Let There be Light: LEDs to Trickle Down to More Mainstream Models

It wasn’t too long ago when LED (light-emitting diodes) lights were a feature one could only find in the top end premium cars. Today, they have become cheap enough to be produced in large quantities and as a result, are storming the car market.

LEDs are much more energy-efficient than conventional halogen bulbs because they do not generate light from heat. For example, a Visteon-designed LED headlight for a Bentley requires only 15 watts for the low beam, whereas an equivalent halogen bulb needs 65 watts to do the same job. They last longer as well; about 10,000 hours or 10 times longer than a halogen unit.

According to a forecast by London-based L.E.K. Consulting, by 2016, 29 percent of all vehicles made in North America will be fitted with LED taillights – an increase of 10 percent compared to this year.Taillights have become a style statement", says Steffen Pietzonka, vice president of marketing for Hella, which produces LEDs for Audi. Over the next four years, a lot of entry-level and mid-sized vehicles will have LEDs. It offers huge styling opportunities.

Styling aside, LED brake lights also offer a safety advantage as they light up in just 200 milliseconds, which is much faster than conventional units, and thus are able to warn following motorists much earlier.However, LED daytime running lights like the ones pioneered by Audi, will be less common because they require heating systems to keep the silicon from overheating. As a result, they cost nearly four-times more compared to xenon units (US$60-80 compared to $20).

L.E.K. Consulting predicts that only 1 percent of NA vehicles will have LED headlamps in 2016, while 12 percent will have xenon headlights.

The safest and most stunnig Volvo ever

Sporty crossover
Volvo’s new crossover vehicle boasts an exciting mix of two car styles and steps boldly into what is the motoring world’s toughest and fastest-growing segment. Sporting capable XC muscles, it combines a strong athletic body with high ground clearance and large wheels, while the flowing lines create the sporty charisma of a coupe.

Volvo XC60
This car is charged with more emotive form and more energy than any other Volvo. We’re elevating our design DNA to an entirely new level by literally turning up the visual volume. If you say that you’d recognise a Volvo from a hundred metres away today, I dare say the XC60 radiates a clear Volvo presence from at least twice that distance, says Volvo Cars Design Director Steve Mattin.

City safety standard on the new Volvo XC60
A variety of intelligent safety systems are another important part of the new Volvo XC60. The major news is City Safety – a unique system that can help the driver avoid or reduce the effects of the type of low-speed impacts that are common in city traffic and traffic tailbacks. If the car is about to drive into the vehicle in front and the driver does not react, the car brakes itself.

We are the first manufacturer in the world to offer this type of feature as standard. City Safety clearly shows that the new Volvo XC60 is the safest car Volvo has ever produced. The car is packed with our accumulated safety know-how and technology, both when it comes to preventing accidents and protecting all the occupants in a collision, says Fredrik Arp.

Qoros: Launching A New Car Brand In China

As brands mushroom in China’s slowing auto market, worries of a shake-out are mounting. Yet, despite the fear, more auto brands are being launched in China, and existing global brands are piling in to grab a piece of the world’s biggest auto market.The latest addition: a new brand called Qoros launched officially Monday by investment firm Israel Corp. and China’s Chery Automobile Co.

Qoros Automotive Co., a 50-50 joint venture between the two companies, is led by Chief Executive Officer Guo Qian, a Chery official, and former Volkswagen AG executive Volker Steinwascher, who serves Qoros as vice chairman. Mr. Steinwascher said in a telephone interview over the weekend that Qoros is aiming to generate annual sales of about 150,000 vehicles a year by 2015 or 2016. It plans to manufacture those cars at a plant in Changshu, a city northwest of Shanghai, and market roughly half of those vehicles in China and export the rest to Europe.

The company, Mr. Steinwascher said, is currently developing three compact cars, one of which is a sedan and is expected to hit the market in China and Europe by the end of 2013.The brand’s competitive edge, according to Mr. Steinwascher: cars that have been designed by “seasoned” engineers with experience in working for companies like Volkswagen and BMW AG – and sell some “10% lower” in retail prices compared with comparable Volkswagen cars marketed in China. Qoros engines are being designed by Austrian engine-technology firm AVL List GmbH. and will be produced and supplied by Chery.

