Best Volvo Car Show 2009

The Volvo is a well known Swedish car company as founded in 1927 and today is a leading supplier of trucks, buses, construction equipment and aerospace components. Volvo meaning "I roll" has done remarkably well for an expensive car. The first cars produced in 1927 were for domestic use and did not fare well. The cars underwent more redesigning and only became famous after the 2nd world war.

The company has primarily remained stable because of its diverse interest in many other business sectors. It has also been innovative when it comes to promotional strategies. As one of the first car companies to sponsor sports events, golf tournaments and for this reason; consumers quickly became aware of the Volvo trade mark. The cars have been known to be extremely safe and often hold the records for most mileage and durability.

The cars have always been of high quality and are of the most respected Swedish cars. Volvo is the 2nd largest manufacturer of trucks and buses world wide- the sales have been booming. The other sector where this company has capitalized is in consumer transport, with their buses are used world wide. Almost every country uses Volvo buses for mass public transit.

Today, Volvo cars are available worldwide and have patented many safety system including the SIPS, SHIPS, ROPS and IC to name just a few. There are plans to make hybrid and electric cars in the near future mean to compete with Japanese manufactures like Honda and Toyota. Unlike many other companies, the future of Volvo appears safe and sound.

Learn more about Volvo at http://www.eurorennen.com and sign up for the Volvo Car Show

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Best Porsche Car Show this 2009

Porsche is a German luxury car currently owned by the Volkswagen Company. The company was founded in 1931 and has been touted to be a luxury car for the rich and famous. Since the beginning, Porsche has always catered to an exclusive clientele.

The current Porsche cars include the Boxter Roadster, Cayman, Carrera and the Panamera. Unlike many other car companies, Porsche has had the ability to weather the financial crises of the 40, 70s and 90s. The reason has been chiefly due to limited car production, good engineering and reasonable price.
Parts of the car are made in various European countries and then the car is assembled in Stuttgart. Recent reports indicate that Porsche remains the most successful car company both in terms of profitability and stability of ownership.

Porsche' major competition both on the racing circuit and the consumer market has been Ferrari. While Ferrari is prohibitively expensive and has done well on the racing circuit, Porsche on the other hand has done well with the consumer market. In the consumer market, Porsche competes with Mercedes, Audi and BMW.

The great engineering and innovational skills have allowed Porsche to be a consultant for Audi, SEAT, Subaru, Daewoo and Yugo.

Since the 60s, a lot has changed about Porsche. Porsche has always lent its engineering skills to others car manufacturers and has now teamed up with Toyota to develop the next generation of hybrid sports car. The four door coupe Panamera will be the first hybrid for Porsche. The all time most costly Porsche is the Carrera GT, currently costing close to $500,000 in the USA and is the most expensive Porsche ever built.

The company has gone extensive re-structuring by Volkswagen. In 2000, the famous 911 has again regained its name as the top selling Porsche of all time and continues to sell well world wide.

With solid finances and a great car, Porsche has not been hit with the global economic downturn. With all the money available the company should remain stable for many more years.

Learn more about Porsche at http://www.eurorennen.com and sign up for the Porsche Car Show

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A New Brand From Toyota?

Although Toyota is one of the leading auto manufacturers in the world, the late 1990's saw a shift of younger consumers away from the Toyota brand. This is not a new concept, as most car manufacturers have had to deal with this unique shift at some point in their histories. Industrial psychologists throughout the twentieth century have concluded that the issue stems from a natural need for human offspring to develop independence outside of the parent-child relationship. Studies show that younger consumers naturally make choices that allow them to develop a separate identity. Brand shifting is just one more way that the next generation establishes this unique identity.

In order to combat this, Toyota announced plans in the latter half of the nineties to lure generation Y back to the Toyota brand. The project was entitled Project Genesis. While the project itself was not successful, the Scion line grew out of this failed attempt.

The public got its first glimpse of Toyota's new concept car at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show on January 2, 2003. The xA and XB were the 2004 models that were displayed at the show. Toyota introduced the vehicles slowly. The cars were made available at just 104 dealerships and were limited to California only. The next year Toyota made the cars available nationwide. The Scion xB was unveiled in December of 2006. Scion currently has three models available to buyers in the United States. These include the tC, which is a three-door lift back, a five-door box shaped compact wagon and the xD, which is a five-door subcompact car.

