report from the plant.
In an Indian SUV Force Gurkha the second generation, which debuted three years ago and is currently offered only in a three-door version, will soon see an extended version with a five-door body. The wheelbase is stretched by 425 mm, up to 2825 mm, a third row of seats will be offered for an additional fee, and in addition, new comfortable options are promised that the three-door does not have. Technical changes are not expected: now the Gurkha is offered only with a 2.6 turbodiesel (91 hp) and a five-speed manual transmission, but all-wheel drive is available with locking of both cross-axle differentials.
And companies Renault and Nissan At the same time, they announced the imminent release of twin crossovers on the CMF-B platform in India. Apparently, these will be the closest relatives of the new European model Dacia Duster, but adapted for Indian conditions. Moreover, at first the crossovers will be presented in five-seat versions, and later both models will acquire seven-seat versions. Currently, Renault produces and sells only three models in India (Kwid, Kiger, Triber), the local Duster was discontinued two years ago, and Nissan in this country only has the Magnite SUV.
Company Come on announced new appointments in the design division. Oliver Samson (in the first photo), who in previous years had already worked for the Hyundai-Kia team, but then worked for Changan, Nio and Mercedes-Benz, and has now returned to a new position, has been appointed head of the design center in Europe. The Kia design center in China will be headed by Sengmo Lim (in the second photo), who previously worked for Geely and BMW. Both appointees will report directly to Kia Chief Design Officer Karim Habib.
Sports division Volkswagen R is going to spin off into a separate brand like BMW M, Audi Sport or Mercedes-AMG. The first Volkswagen with the R prefix appeared in 2002, it was the Golf R32 hatchback with a VR6 engine and 4Motion all-wheel drive transmission. Subsequently, R versions were available not only for the Golf, but also for the Passat, Scirocco, Arteon, T-Roc, Tiguan and Touareg models. The Volkswagen R division became a separate organization within the VW group back in 2020, and has now set a course for even greater independence.
The intention to begin mass production of the electric version of the pickup truck has been officially confirmed Toyota Hilux. The first prototype of such an electric car was shown back in 2022; it was created by Toyota’s division in Thailand. Serial production will also be organized there, and already in 2025. Then it is possible that the electric pickup truck will appear in other markets, for example, in Europe.
And in the USA Toyota is eyeing the segment of compact pickup trucks with a monocoque body. Currently, it actually only carries the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz, although other models are sold outside the States. Last fall, the Toyota EPU concept was shown, and now the head of Toyota’s American division has confirmed the company’s interest in this kind of model, but without any specifics, only explaining that a compact truck is easier to electrify than large frame models.
The company’s application has been sent to the patent offices of the European Union and the United States Ferrari, describing the hybrid powertrain of a mid-engine supercar. The main feature of this design is the internal combustion engine, which runs on hydrogen and is turned upside down! This in-line turbo-six with two superchargers has a crankshaft on top, and a gas distribution mechanism on the bottom, and is also sandwiched on the sides by large hydrogen cylinders. Registration of a patent does not mean its implementation, but the flight of thought of Ferrari engineers is surprising.
The epic with the fall of the company Fisker, Looks like it’s entering the home stretch. The other day, it stopped trading its shares on the stock exchange after a colossal price collapse (they fell by a third in one day, and tenfold over the last month). Negotiations with Nissan have reached a dead end, and now the company has no means of subsistence. Against this background, the Fisker Ocean crossover has become the most affordable electric car on the US market, because the manufacturer has reduced its starting price from 39 thousand to 25 thousand dollars! It all feels like a final sale before closing.
And the company Volvo Cars stopped production of diesel cars. The last example with a turbodiesel was the blue Volvo XC90 crossover, which rolled off the assembly line of the plant in Torslanda (Sweden) and was immediately sent to the company museum. Volvo has been producing diesel cars since 1979, although for a long time they were equipped with purchased Audi engines, and their own diesel engine appeared only in 2001. The production of Volvo gasoline cars is still ongoing, but the company intends to abandon them by 2030, after which only electric cars will remain in the range.
Also today we talked about Aston Martin’s research, the Kia K4 sedan and the Citroen Basalt and BYD Yuan UP crossovers.
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