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Filed under: Budget, Sedan, China, Chevrolet

While all kinds of reveals are occurring at the Detroit Auto Show, halfway 'round the would, General Motors has unveiled its 2010 Chevrolet New Sail to China, the world's largest auto market. The New Sail is a joint venture between joint ventures: General Motors' local partner in China is Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC), and the subcompact was developed by Shanghai GM and Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, which are both jointly owned by GM and SAIC. It's the first time such a collaboration has produced a locally created car.

The New Sail will start around RMB 60,000 (circa $8,800 USD), putting it in direct contention with fully homegrown brands. The NS wants to lure buyers away from domestics with best-in-class fuel economy from its 85-horsepower, Variable Geometry Intake System (VGIS) 1.2-liter S-TEC II engine that returns 41.2 miles-per-gallon. The slightly larger 1.4-liter has 102 hp yet still turns in 39.8 mpg. Both engines work through a five-speed manual transmission.

You can get GM's exhaustive details in the press release after the jump, and check it out from numerous angles in our gallery of high-res photos below. In spite of the Cavalier epithet reference we made last time we met this car, it's not a bad looking piece of kit.



[Source: Chevrolet]

Continue reading GM releases Chevrolet New Sail in China

GM releases Chevrolet New Sail in China originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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America gets the good one—at long last.

The current U.S. Ford Focus is a disappointment to those who know how good the car was when it went on sale in 1999, as well as anyone who has driven the second-generation European-market Focus. While the rest of the world got a sharper, better handling, and more luxurious Focus for 2005, we merely got a heavy refresh of a car that was, in effect, already six years old. (It originally went on sale in Europe in 1998.) We then got an ugly refresh of that refresh for 2008.

One for All

Ford has now got its product development crews on the same page, so the next-generation Focus debuting at the Detroit auto show will be the same the world over. In the U.S., the car will be offered in early 2011 as a 2012 model in two variations: a sharp five-door hatchback and a good looking, if more conventional, four-door sedan. Compared with the current U.S. Focus, at 58.1 inches high, the new one is 0.5 inch lower. The overall length has gone up from 175.0 inches to 178.0, and the wheelbase grows from 102.9 inches to 104.2.

Keep Reading: 2012 Ford Focus – Auto Shows

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Filed under: Budget, Sedan, China, Chevrolet

The Chinese-market Chevrolet Sail has had quite a life, at one time being a rebadged Opel, at another time being built in China, at another time being called the Buick Sail. The 2010 model has been spotted - which was at one time thought to be the new Chevy Lova - and it's plastic fantastic. Honestly, when we look at it we don't even think Aveo, we think Cavalier, and then feel bad for anyone who might have to live through that experience.

But that's our own flashbacks; the car has sold well and appears to have a solid reputation in China, and the 2010 version should continue the trend. Engine options are said to number two: a 1.2-liter with 78 horsepower, and a 1.4-liter with 96 hp. They will work through a five-speed manual or perhaps a four-speed auto in an upper trim. The price in China is expected to be less than $9,390.



[Source: Autohome (translated) via Autoblog Spanish (translated)]

New Chevrolet sets Sail for China originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For those who appreciate fine design and are willing to pay for it.

When pondering the prices of the Volkswagen CC and the Toyota Camry or Honda Accord, mid-size sedan buyers might ask themselves why the VW costs so much more. Well, I could draw you a picture of some dudes and a lady with a big butt hanging out in a park, but it wouldn’t be Georges Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. To simplify, one is art and the other is not, and you can guess which commands a premium.

The CC qualifies as art not because of its mechanicals—which come courtesy of the fine Passat—but because of its sublime design. Take the front seats, for example. They’re beautiful. The unbroken curved sections that frame the bottom cushions are particularly daring compared to regular car seats, and the seats as a whole serve as a great example of how interesting design doesn’t have to impinge on functionality or comfort; they strike just the right balance between sporty grippiness and long-haul cushiness. Styling permeates everything else, too.

Keep Reading: 2009 Volkswagen CC 2.0T – Short Take Road Test

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Suzuki’s all-new Kizashi heads straight for the heart of the mid-size-sedan market. Does it measure up?

