Articles by Karla Pincott

Based on the Micra platform, the Thai-built Almera is an important step in Nissan’s plan to fills the gaping chasms in their line-up. Nissan’s current range leans heavily towards the larger and offroad products ranging from the vehicles from the compact Dualis and X-Trail SUVs, to the medium-sized Murano and Pathfinder and on to the large Patrol and the Navara range of utes. “We need to get better at passenger car delivery,” Nissan spokesman Jeff Fisher says. “We’ve always been good at commercial and SUV vehicles, but for about a decade we haven’t been as good on passenger vehicles as we should be.” The Almera sedan will fill the gap between the popular Micra and the aging Tiida, with the latter due to be replaced early next year with the return of the Pulsar nameplate it tried  -- and failed – to kill off.  It will be joined next year by the mid-sized Altima, which will carry Nissan’s badge into V8 Supercar racing. Fisher says the restocked passenger car shelves promise bright sales prospects. “We see the Almera as bridging the territory between the Micra and Tiida, and appealing largely to mature buyers and families – especially because of the interior size,” he says. “While it’s built on the same platform as the Micra it has a much larger body – it’s a Micra on steroids.” He acknowledges the Tiida is lagging in sales, with just over 3500 last year meaning a drop of 35 per cent, but says the Pulsar will change that. “The Tiida has been around for six years, but we are expecting quite improved performance from Pulsar – we have big plans for it,” he says. “And later next year the Altima will plug the mid-sized segment gap.” Fisher says having better coverage should improve Nissan’s overall position on the Australian sales ladder. “When we have the full line of product coverage, we’ve said we want to look at gaining import leadership and we figure with some of the product coming we’ll be able to get there,” he says. Nissan’s sales chief Ian Moreillon told Carsguide earlier this year  “our stated goal is to be Australia’s number one full-line importer by March 2013 and we are still on target to achieve this". “With the plans we have in place, we certainly have the potential to grow our sales significantly over the next 12 months,” Moreillon said at the time, adding that this year’s flood of new models would sweep Nissan past Mazda by this time next year. With the Almera aiming at families, you can expect Nissan to focus on the interior space as a call to buyer attention. And the mature buyers are clearly the target of the conservative styling that will set the little sedan apart from youth-oriented rivals like the Toyota Yaris, Mazda2 and Suzuki Swift. “Design is a matter for an individual –  we think it’s a very distinctive,” Fisher says. Nissan has not yet confirmed engines and specification for the Almera, but the car in Thailand echoes the Micra ‘s entry-level 1.2-litre engine with a choice of either five-speed manual or CVT transmissions, while the Chinese market gets the Amera/Sunny with a 1.5-litre in higher spec.  

The news comes just days before Facebook’s much-trumpeted $105 billion public stock launch on Friday.The Wall Street Journal reported overnight that GM would likely still continue the remaining $30 million it spends on Facebook marketing, and would continue to post information about its group of brands – which in Australia includes Holden – but would cease paid advertising on the site.The Wall Street Journal report said GM has been reviewing its entire advertising strategy around the world with the aim of cutting $2 billion from its marketing budget.Holden’s social media and digital communications manager Andrea Matthews says there will be no impact on the local Facebook scene, as Holden doesn’t buy ad space on the site.“We don’t at the moment spend any money on paid Facebook advertising, but we do use it for a range of different things,” she says.“For us it’s about building and maintaining our brand, creating awareness for our product, letting our customers know new products are coming, when special offers are available, and celebrating our heritage.” 

A photo of four scruffy musicians walking across a street has become one of the most recognisable images in the world. And one it seems everybody wants to role play.The Beatles zebra crossing shot that graced the cover of their Abbey Road album is mimicked every day by visiting fans. These days the results caught on a live webcam set up outside the still-operating Abbey Road Studios in St John’s Wood, London.The footage also often showing frustrated drivers who are forced to wait in banked-up traffic until the tourists finish their fun. Among the more notable Abbey Road copies are The Simpsons, The Teletubbies and the Red Hot Chili Peppers -- doing the walk near-naked except for strategically-placed socks. But every day the road’s live webcam captures people doing it their own way, including brides, Power Rangers, a three-metre paper chicken, and yesterday a line of bare-chested South Americans bearing pots on their heads. It’s also been used as a reference in everything from political cartoons to personal tattoos. See our gallery for some of the best variations.

