Land Rover Discovery LR4 2017 Design

The Land Rover Discovery will replace the LR4 late this year or early in 2017, and new spy photos show its design will be more modern and less quirky, still with seating for seven. Land Rover is revamping its SUVs to make them more mainstream to ride the surge in U.S. light-truck demand. The Discovery will be larger than the midsize Discovery Sport that went on sale last year and will move from a body-on-frame platform to Land Rover’s new aluminum unibody architecture. The change will translate into a lighter and better handling vehicle still able to flaunt its off-road capabilities. The newest Discovery will be the largest of what’s expected to be a three-vehicle family of Land Rover models.

Porsche CEO expects boost from retooled Panamera

BERLIN -- Porsche expects the retooled Panamera sedan to give a boost to the weakest performing model in its portfolio. CEO Oliver Blume told Automotive News Europe he hopes to sell about 20,000 or more Panameras a year globally, up from 17,200 in 2015.

The Volkswagen Group subsidiary is targeting luxury car buyers with a sportier, sleeker version of the four-door coupe-styled sedan that is due to arrive at European showrooms in November and U.S. dealerships in January 2017.

"We're aiming it at people that want to drive sporty, in particular we want to reach out to young entrepreneurs that founded their own companies and startups," Blume said.

In the U.S., the 2017 Panamera 4S will be priced from $100,950 and the Panamera Turbo will start at $147,950, including shipping fees.

Forecasts by research firm IHS Automotive suggest Blume could be more upbeat about sales of the Panamera, which shares a platform with models from sister brands Audi and Bentley to lower costs.

IHS sees Panamera sales rising to 35,444 by 2020. By comparison, BMW's 7-series model may increase 30 percent to 51,825 cars while sales of Mercedes-Benz's S class may decline 21 percent to 79,044, according to IHS.

Over the past seven years, the combined volume for the fastback-styled sedan amounted to nearly 150,000, which is 21,150 sales a year on average. That met Porsche's original volume target, but it was not comparable with the Macan or Cayenne SUVs, which that have substantially exceeded sales expectations.

Porsche unveiled the second-generation Panamera sedan here on Tuesday, hoping to enhance its reputation for speed with a grand tourer that can lap the Nuerburgring Nordschleife as fast as the previous-generation 911 GT3.

Blume said diversifying the Porsche lineup in 2009 with the launch of the Panamera was strategically important. By offering a four-door sedan with four executive-style seats it was able to target a new customer group and broaden its business.

"The unique thing about this car in its segment is that it combines both comfort and sportiness," Blume said. "For example you can feel as if you're in a large luxury sedan thanks to the three-chamber air suspension or you can tackle curves in an extremely sporty way using the same rear axle steering our customers already know from the 911 Turbo."

Blume said the car could lap the Nordschleife in 7:38 minutes -- as fast as the older GT3 version of the 911. One of the Panameras on display was also the original that clocked that time, featuring an interior safety cage in case of a rollover and a unique bucket seat, as well as a computer and measuring technology.

The car is Porsche's first to be based on the new modular standard architecture it will share with other VW Group models. When the Panamera launches in autumn with a starting price of 113,027 euros, it will feature V-8 and V-6 gasoline engines offering 542 hp and 434 hp, respectively. A V-8 diesel with 416 hp will also be an option from the outset.

To further bolster its appeal, Porsche plans a so-called "shooting brake" derivative of the Panamera that swaps the sharp sloping roofline of a coupe for a more wagon-like silhouette, while adding more luggage space. The increased functionality is expected to lure mainly European consumers, who remain the world's top buyers of wagons. The wagon will also be sold in the U.S.

Porsche already gave enthusiasts an impression of the new model when it showed the Panamera Sport Turismo concept during the Paris motor show in 2012.

A five-seat Panamera is also under consideration for the U.S. That seating configuration has been sought by U.S. dealers, who say they lose Panamera shoppers to other brands because of its lack of a fifth seat.

