Weekly round up of the top motoring news
First details have been announced — although no pricing yet — of the new Audi A4 and A4 Avant which will be seen here in November.
Audi describes the cars as being “a fascinating synthesis of technology and aesthetics” and says all the technology in the brand’s bestselling family has been redeveloped so that it yet again defines the benchmark in the segment.
Somewhat worryingly, perhaps, the company says that during the development work, high priority was placed on the reduction of CO2 emissions. All technologies were focused on reducing drive resistance. A good example is aerodynamics where the A4 Saloon has the best drag coefficient in its class at 0.23.
The new models are also said to have impressively low CO2 emissions of 95 g/km for the A4 Saloon 2.0 TDI ultra with 150 hp; the A4 Avant 2.0 TDI ultra emits 99 g/km. The 2.0 TFSI with 190 hp emits 109 g/km in the A4 Saloon ultra and 114 g/km in the A4 Avant ultra.
The most powerful engines are two TDI six-cylinder units with up to 272 bhp.
We are told driver-assistance systems and infotainment are of luxury quality. A new generation of four-cylinder TFSI engines with newly developed combustion methods sets benchmarks in terms of fuel consumption, emissions, and performance for four-cylinder petrol engines.
In terms of size, the length of the Saloon version of the new A4 is 4,726mm, which is 25mm longer than the previous model. Its width has grown by 16mm to 1,842 and its height is unchanged at 1,427mm — the lowest in the premium segment.
Wheelbase has grown by 12mm to 2,820mm. The new Audi A4 Avant is 1mm shorter and 7mm higher than the Saloon; all other dimensions are identical.
Audi says the handling of the new A4 has taken a leap forward: On the one hand, sporty and performance oriented, but with a focus on comfort at the same time. This performance is based on the redeveloped five-link axles and the electromechanical power steering.
The result, Audi claims, is dynamic handling and first-class ride comfort.
The two new Audi A4 models will launch in Ireland in November. They will have more comprehensive standard kit than their predecessors, including xenon headlights, keyless go, Audi drive select and a 7-inch MMI colour display.
Full Irish equipment and pricing information will be announced in the coming weeks.
Bentley is taking its fusion of luxury and performance to new extremes with the launch of the Continental GT Speed Breitling Jet Team Series. This exclusive series is limited to just seven cars, each inspired by one of the seven Breitling Jets.
Renowned for their precision, speed, and daring, this summer the Breitling Jet Team will be performing across the US and Canada in a grand tour of epic proportions.
To commemorate this spectacle, Bentley’s Mulliner division has re-imagined the Continental GT Speed to mirror the distinctive look of the Breitling Jets, fusing extreme customisation with immense speed.
The exterior is painted in a striking duo-tone split of Hallmark and Onyx with highlights colour matched to the exact Pantone of Breitling’s unique Yellow, reflecting the trademark look of the L-39 Albatros Jets. This bespoke colour theme is continued on the interior, with unique sculpted seats featuring accents in Breitling Yellow.
Taking customisation to new heights, each car is individually numbered and corresponds to one of the seven Breitling Jets. The dashboard’s carbon-fibre fascia panel displays an image of the seven planes in their signature Avenger flight formation, with the corresponding jet highlighted in Breitling Yellow.
Similarly, Mulliner has matched the hide and thread to Breitling’s signature yellow and designed a series of logos and graphics for the headrests that highlight the number of each car and the jet that inspired it. The tread plate plaques are also individually numbered.
Details of the all-new Ford Galaxy, which arrives in Ireland later this year, have emerged.
The big Ford MPV is, as you might expect, a spacious, refined, and technologically advanced people mover offering luxurious travel for seven passengers.
Featuring the company’s latest global design language with a sophisticated grille and slim-line headlamps, the Galaxy will offer seven full-size seats, enabling families to easily switch between seating or load space with a segment-first feature that can be specified to raise the third-row seats at the push of a button.
Comfort is enhanced for front-seat passengers with optional massaging Ford Multi-Contour Seats; and for rear-seat passengers with integral link rear suspension that offers a smoother, quieter ride.
“Families across Europe have grown up with the Galaxy. Customers are reassured by its ability to carry seven in first-class comfort and safety, and to constantly surprise with its unmatched versatility,” said Ford Ireland chairman and managing director Ciarán McMahon. “The all-new Galaxy enhances those qualities with improved dynamics, fuel efficiency, and refinement — as well as some very useful innovations.”
Car companies are a funny bunch. Take Renault, for example. The company has just released the news that its new D-Segment contender will be called the Talisman. But they’ve told us nothing else.
According to the company, the names it chooses for its models are selected to symbolise their style and personality in all the markets where they are sold.
True to this tradition, the Talisman has been given a charismatic name that conjures up notions of both protection and power. At the same time, Talisman is an easy word to pronounce and understood the world over — apparently.
“This three-syllable name rolls easily and naturally off the tongue word yet it asserts the model’s powerful poise and the energy it radiates,” Renault says.
“The combination of its robust, racy lines and innovative technologies express protection and safety. The Talisman delivers intense driving enjoyment founded on a genuinely sensorial experience.”
Wonder what the car’s like?
The Volkswagen Jetta has been a firm favourite with Irish buyers for generations since the first model went on sale here in Ireland 35 years ago — and it may be about to get even more popular now that VW has slashed the cost of it.
Volkswagen says it has made the Jetta even better value with price reductions of up to €1,440 on the car.
The Jetta now starts at just €20,895, making it decent value when you consider that it offers so much space, with a vast 510-litres of boot space and a choice of fuel-efficient 1.2-litre 105bhp TSI, 1.4-litre 125bhp TSI, and 2.0-litre 110bhp TDI engines.
