Report: Seat Launches 4 models in 2012

Volkswagen's Spanish subsidiary SEAT is going to launch 4 models in 2012.
According to CEO James Muir:

“We want to increase our 340,000 unit sales from last year – by 8 to 10 percent – thanks to existing models. We aim to sell 45,000 units of the Ibiza ST (station wagon) this year. And the Alhambra already is well above plan so we expect a full-year volume of 20,000 units. This proves that our brand is gaining strength,”
For 2012, the company has even bigger plans, fueled by the launch of four new models. “We will launch four new cars: the new Leon, a totally new entry-level model, a four-door sedan and a major Ibiza facelift,”

SEAT by the end of 2011 was going to release the Volkswagen Lupo based Arosa. While in 2012 it was planning a new Toledo based on the upcoming Leon.
James Muir also said that SEAT will increase employers from 300 to 800 by almost the end of 2011. And he said that by 2018 he will sell 800,000 cars worldwide and a 15% investment. Could SEAT enter North America by 2018?

New Forum, lots of fun!

Daniel's Car Blog has got a new forum, so you can talk all about cars.

To visit it, click “Forum” on the top of the page.

Fiat to launch the new 2012 Panda in November this year

The Italian car firm Fiat (who bought 25% of Chrysler) is now assembling the new Panda for November 2012, as the third generation Panda. The car made it's debut in 1980 and rebadged in Spain as a SEAT Panda (Spain's popular car) from 1980 to 1983. The car will have it's world premier at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Since 1999 until 2003 the Fiat Panda decreased it's sales, but since the new Panda came, the sales increased. The Photo shown here is the second-generation Fiat Panda Cross. It has been 8 years since the current Panda was made. The car is divided into 3 generations:
First Generation (1980-2003)
-Popular in Spain (as a SEAT) ever since, the SEAT version became the Marbella in 1986 until it ended it's production in 1998. The first Panda was small.

First Panda (1980-1986 Phase)

The car was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro.
In 1999 sales decreased.
Second Generation (2003-2011)
The car has been changed from the previous Panda, it creators made the car more bigger than ever.

Forum

Many of our visitors would like to see a car forum. So we've decided to grant them their wish. Coming soon, Daniel's Car Blog is going to have a forums page.

TV Ad of 1984- Alfa Romeo Arna

In 1983 Alfa-Romeo badged a Nissan Versa as a Alfa Romeo Arna in tone for the European release. Here is the advertisement:

2011 Formula 1 season is on

Red Bull and McLaren dominated  the first qualifying season of the year, with two teams qualifying 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Australian GP Qualifying. Sebastien Vettel did 1 min 23.539 seconds.

“We have worked hard to get the RB7 where it is and that's down to the factory. It was a pleasure today but at the moment we have zero points like everyone else. The size of the margin is a surprise. We had a good feeling coming here but we didn't know for sure where we would be,”

said Vettel
Here are the qualifying times:

 

Friday News

Daniel Sonic News

• 2 weeks ago, Daniel Sonic's Downloads page has been published

Sonic/SEGA News

• The SEGA Genesis Classic Collection: Gold Edition dropped games you’ve seen 100x over on your PC last week because you haven’t played the shitty Virtua Fighter 2 Genesis port nearly enough.
• Sonic 4: Episode 1 is now at a more reasonable, yet still not worth it price of 800 Microsoft points for this week (for Gold Members only).
• News-a-rama asks why the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series is getting a reboot. Um… uh… because the Sonic comics blow?  The cover for the upcoming “Sonic Genesis” series is just awful, by the way.
• A short article on the importance of a silent protagonist.

Other News

• Red Cross companies all-around the world do charity funds for Japan
• BBC shows in Mandarin end (pictured)

Pagani Huayra

We had so many stories on the Pagani Huayra through January and February we began to wonder if there were any angles left to cover.
 
From the first teases on the Huayra from Pagani to our world-exclusive reveal of the first official photo of the Huayra, we covered every base there was to cover before the launch.
But Huayra stories have disappeared from the headlines as we wait for Pagani to actually make a car or two for customers and some real-world shots.
But now Horaciao Pagani has managed to grab a few extra Huayra headlines by telling Argentina’s Autoblog that a Pagani Huayra Roadster is planned, and that its should be with us by 2014. Which is not something we – or probably anyone else – ever doubted.
Because by having a Roadster version of the Huayra, Pagani can double the number of limited editions possible. And even though the Huayra is a little more mainstream than the Zonda, we really can’t see Horacio Pagani being able to resist the temptation of ‘One-off- special Huayras for wealthy clients.
In fact, we reckon that with the Zonda – which managed only about twenty cars a year through its ten year life – there were about twenty different versions. On that basis, and with Pagani hoping to get production on the Huayra up to 40 cars a year, we could see forty ‘Special’ Huayras in the next decade.
Unless Pagani churn out a Huayra Shooting Brake. Then it’ll be more like sixty.
Read more: http://www.carsuk.net/pagani-huayra-roadster-planned/#ixzz1HdWY65ek
 

Infiniti targets Australia

Infiniti M37

Infiniti is now going to sell 3 models to Australia, since it sold 3 or 4 cars to Europe around 2009. The Japanese luxury car firm was founded in 1989 as Nissan's luxury side and sold cars to the USA and Canada (1989 saw the year of the U.S.-Canadian trade agreement).Since then it has sold cars to Europe, Middle East, Korea, China, Taiwan and 2011 in Australia. Although the car firm doesn't sell cars in the home (Japanese) market. The car firm has 340 dealers worldwide and in Australia it is going to sell 165,000 cars in the 2011 Financial Year. In Australia it is selling the FX, G37 and M models.

Pre-alpha release for a 3-D Sonic game made by a fan named Azukara

The pre-alpha version of Sonic Freerunner has now been released.

According to it's press-release:

The pre-alpha will feature:. Enhanced movement. Sonic no longer moves like a hovercraft, as in vanilla Blitzsonic. Sonic controls very similarly to Sonic Adventure.. Spinball mechanics. Sonic can accelerate rapidly down hills in ball form. If holding down the roll button when touching a surface Sonic immediately rolls. Pressing the button while rolling uncurls Sonic.. SA / 3D Blast Spindash. The one button Spindash has been implemented; however, you can toggle the controls back to “crouch+tap jump” in the options menu.. Starpost object. Starpost is modeled by SefirothDB. Yes, you can respawn from the post's position after contacting it.. Particle effects. Sonic now screeches dust whenever he skids or Spindashes. It's also used for something else, but thats best kept a secret… Realistic ring loss. Self-explanatory. *. Underwater physics. (This includes sluggish movement and moon jumping, albeit no drowning mechanics have been added yet.). A working menu. It is very WIP, but nevertheless it is a working menu.. Life loss and 1UP stuff. Ability to lose lives and respawn, and gain 100 rings and/or hit a 1UP box and gain an extra life.**. Item display. When hitting a monitor it displays what you got temporarily in the HUD.

[Source: Sonic Retro Forums]

Sounds great!