Wherever you find General Motors and Ford going at it, Chrysler is seldom very far behind. Except in Australia. The Land Down Under has its own unique touring car championship in the form of its popular V8 Supercars series, but the only contestants these days are Ford (with its FPV Falcon) and GM subsidiary Holden (with its HSV Commodore). That, however, could change in the near future.

Word on the Aussie street is that Chrysler Group Australia is entertaining the possibility of jumping into the popular series, likely with a vehicle based (however loosely) on the 300. Because V8 Supercars teams – which budget around million to run two cars for the season – are by regulation independent of any manufacturer, Chrysler would need to woo a few away from their current Ford or Holden partners, but several have reportedly approached the Pentastar automaker about the possibility.

The addition of a third manufacturer to challenge Ford and Holden would mirror a similar move made this season by BMW to challenge Audi and Mercedes-Benz (which was also rumored to be considering a V8 Supercars entry) in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM). Chrysler previously supplied the V8 Supercars series with the first-gen 300C SRT8, which serves as the pace car for several years.

According to Australia’s The Age, SRT brand CEO Ralph Gilles reportedly likes the idea, but stopped short of committing to any impending program. The prospect, however, could be made more feasible by a new, more cost-effective “Car of the Future” being implemented in V8 Supercars, much as the “Car of Tomorrow” was in NASCAR and the “Next-Generation Touring Car” was in the British Touring Car Championship. Another plus is the expansion of the series outside of Australia to locations like India, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa and – most crucially – the United States as a support race for the upcoming U.S. Grand Prix Formula One race in Austin, Texas.

Chrysler considering entry into Australia’s V8 Supercar series? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to a report from Inside Line, Kia is considering creating a number of variants of its GT Concept, including both a coupe and a wagon. If true, that could mean Kia is aiming to create a family of vehicles capable of competing with German luxury automakers like BMW and Audi.

The Korean manufacturer has made it clear that a production version of the four-door will likely make its way to market in 2013 as an affordable alternative to hardware like the Audi A7, and Kia has made waves about wanting a budget sports car in its stable in the past.

Variants of the incredibly attractive GT would seem perfect for slotting into all of the above spots. With a turbocharged 3.3-liter V6 good for 390 horsepower, the GT should be capable of keeping up with brawny hardware from its European competition.

Kia considering coupe, wagon versions of GT originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sometimes, even concept cars evolve. Take the Nissan Pivo, an ungainly, all-electric bubble-on-wheels that first appeared in 2005 at the Tokyo Motor Show. The first version was pretty round, but the Pivo 2 somehow managed to add extra curves around the wheels. For the Pivo 3, unveiled today in advance of this year’s Tokyo show, Nissan is keeping some of the quirkiness of the first two Pivos but has scrapped most of the supple round curves. Instead, the new Pivo gets some artistic angles to go with its city functionality. Whether this is an improvement or not is in the eye of the beholder.

The changes don’t mean that the Pivo is ready for sale quite yet, but Nissan does say that the third-gen Pivo is “what Nissan envisions to be a more ‘realistic’ EV of the near future.” Aside from the zero-emission powertrain (note the “e” logo, as also seen on the Leaf) and in-wheel motors, what’s notable about the Pivo 3 is that has got a lot of automated parking capability. In “specially equipped parking lots,” you can even let the car park and recharge itself using “Automated Valet Parking.” Even better, you can have the Pivo 3 come to you using your smartphone and the car’s autonomous driving skills. Bruce Wayne’s got nothing on Pivo. When you are driving, the center-located driver’s seat and ultra-tight (two-meter) turning radius.

As you can see in the video after the jump, Nissan is considering putting the Pivo – of something like the Pivo – into production. Would you buy one? Sound off in the Comments.

Continue reading Nissan shows off Pivo 3′s new angles, considering quirky EV for production [w/video]

Nissan shows off Pivo 3′s new angles, considering quirky EV for production [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was late in 2007 when Audi lifted the veil on the Cross Cabriolet concept. And it seemed absurd then. First of all, Audi only had the gigantic Q7 in its crossover range then, and Nissan had yet to offer its own CrossCabriolet. Several years on, that drop-top Murano is on the open market and Audi has expanded its line-up with the Q3 and Q5. And suddenly the notion of a drop-top CUV from Audi… well, it still seems pretty silly, but maybe not quite as much.

Now, word has it that Audi could be considering at least a limited run of Q5 Cross Cabrios. If production, as sources suggest, were limited to around 5,000 units, the contract could go to an independent coachbuilder rather than trying to fit the square peg of a niche model into the round hole of a mass-production automaker. In typical Audi style, Quattro all-wheel drive, a variety of TFSI and TDI engines and a fabric roof would likely be part of the mix. And while we may very well be getting ahead of ourselves, that’s what people said before Audi and its German compatriots started busting segments with their ever-expanding model lines.

[Source: autoblog.nl]

Audi considering production Q5 Cross Cabrio originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 02 May 2011 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Might a fishy new muscle car be bound for U.S. market consumption? According to USA Today, Ralph Gilles, the man who ably heads Chrysler’s Dodge brand, indicated to a crowd of Mopar-obsessed fans at the 2010 SEMA Show that a resurrection of the classic Barracuda is indeed a possibility.

Keep in mind that Dodge has already re-released the Challenger, which was the Barracuda’s fellow pony car sibling from 1970 through 1974, so the car’s platform is seemingly already there. That raises an interesting conundrum, though: how would The Pentastar differentiate the two models if they shared a platform and featured similar styling?

Another question that would need answering is where the model would fall into the current Chrysler portfolio. Remember, the Barracuda wore a Plymouth badge way back when, and that brand got sent to the great scrapheap in the sky several years ago. As such, if it were ever to happen – which is a very, very big ‘if’ – we may be in store for a Chrysler Barracuda.

Would the purists object? Probably, but certainly no more than they did when Dodge brought back the Charger nameplate for a four-door sedan… With that in mind, we want to know what you think. Should Chrysler reintroduce the Barracuda?

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[Source: USA Today]

Report: Chrysler seriously considering new Barracuda [w/poll] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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