Suzuki hasn’t exactly been a major player in the mid-size-sedan sweepstakes, which makes some of the pre-introduction hyperbole surrounding the company’s new entry a little difficult to digest. A sample: “With the launch of the Kizashi, Suzuki delivers a unique blend of dynamic performance attributes with premium design aesthetics and craftsmanship yet to be experienced in this category.”

This grandiloquence could well raise expectations a little above the realm of reality; one could be forgiven for thinking that Suzuki had reinvented the wheel. But we’d be perfectly comfortable with a statement characterizing this new sedan as the best Suzuki passenger car by far. Built in Korea by Daewoo, the 2004–’06 Verona—the Kizashi’s predecessor—was competent but as forgettable as the fifth-place finisher in last year’s Kentucky Derby.

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It’s official: Buick’s next mid-size sedan will wear the resurrected Regal badge.

A few months back, our sneaky spy shooters caught a Buick-badged Opel Insignia testing on American soil. At the time, we could only speculate that Buick would be adding the Regal to its offerings, but now GM has confirmed our hunch.

Originally scheduled to serve as the basis for a second-gen Saturn Aura, the current Opel Insignia’s U.S. future became uncertain following GM’s decision to rid itself of Saturn, which will now die after the brand’s sale to Penske Automotive fell through. But the Insignia looks like it will come to our shores after all, as we anticipate our Regal will be almost identical to the Chinese model, which itself is nearly identical to the Insignia offered in Europe.

Keep Reading: Buick Confirms Regal as Next Mid-Size Sedan – Car News

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If there’s one thing that imbues a car with a more sporting character, it’s a manual transmission. None of this automated-manual mumbo jumbo; we’re talking about a true manual with a clutch pedal to the left of the brake and more left-right movement in the shift pattern than just sliding the shift lever into Sport. The Acura TL has always been pretty agile and responsive, but the new generation launched in 2009 without a manual.

What a Stick is Supposed to Be

The TL gets a manual transmission for 2010, however, and although we wonder why—Acura concedes that maybe five percent of buyers will opt for the manual—we welcome any transmission as satisfying as this. In our first drive of the TL manual, we relayed Acura’s boast that these are the shortest throws in class, and we have little doubt that the claim is still true. In addition to the tidy throws, the effort is nearly perfect and the action crisp and clean. The clutch, too, is wonderfully tuned with a progressive, predictable takeup and a light feel that requires just enough muscle to keep it from feeling overly assisted.

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Lightly used car: The S4 isn’t just Audi’s answer to the M3, it’s also a luxury rally car for the road.

Challenge your average gearhead to come up with the name of a car that has rally-racing heritage, all-wheel drive, and something near 300 horsepower, and you’ll probably get an answer that includes the words “Mitsubishi” or “Subaru.” But the Audi S4, the performance variant of the A4 line, fits that criteria, too, and its 340-hp V-8 offers far more grunt than the turbo fours from Japan. The S4’s athleticism impressed us enough to rank it higher than an E46 BMW M3 in a May 2003 comparison test.

The third-generation S4 arrived in the U.S. for the 2004 model year in sedan, wagon (Avant), and convertible (cabriolet) versions, all with the aforementioned 340 horsepower—and 302 pound-feet of torque—from a 4.2-liter, DOHC 40-valve V-8. In late 2005, the entire A4 lineup received styling tweaks, but the S4 was left relatively unchanged. Only the convertible was offered as a 2009; the other versions were phased out in anticipation of the new 2010 model.

A curb weight north of 3800 pounds resulted in a 0-to-60 time of about five seconds flat for the sedan, so the S4 wasn’t winning all the footraces with its competitors. But if your must-have list includes all-weather capability, a deep V-8 rumble, and comfort for four, the S4 stands alone.

Keep Reading: Certified Pre-Owned: 2004 – 2008 Audi S4 – Feature

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Mercedes’ next four-door coupe will actually look more like a coupe.

Further proof that a car can never be too sexy is soon to arrive in the form of the second-generation Mercedes-Benz CLS-class. Clearly descended from the current-generation CLS four-door coupe/sedan thingy, which we heralded as one of the Top 10 Most Beautiful Cars of 2009, the new CLS promises to be even more emotional, and to a few of us here, just as beautiful as its genre-bending predecessor.

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