Click image for gallery of the updated Nissan march
On Tuesday, Nissan released a facelifted version of its Japanese-market March. One can only assume that these changes will ultimately be seen in Europe as well in the form of an updated Micra, but we’ll just have to wait and see how that pans out. Anyway, the freshened March gets new headlamps, revised grilles, and an available front bumper treatment that’ll see wider use as standard equipment across the line. Other changes include the implementation of Nissan’s I-Key, some new paint colors, a new HDD Navi model and a Cacao-colored interior option.
Also updated are the odd-looking March Bolero and the MINI-aping (look at the grille) March Rafeet. The kitted, more aggressive-looking SR models are pretty cool, too. In addition to the March facelift, Nissan’s introducing the Micra C+C in Japan for the first time. For whatever reason, it retains its Euro-market name after making the trip to Japan.
More info can be found in the press releases after the jump.
[Source: Nissan]
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Lamborghini, the Italian brand best known for super sports cars, can’t resist the market opportunity of SUVs and introduced its first ever utility vehicle to huge applause in Beijing this week.
The Lamborghini Urus concept SUV stole the show in Beijing, China, this week with its sleek design and nearly 600 horsepower engine.
Everyone is a buzz on whether or not Lamborghini will build it. But the exotic car maker has strongly hinted it will.
“The Urus is a very concrete idea for the future of Lamborghini – as a third model line and as the perfect complement to our super sports cars,” says Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. “SUVs stand for freedom and emotion.
SUVs make up one of the most successful market segments worldwide. The Urus is the most extreme interpretation of the SUV idea; it is the Lamborghini of the SUVs.”
Click through to see more of the Urus and some of its stiffest competition in the burgeoning”Super SUV” segment that is taking off among the wealthy in China, and expected to be a hit with the 1-percent crowd in the U.S., Europe, Middle East and South America as well.
Engine: 5.2-liter V-10
Horsepower: 584
Price: Expect $200,000
Lightweight and super powerful, the Urus will definitely leave a mark with performance‘ute buyers looking for something out of the ordinary. This concept vehicle, assuming it will be built, could arrive by 2015. It would be sold as an “exclusive SUV,” with Lamborghini only selling 3,000 a year.
Lamborghini, part of the Volkswagen Group, will also feature lots of carbon fiber and lightweight materials to help it go even faster.
Only four people will fit inside the Urus. It’s not exactly a vehicle for suburban soccer Moms.
Lamborghini says the interior should fit its driver like a well tailored suit.
There will be mulitple touch screens throughout the cabin of the Urus. The speedometer and tachometer will not come as real gauges but rather video read outs on the small screen behind the steering wheel.
Steering wheel mounted controls will allow the driver to operate most features in the vehicle, and additional controls will be included on the center stack.
As is the tradition at Lamborghini, the name Urus is dervied from a bull.
This bull, the Urus, was one of the wild ancestors to domestic cattle. The Urus could measure nearly six feet tall at at the shoulder. Spanish fighting bulls are still close to what a Urus might look like today.
But there are plenty more bulls in the pen from other carmakers, hoping to cash in on the high performance SUV segment–some with super prices like the Lambo Urus and others that would better fit the pocketbook of those speed-minded soccer Moms and Dads.
Engine: 6-liter twin turbo W-12
Horsepower: 567 horsepower
Torque: 516 pound-feet
Price: Not released, expect $200,000-plus
First shown in Geneva, Bentley has plans to bring a big, powerful SUV to market by 2015. It would likely feature the 12-cylinder 6-liter engine Bentley uses in other vehicles. It would obviously redefine opulent interior for an SUV, as many of the coach-maker’s other vehicles do.
According to Bloomberg News, Bentley is considering a price tag just north of $200,000. Good thing it doesn’t arrive for three more years, leaving people with enough time to save.
Engine: 4.8-liter V-8Horsepower: 420Torque: 380 pound-feetPrice: $82,050
If it looks like a Porsche, drives like a Porsche and acts like a Porsche, it probably is. The Cayenne GTS is more than that, it’s the ultimate Porsche SUV. In the U.S., the Cayenne proves Americian’s lust for SUVs as it is the best selling Porsche every year since it arrived.
With a top speed of 162 mph and a 0 to 60 mph time of 5.4 seconds, it can out muscle most cars on the road. It’s a 4,500 pound rocket ship.
