There aren’t a lot of automakers that also make motorcycles: Peugeot, Honda, Suzuki, and perhaps most pertinently, BMW. And now Audi is getting in the game – not with its own four-ringed motorbikes, but with today’s acquisition of Ducati.

In the announcement just released, Audi confirmed the deal but stopped short of confirming the reported purchase price of $1.1B. Although Audi is, of course, part of the Volkswagen group, it is Audi AG itself that officially bought the motorcycle manufacturer, making Ducati the third Italian operation under its umbrella alongside Lamborghini and ItalDesign-Giugiaro.

Tellingly, Audi also points to certain technologies developed by Ducati – particularly their control systems, combustion chamber process and competence in lightweight construction – as particular assets that “offer great potential for AUDI AG and the Volkswagen Group.”

If you’ve ever dreamed of thumbing your nose at big energy and its expensive, polluting ways, then Tesla and a solar panel leasing company called SolarCity might be taking you a baby-step closer to reality. Although recognized mostly for its EVs, Tesla reckons it knows enough about batteries to solve a key problem in the solar energy chain — namely the storage of power for use when the sun, power grid, or both go offline. The battery design, consisting of many laptop-style lithium ion batteries stacked together, was chosen after two years of research and a $1.8 million energy grant. The two companies are now waiting for tax credits from the Fed and California before rolling out the tech. And being kissing cousins — with Elon Musk as both Chairman of SolarCity and CEO of Tesla — certainly can’t hurt.

SOURCE via GigaOm

Judging from the spy photos we’ve seen recently, the BMW i8 is coming along nicely. With its more realistic bodywork, the hybrid supercar is beginning to look like something that actually belongs on public streets. Now Sonny Lim, former senior designer for BMW DesignWorks, has taken a stab at what the finished product may look like via a handful of renderings.

Read more…

Automotive News is reporting that Audi is set to lay down $1.1 billion to purchase Ducati from the motorcycle manufacturer’s current owner, Investindustrial. The news comes courtesy of a source “familiar with the matter,” though neither Audi nor Investindustrial have officially commented on whether that price is accurate. As Automotive News points out, the price is around seven times what Ducati earned last year before interest, taxes and depreciation – even after subtracting any debt Ducati holds. Currently, the motorcycle maker’s liabilities are less than $262.6 million.

Most analysts view the purchase as a thinly veiled jab at rival BMW, itself a longtime motorcycle builder. Last year, the Italian firm sold somewhere in the neighborhood of 42,000 bikes with a revenue of $630 million. While that’s technically more than either Bugatti or Lamborghini, both Volkswagen brands, adding a motorcycle manufacturer to the VW portfolio probably won’t do much for the rest of the company’s brands. Longtime industry watchers may remember that VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech tried to purchase Ducati once before in 2008 before losing out to Investedindustrial.

SOURCE via Automotive News

We’re not so sure how scientific its poll was, but an online dating service that calls itself the U.K.’s largest for married people says that men who cheat on their wives are twice as likely to drive a BMW than any other brand of car.

According to NineMSN.com, Illicit Encounters points to the “intrinsic link between success and cheating” to explain the connection between Bimmers and adultery. Some 19 percent of the dating website’s members drive a BMW, including 11 percent of the women who responded to the survey, according to the report. Coming in second on the survey was Audi, with Mercedes-Benz a close third. While BMW may not be outwardly proud of this “victory,” we’re sure at least someone in Munich is glad to have bested its German rivals.

Speaking of which, scroll down to watch a classic Mercedes commercial about a “happily married” couple.

Read more…

Whether you are a fan or not, the CVT gearbox is here to stay. Point in case is the new CVT from Honda, which is part of their Earth Dreams Technology, specially developed for mid-sized Honda vehicles.

This new CVT features newly developed high-efficiency electric oil pump, high-strength belt and exclusive CVT oil raise transmission efficiency, which enhances fuel economy. It also features a wide ratio that gives more torque in the lower rpm range that translates to quick acceleration from standstill. In addition, the new CVT is equipped with the G-Design Shift that controls the gearing, throttle and hydraulic control to make the system respond quicker to driver input.

The take back from this new CVT is that it offers five percent better fuel economy than the conventional CVT, and 10 percent better than a traditional 5-speed automatic. The new CVT will not reach us yet. It is still new in Japan and will be first shoehorned into the Step WGN and Step WGN Spada.