The only thing this remote control model car Transformer doesn't do -- yet -- is pour a drink like Honda's Asimo. That doesn't bother us at all, because the old-school charm of this Transformers robot is enough by itself.Japanese designer Kenji Ishida worked with JS Robotics (and likely with leading tech-head Jin Sato) on the 'Brave Robot' Transformer, which has a system of 22 motors under a plastic exoskeleton.The result are version 8, which was presented at the Science Square Tsukuba robotics exhibit in Japan. At the time it was obviously suggested a version 9 was on the way.JS Robotics is famed for its insectoid bug robots, but the hint of a next generation Brave Robot Transformer means they might be looking in a different direction and could have something in production by the end of the year. It's quite a while until Christmas, but we're putting this on our list.

And Australia could be one of the markets, with Holden saying they are looking at the car very closely to slot in under the Captiva 5 and Captiva 7. The Korean-designed Trax SUV was first seen at New York motor show in 2007 along with two other GM-Daewoo concepts, the Beat and Groove.At the time, GM had the public vote on which should be built, and the Beat won out – but the Trax has now been given the green light. The baby SUV, which in New York carried a 1.0-litre petrol engine, hasn’t been completely out of the public eye. It had a supporting role in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in 2009 as the vehicle mode for the Autobot, Mudflap.Based on the platform for the Aveo, which we see here as the Holden Barina, the Trax has a chance of coming to Australia with a Holden badge, although a Holden spokesperson said there was no commitment at the moment.  "It looks like a very exciting product and we going to be taking a very close look at it," the spokesperson said. "The compact SUV market is increasing in popularity, and we have several SUV models -- Captiva 5, Captiva 7 and the larger coming Colorado. So a small SUV makes a lot of sense."Chevrolet says the Trax will allow the brand to enter the booming smaller end of the SUV field. "Trax provides Chevrolet an entry into a growing small SUV segment and delivers the flexibility, great fuel economy and car-like handling that urban explorers require," Chevrolet Europe managing director Susan Docherty said. Trax will start rolling out into European showrooms in the second quarter of 2013.

Opel posted a massive a first-quarter loss of $256 million, and has unveiled a plan to reverse its downward slide, which saw sales sink 16 per cent so far this year in Europe, more than double the region's overall drop of 7 per cent.During an extraordinary all-employee meeting at Opel’s Ruesselheim HQ in Germany yesterday, CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke outlined a 10-point plan to bring the carmaker back into the black.Among the key points was entering new markets like Australia – where Opel launches later this year -- and South America, while expanding in other markets. "We've already successfully introduced Opel to the market in Israel and we'll expand our activities in China, Russia and Turkey," Stracke said.Stracke also said Opel must continue to look at entering new vehicle fields such as the city car (where it has announced the Adam) and the sub-compact SUV (the Mokka). Opel will also consider more alliances, similar to the tie-up with Peugeot Citroen PSA, he said, reassuring the Ruesselsheim staff that any PSA joint projects outlined for France would be matched by others in Germany.General Motors' European unit, Opel/Vauxhall, is open to alliances beyond that with PSA/Peugeot-Citroen and could build a Chevrolet model to take up excess capacity and help it return to profit. In the bid to return to profit, Opel will also review production costs and possibly streamline processes to increase profit margins on every car that rolls off the line, he said.Part of the streamlining plan reinforced reports published by Carsguide last week suggesting that the Astra small car – which will be part of the Australian launch – will no longer be built in Germany. Stracke said the Astra would in future be built in two plants, rather than the current three, suggesting that Astra production at Ruesselheim will stop, leaving it built in the UK and Poland factories."Given the forecasted market volumes, it would not be viable to produce (the Astra) in more than two plants," Stracke said. Opel is also in talks with its GM parent about taking on some of the Chevrolet production currently coming out of Korea to improve capacity usage, he said. However he stressed the plan should not be seen as a cost-cutting plan, saying it was instead “rather a comprehensive plan to quickly improve profitability”. 

