New Toyota model

A new Toyota model was seen on Indian roads. Take a look at the spy shot of the Toyota model codenamed Toyota Cowrolla.

Got this from Arunima's blog.

Tags: Toyota Humour

Auto Lah Disclosure Policy

This policy is valid from 28 february 2007

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact ahoklah@gmail.com.

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This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

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Toyota cautious of becoming number 1

Most manufacturers would be overjoyed to become the #1 carmaker in the US and I guess Toyota is no exception. However, according to this article "Why Toyota Is Afraid Of Being Number One", they are keen to avoid the backlash that might happen.

Toyota has done a remarkable job over the past 20 years of selling itself as an American company.

Read on on how Toyota became the most respected car company in America.

Sales in different parts of the World, according to the Third Quarter Financial Results:

North America: Vehicle sales reached 764 thousand, an increase of 121 thousand units, due to strong sales of redesigned models such as the RAV4, Camry and Yaris and the new model FJ Cruiser.

Europe: Led by strong sales of compact models such as the Yaris, vehicle sales increased by 60 thousand, to 306 thousand units.

Asia: Sales decreased by 13 thousand, to 204 thousand units, as a result of weakened market conditions in Indonesia and Taiwan.

Other regions, including Central and South America, Oceania and Africa: Vehicle sales increased to 340 thousand units, an increase of 37 thousand, due to continuing popularity of the IMV series in Central and South America and the Camry in Oceania.

Click here for full version.

Tags: Toyota

Nitro T-shirt contest

I recently got my hands on two Dodge Nitro "Can" t-shirts: one red with long sleeves and another black with short sleeve. Well, I have decided to give them away.

Why do we call it the "can" t-shirts, take a look at the picture below...


The designs



If you would like to get your hands on one of them, read on.

Here are the rules:

1. Write a post describing what you like about the Dodge Nitro (minimum 50 words). It's ok even if you haven't driven it as yet. You can refer to the looks or specs.

2. Add a link to the official Dodge nitro site at (http://www.dodge.com/en/nitro/index.html)

3. Add a link to my blog (http://autolah.blogspot.com) with the key words: "Auto Blog". Optional.

4. Leave a comment here with a link to your post.

That's it.

Oh! I almost forgot:

- The contest will end on the 25th of March 2007.

- The Judge's (ME) decision is final.

- Results will be posted on this blog.

- One winner, one t-shirt. Meaning that there will be two winners.



For your information, the Dodge Nitro is an SUV from the Dodge division of DaimlerChrysler and is due for launch in Europe soon. It's the first time Dodge-branded cars will be sold in Europe.

UPDATE: The winners of the contest are BinaryGuy and Doris Chua.

Tags: Contest Dodge Nitro t-shirt

Lemonfree car ads

Recently came across one of the best Used Cars sites on the net. Unlike other car ad sites, Lemonfree.com is a a free automobile classifieds service, which means that you not only get to search for the car of your choice but can also least your car for free.

Their site search facility was surprisingly fast and you can locate a new or used automobile in Canada and the US. A trial search for Honda Accord without any specifications produced 406 results.

Another innovative technology incorporated into their site is private messaging service, which allows you to contact the seller while you're online viewing the listing.

I wholeheartedly endorse Lemonfree.com

Mazda2 to debut in Geneva

The new European spec Mazda2

The all new Mazda2 (known as the Mazda Demio in Japan) will debut at the 77th annual Geneva International Motor Show to be held from Tuesday, March 6 through Sunday, March 18, 2007.

Also on display at the Mazda stand will be the Mazda Hakaze concept car and a diesel engine powered Mazda3 (Mazda Axela in Japan).

Join other Scion lovers

The Scion xB is a 5-door compact vehicle made by the US-exclusive Scion division of Toyota. It has a unique box shape and is targeted at the youth segment of the market known as the "Y" generation.

The xB was one of the three models in Scion's lineup, the others being the xA and the tC. Launched in 2004, Toyota made the Scion xB attractive to it's target segment by making it easy to personalize their vehicles by offering an extensive list of factory accessories. This includes light kits, spoilers, wheels and music systems among others. It's really amazing that you can actually choose your car, customize your vehicle and order it online. Scion builds it to order in about a week.

The maximum suggested retail price for the base models are $14,610 for the manual version and $15,410 for the automatic. This price is of 9/18/06 and includes the delivery, processing and handling fee.

I would consider that as a really good price for a Toyota but the question is, whether it is value for the money?

Going through what owners and fans of this has to say in the scion xb forums, I believe that it indeed is a good buy.

