The BMW 5-Series ActiveHybrid will make its debut at this December’s Tokyo Auto Show, featuring BMW’s familiar twin-turbo I6 engine and an electric motor that will produce a total output of 340 horsepower. Backed by an 8-speed automatic, the car will be able to operate in pure electric mode up to 37 mph.

The ActiveHybrid’s 55 horsepower electric motor will be powered by a trunk mounted lithium-ion battery pack, and also allow the driver to coast with the gasoline engine shut off. A boost function will also enable rapid acceleration, though BMW did not elaborate on its exact nature. An energy management system is said to work in concert with the car’s GPS unit to adjust for road conditions.

BMW also markets hybrid versions of the 7-series and X6. A 3-Series Hybrid will bow in 2012, while the i3 and i8 electric cars will debut in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Fiat will build Alfa Romeo vehicles in China starting in July, 2012, as part of a joint venture with local partner Guanhzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd.

Company president Zeng Qinghong told Automotive News that ”Besides the Fiat brand, after talks between the two shareholders, we will introduce the Alfa Romeo brand to the venture company.”  No timetable was given for when the vehicles would go on sale, but the new venture would be dubbed Guangqi Fiat.

Guangqi Fiat will initially produce 140,000 vehicles annually, and will likely expand beyond just Fiat and Alfa Romeo cars. Fiat has large interests in commercial vehicles, trucks and other vehicles. Alfa Romeo will also have to compete in an increasingly crowded premium vehicle segment in China.

[Source: Automotive News]

Despite recently weak sales, Nissan is adamant that the Cube “has found its place in the market” and will keep it in its lineup even though they haven’t mentioned a word about a next-generation model.

When the Cube was first introduced in 2009, it sold 21,000 units while 2010 followed up with 23,000 units. For 2011 though, Nissan has sold just a mere 13,850 units through October. Only 198 Cubes were sold in the month of October.

Brian Carolin, head of Nissan North America’s sales, claimed that the Cube’s demand rose when gas prices went up and that Nissan was having a tough time keeping up with demand. And even though one could argue that the Cube’s year-to-date sales is weak due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a parts shortage earlier this year doesn’t explain its horrible October sales.

GALLERY: Nissan Cube

[Source: Autoblog]

Consumer Reports has made allegations against Volkswagen that the company provided press vehicles that were built to a higher standard than versions sold to consumers.

Stories of “ringer” press vehicles are legend in the automotive world – most recently, Ferrari was accused of providing press cars that performed far better than customer cars. Now, the venerable consumer mag, which has made a name for itself by purchasing its own vehicles for road tests, has published photos and descriptions of a few key differences between the 2012 Passat they purchased, and the versions provided by Volkswagen by their press fleet.

The accusations hinge (no pun intended) on two plastic covers for the trunk hinge mechanism (pictured above). A VW press car had the covers installed to hide the bare metal hinges and wiring loom used on the Passat, but the customer cars purchased by CR didn’t have those. As CR’s Jon Linkov notes, if VW was willing to go the extra mile for a set of hinges, other crucial areas, like sound deadening, suspension tuning or engine performance could have been altered as well. Consumer Reports said that they’ve experienced these things before, and that it raises larger issues of impropriety.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Despite a growing number of small cars entering the US market in recent years, Volkswagen, one of the original pioneers of such vehicles over here with the Type 1 (Beetle) and Mk I Golf (Rabbit), has no plans to bring over either it’s new Up! or the Polo.

The company cites the traditional argument that small cars have thin profit margins, especially when they have to be imported, as VW would have to do with the Up! and Polo, at least in the short term.

Furthermore, with Volkswagen having just recently re-established a production facility in the US and with plans to significantly expand capacity in an effort to become a true volume player over here (led by models such as the redesigned North American market Jetta and Passat), the need to expand VW’s dealer network as well as supply chains (which brings with it significant costs and headaches), means the timing simply isn’t right to introduce a low volume, low profit niche vehicle, like the Polo or Up!

That doesn’t mean we’ll never see a VW badged subcompact on our shores, it just means it won’t happen for the time being. Nonetheless, Volkswagen is keeping a close eye on North America, in terms of market demand for small cars and also gas prices. Should the price of fuel rise significantly above $4 per gallon again, then perhaps it might reconsider; company product planner Rainer Michel, in a recent interview with Car & Driver stating that VW “could bring the Polo here tomorrow,” if needed.

[Source: Car & Driver]

The electric mobility pod from Chevrolet called EN-V will be shown in its latest form at the Tokyo Motor Show from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.

The EN-V, which stands for Electric Networked – Vehicle, made its world debut in 2010 at the World Expo Shanghai, and is designed to solve congestion in heavily populated city centers. The idea is that a small personal vehicle will take up less space on the road, will be easy to park and won’t pollute the environment either.