Toyota has changed its sales strategy for the Scion line up, calling it Value Innovation. The concept is founded on key factors that include price, options, performance handling, confidence in buying and 21st radio. Scion has incorporated into its sales strategy a concept it calls "Pure Price" and monospec trim levels. The monospec allows for a wide selection of factory and TRD accessories.

The "Pure Price" strategy entails listing the price of the vehicle, whether on the car, in an advertisement of on a display board at the dealership. The price includes the vehicle, accessories, finance and insurance products. Whatever price is listed is what the customer pays. This removes any negotiation from the price. It was meant to entice buyers by offering a simpler and cleaner process that was open and balanced. The strategy is not a new one, having been used by both Geo and Saturn with mixed results.

The monospec strategy offers consumers only one trim level with the ability to make the car unique to the individual buyer. To do this Scion has joined with various aftermarket companies to give each buyer up to 40 different options from which to add to the vehicle. The success of this has yet to be determined and as some critics have pointed out, Toyota is taking an unusual risk in terms of its history of quality automobiles. Because aftermarket items have proven in the past to be of far less quality than the products that Toyota installs while vehicles are assembled in the factory, Toyota may be jeopardizing their to date sterling reputation for produce superior automobiles.

Ronnie Tanner is a contributing writer at SW Engines. He writes about used Scion engines and other departmental updates for the company.

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Tesla S a Luxurious Electric Sedan

This past March, Tesla Motors unveiled a prototype of its second vehicle, dubbed the Tesla S. Following on the heels of the recently released Tesla Roadster, the Tesla S takes the automaker in a slightly different direction - seeking to appeal to mainstream buyers, particularly those of less costly sedans with long term higher ownership costs.

Initial Appeal For The Sedan Is Strong

A seven passenger model, the Tesla S will not be going into production until late 2011, which means that when the sedan hits the market it will be cast as a 2012 model. That is still a long way off, but interest in the car is rising steadily. The automaker made a recent announcement that more than one thousand people have plunked down a $5000 refundable deposit on the sedan, signaling that the appeal for this car will eventually prove to be strong.

The Tesla Roadster made its debut in 2008 and is the first pure electric car of its kind. Powered by lithium-ion batteries, the Roadster is famous for going from zero to sixty in just 3.9 seconds while emitting zero emissions. Priced at around $108,000 before a $7500 federal tax credit kicks in, the Tesla Roadster is for the hard core sports car enthusiast, thus it is a low volume vehicle. To date, Tesla has produced just 400 copies of the Roadster although many times that number of people are on the their waiting list.

Going For A Broader Audience

With the Tesla S, Tesla Motors decided to go with a wider audience in a bid to attract customers. Priced at about $57,000, the Tesla S will get the same $7500 federal tax credit Roadster buyers receive, pushing the car's price just below $50,000. Styled like a European luxury sedan, the S will seat five adults and two children, an unusual configuration for a car in this class.

Like the Roadster, the zero emissions S will appeal to environmentally concerned drivers. Powered by a lithium ion battery pack the sedan should have a driving range of about 300 miles. At this time, the automaker says that they are working on a QuickCharge onboard recharging unit, a device that could recharge the sedan's depleted batteries in as little as 45 minutes. This means that for the person taking a long trip, they could stop long enough to enjoy dinner before heading out in their freshly recharged sedan without having to lose out on travel time.

All The Amenities Luxury Drivers Demand

Inside, the design of the Tesla S will astound buyers especially as they take note of a whopping seventeen inch display panel for navigation and offer all of the technological feedback and enhancements that today's luxury car buyers demand. Premium car buyers who are attracted to a BMW or a Mercedes will feel at home in the Tesla S, perhaps finding that the car's power and low ownership costs beyond the base price make it an attractive vehicle for them.

As far as the mass production of the Tesla S goes, a lot will depend on customer demand at that time. Several other automakers are coming out with their own electric sedan, including the Fisker Karma which will be priced some $30,000 more than the Tesla S model.