Even though there have been some criticisms that the car looked like a box or a crate or or that it is underpowered (it has a 1.5 liter 4 cylinder engine) it has developed quite a bit of a fan following. Another surprising thing was that even though it was targeted at the young hip generation, a lot of older people in their late 30s were attracted to the car because of it's fuel efficiency.

Another information I gathered from the forum is that the present Scion xB, which was launched in 2004 is the first generation. Toyota unveiled the second generation xB at the 2007 Chicago Auto Show. It is a larger, more rounded than the present xB and is styled as a 5-door version of the t2B concept unveiled the year before at the 2006 New York Auto Show.


The second-generation xB, which is expected to come out in 2008 is powered by a 2.4L engine shared with the tC and the Camry. That should silence some of the critics who claim that it is underpowered. Besides VSC and ABS, the new generation xB will have six airbags, as well as cruise control as standard.

Sponsored

Audi A5 Microsite

Audi has created a microsite for the Audi A5, which will debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March 2007.

The car is a compact coupé, based on the A4 and is the latest model from Audi following the TT and R8 models.

There will be a 'four-door coupé' version as well as a two-door coupé and convertible versions.

The A5 has a 4.2 Liter V8 engine delivering 350 horsepower. Later, a 5.2 Liter V10 will follow to bring power output to 450hp.

Chevrolet Camaro

The 2006 Camaro Concept

The Chevrolet Camaro was introduced by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors on 29 September 1966 as a competitor to the Ford Mustang. So far, four distinct generations of the car have come out of production lines before production ended in 2002.

The Camaro is designated as a pony car (similar to the Ford Mustang). However, it may also be classified as an intermediate touring car, a sports car, or a muscle car.

Searching for info on the Camaro, I came across a forum, which lists a number of camaro for sale. Even if you are not looking to buy one, it may be a great place to discuss the car with people that already have one. It might be the ideal place to search for spare parts too.
You don't need to be a member to read the posts but in order to reply to the ads or to post anything, you have to register first.

I would suggest you read ThirdGen.org's message board rules before posting anything. Just to warn you, no Ebay ad's are permitted! in the forum.

One of the ads that caught my eye was a rare 1991 Camero z28 350 1LE. According to the owner, it is one out of 175 cars with only 350 engines made. Now that's rare.

Now for some trivia:
The 2006 Camaro Concept from General Motors debuted at the 2006 North American International Auto Show, making it the fifth generation Camaro. The concept is powered by the 400 hp LS2 V8 and equipped with the T-56 six-speed manual transmission. GM also showed off a convertible concept at the same event. Other than the convertible top, Hugger Orange pearl tri-coat paint job, and a pair of dark gray racing stripes, the convertible concept is exactly the same as the coupe concept. It is expected that the new Camaro based on the concept, will go on sale in the first quarter of 2009. I am just wondering how much they are going to price this new car.

In the upcoming movie, Transformers, the Autobots character Bumblebee will be be disguised as a bright yellow 1970s Camaro and will later be modified into the 2009 preproduction version of the car.

Sponsored

Tags: Camaro Chevrolet General Motors

Cool Mustang ads

Ian Hart has come up with an amazing and creative way to convey a sense of speed on static billboards. The Mustang ads are on billboards are made from semi-transparent Lexan, which blur the background scenery. Proves that you don't need bright colours or images to be eye catching.

Got this from Cars - Blog.ca

View the images here.

Jaguar C-XF coming to the UK

Jaguar's concept car made its debut on 7 January at the NAIAS in Detroit. It's a four-door sedan powered by a 4.2-litre supercharged V8 engine.

The car, which was designed in Whitley, in Coventry, has been called as the "sexiest four-door we've seen from Jaguar in years," by Dutch Mandel, editor and associate publisher, AutoWeek. The magazine named it the best of the best at the North American International Auto Show and also awarded the car the Editors Choice Award for Best in Show 2007.

The C-XF makes it's official UK debut at the official opening of Ricoh Arena on the 24th of February.

It will be built at Jaguar's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham.

An American Legend

The familiar horse symbol on the Mustang GT grill.

The Ford Mustang is one of America's favorite cars with a long history over 40 years. Since it's debut in 1964, it has become Ford's best selling model and still remains in production till today.

The Mustang has been such a popular car to modify over the years, many companies have based their business around it, the models that they produced have become legends themselves. These include the Roush and Shelby Mustangs.

