Volkswagen has released a 60-second Super Bowl commercial called "Get Happy" that continues the German automaker’s tradition of presenting quirky, uplifting ads for the big game.
"Get Happy" features a man continues to talk in a Jamaican accent even though he is from Minnesota. By the end of the spot, several of his co-workers adopt his positive outlook on life and adopt the accent.
According to Volkswagen, the ad “builds on Volkswagen’s heritage of ‘human stories, told simply.’â€
The music for "Get Happy," is sung by reggae legend Jimmy Cliff. Volkswagen also released a teaser ad Jan. 24 called "Sunny Side," with Jimmy Cliff and a number of other people singing in a meadow.
Volkswagen’s "The Dog Strikes Back," in 2012 and "The Force" in 2011 were both widely considered among the best that aired during the Super Bowl in those years.
Contact Brent Snavely: 313-222-6512 or bsnavely@freepress.com
The actual Volkswagen video for "Get Happy," the Super Bowl ad, and "Sunny Side," the teaser ad, can be downloaded here.
Body kit akan dibuat dapat diakses di pasar India beberapa saat setelah diperkenalkan di pasar Indonesia.
Sesuai laporan sebelumnya, pasar Indonesia juga telah memperoleh transmisi otomatis untuk versi bensin dari Ertiga yang telah dilengkapi dengan AC double blower yang selama ini banyak dikeluhkan konsumen di Indonesia.Â
Tidak bermaksud untuk bersaing dengan sudara pabrikan yaitu SX4, tubuh body Ertiga Crossover kit dan amechanicaldiffusion bisa sangat baik mengubah pikiran para calon pembeli mobil yang telah tinggal jauh dari Ertigaowing ke sosok yang 'sexy'.
Multi-utility vehicle Ertiga  didukung oleh fitur yang lebih unggul dari kompetitornya dengan harga yang sangat realistis bila dibandingkan dengan fitur yang didapatkan oleh konsumen Ertiga hal ini menjadi sebuah pilihan yang bijaksana.
Nampaknya Maruti Suzuki tidak puas sampai disitu saja, konsep mobil yang ditawarkan untuk diluncurkan pada tahun 2014 dan 2015 bahkan sudah di umumkan di New Delhi Auto ShowÂ
,
General Motors CEO Dan Akerson expressed faith today that GM can “become the world’s most valuable automotive company.â€
But he expressed much less faith in the Detroit Lions.
“I hope you don’t feel too bad about the (Kansas City) Chiefs’ recent performance,†Akerson said at an event announcing a $ 600-million investment in GM’s Fairfax, Kan., assembly and stamping plant. “It’s not like you’re Lions fans.â€
Ouch.
The Lions went 4-12 in 2012. The Kansas City Chiefs earned the first pick in the NFL draft after going 2-14.
“The Detroit Lions have never been to a Super Bowl, and the last time they won an NFL championship (1957), GM was building the Pontiac Catalina here, and Elvis was topping the charts with ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and ‘All Shook Up,’†Akerson said, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.
Of course, what wasn't mentioned in Akerson's remarks is that the Lions are owned by GM’s archrival: the Ford family.
Contact: Nathan Bomey at 313-223-4743 or nbomey@freepress.com. On Twitter, follow @NathanBomey or @freepautos.
1 of 2. Commuters use their smartphones in a train in Singapore January 26, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Edgar Su
SINGAPORE |
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Apple Inc's iconic iPhone is losing some of its luster among Asia's well-heeled consumers in Singapore and Hong Kong, a victim of changing mobile habits and its own runaway success.
Driven by a combination of iPhone fatigue, a desire to be different and a plethora of competing devices, users are turning to other brands, notably those from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, eating into Apple's market share.
In Singapore, Apple's products were so dominant in 2010 that more devices here ran its iOS operating system per capita than anywhere else in the world.
But StatCounter gs.statcounter.com, which measures traffic collected across a network of 3 million websites, calculates that Apple's share of mobile devices in Singapore - iPad and iPhone - declined sharply last year. From a peak of 72 percent in January 2012, its share fell to 50 percent this month, while Android devices now account for 43 percent of the market, up from 20 percent in the same month last year.
In Hong Kong, devices running Apple's iOS now account for about 30 percent of the total, down from about 45 percent a year ago. Android accounts for nearly two-thirds.
