The recessionary pressure is bearing down on auto makers and that means that they have bare minimum marketing budgets. This translates into really bad news for the international auto show circuit which has already seen some cancellations. Now the 2010 British International Motor Show (BIMS) has been called off. England’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the official body that runs the event has communicated via an official release that the “economic downturn and unprecedented challenges facing the auto industry, both in the UK and around the world, have made it impossible for exhibitors to commit to a 2010 event”.

The BIMS is one of the world’s oldest auto shows, first held at London’s Crystal Palace all the way back in 1903. Another worrying factor for the auto show is that SMMT has shut its exhibitions department altogether which may mean that the show might not come back even when times get better. The problem is not entirely based on disinterest of exhibitors but also diminishing interest of show goers. Last year’s show had only 472,300 visitors, down from a high of 709,422 ten years earlier. That shows that since people have delayed vehicle buying decisions they are less keen on visiting auto shows. A row of auto manufacturers including Porsche, Volvo, Nissan, Ferrari and Rolls-Royce have already pulled out of many of next year’s auto events while many other auto shows are struggling to stay afloat.

Alfa Romeo will unveil the sport variant of the uber cool MiTo hatch, dubbed the MiTo GTA at next month’s Geneva Motor Show. The concept which will be displayed at the show is likely to go into production with almost the same specifications and looks, by mid 2009. Though some find the standard MiTo’s styling odd the car does have an air of exclusivity around it. The GTA version is a whole new beast altogether and looks ravishing from all angles except head-on. The sports hatch looks a stunner from the rear with those wide section tyres, large diameter dual exhausts complimenting the squat look.

The stylish hatch will be powered by a new 1.75 litre direct injection turbo petrol engine with 240 bhp, developed by Fiat Powertrain Technologies. GTA stands for Gran Turismo Alleggerito (Alleggerito means reduced weight in Italian), thus the car features many weight saving measures for improved power-to-weight ratio. That coupled with lowered centre of gravity, increased downforce through a carbon-fibre tailgate spoiler, roof and mirror fairings make the MiTo GTA an able performer.
Other upgrades include revised suspension setup which now includes an active suspension management system with advanced damper control and improved under-body aerodynamics.

Safety kit is extensive and includes multiple airbags, ABS, ESP and EBD as standard. The Alfa Romeo MiTo GTA would compete head on with the Mini Cooper JCW when it is launched in the middle of this year in Europe.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars will debut their latest experimental car, called 200EX and also known as the ‘Baby Rolls’ at the Geneva Motor Show on 3rd March 2009. The 200 EX is a design study which will lead to a contemporary four-door saloon named RR4, and will be positioned as the entry level Rolls-Royce. The relatively compact Rolls-Royce 200 EX is expected to go into production as the RR4 by 2010.

Many camouflaged test cars have already been spotted undergoing testing so the 2010 date seems very possible.
The baby rolls is not that little with a length of 5.4 metres and width of 1.95 metres. Also, it will be powered by a new V12 engine, which will give it long legs and owners some ego boost.

Rolls-Royce has tried to blend in effortless performance, unparalleled refinement, exquisite quality and confident design in the 200EX and the saloon is expected to be the best value Rolls-Royce ever. The concept follows the traditional Rolls-Royce design theme including the grille with the Spirit of Ecstasy, elevated prow, long bonnet, short front overhang, sharply raked A-pillar, rear hinged coach doors etc. The car is immediately recognizable as a Rolls-Royce.

The LED headlamps look arresting as do the 20 inch seven spoke wheels. The interior abounds with quality hide, chrome and wood veneer along with Cornsilk carpets and cashmere blend headliner making it a really plush place to park your rear in. More details are expected at the Geneva Motor Show.

Aston Martin’s four door super-sedan the Rapide has been revealed early, ahead of its expected debut at next month’s Geneva Auto Show. These ‘official’ pictures which have leaked onto the web reveal the car in detail.

The Rapide essentially follows the Vantage’s design cues, both at the front and the rear. However there are two extra doors to make the Rapide a four-door, four-seater performance car. What that means is almost the same thrill and performance as the Vantage V8 but enjoyed by up to four people. Buyers can hope to get a massive 6.0 litre V12 motor with about 480 bhp of firepower which should help the Rapide accelerate from rest to 100 km/h in about 4.5 seconds (that is rapid indeed). The Rapide would obviously house all amenities and luxuries we have become accustomed to from an Aston Martin.

This performance sedan would be manufactured at Aston Martin’s Magna Steyr plant in Austria and would give a good fight to the Porsche Panamera and Maserati Quattroporte. The car should go on sale by the end of 2009 and the company must be hoping the economic scenario is brighter then and buyers queue up to sign on the dotted line for this special car.

Nissan may have fallen behind its close rivals in the race for the hybrid car market but they seem to be getting geared up to compete in the market for the next generation EVs. It’s not the first vehicle of its kind from the carmaker though; Nissan will be presenting the new electric concept car at New York Auto Show ’08.

Though the name of this EV shown above is yet unclear, right now it’s being called as the “Cube”. By 2010, the Cube will be available in America and Japan as a fleet vehicle. This fleet testing will continue for about couple of years and in 2012 the ‘Cube’ would be made available to individual buyers.

Nissan has partnered with the Japanese electric giant, NEC Corporation to make the ‘Cube’ a reality. The Cube small car will be powered by lithium ion batteries. Currently, a very similar model is available in Japan but only the next generation model of this vehicle would come to America. The New York Auto Show ’08 will put more light on Nissan’s EV but company officials have said that the next generation of EVs would be built on similar lines and styling as the ‘Cube’.