Engine: 4.4-liter V-8 with twin turbochargersHorsepower: 555Torque: 500 pound-feetPrice: $85,700
This is no longer a sport utility, it’s a sport activity vehicle. The all-wheel drive X5M focuses on performance at every level. The xDrive system can move torque from front to rear axles, as well as from left to right wheel depending on all of the inputs a driver provides such as steering, speed, throttle inputs or braking.
The brakes are beefed up, the electronic damping control, 20-inch racing wheels and modified six-speed automatic transmission built for racers. It’s mad science wrapped up in a beautifully aggressive package of metal and glass.
Engine: UnknownHorsepower: UnknownTorque: UnknownPrice: Not released, expect $100,000 plus
Don’t expect this exotic luxury SUV to have a name that sounds like an explosion when it arrives in the coming years, but the Kubang should do for Maserati what the Cayenne does for Porsche: Make it family ready. But instead of that concise German design, the Kubang will arrive with that Italian artistry that lives in the soul of thoroughbred supercars.
While Maserati has not said what engine will come with this SUV or its price, expect it to come from Ferrari and have lots of power and something well over $100,000.
Engine: 5.5-liter biturboHorsepower: 544Torque: 560 pound-feetPrice: Not released: Expect around $100,000
One-tenth of a second faster than the Porsche Cayenne GTS in the 0-60 sprint, the all new G63 AMG is a combination of German muscle and power.
It’s rugged looks make this beast look as if its invading rather than cruising and its 544 horses under the hood remind everyone who is in charge with every rumble. It’s pure pleasure, packed with leather, high tech driver assist features and lots of head room. It arrives in the U.S. this fall.
Engine: 5-liter V-8 superchargedHorsepower: 510Torque: 461 pound-feetPrice: $75,245
Range Rovers have earned their reputation to go just about anywhere in pure luxury. The Range Rover Sport can go anywhere faster.
The supercharged V-8 under the clam shell hood lets this supercharged SUV go from zero to 60 mpg in 5.9 seconds. It’s air suspension provides superior capabilities for off-roading, though this beauty deserves to stay on highways.
Engine: 6.4-liter V-8Horsepower: 470Torque: 465 pound-feetPrice: $60,960
All-wheel drive, tons of torque and the biggest Hemi engine ever made — what’s not to love? This is also one of the few racing SUVs that can keep with the likes of Porsche, BMW and Range Rover. The new Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 arrives on the new Grand Cherokee platform that’s stiff enough to handle the power and strong enough to hand any corner.
Add to that a stellar interior and this SUV is the complete package of high performance and luxury.
Engine: 3.5-liter twin turbocharged direct injection V-6
Horsepower: 350
Torque: 350 pound feet
Price: Not released, expect $40,000+
Ford Motor Co. tried to dazzle people with its fuel sipping 2-liter I-4 EcoBoost engine that gave the 2012 Explorer up to 28 mpg on the highway with the redesigned Explorer.
But the newest edition to the family touts a 350 horsepower engine and four-wheel drive with an terrain selecting system that will make driving over any surface a breeze. Though the best thing to race this SUV on will likely be asphalt.
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The good news: Approximately three-quarters of consumers say they are completely or very satisfied with their auto repair shops.
The bad news: 27 percent of respondents to a Consumer Reports survey were dissatisfied with their experiences.
Of those consumers, 38 percent cited high prices as the reason, followed by more than 25 percent who said problems weren’t fixed properly and 18 percent who said repairs did not hold up.
The magazine’s Annual Auto Survey was based on more than 67,000 service-visit reports to independent mechanics and 101,000 to dealerships over the past 12 months.
One other statistic that stands out from the data: 30 percent of female respondents stopped using a repair shop because they felt the staff attempted to take advantage of them because of their gender.
While most people have positive experiences at repair shops and are honest and professional, here’s a list of common scams and bad practices AOL Autos Editors have compiled to ensure you have a better automotive repair experience.
Some shops will tell you that you need your fuel injectors”cleaned” every 15,000 or 20,000 miles. Only if you are using coal oil to power your car.
Today’s gasoline has detergent in it to keep fuel injectors clean. Shops will sometimes present you with dirty fuel injectors as a prop.
Proper replacement cycle for a set of fuel injectors is once a year or 35,000 miles. And even that is overkill.
You take the car in because the check-engine light is on, or maybe to fix a rough idle. You get the call, or someone comes out with a clipboard and opinion and says you need three other things done for hundreds of dollars more.
If you trust the mechanic and have history, then he or she may well be doing right. But if it is a new shop, have the work done you came in for and get a second opinion and estimate for the other things. Be firm. Many shops will make you feel like you are being bad to your car if you don’t get the extra work done. Unless it’s an immediate safety issue, get the second opinion if you aren’t sure.
