Hot News: Toyota Prius on Hold

Toyota has postponed plans to build the next generation of its Prius hybrid in the United States.
The £1bn project to build the Toyota Prius in a newly developed Mississippi factory will be shelved, with no specific timeframe for its completion.
UK sales of the Toyota Prius have remained relatively consistent, with sales up three per cent year-on-year. But worldwide sales have fallen by around 10 per cent, and the US market is down by nearly half; just 8660 units were sold in the US in November, down from 16,737 a year earlier.
The decision to suspend development of the plant comes amid growing uncertainty in the global car market and the continued fall in petrol prices, which has hit demand for electric and hybrid cars. Toyota is also wary of over-supplying what is soon to become a more competitive market with the imminent launch of the Honda Insight hybrid.
Once seen as financially beneficial, the Mississippi Toyota plant has become one of many financial burdens on the Japanese manufacturer. Toyota also has plans for more than a dozen factory projects, including new plants in Brazil and India.
Delays to the production of the new Toyota Prius are unlikely, but Toyota will resent the increased shipping and currency conversion costs associated with importing the Prius from Japan.
Toyota will finish the building work at the Tupelo plant, and has confirmed that staff already employed on the site in administrative and managerial roles will keep their jobs.
Toyota has stated its long-term plans to produce the Prius in the US remain, but that any decision will depend on market conditions.

Thanks to: Autocar

Spied: 2011 BMW CS

Could BMW’s low-slung Quattroporte rival, make it to the showrooms after all? Little more than two weeks ago, BMW bosses confirmed that the luxury four-door saloon, previewed by the CS concept, wouldn’t be built because of financial concerns… But our exclusive pictures would suggest otherwise!Our snappers caught this CS mule testing at the firm’s Munich Headquarters, sparking rumours that BMW has made a u-turn on its recent statement.
The CS will be longer, lower and wider than the 7-series on which it’s based - as our illustrations show - drawing comparison’s with the rash of recent ‘four-door coupes’, including the Mercedes CLS, Aston Martin Rapide and Porsche Panamera.
Let's hope BMW will be more decisive this time around, and confirm that the sporty saloon will make it from concept to reality. For more details click here.

Thanks to: Auto Express

Hot News: Ford F-150 is 2009 Motor Trend Truck of the Year

This is it. Crunch time. The 2009 Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram are rolling onto the market like a pair of gigantic craps dice, and the companies tossing them are each betting big on this game. Unfortunately, the rules changed while these dice were in mid-air. Fuel prices skyrocketed, the economy tanked, consumer confidence evaporated, and folks who once chose half-ton pickups more for their Marlboro-Man-image-enhancing qualities than for their towing or hauling capabilities are shopping elsewhere.
Ford claims it sells more of its half-ton pickups to work and commercial customers than its competitors do, and Ford predicts this segment will grow to 45 percent of F-150 sales. Toward that end, the truck's fully boxed chassis is further fortified to provide best-in-class rigidity, payload capacity (up to 3030 pounds), and tow ratings (up to 11,300 pounds). As such, the new F-150 is well positioned to capture contractors migrating down-market out of Super-Dutys to save money and gas (did we mention that a new six-speed automatic, a lighter, more aerodynamic cab, and other tweaks boost fuel economy by 12 percent with the 5.4-liter?).

Ford claims payload and towing numbers like that simply can't be had with a coil-sprung rear axle, so it stuck with leafs but made them longer to smooth the ride and wider with new mounting hardware to improve lateral rigidity and roll control. The ride doesn't quite match Dodge's, but the chassis engineers managed to tune the steering for pleasing heft and remarkable accuracy that had many judges lauding the F-150s for feeling smaller and nimbler than their Dodge counterparts. Lateral grip of 0.70 g for both Fords bested all but the feathery base Dodge and Suzuki, and our rear-drive SXT scored the best stop at 133 feet from 60 mph (the three-ton Lariat needed 144 feet).
Status-conscious contractors will have eight F-150 models from which to choose (including the forthcoming SVT Raptor), which Detroit editor Todd Lassa reckons is "about four too many," adding, "If this Lariat is the third truck from the top, how much of a boudoir must the King Ranch and Platinum interiors be?" Judges praised the low noise levels and interior materials quality, though some found the design cartoonishly macho. Still, handy features like the Tailgate Step, Box Side Step, a stowable bed-extender, and rear seats that fold up with one hand to reveal a broad, flat load floor help tally a strong superiority score.