A landmark was recently passed on Israel's road to reduced dependance on foreign oil when Renault and Project Better Place held a demonstration of an electric car that will hit Israeli streets next year. For those unacquainted with Project Better Place, the Silicon Valley start-up headed by tech guru Shai Agassi has teamed up with Renault-Nissan to build and deploy fully electric Meganes in the seaside Middle Eastern country. The batteries that will power the vehicles are built by a joint-venture between Nissan and NEC, have a 125-mile range and will be supported by half a million charging stations and hundreds of battery-swap stations. Those specs should be enough to satisfy drivers in a country barely 60 miles between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, and 260 miles from the Red Sea to its border with Lebanon. An initial launch fleet is scheduled to hit roads next year before sales begin in late 2010. The hope is that Israel will prove a suitable test case before the project can be launched in other countries. Norway Denmark has already signed on, but suitability for bigger countries (like the United States, where long commutes are commonplace) will largely depend on advances in battery technology.
It was rumored that Nissan/Renault was serious about fielding a low-priced competitor to the $2,500 USD Tata Nano, and the automaker made it official today by announcing a plan to produce an equally inexpensive car called the ULC in conjunction with Indian automaker Bajaj Auto. The two companies are forming a joint-venture to produce the ULC, which will be built at an all-new facility in Chakan, India at an initial rate of 400,000 units per year. The Tata Nano has no need for concern just yet, as the ULC isn't scheduled to go on sale until early 2011 in India and then even later in export countries. We're doubtful that the U.S. is among those export considerations, but parts of Europe will likely see the ULC not long after the Nano arrives in their market.
Countries like China and India are a hotbed for the auto industry, and every major automaker is looking to improve its standing in the emerging markets while they're still on the ground floor. Low-cost micro cars are all the rage in the East, and Nissan/Renault is looking into getting a piece of that action by producing a Nano fighter. Nissan Motor India Director Neeraj Garg told The Times of India that while higher priced sedans and SUVs are also scheduled for India's booming auto market, a low-priced hatch is also on the wishlist if the pricing is right.
Company officials say that the low-cost transportation could be among six new products scheduled for India by 2012, and with the country's low-cost labor, Nissan/Renault could also export any vehicles it makes there.
According to Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault-Nissan, the Franco-Japanese carmaker is not interested in adding additional alliances with Chrysler at this time. While Chrysler recently inked a deal to have Nissan manufacture subcompacts to sell in South America, that is as far as it goes. "We have an OE deal. Period," Ghosn said during an interview at the Geneva Motor Show.
It seems Nissan's eyes are elsewhere. Watching GM sales in Russia double from 2006 to 2007, and believing the Russian car market may surpass Germany this year, Renault-Nissan wants its share of the pie, too. The first move was taken when Renault purchased a 25% stake in Avtovaz in December 2007. Avtovaz is Russia's largest automaker and the manufacturer of Lada, its best-selling brand. Now, the company needs to quickly transfer Nissan and Renault platforms and engines to Lada in order to modernize its lineup and compete with an increasing number of imported brands. Once that job is complete, Renault-Nissan will move towards assembling vehicles in Russia, as well.
Don't bet that Ghosn isn't still eyeing Chrysler, as he was quick to add, "We are going to continue to do deals with everybody when they make sense." Of course he will.
Carlos Ghosn, President, Knight, and big cheese at Nissan Motor Company and Renault, says the U.S. auto industry is in recession. Ghosn told the Associated Press, "We are very lucid on the situation of the industry that there is a recession in the United States, at least in the car market." With Nissan division sales in North American down 7.8 percent from this time last year (and the word "recession" literally meaning "the act of receding") few can contest his statement.
The Associated Press report adds that deflated U.S. car and light truck sales in 2007 marked the worst sales year in a decade. Brushing off long-term concerns, Ghosn is optimistic the market will improve. Yet, he cites the rising cost of raw materials as yet another concern for automakers. Maybe the best solution to Nissan's current problem is to quintuple production of the GT-R, sell it as both a Nissan and an Infiniti, and bait us all with attractive lease deals? Yes, that would definitely do the trick.
