Report: Buick Verano compact coming in 2012

As July’s By The Numbers showed us, American buyers are quick to forget the pain of having to fill up a full-size pickup or SUV when gas prices are in the $4-per-gallon range. Without the guiding hand of Uncle Sam pushing the car-buying public towards smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, consumers are all about being large and in charge in the passing lane. But According to Automotive News, General Motors is keen to the fact that fuel won’t stay cheap forever, and to prepare for a returning tide of buyers rushing to small cars when oil goes sky high again, the company is planning a more diminutive product lineup.

If the Automotive News article is on its mark, we can expect to see a new compact Buick called the Verano as well as a hybrid version of the Lacrosse. There’s no telling exactly which architecture the baby Buick will use for its bones, but the Chevrolet Cruze wouldn’t be a bad bet in our eyes. Likewise, GMC will see the introduction of a production version of the Granite concept and Chevrolet should have the all-new Aveo join its ranks along with the Spark city car. Automotive News even says that The General is planning to shrink theImpala. Sounds good to us, but when it comes to Buick, these small-car rumors crop up nearly every year.

Buick to expand line with coupe, convertible and wagon?

Buick conducted another in its series of webchats and this time product marketing director Roger McCormack attended the party. One of the first real signs of the brand’s rebirth came three years ago with the debut of the Riviera concept. Since then, Buick has focused on launching its mainstream, higher volume products like the LaCrosse and Regal, and the Riviera coupe has languished on the sidelines.

However, McCormack says the coupe concept could live on as a production model. He acknowledged that acoupe is receiving “very strong consideration” and admitted that a convertible would help excite customers, but wasn’t prepared to make any announcements. Even a wagon was not ruled out and could be among the first to join the lineup. A be-hatched version of the Insignia already exists in Europe and a prototype withRegal badges has been spotted in Michigan in the past. No doubt Buick will be watching the sales of theAcura TSX Sportswagon when it arrives this fall in deciding what to do with the Regal. The full transcript of the chat is available here.

New Bentley Mulsane Limousine Priced from £220,000 in the UK, Sales Start Next Summer

Bentley’s new flagship limousine, the Mulsanne, will arrive in the United Kingdom in the Summer of 2010 with a starting price of £220,000 (including taxes and delivery charges), which comes to about US$365,000 or €242,000 with the current exchange rates, the company announced today.

Powered by a twin-turbocharged 6¾-litre V8 engine that delivers a hefty 512 horsepower, the luxury Bentley flagship will offer buyers a wide variety of personalization options including a palette of 114 paint colors, 21 carpet colors, nine wood veneers and 24 different interior leather hides to choose from.

Bentley said it has already held more than 1,000 private customer previews of the Mulsanne at the company’s factory in Crewe, England as well as a series of preview events held at dealerships across the UK, Continental Europe and the United States, and that early customer interest exceeds 2010 production targets

“Even at this very early stage, the expression of interest we’ve received easily exceeds our 2010 production targets,” said Stuart McCullough, Member of the Board for Sales & Marketing for Bentley.

“The Mulsanne’s credentials are a pure expression of Bentley design and craftsmanship, and that’s struck a chord with Bentley enthusiasts across the globe as well as many of the potential customers we have welcomed for tours in Crewe this year. We’ve been encouraged by the positive commentary, notably from our American customers as the Mulsanne was privately previewed in seven metro markets across the country.”

Production of the Mulsanne will commence at the firm’s Crewe headquarters in England in the second quarter of 2010 with each example taking about nine weeks to build.

Peugeot SR1 Hybrid Roadster Showcases New Design Language, Marks the end of Gaping-Mouth Grille Era

This here is the Peugeot SR1 hybrid 2+1 seater roadster concept that will be displayed for the first time at the upcoming 2010 Geneva Salon in March. The significance of the SR1 lies in its styling as the French automaker revealed that it foretells the stylistic design trends for its future models.

In short, this concept car showcases the firm’s new design language that abandons the chunky shapes and the much criticized gaping-mouth grille of the current Peugeots in favor of more elegant and sharper looks that hark back to the Pininfarina-era Pugs.

The concept itself, which bears a passing resemblance to Aston Martin’s Vantage V8, is a proposal for a low-slung roadster model with a hybrid powertrain.

The SR1′s interior, is pure concept though we might see the driver-orientated center console making its way into Peugeot’s future production models. The roadster can seat up to three in a 2+1 layout with the rear seat mounted centrally.