The EN-V will be part of the “Smart Mobility City 2011″ display, which will highlight other mobility solution vehicles from around the world.

So far, there are no plans on putting the EN-V into production.

Are you frustrated with your car’s nav system? Join the club – a new study out by J.D. Power and Associates Reports says that drivers are annoyed with their navigation systems.

Consumers are reporting that they are becoming increasingly frustrated with their in-car navigation and infotainment systems. The problem seems to be complexity of these systems, and drivers think that the systems available aren’t easy to use. Topping the list of complaints is the “Address/street/city not found”, followed by “Difficulty inputting destination,” “Route provided was not direct” and “Difficulty using voice recognition controls.” And instead of making these systems easier to use, manufacturers are adding even more features, such as climate controls.

“Routing the primary function of a navigation system is obviously an issue and will continue to be,” said Andy Bernhard, director at J.D. Power and Associates. “However, for nearly 10 years, the importance of ease of use has been emphasized by owners, and the continued high level of problems in this area begs the question: is the industry listening to how owners want to interact with their system?”

J.D. Power and Associates also ranked the top systems based on consumer satisfaction, and leading the way is the Garmin system that comes with the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300, as well as the Hyundai Mobis that’s found in the Hyundai Genesis Coupe. At the bottom of the list is the Alpine Electronics unit found in a few Mercedes-Benz models, TeleNav in the Lincoln MKX and DENSO in the Toyota RAV4.

If you have GPS or an infotainment system in your vehicle, do you find it too complicated to use? Let us know in the comments section below.

It’s no secret that General Motors’ European arm, Opel/Vauxhall has been struggling. With an ongoing debt crisis in Europe, high labor costs in Germany and regional status, Opel is finding the going difficult against many rival automakers in its homeland, including traditional competitor VW, whose tentacles stretch far beyond the boundaries of Europe.

Last year, Adam Opel AG lost some $1.6 billion and although GM has been looking at plans to sell the ailing company, recent news suggests that it plans to keep Opel under it’s wing, at least for the time being. One aspect which would appear to confirm that is the appointment of Stephen Girsky to the role of chairman of the board, replacing Nick Reilly who is officially retiring.

During a recent statement, Girsky said that “in order to fully leverage [Opel's] potential we will continue to work on optimizing the cost structure, improve margins and make use of economies of scale within the group.”

One of the biggest obstacles is very high assembly costs, which have continued to put a major dent in Opel’s profitability even though its research and development arm remains first rate. In order to help deal with that issue, as well as Germany’s powerful IG Metall manufacturing union, GM is bringing in Peter Thom as it’s Opel manufacturing chief. Thom’s is armed with experience working in China and a mandate to significantly cut costs, two things that will no doubt have far reaching effects.

As part of it’s response to meet tougher Corporate Average Fuel Economy targets, Audi of America, logically is looking to diesels, at least in the short term to improve its overall fleet mileage.

The US arm of the Ingolstadt automaker plans to bring over oil burning versions of the Q5 SUV and A8 flagship sedan next year, however the A6 diesel has now been pushed back, along with the planned introduction of the A6 an A8 Hybrid models.

In the case of the latter, Audi’s US President, Johann De Nysschen says that the pushing back the A6 and A8 Hybrids was largely done to “minimize complexity” in the lineup, since Audi is already planning to introduce a Q5 Hybrid for 2012.

As to why the A6 diesel has been delayed, no official word so far, but given that the mid-size premium sedan segment is largely a stagnant market in the US and most of Audi’s sales gains (14.1 percent so far this year) have essentially been at the expense of rivals, perhaps the time simply isn’t right to introduce yet another new model.  That said, Audi’s German rivals, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are also reporting increased demand (4.1 percent for the E-Class and a whopping 46.4 percent through the first 10 months of this year).

During a recent statement at the LA Auto Show, De Nysschen also said that a diesel A7 Sportback is a possibility for North America, though in reference to rumors of a possible local production facility he said “no official decision has been made.”

[Source: Ward's Auto]

A Cadillac diesel? It could happen. Or should we say, happen again.

In a recent interview at the launch of the brand’s new XTS flagship sedan (above) at the LA Auto Show, Caddy marketing boss Don Butler admitted that a diesel-powered Cadillac is a possibility. Butler highlighted the torque, as well as the high mixture of performance and efficiency that a diesel engine would bring to the lineup.

“We absolutely mean it when we say we aim to compete with the best of the best without compromises. And if that means making the right powertrain choices, then those are the choices we will have to make,” he told Automotive News. That statement is particularly telling as all of Cadillac’s German rivals offer diesel engines.

What isn’t clear is what vehicle could get the diesel option, whether it be the popular CTS or SRX crossover, or even an SUV like the Escalade or the new XTS.

Making this possibility seem even less remote is the fact that General Motors will soon launch a diesel version of the Chevy Cruze in America, with sales starting as early as next year.

[Source: AutomotiveNews]