Volkswagen will continue to offer free upgrade packs on Jetta for the 152-plate. This means customers who buy a Trendline model will get a free ‘technology pack’ worth over €700, which includes a leather steering wheel, cruise control, and Media-In interface and Bluetooth connectivity. Comfortline models get a free technology pack worth €1,500 with Park distance control, a, RCD 510 radio which features a large TFT display and the free Media-In interface. Jetta Highline customers get a free styling and technology pack worth over €2,500, with 17” Queensland alloy wheels, the RCD 510 radio, Media-In, and Climatronic air conditioning all thrown in at no extra costs.
Champagne corks are flying at Volvo after the all-new XC90 SUV was named Auto Express car of the year.
The XC90 is the first car to have been conceived, designed, and built following Volvo’s takeover by Chinese firm Geely.
It follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, which won the Auto Express gong back in 2003, before continuing largely unchanged for more than a decade.
Auto Express editor-in-chief Steve Fowler said: “The new XC90 has been a long time coming, but it’s been well worth the wait.
“Geely has provided the backing for Volvo to produce one of the best cars in the world, and that’s exactly what they’ve done — the XC90 is a stunning car. Geely must be very pleased with its investment in Volvo right now.”
Volkswagen did particularly well, picking up 10 of the 19 awards handed out to the best cars in their class. Skoda secured two nods for the Citigo and Superb, Seat won two for its Leon and Leon Cupra, Volkswagen netted another two for the Polo and Passat, and while Porsche celebrated a win for the 911 GTS, Audi won three awards for the A6, TT Coupe, and A3 Cabriolet.
A special award was also given to the Land Rover Defender. It has become the first car to join the Auto Express Hall of Fame after a peerless history of service.
Steve said: “We’re delighted that the Defender is the first car to ever be inducted into the Auto Express Hall of Fame.
“It’s a car that has enriched so many lives around the world for such a long period of time, but best of all, it’s an example of British engineering at its finest. It’s still an outstanding vehicle today.”
BMW is to test a vehicle powered by hydrogen fuel cells for the first time on public roads this month as the German carmaker looks to expand clean-car offerings after rolling out the battery-powered i3 in 2013.
The company plans “a technically mature, customer-ready vehicle some time after 2020”, Matthias Klietz, head of powertrain research, told journalists at BMW’s test track in Miramas, France.
“By around 2025 to 2030, we expect fuel cell cars to have an established presence, but there are challenges that remain, like building the refueling infrastructure.”
BMW is developing fuel cells with Japanese partner Toyota and it demonstrated a 5-Series Gran Turismo prototype in Miramas on Wednesday that uses the companies’ joint technology.
The model is part of the car industry’s multibillion-dollar effort to create alternative powering setups and improve fuel use to meet tightening emissions rules.
Fuel cells, which have provided spacecraft with power since the 60s, produce electricity by reacting hydrogen with air, enabling longer travel than battery-driven vehicles while emitting only water vapour rather than CO2.
Disadvantages include a lack of service stations equipped to replenish the hydrogen gas, and the high cost of rare metals needed for the technology.
BMW is in talks with other carmakers, governments, and utilities on how to speed up the creation of a refueling network, Axel Ruecker, who’s part of Munich-based BMW hydrogen development team, said at the prototype demonstration.
Osamu Suzuki, the longest-serving head of any major global carmaker, ceded his title as president of Suzuki to his son, Toshihiro Suzuki, after leading the company for 37 years.
Toshihiro Suzuki, 56, became president on Tuesday and will concentrate on executing strategy set by the board, which will be headed by Osamu Suzuki, 85. The elder Suzuki will stay on as chairman and chief executive.
Suzuki’s new president will have to safeguard the company’s dominance in India, its biggest market, where Nissan and Honda are wooing customers with low-priced models. He’ll also be tasked with steering the company as it emerges from years of arbitration with Volkswagen, Suzuki’s biggest shareholder, over a failed partnership brokered in 2009.
“I wanted to wait until the arbitration with VW to finish, but the time has been so long that I’m puzzled,” Osamu Suzuki told reporters.
“So I decided not to wait and announced the management change.”
Julie Hamp, named only last March as Toyota’s first female managing officer, has resigned following her arrest last month on suspicion of illegally importing the painkiller oxycodone into Japan.
Toyota’s position appears to have hardened since the news of Hamp’s arrest broke. At that time, its president and CEO Akio Toyota said in a statement: “In addition to being a close friend of mine, Julie Hamp is an invaluable member of Toyota’s team. We are confident that once the investigation is complete, it will be revealed that there was no intention on Julie’s part to violate any law.”
However, industry observers noted immediately the arrest was bound to be an embarrassment for Toyota.
The statement said: “TMC has accepted [Hamp’s] resignation after considering the concerns and inconvenience that recent events have caused our stakeholders.
Because the investigation of [Hamp] is ongoing, there is little Toyota can say at this time. However, we intend to learn from this incident to help ensure a secure working environment for everyone at Toyota around the world as we continue to take the steps necessary to become a truly global company. We remain firmly committed to putting the right people in the right places, regardless of nationality, gender, age, and other factors.”
Reuters said US citizen Hamp is leaving Toyota about a month after she relocated to Tokyo to become the Japanese automaker’s chief communications officer. Her appointment was part of a drive by the company to diversify a male-dominated, mostly Japanese executive line-up.
Senior managing officer Shigeru Hayakawa — to whom Hamp reported — will take over her duties until a replacement is appointed, Toyota said.
Hamp remains in police custody but has yet to be charged and, under Japanese law, can remain under detention for up to 20 days after her arrest — that ends on Wednesday.
Oxycodone is a prescription drug in both the US and Japan. Bringing it into Japan requires prior approval from the government and it must be carried by the individual.
Hamp joined Toyota’s North American unit in 2012 and only moved to Tokyo in June.