The roadster makes use of Peugeot’s HYbrid4 technology, which will be available in the company’s 3008 crossover from 2011. A front-mounted 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine with a power output of 218 bhp is combined with a rear electric motor developing 95 bhp.

When the two power trains work simultaneously, the SR1 develops a potential maximum power of 313bhp and also benefits from four-wheel drive.

Peugeot said that in electric only mode, the car becomes a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV), with a combined cycle fuel consumption of 4.9 lt/100km (48.0mpg US) and CO2 emissions of just 119 g/km.

The concept model also benefits from the adoption of 4-wheel steering with the turning angle of the rear wheels controlled as a function of the vehicle speed, via motorized links on the rear wishbones.

BYD Auto F3DM EV: China's Volt Makes it to Detroit, will be Launched in the States by 2011

Along with the E6 fully-electric crossover, China’s BYD Auto (which stands for Build Your Dreams) also showcased the F3DM plug-in hybrid sedan at its Detroit Show stand. This is not the first time we’ve seen the F3DM in the U.S. as the Chinese automaker displayed the car at last year’s NAIAS.

Looking a lot like a previous generation Toyota Corolla, the 4,533mm (178.4 inches) long FD3M makes use of a small 1.0-liter gasoline engine and an electric motor for a combined output of 168hp (125kw).

Even though some sites have reported now and in the past that the F3DM’s hybrid drivetrain works in the same that the Chevy Volt’s does, meaning that the gasoline engine doesn’t drive the wheels but charges the battery, BYD Auto’s press release clearly points towards a system similar to the one found in the Prius.

“When the vehicle needs more power to accelerate, a gasoline engine and an electric motor drive the wheels together to provide greater output and torque,” BYD Auto states in the F3DM’s press release.

BYD claims that the plug-in hybrid sedan can drive up to 100km or 62 miles on electricity and 580km or 360 miles on a single battery charge and a full tank of gasoline.

The Chinese maker says that the F3DM’s battery pack can be charged to 50% power via quick charge in 10 minutes, and 100% power via household charge in seven hours.

The vehicle also features a solar panel sunroof, which can be used to channel power to the battery pack.

According to BYD, the F3DM can sprint from standstill to 100km/h (62mph) in 10.5 seconds and go on to reach a top speed of 150 km/h or 93mph.

The plug-in hybrid sedan recently went on sale in China for the U.S. equivalent of around $22,000. The company said that it plans to sell the F3DM in the States by 2011.

Toyota Unveils MR2 Sports Hybrid Concept, Combines 3.3-liter V6 and Electric Motor for 400HP

It may only be a concept for now, but Toyota’s GRMN MR2 Sports Hybrid study that was unveiled today at the Tokyo Auto Salon may very well form the technological base for a similar production sports car in the very near future, according to reports from Japan.

Developed in cooperation with Toyota’s racing and tuning partner Gazoo, the concept is a two-seater, all-wheel drive hybrid sports car based on a modified version of the platform used in the now obsolete MR2 roadster.

Underneath its widened body, the MR2 concept gets a mid-mounted 3.3-liter V6 petrol engine that drives the rear wheels and the company’s THSII hybrid system with the electric motor propelling the front wheels.

The combined output of the hybrid system and petrol engine is estimated to be in the range of 400 horsepower

Power is transferred to the wheels through a continuously variable transmission (CVT) with paddle shifts.

Toyota did not release any performance figures, but if you take into consideration that the 400HP plus roadster tips the scales at just 1,300 kg or 2,866 pounds (official data), this pocket rocket promises to be nothing less than fast.

Report: Infiniti mulling more rear-wheel-drive hybrids

The Infiniti M35 Hybrid won’t be hitting showrooms until Spring 2011, but that doesn’t mean future applications of the hybrid powertrain aren’t already in the works. Speaking with Automotive News, Nissan North America’s vice president of product planning, Larry Dominique, says that the M35′s hybrid drivetrain was designed to fit all of Infiniti’s rear-wheel drive models, not just the flagship M.

Infiniti’s new hybrid system is the first gasoline-electric powerplant solely designed by Nissan (the Altima Hybrid uses a Toyota-sourced unit). Once the M35 launches, we could see new hybrid versions of the G, EXand FX models, though we’d expect those to come long after the initial launch of the M35.

Currently, the market for rear-wheel-drive hybrid sedans is very small, with the Lexus GS 450h and LS 600h,Mercedes-Benz S400 and BMW 7 Series ActiveHybrid making up the entire segment. More entries are expected to arrive over the next few years, and Infiniti will surely test the waters with the M35 before electrifying any more models within its lineup.