"Apple is still viewed as a prestigious brand, but there are just so many other cool smartphones out there now that the competition is just much stiffer," said Tom Clayton, chief executive of Singapore-based Bubble Motion www.bubblemotion.com, which develops a popular regional social media app called Bubbly.
Where Hong Kong and Singapore lead, other key markets across fast-growing Asia usually follow.
"Singapore and Hong Kong tend to be, from an electronics perspective, leading indicators on what is going to be hot in Western Europe and North America, as well as what is going to take off in the region," said Jim Wagstaff, who runs a Singapore-based company called Jam Factory www.jamfactoryonline.com developing mobile apps for enterprises.
Southeast Asia is adopting smartphones fast - consumers spent 78 percent more on smartphones in the 12 months up to September 2012 than they did the year before, according to research company GfK www.gfkrt.com.
IN WITH THE YOUNG CROWD
Anecdotal evidence of iPhone fatigue isn't hard to find: Where a year ago iPhones swamped other devices on the subways of Hong Kong and Singapore they are now outnumbered by Samsung and HTC Corp smartphones.
While this is partly explained by the proliferation of Android devices, from the cheap to the fancy, there are other signs that Apple has lost followers.
Singapore entrepreneur Aileen Sim, recently launched an app for splitting bills called BillPin www.billpin.com, settling on an iOS version because that was the dominant platform in the three countries she was targeting - Singapore, India and the United States.
"But what surprised us was how strong the call for Android was when we launched our app," she said.
Indeed, 70 percent of their target users - 20-something college students and fresh graduates - said they were either already on Android or planned to switch over.
"Android is becoming really hard to ignore, around the region and in the U.S. for sure, but surprisingly even in Singapore," she said. "Even my younger early-20s cousins are mostly on Android now."
BillPin launched an Android version this month.
Napoleon Biggs, chief strategy officer at Gravitas Group www.gravitas.com.hk, a Hong Kong-based mobile marketing company, said that while Apple and the iPhone remained premium brands there, Samsung's promotional efforts were playing to an increasingly receptive audience.
For some, it is a matter of wanting to stand out from the iPhone-carrying crowd. Others find the higher-powered, bigger-screened Android devices better suited to their changing habits - watching video, writing Chinese characters - while the cost of switching devices is lower than they expected, given that most popular social and gaming apps are available for both platforms.
"Hong Kong is a very fickle place," Biggs said.
Janet Chan, a 25-year-old Hong Kong advertising executive, has an iPhone 5 but its fast-draining battery and the appeal of a bigger screen for watching movies is prodding her to switch to a Samsung Galaxy Note II.
"After Steve Jobs died, it seems the element of surprise in product launches isn't that great anymore," she said.
To be sure, there are still plenty of people buying Apple devices. Stores selling their products in places such as Indonesia were full over the Christmas holidays, and the company's new official store in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay has queues snaking out of the door most days.
But the iPhone's drop in popularity in trendy Hong Kong and Singapore is mirrored in the upmarket malls of the region.
"IPhones are like Louis Vuitton handbags," said marketing manager Narisara Konglua in Bangkok, who uses a Galaxy SIII. "It's become so commonplace to see people with iPads and iPhones so you lose your cool edge having one."
In the Indonesian capital Jakarta, an assistant manager at Coca Cola's local venture, Gatot Hadipratomo, agrees. The iPhone "used to be a cool gadget but now more and more people use it."
There is another influence at play: hip Korea. Korean pop music, movies and TV are hugely popular around the region and Samsung is riding that wave. And while the impact is more visible in Hong Kong and Singapore, it also translates directly to places like Thailand.
"Thais are not very brand-loyal," says Akkaradert Bumrungmuang, 24, a student at Mahidol University in Bangkok. "That's why whatever is hot or the in-thing to have is adopted quickly here. We follow Korea so whatever is fashionable in Korea will be a big hit."
(Additional reporting by Lee Chyen Yee in Hong Kong; Khettiya Jittapong and Amy Sawitta Lefevre in Bangkok, and Andjarsari Paramaditha in Jakarta; Editing by Emily Kaiser)
The company logo is displayed at the Samsung news conference at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas January 7, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking
Panasonic chief Kazuhiro Tsuga introduces the company's new 4K OLED 56'' television during the Panasonic opening day keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas January 8, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking
WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hackers sympathetic to the late computer prodigy Aaron Swartz claimed on Saturday to have infiltrated the website of the U.S. Justice Department's Sentencing Commission, and said they planned to release government data.
