2012 smart fortwo electric

The Smart Fortwo is a rear-engined two-seater city car manufactured by Smart GmbH, introduced at the 1998 Paris Motor Show as the Smart City Coupé, and currently in its second generation. The name refers to its seat capacity. In 2008, Smart debuted an all-electric concept, the Fortwo ed.

The Smart features an automated manual transmission without a clutch pedal, six-speed for the first generation, five-speed for the second. Input from floor-mounted shifter or optional steering wheel-mounted paddles controls a servo-operated clutch and sequential automated gearbox. The vehicle may be driven in automatic mode, though the shift points are not as smooth as in a traditional automatic transmission. In paddle shifter mode, the operator controls the shift points but cannot feather or adjust the speed of the clutch. Thus some skill, and a slight lifting of the accelerator pedal, is required to achieve a smooth shift.

From 2009, second generation Fortwos were delivered with improved software that made automatic gear changes both smoother and faster than earlier models. The software, in the form of a free ECU upgrade was also made available for 2008 second generation cars, along with a new battery in certain cases.

he third generation Fortwo is set to start production in 2012. During 2010 a joint venture was announced between Renault-Nissan & Daimler-Benz and Renault are apparently planning on a two-seater coupé which will be based on the 2012 Smart Fortwo.

On 26 June 2002, Smart fortwo was exhibited at the new Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) affiliate P.S. 1 in Queens, New York for the first time.

In September 2006, Daimler AG announced that Smart USA, a division of Penske Auto Group (at the time of the announcement it was United Auto Group, later changed to PAG,) would be the official distributor for Smart in the United States and Puerto Rico.

The redesigned smart fortwo (Model 451) has been available since January 2008 in the USA. Numerous changes were made from the previous model (450). Its Mercedes Benz power plant was replaced by a non-turbo Mitsubishi 3B21 engine and the overall dimensions of the car increased.

The 2009 model year US version of the smart fortwo is available in three trims: Pure (base trim), Passion, and Passion cabriolet. Pure has an MSRP of US$11,990, Passion has an MSRP of $13,990, and the Passion Cabriolet has an MSRP $16,990.[31] A reservation program was launched by Smart USA in March, 2007. This program allowed interested parties to place a $99 refundable deposit on the new fortwo in preparation for the product's launch. Since the product's launch, sales have surpassed production and the reservation program continues as a "wait list" program. The average wait used to be 12 to 18 months for delivery; although due to the economy, many buyers couldn't purchase the vehicles when they were ready for delivery and many are available on dealer lots.[citation needed]

The Smart Fortwo was rated as the most fuel efficient two-seater car in the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2008 Fuel Economy Guide, with fuel efficiency ratings of 33 mpg-US (7.1 L/100 km; 40 mpg-imp) city and 41 mpg-US (5.7 L/100 km; 49 mpg-imp) highway.[36] The 2008 Smart Fortwo coupe was given an EPA fuel efficiency rating of 36 mpg-US (6.5 L/100 km; 43 mpg-imp) combined.

On May 14, 2008, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released crash test results for the fortwo. The IIHS gave the fortwo top ratings in protecting passengers in front and side crashes. However, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) cited a Safety Concern on their tests of a 2008 fortwo, stating "during the side impact test, the driver door unlatched and opened. A door opening during a side impact crash increases the likelihood of occupant ejection."

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2012 SEAT Exeo facelift

The SEAT Exeo (pronounced 'ex-AY-o') is a five-seat large family car, and flagship model, built by the Spanish car manufacturer, and Volkswagen Group subsidiary SEAT, S.A., with factory production commencing in December 2008.

Previously codenamed Bolero (though not to be confused with SEAT's earlier concept car bearing the same name) and internally designated Typ 3R, the name Exeo derives from the Latin word exire, meaning "to go beyond", breaking SEAT's recent tradition to name its cars after Spanish cities.

The Exeo is a D-segment model which is built on the Volkswagen Group B7 (PL46) platform, and is almost entirely based on the "B7" generation Audi A4, with styling changes to the front and rear by way of unique bonnet, front wings, boot lid, doors and exterior door mirrors. It incorporates interior trim from the A4 Cabriolet, and extensively uses B6/B7 A4 interior equipment and electrical components. To this purpose, the entire Audi B7 A4 production and assembly lines from Ingolstadt were dismantled and installed in Volkswagen Group's related SEAT factory in Martorell, Spain.

The SEAT Exeo was officially revealed at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, and at launch, it was confirmed to be available in just one car body style - as a four-door five-seat saloon/sedan (Typ 3R5). However, from August 2009, it also available as a five-door five-seat estate/wagon[7] called Exeo ST (Typ 3R9)(Sport Tourer).

