Industry » Australian Car Advice

2009 Nissan Cube

November 20th, 2008 24 Comments

Love it or hate it, the all-new 2009 Nissan Cube has arrived. Characterised by its non-traditional design, Cube offers excellent space utilisation thanks to a wider track and longer wheelbase that pushes the wheels as far in to each corner as was practicable.

Along with its stance, the exterior appearance of Cube has been freshened up with wider headlamps and grille, shorter tail section, bar-type taillights and reduced crease lines to simplify styling character.

“The designers, engineers and planners’ effort and passion in creating the next generation Cube was unheard of – perhaps only exceeded in recent memory by that of the Nissan GT-R development team,” explains Pierre Loing, Nissan’s European Vice President for Product Planning. “They were constantly drawing, cartooning, adding thoughts and ideas, which is how the image of the bulldog emerged and evolved. This was not a traditional development process.”

To further improve visibility, the A-pillars are positioned outward and more upright while the front door windows use a ‘photo-frame’ design to, you guessed it, frame the face of those in the front seats.

The asymmetrical warp around side and rear window is also aimed at improving visibility by eliminating the blind spot seen when changing lanes or reverse parking.

“This ‘geometric circle shape in the square’ rear window is Cube’s signature,” said Loing. “Though there are D-pillars on both sides of the Cube, the visual effect of the narrower passenger-side pillar is quite remarkable in the overall appearance, a look aided by the asymmetrical back door.”

Cube features a refrigerator door styled rear opening, which makes it possible to open or close it even if parked tight against other cars in parallel parking spaces or when backed in against a wall or other obstacle.

Inside the Cube an inspired, open cabin promotes a curved theme, the feature of which is Cube’s iconic ‘water drop’ decor which can be seen in the cup holders, climate control panel, and most especially, the head lining. This design cue is said to be inspired by ‘the calming way that ripples move outward from a drop in water’.

The comfortable Cube seating includes individual driver’s and passenger seats, along with a ‘lounge sofa’ style sliding rear bench seat which can be adjusted to three positions and is positioned higher than the front seats, theatre style, enhancing rear passenger comfort and visibility.

Other interior features include the ‘floating pod’ instrument panel with asymmetrical light blue and white gauges, said to represent the white moon and the blue earth, which are designed to make it easier to distinguish between the speedometer and the tachometer.

For better personalisation, Cube features what Nissan call ‘Magic Rubber Bands’. These colourful rubber straps (red, yellow, orange or silver) slip into cutouts on the door armrests to secure items such as maps, name tags, photos, towels or small stuffed animals.

Cube will be offered with both 1.5-litre diesel and 1.6-litre petrol powertrains, though “not as yet” for us down under.

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Ford sells 20 percent of Mazda

November 19th, 2008 20 Comments

Mazda has today announced that several of its strategic business partners will acquire 20 percent of Ford’s shares the company via market trading.

As a result, the ratio of Ford’s ownership of Mazda stock will be reduced from 33.4 percent to just over 13 percent, with the new agreement allowing the two companies to continue their strategic relationship that spans nearly 30 years.

Chinese auto growth slows

November 19th, 2008 3 Comments

With the economic downturn hitting China hard, the auto industry there is struggling, most especially small domestic automakers with no export opportunity. And with no bail out in sight from the Chinese government, it would seem such companies are own their own.

Until September this year, Chinese automakers were seeing double-digit growth in passenger vehicle sales, though following the economic upset, sales dropped 2 percent year-on-year in that month alone.

Supported by strong brands, the joint ventures of international automakers and major state-owned Chinese auto manufacturers are still profitable, though only just, but a group of smaller companies including Chery, Geely, BYD and Great Wall remain at risk with dependence on export increasing their vulnerability.

As information out of China can be hard to come by, more detailed individual company performance figures are not available, but perhaps by way of indication Geely’s President Li Shufu acknowledged his company’s exports to some developing countries had dropped more than 60 percent since September.

Geely has already cut its export target for this year to 40,000 cars (down 33 percent) and Li estimates the exports of other domestic automakers have also declined sharply with both Chery and Great Wall more heavily dependent on export sales.

