These are the first pictures of the 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia, the successor to the F430. It is set for an official debut in September at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show, but Ferrari has already released a few key details.
Acura, Honda’s North American luxury division, has released details of the redesigned 2010 RDX compact SUV. Built in America, the futuristic crossover will only be sold in that region unfortunately.
Nissan has previewed its electric vehicle platform on a Tiida-based prototype in their quest for a pure zero-emissions vehicle. They also showcased a sophisticated EV-IT system developed to support electric driving 24 hours a day.
Suzuki, a small player in the global car market, is celebrating 100 years of business on October 2009. German companies such as Audi are also celebrating 100 years in far grander fashion, and keep focusing on a handful of old innovations and motorsports victories while still not being able to build a reliable car. But Suzuki has successfully brought trustworthy transportation to the masses, influencing millions of lives, with everything from the Suzuki-Maruti 800 for lower-income people right up to the cheap Suzuki Samurai for budget offroaders.
Arabian Automobiles, Flagship Company of AW Rostamani Group, the exclusive dealer for Nissan, Infiniti and Renault in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and the Northern Emirates is announcing a new finance plan to appeal to budget-conscious drivers enabling the Nissan Tiida small family car to be purchased on finance for as little as AED 30 per day.
Though overshadowed by Felipe Massa’s serious freak accident in qualifying that almost saw him killed by flying debris, the 2009 Hungarian F1 Grand Prix went ahead as scheduled. Lewis Hamilton brought McLaren their first victory of the season after a surprise result in Hungary on Sunday afternoon, his dominant success also marking Martin Whitmarsh’s first as team principal and the first for a KERS-equipped car. Kimi Raikkonen was second for Ferrari, containing a challenge from Mark Webber’s Red Bull.
Ford has created a one-of-a-kind 2010 Ford Mustang GT, dubbed the Mustang AV-X10 “Dearborn Doll,” to be sold at auction during the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) 2009 AirVenture Oshkosh aviation event. Ford is the exclusive automotive partner with EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and all of the proceeds from the sale will benefit the Young Eagles organization.
We don’t like ragging on Nissan. Even though they have blatantly refused to give us ads, we like the company, if only because they give us access to their press fleet, however late we may get them. They also make good cars, starting from the satanic GT-R right down to our “recommended list” Tiida, all of which we’ve driven. But driving press-fleet cars after everyone else means we sometimes get abused cars with peeling trim, creased leather or below-average performance. However, the 2009 Nissan Murano we got wasn’t too old, having racked up less than 5000 km. But some previous journalist’s possible offroad excursion meant there was a loose panel beneath our Murano that kept clunking throughout our test drive.
The “big” car magazines usually get hold of official photos and info about brand new vehicles well before launch, straight from the trusting car manufacturers themselves. The excuse is usually that it helps the rags prepare next month’s tree-killing issue in ample time before the launch date. However, these magazines occasionally jump the gun and publish their advance info a bit early, with no real consequences. The latest perpetrator is Germany’s trashy Autozeitung, as scans from the magazine have hit the web, depicting the all-new 2010 Saab 9-5 in its full glory.
A special version of the Mercedes-Benz SLK is now available in the GCC. Apparently this 2LOOK Edition is now available to order, in “exclusive obsidian black metallic” or “special finish designo mystic white” while being limited to just 300 vehicles worldwide.