Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental.
The Mahindra Verito Vibe at the Buddh racing circuit.
Last week, I spent three days in India serving on the jury of the NDTV Car and Bike Awards. Organized by NDTV automotive anchor Siddharth Patankar, we tested 24 cars for a full day at the Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi. It is a fantastic track, designed by renowned circuit architect Hermann Tilke, with challenging turns and an unusually long straight that allowed for speeds of up to 150 mph in top-of-the-line vehicles like the Jaguar F-type V8 S and the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG on hand. On the flip side of this high-performance coin was the fully electric Mahindra E20, which struggled over uphill grades that went almost unnoticed in even the most pedestrian gasoline- and diesel-powered cars.
And there were many, many pedestrian rides at the event. The Indian car market is rife with low-cost vehicles; some are curious, like the Mahindra Verito Vibe, a shortened Renault/Dacia Logan with a hatchback shape but a small trunk opening. Or the Ford EcoSport, a subcompact SUV that was designed in Brasil, is built in India, and will eventually be sold in Europe. Diesels are extremely popular in India, and even small cars like the Chevrolet Spark (called Beat) are available with oil-burning engines.
Only in India: Testing a brand-new Leyland—the Ashok Leyland Stile.
Driving fast on the Buddh racetrack was a challenge, but it was nothing compared to negotiating regular traffic on the streets of New Delhi; "chaotic" is a kind word for the melee. Mastering a few miles in a colleague's Honda Brio without causing as much as a scratch ranks among the proudest automotive achievements of my life. Anyway, the winners of the NDTV awards will be announced on January 13th. It was my first trip to India, but I will definitely come back to the fascinating country.
Whirlwind GM, Akerson
GM CEO Dan Akerson, whose successor was named this past week, won't leave the General without making a number of far-reaching decisions that will gravely affect the company's brand strategies—for better or for worse. Yanking Chevrolet from European markets means the undoing of almost two decades of Daewoo and Chevrolet pairing efforts since the mid-1990s. Unburdened by the premium aspirations of Opel—and its empty twin, Vauxhall—European Chevrolet was able to attack Hyundai, Kia, and Renault's aspiring low-cost brand, Dacia. It will be interesting to see Opel, a damaged brand that continues to bleed cash, being stretched to both a budget position and to the near-premium airspace that it needs to occupy, if only to provide Buick with adequate product to fight its main American competitor, Lincoln.
Meanwhile, the Opel Adam (pictured here), a cute and well-designed minicar which I like, is selling so poorly that Opel has had to stop production repeatedly.
Doomed: The Holden-built Chevrolet SS.
Akerson also has decided to reduce Holden to a sort of Australian Vauxhall, i.e., a rebadging operation. The move coincides with the launch of the Holden-engineered (and Holden-built) Chevrolet SS sedan. The decision to close Holden's engineering and production must be a blow for Mark Reuss, product guy at GM passed over for Akerson's succession, who went to lengths to ensure a viable future for the Australian brand.
And finally, GM has sold its shares in the French PSA automotive conglomerate, which were acquired (to general amazement) just last year. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away…
Audi e-tron Talk
Rumor has it that Audi reversed its decision to kill the R8 e-tron, but as of today, Ulrich Hackenberg, the brand's R&D chief, has not made a decision one way or the other. The program, which was killed off by Hackenberg's predecessor, Wolfgang Dürheimer, is under review. If the R8 e-tron comes to market, it will be fitted with a battery pack superior to the concept car's unit.
Perhaps Hackenberg should consider the success of the vehicle that was once supposed to be the R8 e-tron's chief competitor, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive. Production of the electric super-Benz has been stopped well ahead of the gasoline-powered SLS, and while the company steadfastly refuses to release official production figures, my educated guess is that significantly less than the originally planned run of 200 units were built.
- Instrumented Test: 2013 Volkswagen Scirocco R
- Instrumented Test: 2014 Chevrolet SS Sedan
- First Drive: 2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive
Auf Wiedersehen, Scirocco R
A metallic-blue Volkswagen Scirocco R press vehicle is currently making the rounds on American turf, generating a lot of buzz and the hope that it might one day be offered in the New World as well. Forget it: It is not even available in Europe anymore. VW has killed the Scirocco R, because production of that model's turbocharged EA113 engine has stopped.
The next Scirocco will be launched at the Geneva auto show, and, happily, it will be offered in high-performance R guise yet again, with the 300-horsepower EA888 engine under the hood. And no, it won't come to the America. The next one is essentially a face-lifted version of the current model, still based on VW's old PQ35 platform. An all-new, MQB-based Scirocco, due in four to five years, is the Scirocco that could finally return to the U.S. market.
from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com
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