Nifty new cars get greener

The Associated Press
Last updated: January 13th, 2009 12:47 AM (PST)

The highly anticipated 2010 Prius, unveiled Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, gets an average of 50 miles per gallon. That’s a 4 mpg improvement over the current model, which already is the most fuel-efficient vehicle ranked by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“It’s a core model for us,” Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, said in an interview before the Prius’ unveiling.

The third generation gas-electric Prius has a more aerodynamic design, but its exterior is easily recognizable as a Prius. Toyota says pricing will be released before the midsize sedan goes on sale in late spring.

Toyota also will offer a moon roof with solar panels to power the ventilation system.

FISKER

California start-up Fisker Automotive debuted a production version of its plug-in Fisker Karma on Monday, vowing to sell 15,000 of the sporty luxury hybrids.

Henrik Fisker, the company’s founder and a former top designer for Aston Martin, also showed a slick convertible version called the Karma S, which it expects to build in 2011.

The sporty Karma, which has solar panels on the roof, will have a starting price of $87,900 when it rolls off the assembly line in October at a factory in Finland. The company plans to have 40 retailers around the United States by the end of the year.

Fisker said the vehicle can travel 50 miles emissions-free on a single charge. When the lithium-ion battery runs down, the car functions like other gas-electric hybrids, powered by a direct-injection engine with 260 horsepower that also recharges the battery. It has a top speed of 125 mph.

“Our goal is to make eco-friendly cars without compromise either in performance or design,” Fisker said.

Fisker said annual production of the green sports car is expected to be 15,000. The company has presold 1,300 vehicles.

LINCOLN

Ford Motor Co.’s luxury Lincoln line debuted a new concept car, the Lincoln C, at the show.

In a switch for Lincoln, the C is a small car designed to attract customers in urban centers who are looking for luxury in a compact package.

The Lincoln C sports a 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine, and combined with a dual-clutch six-speed transmission, the car averages 43 miles per gallon on the highway.

The concept car is also embedded with cutting-edge technologies, such as a human machine interface. Using an avatar, the Lincoln C’s HMI can communicate with the driver and interact with Ford’s Sync connectivity network to play music, make appointments, check e-mail and read Web sites.

VOLKSWAGEN

Volkswagen AG plans to offer hybrid and diesel versions of four upcoming vehicles being developed for the U.S. market.

Stefan Jacoby, Volkswagen’s top U.S. executive, said Monday at the auto show that VW would build hybrid and diesel versions of a future successor to the Jetta sedan, an unnamed midsize sedan and two other vehicles under development.

Volkswagen wants to sell 1 million Volkswagen and Audi vehicles by 2018 and is building a plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., that expects to produce vehicles by 2011.

GENERAL MOTORS

General Motors Corp. will open a lithium-ion battery factory in Michigan, the first for a large U.S. automaker, to assemble the power packs for the Volt plug-in electric car.

The plant will create the packs from battery cells supplied by Compact Power Inc., a unit of Seoul-based LG Chem Ltd., Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner told reporters today at the Detroit auto show.

Investing in a battery factory increases GM’s bet on electric vehicles as the biggest U.S. automaker moves toward starting sales of the Volt in November 2010. Detroit-based GM has committed more than $1 billion to the car, Wagoner said.

LAMBORGHINI

Automobili Lamborghini SpA, the Italian sports-car maker whose prices start at $200,000, posted record sales and pretax profit in 2008 and plans to expand its dealer network this year, the chief executive officer said.

The automaker sold a record 2,430 vehicles globally, up 1 percent, after adding 15 dealerships, Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of the Volkswagen AG unit, said in an interview at the Detroit auto show today. He declined to specify the profit.

Lamborghini will add 10 dealerships this year in “areas of wealth around the world” to counter a sales decline in the U.S. and other markets that were hurt most by the collapse in financial markets, Winkelmann said.

Originally published: January 12th, 2009 11:53 PM (PST)