Matthew C. Keegan is a freelance writer who resides in North Carolina. Matt is a contributing writer for Andy's Auto Sport an aftermarket supplier of quality parts including BMW rims and Ford Mustang rims

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The Best Jeep Cherokee

It seems that everyone is obsessed with money. Before the recession hit, if you didn't have the latest television technology in your bathroom or the fastest lawnmower for your flat, you weren't with the 'in' crowd. It never used to matter if you needed something, just that others were buying it. Nowadays it's the opposite, if you do spend money on anything nice, then you're an idiot because no-one should buy anything in the current economic climate. So how do you treat yourself without the neighbours lecturing you on the value of money? Easy, buy a Jeep Cherokee.

The beauty of Jeep has always been that for the money, you get an awful lot of equipment and high specification as standard. The downside has always been that they're cheaply put together, depreciate faster than a gambling addict's bank balance and quite frankly, pretty rubbish to drive. I can't say how the new Cherokee will depreciate, but I can confirm that it's a very good SUV for the money.

The latest Jeep Cherokee is the most recent update in the company's range and has the wealth of 65 years experience to draw upon. There are two things that dawned on me when viewing the latest offering - Jeep appear to have hired designers from Porsche's 911 studio as they've not restyled it at all. As a result it looks identical to the previous model, with more than a hint of mini Land Rover about its features.

This of course is no bad thing. The styling was previously very likeable whilst being utilitarian, the predilection of any good Jeep. Therefore you get chunky features, the famous seven slot front grill and that mud-splattered heritage. I'd actually go so far as to say it's my favourite styling on any 4x4. If it was a woman it'd be Sophie Ellis Bextor - not everyone's cup of tea initially but look closer and she's actually very attractive.

The lines are very unfussy, with just the wheel arches bulging out from the cubist body. Even little features such as the wing mirrors and door handles are made chunky, giving the Jeep Cherokee a robust look as well as feel. On the engine options front, Jeep won't spend too long on the specification - you can either have a 2.8 litre diesel with a six-speed manual or five-speed automatic gearbox. Yes that's it. Clearly this isn't a performance vehicle but despite its bulk the Cherokee will reach 60mph in 11.2 seconds and has a top speed of 112mph. Not much from 174bhp I hear you shout, but then it does weigh 2520kg so this isn't too shabby at all.

Due to the heritage of the firm and all its off road war pedigree, I'd hazard a well-judged guess that a Jeep owner will do more off road driving than the typical SUV owner. They'll be happy too as the Cherokee can cope ably with rugged terrain, thanks to its high ground clearance, powerful engine and hill descent option as standard. So does that mean it has sacrificed its handling on the tarmac, which is still where the majority of the driving will take place? Thankfully no. Make no mistake it isn't as refined as a car, or SUVs in a much higher price bracket from Europe, but the Jeep combines on and off road duties perfectly well. There is minimal body roll or road noise on the motorway and the steering wheel has good feedback letting you know at all times what is going on. Inside the Cherokee is well equipped with the aforementioned hill descent accompanied with air conditioning, stability and cruise control, parking sensors and seats that are both electrically moved about and heated. For an extra £950 you can open your roof to the sky above with the 'Sky Slider' option - a panoramic canvas roof. It really isn't an after-thought either, as it stretches back from above the driver to behind passenger heads. On sunny summer days, you'll be the envy of all other 4x4 owners. Some may complain that the materials used on the interior aren't to the highest standard but they all function perfectly well and keep a good chunk of money off the retail price.

That price starts at £24, 300 which in any economic climate is good sense. There's no denying that your neighbours will initially be banging your door down, demanding how, in this time of crisis, you have been so foolish to spend so much on an SUV. Never fear, I'm sure once what you actually paid is laid out, they'll be congratulating you on a bargain buy.

Mark Creese is a writer and a car enthusiast. Here he writes about the Jeep Cherokee.

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Chrysler's Dealer Destruction Hits Home

One of the Chrysler dealers on the dealer closing list that Chrysler filed with the bankruptcy court today is Birmingham Chrysler Jeep, known for its odd jingle, "Birmingham's In Troy!". This dealership is not far from my house. It is a corner store in the sprawling Troy Motor Mall, a huge collection of different car dealerships.

Sunset In Troy

BCJ was, according to this news article, in the top 20 dealerships in the country. It has been owned by the Mealey family since 1966, and employs 90 people. BCJ is known in the area for its fun, corny advertising, such as this spot where the owner snow blows his lot and rides around on a lawn tractor.