Ford faced a crisis in the mid 1980s. Mustang sales were slumping and the company assumed that the Mustang had lost its place in the market. They responded by announcing that they would replace the rear-wheel drive Mustang with a Japanese derived front-wheel drive version. It was a big mistake. Mustang fans quickly responded and sent Ford hundreds of thousands of angry letters, asking them to save the rear-wheel drive Mustang. Ford relented and kept the rear drive car alive. The front-wheel drive version was called the Probe.

1995 Mustang discarded the boxy lines of the previous generation and adopted a more curvy aerodynamic shape. This year saw the introduction of the Mustang GTS and the limited-edition Cobra R. The Mustang GTS was designed to be a lightweight, "barebones" car with the power of a GT. On the other hand, the later followed the success of the 1993 Cobra R but included a much larger 5.8 liters engine, which produced an amazing 300 horsepower. Only 250 Cobra Rs were made and you can understand why they are such great demand today. Would definitely love to get my hands on a Cobra R.

The latest generation of the Mustang was unveiled at the 2004 North American International Auto Show. With a completely redesigned exterior by Sid Ramnarace, the new Mustang (code named "S-197") drew inspiration from the 1960s Mustangs and had an brand new D2C platform.

The evolution continues and one of the latest revisions, the Shelby GT500 is the most powerful factory-built Mustang ever. It was designed by the Ford Special Vehicle Team (SVT) in collaboration with legendary performance guru Carroll Shelby. This car has a supercharged and intercooled 32-valve 5.4L V-8 engine pumping out 500 horsepower.

Whew!Would love to see what Ford has in store for us in the future.

Peugeot 207 CC coming soon

The eagerly awaited model from Peugeot will go for sale in March in the UK.

The car goes topless in only 25 seconds on the press of a button. It will be available in two 1.6 litre petrol engines and one diesel engine models. Both engines are made in the UK jointly with BMW.

The 207 Coupe Convertible is considered as the successor of the highly popular 206 CC.

Here are the prices:

1.6 16v 120:
Sport: £14,795
GT: £15,995
15,895

1.6 16v 120 Automatic
Sport: £15,795
GT: £16,995

1.6 THP 150
GT: £16,895

1.6 HDi 110 FAP
Sport: £15,895
GT:£17,095

Tags: 207 CC Peugeot

Amazing opps on PPP

A lot of people look surprised when I tell them that I actually make money blogging. Most of my earnings come from opportunites I took from Payperpost, the leading "Consumer Generated Advertising Network" that actually pays me to blog what I like.

They have recently rolled out a new segmentation system whereby advertisers can choose the type of blogs they want to carry their ads. For example, auto related companies can choose to only have auto related blogs like mine to carry their ads. Likewise, companies can choose to limited their sponsored opportunities to blogs that have higher page rankings (meaning higher number of visitors). Advertisers should note that PPP only charges a 35% service fee compared to ReviewMe that charges a 100% markup.

Soon after they put the new system in place, there has been a number of high paying of opportunities. For example, if you are a PR8 blog, you could actually make $1000 for a single post. That is a little more than 3 times more than what I have made all this time. I lost another $35 opportunity today for Mustang Myspace Layouts, which wanted only auto blogs because I don't have the required PR (5).

If you are concerned about the reaction from potential customers, PPP requires all bloggers to disclose their sponsored posts.

The greenest cars

Have you ever wondered what the greenest cars are?

GreenerCars.com has come out with a list of the Greenest Vehicles of 2007.

According to their list, the greenest car is Honda Civic GX followed by the
Toyota Prius. The Honda Civic Hybrid comes third.

Mitsubishi to unveil new SUV

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation will unveil the European market version of the Outlander on-road SUV and the Prototype-X concept for the next-generation high-performance 4WD sedan at the 77th Geneva International Motor Show in March this year.


Outlander European market and Prototype-X (Image sketches)

The 2007 Geneva Motor Show runs from March 6 through March 18 at the Geneva Palexpo exhibition and conference complex. It opens to the general public on March 8.

The Outlander on-road SUV has a low-consumption/high-output aluminum cylinder block engine and an electronically controlled 4WD system. To meet local market needs, the European Outlander will be offered with 2.0-liter turbodiesel and 2.2-liter diesel engines.

The Prototype-X concept shown at the Detroit Motor Show in January 2007 is a design study for the new Lancer Evolution due to be launched during the 2007 fiscal year. It embodies Mitsubishi Motors' trademark "fun-to-drive" qualities throughout.

Mechanical features distinguishing the concept include Mitsubishi's S-AWC (Super All-Wheel Control) vehicle dynamics system built around a 4WD system and a new aluminum block MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve lift and timing Electronic Control) turbocharged engine mated to a high performance six-speed automated manual transmission.

