Auto_Evolution Online News – Page 6 – I wish I had more to offer

Here Is the Lamborghini Record Everyone Saw Coming, Involves the Urus SUV

21 Jul 2020, 11:31 UTC ·
by Aurel Niculescu

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Lamborghini must be making quite a few internal jokes about Ferrari’s stubbornness to keep annual production levels under the 10,000 threshold. The historic rival from Emilia-Romagna has surpassed the figure in just two years and with only one model – the Urus SUV. Do you need any more evidence that crossovers and Sport Utility Vehicles are the hottest automotive commodity on the planet?
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Lamborghini proudly announced that just a few months after celebrating the second anniversary of its market introduction the Urus SSUV (the Italians like to call it a Super SUV), it has already surpassed the 10,000th unit production mark. A far cry from the exclusivity of its spiritual predecessor – the LM002 was made as part of the Lamborghini Militaria series between 1986 and 1993 in just 328 examples.
Of course, modern times need the numbers to ensure ultimate survival – the Urus is clearly not qualifying as a collector’s product, but rather needs to ensure the continued endurance of the brand just as the mechanically-related Cayenne did for Porsche. And we can already see it at work – the production process was deeply affected by the lockdown so we can only commend Lambo on reaching the new record figure.
On the other hand, chassis number 10,000 might achieve collector status at some point in the future – although fans will have to search all over Russia for this particular Nero Noctis Matt example. Just to lend a helping hand, the unit can also be identified via other particularities – namely the exterior carbon fiber package, two-tone Ad Personam interior in black and orange which also comes spiced up with more carbon fiber elements.
Novelties for the 2021 Lamborghini Urus include the so-called Urus Pearl Capsule that enables a two-tone look for the exterior with help from new “ultra-bright pearlescent shades with four-layer paint”: Giallo Inti (yellow), Arancio Borealis (orange), and Verde Mantis (green).
They are all combined with a gloss black roof and additional elements in the same contrasting color. The company made the new options possible thanks to its new paint shop dedicated exclusively to Urus production that was opened on the Manifattura Lamborghini grounds back in 2019.

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2021 Ford Bronco Sport “Job 1” Production Starts October 26th in Mexico

21 Jul 2020, 18:02 UTC ·
by Mircea Panait

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Alongside the mid-size Bronco, the Ford Motor Company rolled out the Bronco Sport on July 14th with Escape underpinnings. The unibody crossover will be the first to enter production, and Job 1 is scheduled for the 26th of October.
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Ford Authority reports that the order banks opened concomitantly with the reservations. At the moment, buyers can opt for the Base at $26,660 excluding destination charger and optional extras. The Big Bed, Outer Banks, and Badlands are also available from $28,160 to $32,660 while the First Edition has been spoken for. If off-road capability is what you’re after from the compact-sized unibody utility vehicle, look no further than the Badlands.
Essential features of the Bronco Sport in this configuration include the advanced 4×4 system, no fewer than seven Go Over Any Terrain driving modes, four bash plates, trick suspension, and 29-inch Falken Wildpeak A/T tires. Instead of conventional alloys, the Badlands flaunts “steelie” aluminum wheels.
One of the more controversial aspects of the Bronco Sport is the entry-level engine. The 1.5-liter EcoBoost may develop 181 horsepower and 190 pound-feet of torque, but it’s a three-cylinder plant as opposed to the optional mill. Level up to the 2.0-liter EcoBoost, and you’re treated to one more cylinder, 245 ponies, 275 torques, better cooling, and the eight-speed transmission from the base engine.
Speaking of controversial things, have a guess where the Bronco Sport is made. No, it’s not Wayne in Michigan alongside the Bronco and Ranger but Hermosillo in Mexico. The Ford Motor Company picked its southern neighbor for the Mustang Mach-E crossover as well, which is a Mustang only in badge and nameplate.
The biggest rival for the Bronco Sport comes in the guise of the Jeep Compass, which has the upper hand over the Badlands in Trailhawk spec. For reference, the base model with all-wheel drive kicks off at $23,780 while the off-road version with the Trail Rated badge is $29,850 excluding freight.