The Sentencing Commission site, www.ussc.gov , was shut down early Saturday.
Identifying themselves as Anonymous, a loosely organized group of unknown provenance associated with a range of recent online actions, the hackers voiced outrage over Swartz' suicide on January 11.
In a video posted online, the hackers criticized the government's prosecution of Swartz, who had been facing trial on charges that he used the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's computer networks to steal more than 4 million articles from JSTOR, an online archive and journal distribution service.
Swartz had faced a maximum sentence of 31 years in prison and fines of up to $ 1 million.
The FBI is investigating the attack, according to Richard McFeely, of the bureau's Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch.
"We were aware as soon as it happened and are handling it as a criminal investigation," McFeely said in an emailed statement. "We are always concerned when someone illegally accesses another person's or government agency's network."
(Reporting by Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Vicki Allen)
The company logo is displayed at the Samsung news conference at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas January 7, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY LOGO)
The Tigers winter caravan stopped at the auto show today. Watch as Torii Hunter talks about how excited he is to potentially hit in front of reigning AL MVP Miguel Cabrera.
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Chrysler has cut and reassigned a total of 58 employees at its engine plant in Dundee as it prepares to produce an additional engine for the Dodge Dart.
The Auburn Hills automaker reassigned 44 of those employees to new jobs and let go of 14 workers who were still in their initial 90-day probationary period, said spokeswoman Jodi Tinson.
Chrysler reassigned the workers because it is cutting back on production of its 1.4-liter FIRE engine that the plant makes for the Dodge Dart, said spokeswoman Jodi Tinson.
The company is preparing to begin production of a 2.4-liter engine at the Dundee plant that will be an additional option for buyers of the compact car.
“We have eliminated a shift of production of the FIRE engine,†Tinson said. “We have a new powertrain for the Dart coming online, and so we are rebalancing the mix for the Dart.â€
Last week, Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said sales of the Dart have not met expectations.
He blamed the slow sales on the choice of powertrains for the car, which some auto critics have said feels underpowered compared with its competitors.
Chrysler sold 25,303 Darts last year after the car went on sale in July. The Dart competes with popular cars such as the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze. In 2012, sales of all those models easily topped 200,000. The Civic was the top-seller, with sales of more than 317,000.
Marchionne said Chrysler is working to introduce a new nine-speed transmission on the Dart. However, that is unlikely to happen until next year.
Contact Brent Snavely: 313-222-6512 or bsnavely@freepress.com
A logo of the Blackberry maker's Research in Motion is seen on a building at the RIM Technology Park in Waterloo April 18, 2012. Picture taken April 18, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Mark Blinch
Hot Wheels 20 Car Gift Pack â€" Styles May Vary {image} Image by {owner} Hot Wheels 20-Car Gift Packs deliver twenty of the coolest 1:64 scale die-cast vehicles with unifying themes in one package. Each pack is an instant collection! Some vehicles not for use with some Hot Wheels sets. Cars measures 3"L.
[wprebay kw="car" num="0" ebcat="-1"] IRM is a museum that never sleeps. Even in the middle of winter, there's always somebody around, and on weekends there are usually lots of people working on various projects. The car shop/wood shop is a beehive of activity, but there were also people working in the steam shop, the office, the silver train, B&G, working on the trucks for the dome car, and I presume over in the Diesel shop. I could start naming names but I'd surely leave several people out inadver tently. And who needs more enemies?
Nonetheless, there's always room for more, and we could easily put several more people to work on productive activities. It beats sitting at home watching TV!
I spent most of the day prepping and painting various parts of the ceiling in the 319, as usual. It's going well.ÂÂ
In the shop, I also put a second coat of red on the outside of the 36's end window, followed by first blue on the inside.ÂÂ
And I looked at the train door with Bob Kutella and Victor Humphreys. We talked about how to patch in the new wood, and Victor picked out some spare pieces of poplar left over from the snowplow project. Since the pieces we needed are fai rly small, I was confident that we'd have some stock already available. Thanks, Victor!