Few of us will really do this, and that is what the unscrupulous shop is counting on. You pay for new parts, but are sold used parts. Inspect the parts that are being installed for wear.
They should be spanking new, and appropriate brand-name parts approved by the manufacturer. Look for brands like AC Delco, Bosch, Fram, Champion. If the parts are unbranded or strange, ask the shop to show you they are approved parts.
It may seem unlikely, but think of how simple it is especially if an unscrupulous mechanic thinks that the owner of the vehicle in his shop has utterly no idea what tires are on the car. Some will actual take your tires off and replace them with older tires.
Put chalk marks on the inside of your tires. Some shops will swap out your tires for older tires. If your chalk-marks are not there when you collect the car, you, and your tires, have been hustled.
Don’t be sold a new air filter at every oil change. The filter is good for a whole year or about 15,000 miles. Here again, many shops will present you with a filter they say is yours next to a new filter and try and guilt you into a new filter you most likely don’t need.
Don’t flush your hard earned money down the sewer. The engine flush costs between $100 and $200. An engine flush uses a machine and chemicals to rid your engine’s innards of sludge, but it’s not a normal maintenance checkpoint unless you’ve neglected your engine. Change your oil according to manufacturer’s recommendations and you won’t need an engine flush.
A simple examination into your oil-filler lid will reveal deposits and gunk. Sometimes, if you’ve got an engine with high mileage and deposits, a flush will break loose sludge that can get into the engine. But it’s really not necessary today if you’ve otherwise taken good care of your car.
Get your transmission fluid changed every 35,000 miles. Your car may come with something called”lifetime” fluid, but we recommend even changing that at about 80,000 miles.
Don’t get sold on”lifetime” anything whether it be fluids, filters or brake-pads. These are sales gimmicks and have nothing to do with taking good care of your vehicles.
Don’t get sold on changing your oil every $3,000 miles. Often when a chain lube shop changes your oil, they put a sticker on your windshield that says”Change Your Oil at ‘Fill-in-mileage-here.'”
PRESS RELEASE:
Nissan Releases Revised March
– New “Plus navi HDD” Special Specification Model Added to Lineup –
TOKYO (June 5, 2007) – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. has launched a revised version of the popular March, which goes on sale today at Nissan dealers nationwide. The enhancements to the new March include exterior and interior refinements, new user-friendly features such as Intelligent Key, an available Aero Style Package and a special “Plus navi HDD” model.
March 12E
A Refined Exterior and Interior
Among the many refinements made to the March, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this model year, are a restyled front end appearance with revised headlamp and grille designs, as well as expanded application of the top-line front bumper specification.
The March comes in a selection of 12 attractive body colors, including four all-new colors: Sakura Pearl Metallic, Chamomile Green Pearl Metallic, Framboise Red Pearl (two-stage) and Pacific Blue Pearl Metallic. In conjunction with this minor model change, additional body colors have been adopted for the 12SR and 15SR-A*1 models.
March’s interior features a new trim color, Cacao, which creates a rich and stylish ambience. Additionally, a redesigned meter cluster (4-speed AT models only) now features a carbon-like silver color, which combines with the new silver-embellished center console to give the interior a stylish design. Other enhancements include adoption of newly designed seat and door trim fabric and a driver’s seat armrest (E and G models).
Nissan’s Intelligent Key system and body-colored door handles have been added to the list of standard features (E models), while steering wheel controls have been added to E and G models. The new March also adds an audio system auxiliary port for connecting digital audio players or other portable music device (excluding the 12B and SR models).
“Plus navi HDD” Special Specification Model
Based on the March 12S and 14S FOUR, the new “Plus navi HDD” model is designed to provide exceptional value. The centerpiece of this new model is an exclusive HDD-based navigation system featuring a high-speed, large-capacity 30-gigabyte hard disk drive. The “Plus navi HDD” model also adds a leather-wrapped 3-spoke steering wheel, among other special appointments.
The revised March model lineup includes two new optional packages: a factory-installed Aero Style Package (available on all models except the 12B and SR versions) and a factory-installed Square Interior Package (available on the 12E, 15E and 14E FOUR).
Sales Target and Pricing
The sales target for the new March is 3,000 units/month, with pricing ranging from 1,103,550 yen to 1,782,900 yen, including consumption tax.
The March is being marketed under the “SHIFT_happiness” tagline.