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2021 Ford Bronco Deliveries to Start in June 2021 as per Reservations Page

25 Jul 2020, 17:02 UTC ·
by Mircea Panait

Home > News > Industry

Sad news, ladies and gents! The hottest American nameplate of the moment has disappointed once again, but it’s not the fault of the Bronco. Due to overwhelming demand in the guise of $100 reservations, deliveries of the mid-size SUV have been pushed back from April to June 2021.
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That leaves very little time for Ford to deliver 2021 models before the 2022 rolls out next fall, which is why the reservations page also mentions an even more worrying piece of information. “Due to the high number of reservations, deliveries may extend into the 2022 calendar year.”
It’s too soon to say how this delay will favor the Jeep Wrangler, but the Ford Motor Company shouldn’t rest on its laurels right now. The waiting time will undoubtedly convince a handful of reservation holders to pick up the Rubicon right off the dealer lot, and going forward, Jeep may surprise us with a 6.4-liter HEMI option for the two- and four-door Wrangler.
The Blue Oval doesn’t plan to offer an eight-cylinder engine, and the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 isn’t on par with the 392 option from Fiat Chrysler either. Adding insult to injury, the six-pot is an auto-only affair. The 10-speed transmission is also required if you opt for the Sasquatch Package while Jeep is much obliged to offer the Rubicon with a manual from the get-go.
It may sound funny, but the Blue Oval may have rushed the Bronco's reveal without thinking things through. An equivalent V8 to the HEMI may not be of the essence here, but the limited availability of the seven-speed manual with a crawler gear has put off quite a few customers.
This isn’t the first time Ford messed the roll-out of an all-new vehicle. Remember the 2020 Explorer and Aviator fiasco from last year? A series of manufacturing problems at the Chicago Assembly Plant forced the Dearborn-based automaker to ship thousands of examples to a different factory by truck, and as a result, customers had to wait longer for delivery.

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Chevy Corvette Production Milestone: 1,750,000 Units and Counting

It's here! The 1,750,000th Corvette has rolled off of the line at Bowling Green and it's available for you to…

Posted by National Corvette Museum on Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Bentley Is on a Roll, Made 40,000 Flying Spur Limousines in 15 Years

31 Aug 2020, 14:26 UTC ·
by Aurel Niculescu

Home > News > Industry

Automakers love their accounting milestones. Other companies are just as immune to actual, useful facts. The world-famous LEGO house has its own statistics: seven sets are sold per second around the world, while about 1,300 pieces are produced during the same time. And here comes Bentley with its own take.
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Of course, numbers are true deceivers – you cannot assume Bentley, Toyota or the famous Danish bricks brand have the same intrinsic value. For the Crewe-based British luxury carmaker 40k worth of any model is a major achievement irrespective of the involved time frame.
Although, we have to say the company is adding fuel to the incredible assumption that SUVs rule the automotive world from the bottom to the very top of the food chain. That could have to do with Bentley’s announcement back in June it had completed 20,000 Bentayga units in just four years and over the course of one generation (back then not even the facelift was live yet).
Compare that to the automaker’s new reveal that it has produced 40,000 examples of the Flying Spur limousine during a little more than two generations and in a decade and a half. Do the match and draw your own conclusions, but it certainly does not bode well for the classic sedan body type.
After dropping the arguably hideous Mulsanne from the lineup the Flying Spur has a little more room to breathe and has been aiming ever higher since the advent of the third generation. Thus, it comes with a lot of innovations (such as the Mulliner 3D wood inserts) and personalization options.
Will it be enough to save it from quickly hitting the luxury retirement home? Bentley certainly hopes so and promises it has always delivered the “finest super-luxury sports sedan ever built.”

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Find Out What Makes the Electric Rimac C_Two Tick Just Before Production Debut

21 Sep 2020, 11:17 UTC ·
by Aurel Niculescu

Home > News > Technology

A startup electric supercar maker and an established vehicle component partner for the biggest automotive OEMs out there, the little Croatian company Rimac Automobili is making the headlines once more. This time around we are not intorumors surrounding the potential sale of Bugatti, but rather we’re interested in the hard evidence part. And that involves seeing the C_Two with all internals inside-out.
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Believe it or not, Rimac Automobili is a Croatian car manufacturer that was founded just a little over a decade ago, in 2009. Its main interest has to do with the development and production of electric vehicles, as well as associated high-tech components. As such, it is hard to associate them with a potential buy of French ultra-luxury brand Bugatti.
Even though Rimac and the VW Group have had other dealings – Porsche owns a 15.5% stake in Rimac – we are much more inclined to believe them capable of building an electric supercar with 1,914 horsepower (around 1.4 MW of oomph) that would propel it to 62 mph (100 kph) in just 1.85 seconds and then on to a top speed of 412 kph (256 mph).
And that would be courtesy of the latest “Inside the factory” episode posted by WELT Documentary which takes us through the entire production process of the pre-production prototypes. Meaning, we literally see with our own eyes the cars that will wrap up the development phase by the end of the year to make room for the actual series production units.
While some companies need decades to reach a workforce of 700 people, Rimac is already there, as most of its car components are not created anywhere else but in house. And that says a lot about a company capable of creating almost anything, from the carbon fiber chassis to the huge amount of wiring (electric cars!) and right down to the crash tests.
We love these behind the scenes snippets – the video makers spread out the production footage with interesting interviews taken to all the right folks, from specialists to CEO and founder Mate Rimac. Of course, the best bits have to do with the actual 150-examples limited series model appearing both static (with no camouflage) and on the move…