This new generation, eco-friendly Nissan will be capable of attaining a top speed of 75 mph with a range of 100 miles and will take about 8 hours to recharge. Though the ‘Cube’ looks very tardy and won’t add zilch to your image, it does do a lot for your ‘green image’.

Keeping their promise to launch a hardtop “targa” version of their popular Pontiac Solstice two seater in early 2008, General Motors are planning to reveal the Pontiac Solstice Targa at the New York Auto Show, just 10 days from now! This new exotic is being internally referred to as GMX627.

Keeping the Targa tradition alive this new Solstice is known to have removable panels directly above the driver and the passengers head. This time buyers will be having choice of hard or soft removable panels though! Trunk might be slightly reconfigured to easily occupy the roof panels.

It will be interesting to know whether GM will build a regular Solstice coupe or at least something very close to it! However, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is known to have said the coupe would look “exactly” like Solstice Coupe Concept presented in 2002 so there is good possibility that the new car will be built on very similar lines to the concept. Production starts in Jan’09 at GM’s Wilmington facility and will be limited to only 10,000 cars annually. Possible debut venues are LAIAS 2008 or the SEMA 2008.

Let’s see how much buzz the Pontiac Solstice Targa generates in the market and how well it sells.

American supercar car-maker Saleen have extended their line-up of exotic sports cars of S7 and Ford GT by releasing this sketch of the S5S Saleen Raptor that will appear as a concept vehicle at New York auto show this month.

Though S5S Raptor can be called as a mid-engined sports car, it is primarily meant for the street rather than the track. It would be powered by E85 Ethanol based 5.0 L V8 engine that would enable it to reach over 200 mph on the street! This engine already powers Ford’s S302E, and is rated at 620 horsepower. That would easily allow Raptor to attain the above mentioned speed, as estimated.

The S5S Raptor would provide equally aggressive drive as its predecessor S7. To reduce the weight Raptor will have the chassis from aluminum and the body panels from composites. The body shown in the sketch has remarkable similarity with the muscular Lotus Exige.

Unlike its predecessor, the $700,000 S7, which was a purposely-built racecar that was occasionally licensed for the street, the S5S Raptor would be priced much lower: $150,000 to $200,000. Though the price has not been officially declared, it has been stated by CTO Chris Theodore that Saleen could be interested in producing a car in the $150,000 range. Theodore is best known as the driving force behind the Ford GT project.

As per company sources, the S5S Raptor will hit markets after two to three years after it’s production gets a green signal. That could be 2010-2011.

When all the automobile giants are in race to reveal nonpareil automobiles at the Geneva Auto Show, Lotus has plans of its own.
In a bid to combine performance with economy and reduced emissions, Lotus Engineering is all set to roll out the Lotus Exige 270 E Trifuel. As the name suggest, this Trifuel machine runs over three fuels, gasoline, bioethanol and methanol.

The Exige 270 E Trifuel is to be launched within a week and it would be powered by a 1.8 litre 2ZZ-GE VVTL-i engine with a Roots type supercharger and intercooler capable of accelerating the light weight car from 0-60mph within 3.9 seconds. The engine produces maximum power of 270 bhp at 8000 rpm, with 260 Nm of torque at 5500 rpm, when run on standard gasoline. However, its performance is said to increase, when run on alcohol fuels like methanol and bioethanol. Between ethanol and methanol too, the performance differs. The Trifuel Exige provides better performance, when methanol is used as fuel rather than ethanol. The reason being that at high heat methanol vaporizes faster than ethanol, which eventually results in better performance.

The 2ZZ VVTL-i engine, has a twin cam profiles, a high-speed cam and a low speed cam with the switch point between these two cams being completely variable. It is totally dependent upon driving conditions and engine load. This enables the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-fuel deliver seamless performance even at maximum revs of 8500rpm.

What is exciting is that the Lotus can also be run on any combination these three fuels. Being ‘Green’ gets a whole new meaning with this Lotus.

Honda’s Acura has released a couple of recall notices for 2004-2008 models of Acura TLs thereby affecting about 273,000 owners. One recall is on account of a windshield wiper issue, caused by a faulty circuit breaker on 129,600 ‘04 and ‘05 TLs which could stop the wipers from functioning, suddenly.

The other recall is due to a more serious issue. High engine temperatures can cause the power steering hose to disintegrate, crack and leak fluid onto the catalytic converter. This could result in excess smoke or even a fire.

Neither issue has resulted in a crash or injury, but Acura dealers have been instructed to replace the power steering hose and, in the case of the windshield wiper motor, inspect the unit and replace it if necessary. Obviously, the repairs would not be charged and it’s good to Acura’s image that they have the balls to recall.

Those of you who love the ‘Mini’ there’s some good news waiting at Geneva for you. BMW’s MINI is launching two new ‘John Cooper’ models at next month’s auto show in Geneva. The car’s have been tweaked for more performance and come with select new interior appointments, each race bred model would serve as the basis for the ‘MINI CHALLENGE 2008′ race car.

On the lines of the three door MINI and the five door MINI Clubman, the heart of each model is a turbocharged 1.6 liter gasoline motor pumping out a meaty 207 bhp. Pedal to the metal, it should be good for a sprint to 60 mph in just under 6.5 seconds. Extra features include light alloys, upgraded suspension, a new performance exhaust system, and a modified 6 speed manual gearbox. On the looks department, the John Cooper Works models will be unique by their distinctive body kits and unique interiors. Rolling out at a base price of under $30,000 the John Coopers are likely to be hot sellers this summer.