I’m in love with my car, Freddie Mercury sang with Queen. And it seems we all are, judging by the number of songs about our four-wheeled best friends. We’re not talking about the distasteful obsession of that very strange man in London who literally makes love to cars - yes, he does exactly what you’re thinking and if you’re reading this over breakfast, we apologise for conjuring that image.But British mating customs aside, it still seems cars are second only to humans as objects of musical affection. That’s understandable, given that the auto industry spends billions of dollars on designing continuing waves of product intended to keep resparking our desire.Otherwise we’d all be driving around in our grandma’s Ford Cortina, and the industry would fold until all the Cortinas needed replacing. Instead, year after year, decade after decade, we’re tempted with one after another gorgeous body, luxuriously clothed in finest leather and accessorised with sparkling metal. A veritable parade of autoerotica ... or at the very least, autoromantica.So it’s hardly surprising that some of the most popular car songs are dedicated to aspirational vehicles. Among the best known is Janis Joplin’s husky plea for the Lord to give her a Mercedes Benz “my friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends” -- closely followed by Wilson Pickett’s classic Mustang Sally. Mind you, they’re the best known songs unless you have toddlers. A poll around the office revealed that if you’re in that group, top of your charts is the Wiggles with Big Red Car - "toot, toot, riding in the big red car, ride the whole day long’’. Hardly evocative lyrics, and it doesn’t rhyme. But you can dance to it. Apparently. For the rest of us, there are countless serenades to expensive and iconic machinery. The Who gave the Brit car industry a plug which sadly failed to save it with Jaguar in 1967, singing "every lovely spot near or far, you can reach them too in your car, or you might be there now if you own a Jaguar’’. And Germany’s Volkswagen must have been tickled to hear Ima Robot’s Black Jettas. Not that the automotive giants needs any help from musical plugs, of course. But the rest of the songbook is largely American. Beach Boys’ 409. And Little Deuce Coupe. And, for that matter, Little Honda, Cherry Coupe, Custom Machine, This Car of Mine and Fun, Fun, Fun till her daddy takes her T Bird away … hmmm, bit of an obsession there.Alan Jackson doing Mercury Blues, Marc Cohn’s Silver Thunderbird. And scores of others. Most of them are serenades, but some of the love is a bit twisted, like Dead Milkmen’s Bitchin Camero … "doughnuts on your lawn’’ and some heartfelt stuff about running over the neighbours.The Cadillac gets quite a bit of attention, with numbers like Pink Cadillac, Gold Cadillac, It’s My Cadillac, Cadillac Ranch and Ray’s Dad’s Cadillac. And rap music sings -- if you can call it singing -- the praises of the ostentatious brands that look best accessorised with 28" chrome wheels, black glass and handgun slots in the glove box. Bentleys, Rollers, Hummers and the like.But the vehicle that gets the most musical attention isn’t exotic, or expensive, or even remotely sporty. It’s that humble former family taxi, Nanna’s fave ...the Ford Cortina. The mass market midsizer has been the musical muse for Elton John "I was made in England, like a blue Cortina’’, The Clash "Ford Cortina just won’t run without fuel’’, The Jam "Cortinas fur trimmed dashboards’’, Ian Dury and the Blockheads "had a love affair with Nina in the back of my Cortina’’, the Subhumans, the Saw Doctors, the Lambrettas, the Tom Robinson Band, the list goes on ....Even British poet laureate John Bjeteman was inspired: "I am a young executive. No cuffs than mine are cleaner. I have a slimline briefcase and I use the firm’s Cortina’’. Perhaps it’s the ubiquitousness, the ordinariness, the sheer white sliced breadness of the Cortina, which sold more than a million globally over its 20 year lifespan.But if it were these qualities that inspire the musicians, surely we’d have an entire songbook dedicated to the Toyota Corolla. After all, it’s now the world’s best selling car. Ever. And it seems people like it enough to buy it by the millions, but nobody cares for the poor thing enough to write it a love song. 

Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller, in an interview published by German site Stuttgarter Zeitung over the weekend, said offering a cheaper entry level car below the Boxster would undermine the brand and alienate its existing customers. “Porsche lives primarily from its brand,” he said in the interview.  “The brand is the most important reason to buy a Porsche. Therefore, we must ensure that the brand remains what it is, namely highly desirable premium. “If we were to offer a car that would be positioned below the Boxster, we are talking to a completely new customer group. If we lose the established Porsche customers because of this, we would not do the brand any favours.” Regarding reports plans for a small four-door sedan to sit below the Panamera, Mueller did not completely dismiss the suggestion, but said it could be up to six years away. “We must ask ourselves whether it would make sense right now to bring a little Panamera to the market,” Mueller said. “Not necessarily today or tomorrow... but may be developed in five to six years.”  Porsche aims to double its global sales to 200,000 over the next six years as part of its ‘Strategy 2018’, and Mueller said a large part of that growth would come from the recently-confirmed Macan SUV that would slot in below the Cayenne. “The new Macan will make the greatest contribution (to growth),” he said. “The rest follows from the growth of markets and better market penetration, such as the expansion of the dealer network in China.” Questioned on the Macan sharing underpinnings with the VW Group stablemate Audi Q5, Mueller said the platform and modular strategy would offer production economies, but that “the bottom line is, however, that the Macan feels like and drives like a Porsche.” He confirmed that the Macan’s engine line-up would also be sourced from the Volkswagen group, but “the top engine is, however, a Porsche engine. This is very important to us, and the drive performance should be to that effect.”  

Following the revamped 3-Series sedan, the wagon – or Touring, as it’s properly called – starts with 328i, 320d and 330d models, all of which will have BMW’s TwinPower Turbo technology on both petrol and diesel engines. Echoing the sedan engine, the 328i wagon’s new 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol unit develops180kW and likely 350Nm, although BMW hasn’t yet given exact torque details on the wagons yet. The 320d’s revised 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel is good for 135kW and probably the 380Nm of the current 320d wagon and the new F30 320d sedan. The 330d’s 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel tops that with 190kW -- up10kW on the previous 330d engine, and perhaps raising the possibility of a lift on the 520Nm -- but which is not currently on the cards for the Australian launch, scheduled in the first quarter of next year.  The later launch date means that there are likely to be other drivetrains on offer by the time we get a roll-out, BMW spokesman Scott Croaker says. "We expect there will be more models available by that time, with the line-up more reflective of the 3-Series sedans," he says. However at the moment, the 330d is not on the plan for Australia, he says. "The 330d will not be on offer at launch for either the sedan or the Touring. It's not off the table, but it's not under consideration at the moment. The (wagon)  line-up won't be as extenive as the sedan line-up at launch, we'll start with maybe the 320i and 320d." Absent from the overseas opening line-up are 320i and the other two current existing petrol variants sold here -- the 323i and the spirited 335i – however the launch will include M Sport equipment options, BMW says. Fuel saving stop-start systems are integrated with both transmission choices: a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic (standard on the BMW 330d) with the option of paddle shifts on the latter. BMW says the car is nearly 10cm longer, with a 5cm larger wheelbase, and BMW is trumpeting ‘the load compartment can offer more space than any of the Touring’s rivals’ – a 35-litre increase in cargo capacity taking the luggage space to 495 litres. That’s just 10 litres more than the arch-rival, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, so it remains to be seen if it will make a huge difference to buyers. And BMW in Australia will be keen to have some of them look the 3-Series over, with it having been soundly battered last year by the C-Class, which sold 2149 to the 3-Series sales of just 1269.  That means pricing is likely to have a strategic entry point when the 3-Series wagon arrives, with the price tags, full specification and firm dates yet to be finalised. Croaker says pricing "will be very strategic in terms of how much it sits over the sedan and how it meets the outgoing model's pricing" but adds that BMW hopes to lure some buyers away from SUVs. "We're anticipating that the wagon is going to play a big part in combating the SUV market, with buyers who are still looking for versatily," he says. However he admits there is the risk some of those buyers may be tempted away from BMW's own SUV line-up, particularly the X1. "There is always the risk of canibbalisation, and with carmakers trying to target every particular niche you risk that, but we hope we have a car that targets their needs more than some od the competitors do as well," Croaker says.    

Unveiled on the weekend at the Mini United festival in France, the Mini JCW GP will go on sale later this year in a limited run of 2000 cars.