Porsche has grown rapidly in recent years by entering segments that share little with its traditional roots as a sports car maker. Purists have criticized the company for being too commercial, diluting the brand simply to increase volume.

Last year, two-thirds of the brand's record-breaking global sales of 225,121 vehicles stemmed from two SUV models -- the Cayenne and Macan -- alone.

Story Version 1.0 - Trailer

The year was 2008 and Emmy's craze about automobile had gone wild, He went on to perceive his dream as automobile engineering.  
God had gifted him two brothers Omar Ayub Sofi and Erfaan Ashraf Kirmani, These petrol-heads gave right push.
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What do Mustang and Camaro have in common?

It's like the Hatfields swapping recipes with the McCoys. Or Michigan and Ohio State drawing up plays together.

Starting next year, the Chevrolet Camaro will share a transmission with the Ford Mustang.

Cross-town collaboration between General Motors and Ford Motor Co. was once unfathomable. But cost cutting, engineer shortages and increasing regulations made it inevitable.

"It is surprising," said Gale Halderman, the Ford designer responsible for the exterior of the first Mustang. "Back in my time, we couldn't even talk to anybody from GM."

Detroit's pony-car war has been raging for half a century now. In recent years, Ford and GM have worked together on a number of projects, including six-speed transmissions used in the Ford Fusion, Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Escape and Chevy Equinox. But none of those vehicles stirs up emotions like a Mustang's full-throated roar or a Camaro's smooth purr.

The 2017 Camaro ZL1 is the first of eight vehicles slated to get GM's 10-speed Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. Some versions of the Mustang are expected to get the same gearbox for 2018. A screenshot from Ford's dealership parts-lookup system, posted on the website Mustang6G.com last week, all but confirmed longstanding rumors that the Mustang was in line for a 10-speed automatic. (A Ford spokesman declined to discuss its future product plans.

That transmission and a nine-speed automatic for front-wheel-drive vehicles were jointly developed by Ford and GM under a partnership they started in 2013. Ford has said the 10-speed will be offered in the 2017 F-150 this fall, and GM is expected to put it on full-size pickups next year. 

But that's not to say customers would ever notice any similarities between the Camaro and Mustang or the F-150 and Chevy Silverado. Even though some internal components are identical, the two companies will build, integrate, program and tune their transmissions independently. 

"We will each use our own control software to ensure that each transmission is carefully matched to the individual, brand-specific vehicle DNA for each company," Craig Renneker, Ford's chief engineer of transmission and driveline components and pre-program engineering, said when the automakers announced their 2013 deal. 

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne, in a manifesto last year advocating for industry consolidation, complained that up to half of a vehicle's development cost is spent on proprietary components that are "not discernible to customers." 

Devin Lindsay, a powertrain engineer with IHS Automotive, said the huge capital costs of today's industry make working together a necessity. 

"You look at the overall cost, and why duplicate that?" he said. "Imagine the amount of time it frees up at the engineering level. That allows them to use resources in other areas. You may want to collaborate on some things, but there are others that are more of the secret sauce that differentiates you with the buyer." 

And expect the sales race between the Mustang and Camaro to be as intense as ever. The Camaro was the top seller between the two in the U.S. from 2010 through 2014, but five months into 2016, the Mustang was on track to pull out a win for the second year in a row.

VW's U.S. settlement to grow to $15 billion in emissions scandal

Volkswagen AG's settlement with nearly 500,000 U.S. diesel owners and government regulators over polluting vehicles is valued at more than $15 billion cash, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Monday.

The settlement, to be announced on Tuesday in Washington, includes $10.033 billion to offer buybacks to owners of about 475,000 polluting vehicles and nearly $5 billion in funds to offset excess diesel emissions and boost zero emission vehicles, the sources said.

A separate settlement with nearly all U.S. state attorneys general over excess diesel emissions will be announced on Tuesday and is expected to be more than $500 million and will push the total to over $15 billion, a separate source briefed on the matter said.