Bob and I are probably both in the market for new digital cameras. I'm still using an antique (= 10 years old) Nikon model which works OK. Bob's no longer focuses properly, so he ordered a newer model on line. It has all sorts of problems, and he was telling us about his phone conversation with the sales rep. The funniest part was that he complained that if you're shooting near the sun, you can't see anything in t& #104;e display to help you frame the picture. So the rep suggested that he just turn around. Turn around? Now how am I supposed to take a picture of what I want? Anyhow, we'd appreciate any positive recommendations from real people who have bought cameras recently for railfan purposes. In particular, it's important to download easily to a computer for blogging. So let us know what you recommend. Thanks!
Billybanks Car Park #2
The shortlist for the annual LowCVP Champions Awards has been revealed ahead of the award ceremony in Westminister, at the end of the month.
Awards are handed out in categories including Low Carbon Car/Van Manufacturer 
These highly-sought after awards from the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) will be given out as the organisation celebrates its tenth anniversary.
The (LowCVP) is a public-private partnership that exists to accelerate a shift to lower carbon vehicles and fuels and create opportunities for UK businesses. Nearly 200 organisations are engaged including government, automotive and fuel supply chains, vehicle users, academics, environment groups and wider society. The annual awards from the partnership are designed to recognise those which make an outstanding contribution towards sustainable transport.
Making this year’s shortlist for an award are companies including Williams Hybrid Power, Toyota, Vauxhall, RAC Foundation, Cella Energy Ltd, Hertz on Demand and Stobart Group to name a few.
Winners of last year’s awards included Nissan Coca Cola Enterprises Limited, Gasrec, WhipCar, Iveco, Flybrid Systems LLP, Element Energy and Stagecoach Group.
The Award ceremony and Anniversary Reception will be held at One Birdcage Walk, Westminister on January 29, 2013.
More details of the awards can be found here: www.lowcvp.org.uk/lowcarbonchampions/.Â
Faye has been writing about cars and environmental issues since 2007. A suspected eco-warrior working on the corporate inside, Faye mainly likes the weird, quirky vehicles that show a distinct environmental advantage. Her ideal car has enough room to fit a bale of hay in the boot. When not working, she likes nothing better than to head out on her bicycle and explore the countryside.
OK we known we’ve been going on about the Detroit Auto Show a fair bit this week, but here is the perfect antidote-the Detroit Anti-Auto Show.
Held by the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID), the show holds a one-night charity exhibition tonight (January 18, 2013), designed to reflect the Charity preview given at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).
According to the event’s fundraising page on Indiegogo, the show ‘seeks to probe beneath the glitz and glamour of Detroit’s annual Auto Show and examines the many facets of car culture, while exploring and showcasing alternative modes of transportation’.
The New York Times says the show will include displays from 14 artists, including necklaces made from tiny crushed toy cars, made by artist Mavis Farr. Farr says: “It’s about the auto industry’s absentee parent relationship with Detroit, and also about the mining, manufacture, sales and eventual discarding and decay of metals and gemstones,â€in her artist statement.
Other exhibitions include scooters and skateboards, bicycles and space hoppers.
The black-tie charity event costs a $ 1 to attend and raises funds for CAID’s community bikes project. The CAID Bikes project, run by Professor Nic Tobier of the CAID board, works with youngsters to build bamboo bicycles.
To donate, visit: Indiegogo.com
Faye has been writing about cars and environmental issues since 2007. A suspected eco-warrior working on the corporate inside, Faye mainly likes the weird, quirky vehicles that show a distinct environmental advantage. Her ideal car has enough room to fit a bale of hay in the boot. When not working, she likes nothing better than to head out on her bicycle and explore the countryside.
It might be chilly and icy out there but if you are looking for a capable 4×4 to cope with the tricky conditions that doesn’t cost the Earth then Fiat might just have the answer for you.
Launching this month is Fiat’s new, third generation Panda 4×4-a city car-sized with the off-roading capabilities of a true SUV.
First launched 29 years ago, the latest incarnation of the quirky little off-roader now benefits from Fiat’s new choice of more efficient engines. Adding the 0.9 litre TwinAir to its range, the Panda features emissions as low as 114g/km CO2 and fuel economy of 57.6mpg on a combined cycle.