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Here Are Pre-Production Pics of the 2021 Ford Bronco at Michigan Assembly Plant

23 Sep 2020, 12:39 UTC ·
by Mircea Panait

Home > News > Car Profile

Ford knows it has the hottest SUV of the moment. But even though reservations are go and the hype keeps on growing, the first deliveries are scheduled for June 2021. Adding insult to injury, build and price have been pushed back a month because of the Sasquatch Package with the seven-speed manual transmission.
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October is when the Blue Oval will spill the beans on every option of the two- and four-door utility vehicles, and until then, the Michigan Assembly Plant will be preparing to satisfy the ever-increasing demand. The photos that were recently uploaded by The Bronco Nation depict “the first pre-production Bronco,” confirming that Ford is making final preparations before series production starts in March.
The official timeline for the Bronco posted on Ford.com says that reservations can be converted to orders at your preferred dealer in December. In early 2021, you can also expect information about the date of delivery. But “due to the high number of reservations,” bear in mind that “deliveries may extend into the 2022 calendar year.” Indeed, ladies and gentlemen; it will be a long, arduous wait!
Excluding the First Edition that has already sold out, the Bronco can be had in Base, Big Bend, Black Diamond, Outer Banks, Badlands, and Wildtrak specifications. Only the 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder turbo is offered with a stick shift while the 2.7-liter option with six cylinders is mated to a 10-speed automatic.
The four-door Wildtrak is the most expensive trim level at $51,370 before destination charge and options, but on the upside, the larger engine and Sasquatch Package with 35-inch tires and off-road goodies are featured as standard. For reference, the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon with four doors is $42,195 with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and six-speed manual while the EcoDiesel costs $4k more.
Ford isn’t going to give in to compression ignition, though. Instead, the Bronco will gain a plug-in hybrid option with more suck-squeeze-bang-blow than the Wrangler 4xe thanks to more displacement and two additional cylinders. Hearsay suggests 450-ish horsepower or thereabouts, which is very good for a mid-size SUV.
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Lamborghini Made More Than 1,000 Aventadors Each Year Since 2011

11 Sep 2020, 13:28 UTC ·
by Aurel Niculescu

Home > News > Car Profile

Backtracking down the virtual genealogical tree we find the Aventador firmly rooted in the DNA of the first Lamborghini, the Miura. That model was produced in less than 1,000 examples. Next up was the Countach with less than 2,000, the legendary Diablo with fewer than 3,000 units, and the Murcielago that was just one vehicle away from a round 4,100 count.
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Notice how the Aventador had exactly four predecessors, and if we do a little math we find that Lamborghini’s mid-engine supercar should have been made in the 5,000-vehicle mark. But things are different now, and the Sant’Agata Bolognese-based Italian exotic automaker decided to break the mold. Or at least double it.
The company proudly announced this week that since the Aventador series first came to life, back in 2011, it managed to build more than 1,000 examples each year (on average), and this September nailed the record-figure of 10,000 units.
See, the V12 machine easily doubled on the 5,000 quota one could have extrapolated from the historic records of Aventador’s predecessors – and the supercar might even triple the figure if given enough time. And so far there are no signs of slowing down given the ample upgrades that have been performed in the meantime.
For example, the Aventador debuted as an LP 700-4 coupe back in 2011 and chassis number 10,000 only shared the name, instead being an SVJ (Superveloce Jota) Roadster evolution. And in between them were quite a few iterations, the most important of which, according to the company, being the convertible that arrived in 2012, the Aventador J “open” supercar, the 2016 Aventador Miura Homage limited series, as well as the 2016 Aventador S facelift.
Meanwhile, the anniversary example will leave Italy because it has been produced for the distant Thai market. There, a very happy customer will have a collectible Aventador dressed up in a grayish Grigio Acheso exterior shade with a Rosso Mimir (red) livery and a Rosso Alala over black Ad Personam-designed interior.