It looks like Citroën will be very busy during the Beijing Motor Show because the French carmaker will be introducing the DS line to the Chinese. And to highlight the occasion, Citroën will be unveiling their latest DS concept, Numéro 9.

Penned in Paris, the Numéro 9 is Citroën’s interpretation of the shooting brake body style, which is basically a love child between a coupé and an estate. And since it is part of the DS line, Numéro 9 gets all of the radical styling like the floating roof and signature grille as well as proportions purposely designed to contribute to the car’s aerodynamic efficiency, which is rated at a CdA of 0.61.

The dimensions for the Numéro 9 are 1270 mm tall, 1,940 mm wide, 1,270 mm tall and a wheelbase of 3,000 mm. Plenty of space for the passengers. The sheet metal features subtle hints of violet on deep-black bodywork. The finishing is called ‘Whisper’, which Citroën says is a perfect match for the warmer ‘Californian’ chrome finish. The Numéro 9 uses the ‘Créative Technologie’ that endows the car with a combination of comfort, safety and respect for the environment.

The powertrain consists of a conventional petrol or diesel engine (depending on the market) with an electric motor that drives the rear axle. The motor develops 70hp and 200Nm of torque and is powered by lithium-ion batteries that can be recharged in just 3.5 hours from a standard home socket. Citroën will display the Numéro 9 with the 1.6 THP petrol engine that generates 225 hp and 275 Nm of torque.

According to Citroën, the plug-in hybrid car has a range of 50 km in all-electric mode and uses both sources of energy to move in typical city conditions. It also puts the combustion engine on standby when it is not needed. On highways, the combustion engine works full time to deliver performance. There’s also a ‘boost’ function that adds the power of the electric motor to give the more power, up to 295 hp. It takes Numéro 9 5.4 seconds to complete the century sprint and 25.3 seconds to travel 1,000 metre from standing.

As for grip, the car switches to four-wheel drive mode; the electric motor helps the rear with the combustion engine powering the front. The driver can manually select 4WD mode if conditions get too difficult. Suspension system uses a hydraulic active setup.

I guess we’ll have to wait for more information that will come when the car is fully unveiled.

The iconic Ford Crown Victoria New York yellow cabs are on their way out, to be replaced a Nissan van beginning in late 2013. The 2014 Nissan NV200 Taxi recently made its global debut at a special event in SoHo. The Taxi of Tomorrow then made its way to the New York International Auto Show, which is still ongoing at the Jacob Javits Center.

If you remember, Nissan won NYC’s Taxi of Tomorrow competition, which gives it exclusive rights to provide the replacement for the over 13,000 yellow cabs that crisscross the Big Apple.

Read more…

The Mel Brooks Star Wars send-up Spaceballs may be most memorable for its flying Winnebago, but a hovercraft also features in the hilarious action. Like a lot of movie prop vehicles, the hovercraft that carted Dark Helmet around had no power source of its own (other than a Napoleonic Rick Moranis in some scenes).

The Just a Car Guy blog found the hovercraft in the Justice Brothers Museum, and it turns out that after the movie, this prop became an honest-to-goodness working vehicle much like Lone Star became a prince at the end of the film. Originally built by famous customizer Dean Jeffries in just two weeks, the hovercraft now has a rear-mounted engine and can carry up to eight people in out-of-this-world style. Hit the link for the full story.

SOURCE via Just A Car Guy

In the automotive realm, there’s nothing quite like the Bugatti Veyron, which, in convertible form, is known as the Grand Sport. With more than a thousand horsepower from its sixteen-cylinder engine and a top speed of well over 200 miles per hour, the Veyron Grand Sport is the fastest and most powerful open-top production road car in the world.

Well… it was the fastest, most powerful open-top production car in the world, until Bugatti went and created the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. This is the topless version of the Veyron that’s been fitted with the 1,200-horsepower engine from the automaker’s Super Sport model. That means it can hit the ludicrous speed of 255 miles per hour – critically beating the regular Veyron by two mph – with nothing over your head but the open sky.

Bugatti has seen fit to honor its Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse with a new video, and we invite you to watch it by scrolling down below. We’ve also embedded three more new videos from Bugatti for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Read more…