If you opt for the 1.3 Multijet diesel engine instead, there is emissions of 125g/km CO2 and fuel economy as strong as 60.1mpg combined cycle.
Both engines come with Start&Stop and a Gear Shift Indicator (GSI) which suggests to the driver the optimum point to change gear in order to achieve the best economy.
While the Panda 4×4 uses an automatic four-wheel drive system, Fiat also offers the Panda Trekking model, designed to sit between the full four-wheel drive and the regular two wheel Panda models. Acclaimed to be the world’s first CUV or City Utility Vehicle, this version features the Panda 4x4’s raised ride height but combines front-wheel drive with a traction control system for improved road handling abilities over slippery surfaces.
Bigger but still for the city too
The latest Panda models are longer, wider and taller, than their previous generation. On 4×4 and Trekking versions those dimensions increase slightly again, but the cars still retain their city car category.
As well as featuring raised ride height, the 4×4 and Trekking models feature a more rigid body and benefit from special bumpers, bespoke door handles and mirror fairings and black longitudinal roof bars and protective side strips. This is finished off with 15-inch smoked (silver on Trekking) burnished alloy wheels, black side skirts and wheel arch mouldings. Two new colours complement the existing colour palette: Sicilian orange and Tuscany green.
On board every Panda 4×4 and Trekking there is also air conditioning, Blue&Me multimedia system, ESP, a CD/MP3 radio, 15-inch alloy wheels with Mud and Snow tyres, electric heated door mirrors, central locking with remote control and rear head restraints.
The eco:Drive system is available on all Fiat cars equipped with Blue&Me and enables users to analyse their skills at the wheel. It then gives tips on how to make their driving more efficient, save money and lower CO2 emissions.
Fiat proved the off-road ability of the last generation, by taking a pair of Panda 4x4s from Kathmandu to Mount Everest’s base camp in 2004. It was the first time that a small off-road vehicle had reached this base at an altitude of 5,200 metres.
In 2007, two Pandas were entered in the gruelling Dakar Rally raid. Although the cars featured spare wheels, water reserves for the crew and sand ladders, they were essentially standard models, complete with 1.3-litre MultiJet turbo diesel engines.
Both the new Trekking and 4×4 models are available to buy in the UK now. Prices start from £14,950 for the 4×4 model and £12,450 for the Trekking.
Faye has been writing about cars and environmental issues since 2007. A suspected eco-warrior working on the corporate inside, Faye mainly likes the weird, quirky vehicles that show a distinct environmental advantage. Her ideal car has enough room to fit a bale of hay in the boot. When not working, she likes nothing better than to head out on her bicycle and explore the countryside.
“The electric car is not deadâ€. Well yes, we know that, but for some reason, General Motors President Mark Reuss, felt it necessary to spell it out clearly for the fraction who seem to doubt the EVs steady progress upwards.
While sales for the car giant’s Chevrolet Volt range-extended EV (also sold as the Vauxhall Ampera in the UK) have remained below projections, not helped by the continued suppressed state of the global car market and the whole fire debacle early last year (see story); things are nearly as gloomy as such might have us believe.
In the UK alone, sales of electric and plug-in cars are expected to show that they near doubled in 2012 under the Plug-in Car Grant scheme. There is a similar story told in the US, where sales tripled; selling about 53,000 plug-ins in 2012, compared to about 17,500 in 2011.
Nonetheless, the GM chief made the statement to confirm that the electric car is still alive and kicking at a conference as the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) opened this week.
According to NBCNews.com, Ruess added that he “couldn’t be happier†with Volt despite the plug-in hybrid missing its sales target for the second year in a row.
The Detroit-based carmaker is expected to follow in Nissan’s lead too, by slashing the cost of a second-generation model, as Nissan has done with its new LEAF electric car.
But we will have to wait until 2014/2015 to see a new, lower cost version of the plug-in hybrid Volt.
Faye has been writing about cars and environmental issues since 2007. A suspected eco-warrior working on the corporate inside, Faye mainly likes the weird, quirky vehicles that show a distinct environmental advantage. Her ideal car has enough room to fit a bale of hay in the boot. When not working, she likes nothing better than to head out on her bicycle and explore the countryside.
Europe could replace oil with renewable energy sources in transport, without using harmful biofuels, according to a new report by by Dutch research institute CE Delft.