The Exeo was available for purchase in Western Europe in early 2009, with a model lineup which initially included three petrol engines and two diesel engines, with a third lower-powered 88 kilowatts (120 PS; 118 bhp) diesel engine being added from September 2009.
In 2010 three new petrol engines entered production, these were the 1.8 TFSI 88 kilowatts (120 PS; 118 bhp), the 1.8 TFSI 118 kilowatts (160 PS; 158 bhp) and the 2.0 TFSI 155 kilowatts (211 PS; 208 bhp).

It is available with three different trim levels: Reference, Stylance and Sport.

more on wikipedia..

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2012 Renault Koleos facelift

The Renault Koleos is a compact SUV which was first presented as a concept car at the 2006 Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris, with first concept demonstrated on 2000 Geneva Motorshow. The Koleos was designed by Renault and developed by Nissan. It is manufactured by Renault Samsung Motors, a subsidiary of Renault, at its plant in Busan, South Korea. A South Korean-market variant is sold as the Renault Samsung QM5. A facelifted version is available as of 2011.

Renault has some experience in the SUV market, after selling the Scénic RX4 and the Kangoo, but it has never produced a true SUV. A Koleos concept car was shown in the media as long ago as February 2000.

The Koleos's body design is based on the Renault Koleos and Renault Egeus concept cars. Some of the Koleos's competitors such as the Citroën C-Crosser and the Peugeot 4007 were also presented by the time it was launched. ADAC of Germany awarded five stars to the Koleos in a crash-test done in 2008. In August 2010, the Koleos was withdrawn from the UK market, due to poor sales of under 3000 units.

In the Indian market Renault produced its premium SUV Koleos on September 8th 2011. Koleos made its international debut in 2008 and this is the first facelift the vehicle has received since its launch. The popular Koleos registered a 51% YOY growth in the first half of 2011. It is currently being sold across five continents and in markets as diverse as Europe, South America and Asia Pacific.It will be available with a 2 litre dCi diesel engine with a maximum power output of 150 PS @ 4000 rpm and peak torque of 320 Nm at 2000 rpm.

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2012 Opel/Vauxhall Zafira Tourer

The Opel Zafira is a compact MPV engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel. The Zafira is branded as Vauxhall in the UK. The first generation of Zafira is usually referred to as Zafira A, as is customary for Opel models. The car was based on the same platform as the 1998 Astra G/B and shared much in common with that car. The Zafira A body was used in GM/Opel's concept hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle the HydroGen3. The Opel Zafira A was replaced by Zafira B in Europe and Japan from 2005, but was still sold in most other markets until 2011, except for Australia and New Zealand, where the model was cancelled altogether. The Zafira was sold in the Philippines from 2001 to 2005, being the last European-based Opel car to be sold in the Philippines after they stopped selling the Opel Astra in 2003.

The Opel Zafira has seven seats arranged in three rows, the back row of which can be folded into the floor to create more space, individually or together, rather than requiring that the extra seats be physically removed from the vehicle. The system was named Flex 7.

The Zafira B debuted in Europe in 2004, and sales started in 2005. It also shares the platform and mechanicals with the Astra, this time the H/C model.

In February 2006, Zafira B was launched in Singapore. By March 2006, the model had only been introduced in Europe, Singapore and Japan, superseding the previous Zafira and the Subaru Traviq, respectively. In April in Mexico and later in September 2006 in Chile, this model was introduced, branded as Chevrolet Zafira.

On the British television series Outnumbered, The Brockman family (main family) owned a Vauxhall Zafira until the 2011 series, where they replaced it with a Ford Galaxy people carrier.

• Opel Zafira – Global (except for UK)
• Vauxhall Zafira – United Kingdom
• Chevrolet Zafira – Chile, and Mexico

In Mexico the Opel Zafira was discontinued after the 2006 model year, and replaced by the 5-passenger Chevrolet HHR (discontinued in Mexico since 2009).

It has so far been a huge sales success in the United Kingdom, proving even more popular than its predecessor. In 2006 it was the UK's tenth best selling new car, proving more popular than the Vectra that just eight years earlier had been the brand's best selling product.[citation needed] By 2010, however, reflecting both its status as a run-out model and adverse consumer reaction to uncertainty over Opel's future, the car was being outsold in the ratio of nearly 3:1 by the more recently face-lifted Volkswagen Touran on the German market, with 2,568 Zafiras sold in the first two months of the year against 7,270 Tourans.

The Zafira B's engine lineup is partly adopted from the previous Astra/Zafira generation, but Opel replaced the old 2.0 and 2.2 turbodiesel I4 engines with 1.9 L common-rail turbodiesels developed by Fiat (Multijet). Opel Performance Center developed a turbocharged 240 hp (180 kW) 2.0 L performance version of the Zafira B as well. A CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) version of the new Zafira with a 1.6 L engine is also available.

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