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Nissan Starts 2021 Rogue Production, Only One Engine Offered

22 Sep 2020, 18:46 UTC ·
by Mircea Panait

Home > News > Car Profile

The 2021 Rogue – known as the X-Trail in other parts of the world – has started production in the United States. One of “six new Nissan models for the U.S.” that will be offered by the end of 2021, the crossover is built in Smyrna, Tennessee.
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There’s a lot riding on the shoulders of the compact-ish crossover if you remember that the Rogue is the best-selling Nissan in the United States. Approximately 3 million examples have been sold to date, and this fellow here is certain to sell like hot cakes although there are two underwhelming things that need to be pointed out.
First of all, the engine. Only one is available, a 2.5-liter motor with 181 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque. Elsewhere in this segment, Honda offers a turbo four-cylinder mill right off the bat in the CR-V while Toyota levels up to 203 horsepower from the same displacement in the RAV4. But that’s not all, though.
Instead of a torque-converter automatic, Nissan insists with the continuously variable transmission that everyone loves to hate. You only need to look through the complaints on the NHTSA website to understand why the CVT from JATCO has such a bad reputation, and it is also a rather sluggish transmission to boot.
As for the reason the all-new Rogue is so similar under the skin to the old Rogue, would you be surprised if I told you that Nissan utilizes the same platform? The CMF-C/D vehicle architecture even features the same wheelbase as before in this application – 106.5 inches or 2,705 millimeters if you prefer the metric system.
There are, however, subtle differences that need highlighting. “Improved driving dynamics, intelligent all-wheel drive, wireless charging, and wireless Apple CarPlay” are offered, along with improved detection performance for the ProPILOT Assist with Navi-Link suite of autonomous driving technologies. As standard, every trim comes with Nissan Safety Shield 360 that includes Automatic Emergency Braking, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, High Beam Assist, and many more driving aids.
Pricing has yet to be announced, but don’t expect too big of a change over the 2020 model. The outgoing Rogue is listed at $25,490 excluding destination at the time of writing, and all-wheel drive adds $1,350 to the tally. At the other end of the spectrum, the range-topping SL Intelligent AWD kicks off at $33,190.

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ElectraMeccanica Ends Odd Gestation of the Solo EV, Ready to Start Production

25 Aug 2020, 7:59 UTC ·
by Aurel Niculescu

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Better late than never is the perfect statement for what is going on with Canadian sustainable mobility company ElectraMeccanica and its long, awfully long, preparation to produce the single-seat, three-wheeled Solo EV. It was presented no less than four years ago and most of us have discarded it by now as EV vaporware, but it turns out we are wrong. This is simply because production for the odd Solo EV has been scheduled to kick off on August 26th… in Chongqing, China.
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We know, the automotive realm is tough for up and coming automakers. Especially for ones that elect to stray from the beaten path and present something radical. Not radically new, in this case. This is certainly not the first time we have seen startups marrying the concepts of automobile and motorcycle into a single design.
Most have turned out geeky, creepy, or plain weird. This one has all of them combined into a single, very odd, package.
The ElectraMeccanica Solo EV has a fully enclosed concept akin to a car and just three wheels, as well as a single-seat cockpit. The design is nothing to write home about, it was not futuristic back in 2016 and it certainly has not evolved into one in 2020. Well, we have a feeling the Canadian company is trying to keep things as simple as possible.
Its technical characteristics are interesting, but not necessarily ground-breaking either. The “purpose-built, all-electric, three-wheeled vehicle for the modern urban environment” has been developed for a range of more than 100 miles on a single charge and a maximum speed of 80 mph. There must be something that Solo can be proud of, though.
Hopefully, that would be the elevated level of occupant protection and the modern amenities onboard, all offered at a competitive price (for a car). According to ElectraMeccanica, the Solo EV can be had for a MSRP of $18,500 and the model will be produced with help from Chinese investor / manufacturing partner Zongshen Industrial Group.
Also, it is targeted for initial deliveries late this year (November or even December) in three U.S. locations: Southern California, Scottsdale (Arizona) and Portland (Oregon).
Frankly, we are not getting a great vibe from this little machine – and we are going to hold on to our greenbacks until the company starts series production of the Tofino electric sports car. It looks decidedly more interesting, has 250 miles of range and a 60-mph sprint time of less than five seconds. Way better, even with the price hiked up to $50k.

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