Spokeswomen for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Volkswagen declined to comment.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, due to court-imposed gag rules, the first sources said that owners of 2.0 liter diesel VW 2009-2015 cars will receive at least $5,100 compensation along with the estimated value of the vehicles as of September 2015, before the scandal erupted. Some owners will get as much as $10,000 in compensation, the first sources said, depending on the value of the car.

The $10.033 billion is the maximum VW could pay if it had to buyback all vehicles, but the actual amount VW will pay could be significantly less if a large number of owners take buybacks.

Prior owners will get half of current owners, while people who leased cars will also get compensation, said the first sources.

Owners would also receive the same compensation if they choose to have the vehicles repaired, assuming U.S. regulators approve a fix at a later date.

The settlement includes $2.7 billion in funds to offset excess diesel emissions and $2 billion in VW investments in green energy and zero emission vehicle efforts, the first sources said. The diesel offset fund could rise if VW has not fixed or bought back 85 percent of the vehicles by mid-2019, the first sources said.

The $2 billion in green energy and zero emission efforts will be spent over 10 years, the first sources said, and will include zero emission vehicle infrastructure.

The settlement, the largest ever automotive buyback offer in U.S. history and most expensive auto industry scandal, stems from the German automaker's admission in September 2015 that it intentionally misled regulators by installing secret software that allowed U.S. vehicles to emit up to 40 times legally allowable pollution.

The company's top U.S. executive, Michael Horn, was summoned to testify before Congress and in the days after the emissions scandal broke he said the company had been dishonest. "In my German words: We totally screwed up. We must fix those cars," said Horn, who left the company in March.

VW still must reach agreement with regulators on whether it will offer to buyback 85,000 larger 3.0 liter Porsche, Audi and VW cars and SUVs that emitted up to nine times legally allowable pollution and how much it may face in civil fines for admitting to violating the Clean Air Act.

Erik Gordon, a University of Michigan business professor, said "VW had little negotiating power, given the evidence. The costs of the remedies should make automakers cautious about misleading people in ways that give prosecutors the ability to bring criminal charges. Potential criminal charges mean you open your wallet in the civil actions, hoping to receive leniency instead of jail time."

3.0-liter issue pending

Reuters reported earlier the initial VW settlement would not include civil penalties under the U.S. Clean Air Act or address about 85,000 larger 3.0-liter Audi, Porsche and VW vehicles that emitted less pollution than 2.0-liter vehicles. A deal covering the 3.0-liter vehicles may still be months away.

The settlement does not address lawsuits from investors or a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.

Regulators will not immediately approve fixes for the 2.0-liter vehicles -- and may not approve fixes for all three generations of the polluting 2009-2015 vehicles, sources previously told Reuters.

Owners will have until December 2018 to decide whether to sell back vehicles and fixes may not eliminate all excess emissions.

VW cannot resell or export the vehicles bought back unless EPA approves a fix, Reuters reported last week.

VW, the world's second largest automaker, has seen U.S. VW brand sales suffer in the wake of the crisis. VW brand sales are down 13 percent in the United States in 2016, while sales of its luxury Audi and Porsche units have risen.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco will hold a hearing on July 26 to decide on whether to grant preliminary approval to the settlements. If granted he would hold a later hearing to give final approval. Buybacks are likely to start no earlier than October, the first sources said.

In April, VW set aside $18.2 billion to account for the emissions scandal.

VW had said the scandal impacted 11 million vehicles worldwide and led to the departure of CEO Martin Winterkorn.

More litigation

Last week, Germany's financial watchdog called on prosecutors to investigate VW's entire former management board over the time it took to disclose the carmaker's emissions test cheating, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

German prosecutors said this month they are investigating Winterkorn and a second unidentified executive over whether they effectively manipulated markets by delaying the release of information about the firm's emissions test cheating.