Tags: Mitsubishi Outlander Prototype-X

Protecting window tints from scratches

Most cars now come with windows tints factory installed. They can help to keep down the temperature inside the car in hot, sunny places. Other people tint their car windows just to look cool.

Several car owners are encountering a particular problem with their tint being scratched. It seems certain manufacturers including Mercedes, Ford and Honda among others have felt on only one side of the window canal of the door, while failing to put this felt on the the weather strip that seals the window. This weather strip is made of hard plastic and over time collects dirt and other materials which rub against the tint causing scratches.

TintProtector.com has come out with a high quality felt strip installed to the existing plastic weatherstrip to prevent future scratches to film. The Tint Protectors Moleskin developed and manufactured by the company is made to withstand more heat, moisture, cold and abuse. The secret is their special synthetic resin adhesive. This product simulates the fur of a mole (hence the name) and removes dirt and grit as the glass moves down, thus preventing scratches.

Mustang and TL owners are the companies best customers. They also sell the MoleSkin for other purposes as well - to stop rattles and squeaks and as cleaning towels.

Sponsored

Auto Lah Banner

A simple banner for my blog.

One of the headlights of a beautiful car (guess what model) and the url of my blog on the right.



Am working on some small buttons too.

Searching for insurance on the net

Searching for the right car insurance can be really tough. You want to see whether other drivers would be insured, whether it has coverage for windscreen breakage, if the company would provide a courtesy car while your car is being repaired and so on. However, the most important factor that we have consider is the price.

Cheapest is not always the best choice but we have to see that we are getting thte value for our money.

The internet has made the process of searching for the right car insurance much easier. Find out how you can compare car insurance packages in the UK at insure121.com.

The great thing is that many of the insurance providers promoted by the company will offer you a discount of anything between 10% and 30% just for buying your insurance online, with no loss in cover too.

For your information, the company also lists several home insurance providers. So if you are looking for the best insurance quotes for your home on the site, you know where to go.

Sponsored

Manufacturers ignore calls for more safety

According to a recent Euro NCAP press release, certain manufacturers are still ignoring Euro NCAP’s call for stronger safety measures in family cars. The latest test results released are in the MPV, Small Off-Roader and Small Family categories.

This includes the the Chrysler Voyager, which has again been awarded a poor safety score of two stars with the last star struck through, seven years after it originally received a two-star result. The right hand drive MPV did not meet the minimum score for a three star Adult Occupant Protection rating.

The last star being struck through indicates unacceptably high risk of serious or fatal injury.

Euro NCAP first tested a collection of MPVs, including the Voyager, back in 1999. Only two out of eight cars received a four-star rating, the maximum available at that time. It was noted that MPVs’ were weaker in frontal impact tests.

Consequently, many manufacturers have made great improvements to their vehicles since then, particularly in this area. This includes the the Ford S-MAX was awarded 36 points and a five-star rating in August last year, making it the best performing MPV to date.

The test results also indicate some disappointing pedestrian protection scores with the Chrysler Voyager being ranked as the worst performer, scoring no points at all and being awarded no stars. The Jeep Grand Cherokee, also made by Chrysler, performed equally poorly in 2005.

The complete test results will be available from 31st January 2007.

Summary of Results

MPV

Chrysler Voyager
Occupant Protection: 2 stars strikethrough
Child Protection: 4 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 0 stars

SMALL OFF-ROADER

Chevrolet Captiva
Occupant Protection: 4 stars
Child Protection: 3 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 2 stars

SMALL FAMILY

Volkswagen Eos
Occupant Protection: 4 stars
Child Protection: 4 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 2 stars

Volvo C30
Occupant Protection: 5 stars
Child Protection: 4 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 1 star

Tags: Chevrolet Captiva Chrysler Voyager Euro NCAP Volkswagen Eos Volvo C30

Redesigned Delica D:5 launched

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation recently announced the launch of the fully redesigned Delica D:5, a 2.4-liter 4WD minivan for the Japanese market.

It is the fifth generation in the Delica series.

Some safety features:
- Active Stability Control (ASC) together with ample obstacle clearance angles and ride height to give it improved running performance and stability both on- and off-road. - A new hoop-design "rib bone frame" body structure,
- Driver SRS knee airbag standard on all models,
- Plastic resin fender panels that are pliant and have superior shape recovery properties (first time on a Mitsubishi brand model).

It also has several environmental friendly features. Read their press release here.

Tags: Delica Mitsubishi