Relentless deal maker Carlos Ghosn has never stopped looking for any partnership that would give Renault a plum position in a profitable market. Already close to a Nissan deal with Chrysler working on Renault and Nissan deals in the Middle East, his latest paramour is in Russia. Ghosn has secured himself and four Renault managers seats on the board of AvtoVaz -- the company which, as you're all aware, is more popularly known for the name of its signature vehicle: the Lada.
Ghosn's idea is that Russia will be the hottest thing going in two years, so he needs to book his place now. Renault will take a 25-percent stake in AvtoVaz, and the board members from Renault will be focused on technology and cost-cutting issues. AvtoVaz will still be led by its Russian majority shareholders -- one of which is the State -- but will benefit from the expertise of one of the most efficient men in the business. To boot, they are also in talks with Renault about assembling Logans and Meganes. Who knows -- if Russia really does become that important and AvtoVaz proves itself with the hatchbacks, perhaps it'll get a shot at a Lada GT-R?
The Twingo still won't take you to mythical Silene, but the UK gets its own specially pimped version of the entry-level Twingo called the "Extreme." Think of it as a Tercel Blackhawk en français, s'il vous plaît. The Twingo Extreme consists of mostly graphics for the exterior, though there's a few extra bits of gear thrown in, too.
Power is provided by a 1.2-liter engine, and Renault throws in specially trimmed wheels, a tachometer, and foglights. Soccer Football fans will undoubtedly choose the flag of St. George graphics for the exterior, and there's also Union Jacks for the door handles and stripes or checkered flags can adorn the outside, too, all for a modest price. MINI has already shown that customization at the dealer level is a popular activity, and we hope that the rest of the driving public soon becomes as smitten with small hatchy-things as we are. If we create enough clamor, they might send us a Jerry Lewis edition or something.
The Brookes of England are dedicated Renault fans. Family patriarch Steve woks at a Renault dealer, son James drives a previous-generation Clio 172 Cup, and his brother Will drove a Clio, too. The family was planning to buy a name-stretching but route-shortening Renault Clio Renaultsport 197 F1 Team R27 until Will unfortunately succumbed to injuries incurred in a road accident last September and sadly passed. A family friend contacted Renault, which has arranged for a special version of the car that will be delivered to the family in Will's memory.
The car will be the last of 500 R27 edition Clios built, and will be finished in a unique Glacier White paint job instead of the standard yellow. The F1 Team R27 edition, which is now finishing its production run, was the first to feature the tightened Cup suspension on the new Renaultsport Clio 197 that is now available on the standard Clio RS.
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The latest in the string of car launches ahead of the 2008 Formula One World Championship is the Red Bull-Renault RB4, which was quietly unveiled – rather contrary to typical Red Bull glitz – while undergoing testing at the Jerez track in Spain.
Stability is what Red Bull Racing is banking on this year. An evolution of last year's RB3, the new RB4 is the second Red Bull car designed by celebrated technical director Adrian Newey, powered by the same Renault engine and driven by the same experienced drivers (David Coulthard and Mark Webber) from last season, when reliability issues cost the team 24 points in the constructors' championship.
Red Bull Racing also took the opportunity to announce another Sebastien as their third driver. Sebastien Buemi – not to be confused with the Sebastien Bourdais or Sebastian Vettel, who will be driving for RBR's Ferrari-powered B-squad Scuderia Toro Rosso – comes on as a test driver and stays on reserve in case Coulthard or Webber can't race, while simultaneously driving for Arden Racing in the GP2 feeder series.
Carlos Ghosn, Nissan/Renault's CEO, has been looking for a U.S. automaker to partner up with for some time and he may have finally found a suitable suitor. Reuters is reporting that a negotiations between Chrysler and Nissan to supply the Cerberus-owned automaker with a small car that would displace around 1.8-liters are being finalized. The move is an obvious attempt to provide Chrysler with a sub-compact competitor while simultaneously lowering the development and production costs of both automakers. What kind of vehicle will be created by the alliance is open to speculation, but a Dodge- or Chrysler-badged Versa seems like an obvious choice considering its platform and powertrain.
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_thumbnail.jpg "Lamborghini Reventon unboxed in Las Vegas")