Commissioned by environmental groups, the Sustainable Alternatives for Land-based Biofuels in the European Union report explores how a shift in EU policy could ensure that biofuels used in Europe offer a real environment advantage.
The EU currently has a target to source 10 per cent of all European transport fuel from renewable sources by 2020. Most EU governments intend to meet this requirement through the use of biofuel sourced from agricultural crops, ignoring their wide environmental and social impact including the displacement of food production to new land and resulting carbon emissions.
According to a Commission study, most biofuels currently marketed in Europe offer no or limited carbon emission savings compared to conventional fuels when emissions from this indirect land use change (ILUC) are taken into account.
The CE Delft report, commissioned by Greenpeace, BirdLife Europe, the European Environmental Bureau and Transport and Environment, shows what a real shift in policy would look like, instead of following a compromise offered by the Commission in October, designed to ensure that biofuels used in the EU meet sustainability criteria.
Waste
The Commission’s proposal, if adopted, would mean that at least half of the 10 per cent fuel transport target would still be met using destructive biofuels in 2020 and their overall consumption would be allowed to grow.
Greenpeace EU forest policy director Sebastien Risso said: “This report shows just how wrongheaded current EU policy is and how transport can become cleaner without using harmful biofuels. The easiest and most secure way to minimise the climate impacts of road and rail transport is to reduce energy use and accelerate the electrification of our transport system.â€
This alternative vision for the transport sector in 2020 would cut CO2 by 205 million tonnes, compared to just over 60 million tonnes under the recent proposal from the European Commission.
It envisages an EU where biofuels used in transport include biomethane sourced from agricultural waste and residues and biodiesel sourced from waste fats. The report also suggests that the increase use of electricity in road and rail transport to over 1 per cent (152 petajoules) of overall demand by 2020, could play a significant part in reducing transport emissions.
The Commission proposal will be discussed by EU ministers at the energy and environment Councils in February and March and by the European Parliament in the coming months.
CE Delft’s report can be accessed here.
Faye has been writing about cars and environmental issues since 2007. A suspected eco-warrior working on the corporate inside, Faye mainly likes the weird, quirky vehicles that show a distinct environmental advantage. Her ideal car has enough room to fit a bale of hay in the boot. When not working, she likes nothing better than to head out on her bicycle and explore the countryside.
Lexus’ new IS range is to launch in the UK this summer, including a new hybrid model.
Revealed at the Detroit Auto Show this week, the new IS sports saloon is designed to rival the likes of the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4.
Initially two drivetrains will be offered; the IS 300h hybrid version and the IS 250 petrol model. Both versions feature rear-wheel drive and will be available with a further evolution of Lexus’s F Sport package.
Inspired by the LF-CC concept model, the new IS features a new interpretation of the familiar Lexus spindle front grille and signature L-shaped daytime running lights.
Great focus has been given to ensuring that the IS provides comfort for its passengers, with the new IS increasing its width by 10mm and using a 7 cm longer wheelbase to provide more comfort for rear seat passengers and greater luggage capacity, too. The combination of the extended wheelbase and a thinner front seat design delivers best-in-class knee-room (+85mm compared to the current model) and rear seat access. The new rear seats also have a 60:40 split-folding function.
“Every aspect of the new IS has been engineered with a focus on sporting performance, agile handling, accurate response to driver input and highly communicative feedback.â€
In the UK the IS 250 will be powered by a 204bhp/152kW V6 petrol engine, driving the rear wheels.
The Lexus Hybrid Drive system in the full hybrid IS 300h combines a powerful electric motor and a newly developed 2.5-litre four-cylinder Atkinson cycle petrol engine, equipped with D-4S fuel injection, Dual VVT-i intelligent variable valve timing and a high-efficiency Exhaust Gas Recirculation system. Total system output is 217bhp/162kW, but Lexus’s target is to achieve sub-100g/km CO2 emissions and average fuel consumption of more than 65mpg.
Faye has been writing about cars and environmental issues since 2007. A suspected eco-warrior working on the corporate inside, Faye mainly likes the weird, quirky vehicles that show a distinct environmental advantage. Her ideal car has enough room to fit a bale of hay in the boot. When not working, she likes nothing better than to head out on her bicycle and explore the countryside.