All three companies had been expanding fast before the economy waned which in turn restricted their cash flow, and although Chery and Great Wall sought to raise funds from the domestic stock market earlier this year, both failed miserably (Chery couldn’t meet the stock listing requirements while Great Wall’s listing application was rejected by market regulators).

In a bid to revive the domestic economy, the Chinese government rolled out a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package, but there was nothing in it for automakers with the package instead focused on railway, energy and social security projects. The Chinese government believes social stability to be of far greater priority than auto manufacture.

Major state-owned automakers, such as China FAW Group and Shanghai Automotive remain cash rich and as long as these companies are doing well, the government has little incentive to support the domestic industry, painting a somewhat bleak future for the smaller companies.

One likely scenario is for the state-owned companies to buy out the smaller groups to form a massive conglomerate producing huge numbers of cars for export. Who knows, in a few years we may even see a number of Chinese cars on the road here. At the moment though, it’s wait and see.

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Hyundai-KIA win UK Manufacturer of the Year

November 18th, 2008 22 Comments

UK magazine Autocar has named Hyundai-KIA as its Automotive Manufacturer of the Year citing the world’s fifth largest car-maker’s “mind-blowing ambition” as the centre point of their decision.

Hyundai-KIA have climbed in to the top ranks of the world’s biggest car companies in less than 50 years.

Toyota to develop $5000 car

November 12th, 2008 66 Comments

Toyota is set to enter the cheap-car race with new reports suggesting a $5000 car has been scheduled for development.

Ultra-budget cars are in high demand in booming emerging markets such as India and Brazil, with Nissan-Renault developing a similar offering whilst Tata has already showcased the Nano.

Chery could be privatised

November 12th, 2008 12 Comments

Chinese auto manufacturer Chery, suffering from the current hard economic times, has started laying off employees and freezing development of some new models.

The state owned company, controlled by the Wuhu city government in Anhui province, admits that whilst such extreme measures have improved its cash flow in the immediate term, long term growth may only come by privatising the company and putting a halt to its so-called “reckless expansion”.

Indian manufacturers seek financial relief

November 12th, 2008 16 Comments

Suffering from tighter credit and falling sales both locally and abroad, India’s automakers and suppliers are asking the government for financial relief.

The industry seeks a lower customs duty on metal imports, extensions of loan repayment schedules for smaller manufacturers and large infrastructure projects, including roads.

Hyundai unveils new R-Engine diesel range

November 6th, 2008 35 Comments

Hyundai has well and truly left behind any lingering Korean car stereotypes as it reveals the first details of its brand new R-Engine Diesel powerplant.

The 2.0-litre version of the R-Engine outperforms any competitive offering, and will enter production next year to make its first appearance in the 2010 Tucson and Sonata models.

Pontiac responds to G8 rumours, sort of

October 29th, 2008 29 Comments

Pontiac has responded to recent rumours surrounding the future of its G8 range, we’re just not sure if they understood what the rumour was about.

Pontiac has gone on record saying it would not be cancelling either its G8 or Solstice range - although did not address the key issue being the viability of their next-generation replacements.

GM cancels large SUV program

October 29th, 2008 16 Comments

In a move that would have seemed implausable a decade ago, and perhaps one that is a sign of the tough financial times faced by the US giant, General Motors have today cancelled a $2 billion (USD) investment program to update their range of full-size SUVs.

Pulling the plug on Project CXX, which was set to underpin future versions of the Escalade, Tahoe (pictured above), Yukon and Suburban, was unanimously approved by executives, ending 15 years of vehicles that defined the brand.

KIA global sales on the rise

October 22nd, 2008 49 Comments

KIA Motors Corporation has announced that its global car and commercial vehicle sales are on the rise with September figures showing international sales for that month of 110,431 units, representing a 2.7 percent year-on-year increase.

Cumulatively, through the first nine months of 2008, KIA’s global sales increased by 14.4 percent year-on-year and reached 1,062,379 units. China experienced the largest gains in sales of 38.1 percent selling 112,502 units.