The 10 Most Stolen Cars in United States of America

1. 1994 Honda Accord
Trade-In Value*: $975
Original Price in 1994: $15,430
New Car Value (2011): $20,200

2. 1995 Honda Civic
Trade-In Value*: $1,100
Original Price in 1995: $11,970
New Car Value (2011): $17,400

3. 1991 Toyota Camry
Trade-In Value*: $700
Original Price in 1991: $14,513
New Car Value (2011): $19,900

4. 1997 Ford F-150 Pickup
Trade-In Value*: $1,200
Original Price in 1997: $17,480
New Car Value (2011): $22,600

5. 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup
Trade-In Value*: $5,050
Original Price in 2004: $22,295
New Car Value (2011): $20,100   

6.  2000 Dodge Caravan
Trade-In Value*: $1,450
Original Price in 2000: $21,905
New Car Value (2011): $24,800

7. 1994 Chevrolet Pickup
Trade-In Value*: $1,200
Original Price in 1994: $16,322
New Car Value (2011): $20,800

8. 1994 Acura Integra
Trade-In Value*: $625
Original Price in 1994: $16,695
New Car Value (2011): N/A

9. 2002 Ford Explorer
Trade-In Value*: $4,350
Original Price in 2002: $27,775
New Car Value (2011): $30,000

10. 2009 Toyota Corolla
Trade-In Value*: $11,100
Original Price in 2009: $15,910
New  Car Value (2011): $17,400

Cop car of the future - more eyes and ears

Motorola is working on technology that could help police officers canvas a neighborhood more thoroughly than ever before.These days, even small town police officers have a lot to do besides driving the car, switching on the lights and writing tickets. With so much going on inside a typical police car, an extra pair of hands, a few extra pairs of eyes and an extra brain or two might be helpful.

That's the pitch behind Motorola Solution's latest batch of hi-tech police equipment, which they brought to CNNMoney's New York offices packed inside a Chevrolet Caprice "police car."

Modern police cars are already capable of a lot more than most civilians are probably aware -- like the ability to instantly, and continuously, scan license plates -- but Motorola wants to take things further. Basically, this technology can tie police cars together into a sort of giant cop brain that can think fast, remember everything and ask for help before the officer can reach for his radio.

Exclusive Top 10 Cars for Women

1. Ford Focus                                    
   
2. Honda Civic
3. Honda Fit           
4. Mazda 3
5. Mazda MX-5 Miata
6. Mercedes-Benz E-class
7. Nissan Sentra
8. Subaru Forester
9. Toyota Camry
10. Volkswagen Jetta

                             

Top 5 Cars in year 2011

1.Ford Fiesta

2.Hyundai Sonata

3. Chevrolet Malibu

4.Cadillac CTS Coupe

5.Infiniti M37/M56

Using Car Breakdown Cover is Safer!

A motor vehicle can break down anyplace, yet if it is parked at residence or if you are motivating it. Breakdowns are probable take place and it is roughly assured to happen at least one time. To be practiced for this, you must have absolute familiarity about your car and you must know how to mend any automatic faults that may arise. For these at all times you need to take the adequate tools and parts that are necessary to fix a car’s breakdown.

Though, the bulk of us are incapable to do so this. Consequently, you must be ready for a breakdown in a dissimilar method. This substitute is an auto Breakdown Cover insurance rules. No issue that  how cautious you drive, how new your car is, a breakdown can take place at any occasion hence it is improved to have a car breakdown cover insurance policy as a safeguard. They assurance assist and healing of you and your car during any breakdown.

You can have urgent situation roadside assist from such business and if they are not capable to repair the vehicle at the wayside, they will provide drag facility that recovers your car to the nearest examine station or the residence address. All these assurance policies are agreement based services. . Car breakdown cover is the best support if you are unlucky enough to locate physically in a breakdown.

Hyundai Motors personality in India

Hyundai Motor Corporation is a distribution of the Hyundai KIA Automotive collection and at current India's second biggest automaker. Hyundai has wondered over its clients by its console and category of style individual its precedence. Hyundai has been in the news for its precise manufacturing and wellbeing concerns. Newly, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety [IIHS] awarded the rein tended and redefined Elantra with top safety pick label.

2011 has seen the initiate of Verna Fluidic by Hyundai which symbolizes a style and glance that exactly defines luxury and supremacy. Safety has a new meaning with the prompt of Fluidic where expertise and sleekness are in their best appearance. The contour speaks every bit of what is its unique advertising Point. The blending of natural shades with bright and vibrant exhibit intensifies the enthusiasm of having it and the penchant for its superb control is forever accelerating. There are a mixture of versions being commenced namely Fluidic 1.4, Fluidic SX, Fluidic SX (O) and Fluidic AT.