I wasn't expecting Birmingham Chrysler Jeep to close. I thought Chrysler/Fiat would want a slot in the Troy Motor Mall, where they could compete directly against the other brands, just yards away. But the massive Golling dealership in nearby Bloomfield Hills, which was chosen to stay open, sells all three Chrysler brands from one huge lot.

I know people who work at this dealership. This morning, when they got the news that they were expected to close, 40 employees were laid off all at once. All around the country, the same scene was repeated today. All around the country, people are tasting the salty, metallic flavor of failure.

The Mazda RX8

There's been a lot of hype this week surrounding the new Star Trek film, crazily entitled Star Trek. The positive reviews have been overflowing, with the origins-based film being hailed as one of, if not the best film of the franchise. Regardless of whether I've watched the various television series or films there's always been one element that always gets me excited - the jump to hyperspace. You know the bit, where the captain of the Starship Enterprise is in trouble and gets everyone out of it by pressing a button that sends them into a blur with stars flashing by at unimaginable speed. I've always wanted to recreate that sensation, initially with Lego as a child but nowadays my best bet is a Mazda RX8.

Yep the Japanese coupe may not seem the most obvious choice for making the scenery go blurry when you plant your right foot, but you'll be pleasantly surprised. When Mazda pensioned off the RX7, it was at a time when many car manufacturers had experimented with rotary engine technology and given up the ghost. Once deemed the engine of the future, rotary units allowed cars to rev to heights never thought possible. It also meant that an engine as small in capacity as a 1.3 litre could produce over 200bhp.

The downside was that despite the small capacity, rotary engines drank more than George Best, were not environmentally friendly and worst of all, not very reliable. Yet where others failed, Mazda made a success of housing a rotary engine in the RX7, which to this day is a Japanese icon. With Ford's input, Mazda decided that they could develop the rotary engine further to improve reliability, reduce emissions and improve fuel economy. In other words, right the wrongs of its predecessor.

Even if the rotary engine could be improved, it was in essence a sports car engine. Therefore Mazda man collecting his pension in a Mazda saloon revving to 9,000 rpm was not an option. What Mazda needed was a car that would be a bone fide sports car and seat a family in one stylish package. Despite this oxymoron, Mazda somehow achieved its goal with the RX8.

To look at the RX8 is pure sports car. To drive the car is pure sports car. Yet you'll find yourself turning your head 180 degrees and seeing two beaming children looking back at you. So how have Mazda managed to make a success of a car that combines an engine design no-one can grasp and a family sports car combination that seems impossible?
Let's start with the styling. The car is perfectly proportioned with a long bonnet bulging aggressively at the front and a stumpy rear complimenting. So many sports car makers extend the boot to fit golf clubs and ruin the lines as a result. It's a relief that Mazda haven't fallen into this trap, although this means that practicality isn't a strong point. Huge 18 inch wheels adorn the car and ably fill the corresponding bulging wheel arches. The lines flow smoothly and crucially make the back end much higher than the front, enabling the rear occupants the luxury of headroom.

And so to the rear seating. In any coupe that claims to have rear seats, you either need to be the size of a hamster to fit in, or have the agility of a cat to clamber past the passenger seat into the back. The RX8 cunningly overcomes this problem, firstly by having decent sized seats and secondly, by ingeniously overcoming the access problem.
The simple answer would surely be to add another door? Well...that's basically what Mazda has done, but they've managed to retain the look of a two-door coupe. By adding 'suicide doors' that open the opposite way the front ones (and are half the size) you can get into the back easily. Problem solved.

So the engine and why it's like Star Trek. The two rotary derivatives produce 192 and 231bhp respectively. It's the 231 we'll be going wobbly legged over. Top speed is 150mph, but we don't care about that. Nor do we care that the manual says the RX8 will cover the 0-60mph dash in 6 seconds. The reality is that it feels much, much faster. With the instruments laid out in front of you like the deck on a spaceship and the leather racing seats holding you in place, the RX8 is quick to 7,000rpm and then everything really does go hyperspace blurry up to 9,000rpm.

I've never had that sensation in any other fast car I've driven and it's worth buying a Mazda RX8 to experience that alone. Factor in the addition of three passengers, great styling and at last a reliable engine and you're onto a winner... as for fuel economy.

Mark Creese is a writer and a car enthusiast. Here he discusses the Mazda RX8.

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