Carlos Ghosn Says 2012 will be a Record Sales Year, Bets Heavily on EVs

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is upbeat about the way the automotive industry is heading, despite the fact that the economic crisis that threatens Europe is far from over. In fact, during the recent launch of the electric versions of theRenault Fluence and Kangoo in Portugal last Friday, Ghosn predicted that 2012 will be a record year for car sales worldwide surpassing 2011's volumes.
“Unless there is an economic Armageddon and you see a Lehman-style crisis, I can tell you that 2012 will be another record year for the car industry no matter what Europe does”, he told Reuters. “2011 is already a record year in sales, no matter what happens in the next two months. It is going to be much higher than 2010,” Ghosn added.
According to the man who turned around Nissan’s fate a decade ago, China, India and Brazil with their increasing demand will make up for Europe’s losses. Like his counterpart at Fiat-Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne, Ghosn thinks that the European market is, at least for now, a lost cause.
“With the latest developments, we are prudent in the announcement we are going to make for 2012 sales in Europe, where there is the highest level of uncertainty”, he admitted.
Ghosn also reiterated his belief that Nissan and Renault electric vehicles will definitely prove a success: “We are selling 1,500 Nissan Leafs a month in the U.S. and more than 1,000 in Japan. By the end of last month we have sold 15,000 units. The only problem we have had is supply.”
However, he is the first to point out that in order for his prediction of Renault and Nissan topping 1.5 million EV sales by 2016 to prove accurate, carmakers, energy suppliers and governments need to work together and install a widespread network of charging points.

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source:http://carscoop.blogspot.com/

Mika Hakkinen Returns to Racing in the Cockpit of a Mercedes SLS AMG

Michael Schumacher isn’t the only Formula 1 champion who can’t live outside a racing car’s cockpit; after a four year absence, two-times F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen will sit behind the wheel of racing car for the final event of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, which will take place on November 13 at the Zhuhai track in China.

Hakkinen, who after retiring from F1 competed in 31 DTM races for Mercedes-Benz, will be competing in the six-hour long endurance race along with his teammates CongFu Cheng and Lance David Arnold in an SLS AMG GT3.

Mercedes-Benz Motorsport vice president, Norbert Haug, who has worked with Hakkinen for 15 years, said:

“Mika Hakkinen is one of the most successful, best-known and best-liked racing drivers in the world. He won back-to-back Formula 1 championships in 1998 and 1999 with our McLaren-Mercedes F1 team and later had a successful career in the DTM. Mika is a prominent member of the Mercedes family and enjoys enormous popularity, especially in China. That’s also why he was so willing to play an active role in the race debut of the SLS AMG GT3 at Zhuhai.”

The Finn, as always, was more laconic. “Although I’ve visited China many times, I’ve never raced there, which is why I’m looking forward to Zhuhai," said Hakkinen.

"It will be a tough race, but I’ll do my best for Customer Sports Team AMG. It should be a lot of fun, especially in the SLS AMG. It’s a great motorsport vehicle which is both fast and extremely good-looking,” he added. 

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source:http://carscoop.blogspot.com/

SEMA Preview: Turbocharged 2012 Honda Civic Si Coupe by Fox Marketing

While we are getting ready to cover next week's SEMA aftermarket show in Las Vegas, Fox Marketing decided to give us a sneak peek of its highly modified 2012 Honda Civic Si Coupe.

The tuning firm says that the main focus of the build is to demonstrate the "reliability, and performance capability from Honda's new K24Z7 power plant" with an intercooled turbo kit that along with numerous other improvements, pushes the four-cylinder unit's output to over 450-horses.

Fox Marketing says that despite the fact it delivers more than two-times the output of the regular 201HP 2.4-liter i-VTEC engine, the turbocharged powerplant can provide "100,000+ reliable miles without blinking an eye".

The boosted Civic Si Coupe sports a number of other modifications including but not limited to, a lowered suspension, 20-inch wheels shod in Toyo Proxes 4 Tires size 255/30/20 up front and 255/35/20 at the back, larger brakes, a blue pearl exterior finish, an aero kit and Yonaka Ronin Racing Seats with factory Civic Si fabric inserts.

Photo credits: Fox Marketing
source:http://carscoop.blogspot.com/

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