The company plans to enlarge its rural selling arrangement and source more of its constituents locally. A growth in the auto market is higher than that seen in the 40 major cities in India. Hyundai India has its precedence now being shifted to cater to the rising insists in domestic markets. It also intends to enter deeper into the Indian market by mounting its network of dealerships. Thus, Hyundai has a customer centric loom and deserves to earn victory in future.

Locking car door using mobile phone

Encouraging though it may be to visualize you can unlock your car door in an urgent situation by receiving a distant signal via your cell phone, it can't probably work not with the technology as it currently stands, at any rate. 

Your remote car key operates by sending a weak, encrypted radio signal to a receiver surrounded by the auto, which in turn activates the door locks.Since the system works on radio waves, not sound, the only conceivable way a signal from your spare remote could be picked up by one cell phone and relayed to your car's onboard recipient by another would be if both phones were capable of sending and receiving at exactly the same frequency as the remote itself which they can't be, given that all remote entry devices operate at frequencies between 300 and 500 MHz, while all mobile phones, by law, operate at 800 MHz and higher.

It's apples vs. oranges, in other words. Your mobile phone can no more broadcast the type of signal needed to unlock a car door than your remote key is capable of dialing up though no one can predict what miracles the future may bring.

Mercedes Benz India target turn down in growth in 3 years

Rising fuel charges joined with bigger bank interest rates have outcome in slowdown for both small and luxury car producers in India, who have been understanding decline in sales figures since July this year. Sales in the luxury car division have been recorded to have left down by over 16% during July 2011. Luxury cars which had been footage a 50-55% growth on an average in India are facing trying times now.

Top auto manufacturers such as Mercedes Benz, Audi and BMW are examining a refuse in car sales of their top end models. While Mercedes Benz has traced its first fall in sales in three years, BMW and Audi too are finding reduced demands for their top models.

Customers are going away in for lesser end or entry level models like BMW X1, accessible at a price of Rs 22 lakhs and Audi A4 priced at 27.18 lakhs has more takers today. BMW which sold over 840 cars in July originated their X1 getting more leverage as evaluated to their high end models.

Sales Touch 6.7 percent in China

China's auto trade gets higher up to 6.7 percent in July but growth was well beneath the double digit flow of the past two years, an industry group .Some 1.01 million customer cars were bought in July in the world's largest auto marketplace by vehicle sales, according to the government authorized China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Total sales of commercial and passenger vehicles climb 2.2 percent from a year ago to 1.3 million units.

Last month, Nissan Motor Corp. declared an $8 billion sketch to double its sales in China over the next five years by introducing 30 new vehicles. The company says it wants to focus on sooner growing emerging markets and reduce dependence on the United States. Chinese auto sales climbed in 2009 and 2010, driven by funding and tax cuts meant to help the industry rebound from the global calamity. Sales rose 32 percent last year to 18 million vehicles.

Reality about headlights

We all wish our car to function smoothly as long as possible. Headlights are somewhat which has become a necessary for the long existence of the car. Their ability to make the drive during night has made them the major constraint of the protected drive.These not only provides visibility through poor or low visibility circumstances, so that you can drive safely. Other than being a live saver in low visibility conditions, they also work as beautiful accessory items for you. Their availability in great shapes and colors has made them a hugely popular accessory for the car owners as they simply construct the car astonish when are lit.

These headlight bulbs are existing in market effortlessly. But, the advice is to take a specialized expert with you when you investigate the market. The market is flooded with plentiful shapes and sizes of these bulbs. But make sure you buy them with guarantee. These generally work by Xenon gas. They are fuel resourceful and low on power consuming. And they are available in some cool colors like yellow, white, etc.

The last but not the slightest factor is that they should be installed accurately. Usually these days these headlight bulbs come with self installation guide. But if you make any mistake the function may be affected. Therefore, for proper fitting you must ask an expert mechanic to mount them appropriately.

New Launch of AUDI (A6)

German auto producer of Audi launched a new variation on Wednesday of its executive class sedan Audi A6 in the cost series of Rs 37.7 lakh to Rs 47 lakh. The new Audi A6 is light in heaviness than the existing production of Audi A6 in India. The new Audi A6 price lies in the charge range of Rs 37.7 lakh to Rs 46.95 lakh. The new Audi A6 is now available in the marketplace in four variants including the petrol, diesel and the Quattro steam engine variants.

 The new A6 combines new machinery and fuel resourceful engine. The new A6 is available with wide assortment of innovation like lightweight technology, adaptive air suspension, and LED headlamps. The Audi sculpt range in India includes Audi A4, Audi A6, Audi A8, Audi A7 Sport back, Audi Q5, Audi Q7, Audi RS5, and the super sports cars Audi R8 and Audi R8 Spyder.