Happy New Year from all of us here at eGMCarTech. As mentioned before we’ll be making a couple of changes during the first week of 2009 and that’s why we’ve been kind of slow on the number of posts we made in the past couple of days. All we have to say is we don’t think you’ll be disappointed once we get things rolling (at least we hope not). We’re excited for 2009 and we hope you are too.

Oh we almost forgot, we have a surprise for you. So without further delay here it is - 3…2…1 and now we bring you the brand new… come back at midnight to find out what it is. Sorry for the teasing!

For 2009, eGMCarTech will be making a lot of changes. We thought we’d introduce one to you before the clock hits midnight tonight.

In an effort to increase commenting in our car obsessed world and create discussions between visitors of eGMCarTech, we’re now making things easier for you by allowing you to use your Facebook account to comment on the site.

Already logged into Facebook? eGMCarTech will automatically recognize it and let you comment without going through the hassle of entering your name, e-mail address or blood type (we really don’t ask for your blood type - that’s a joke for those of you think we’re serious all the time). You don’t even have to create an avatar image - the comments section will automatically use your Facebook default picture. Give it a shot after the jump. And hang on - we have many more changes coming during the first week of 2009.

All of you Volkswagen Golf GTI fans are going to love this - well at least if you’re a Golf GTI fan that lives in the UK. According to AutoExpress, Volkswagen is planning the wildest, fastest and sportiest version of the Volkswagen Polo when it makes it debut in 2009.

The Volkswagen Polo GTI will make its debut shortly after the next-generation Polo makes its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2009. It will get all the visual aggressiveness of the Golf GTI with a black grille highlighted in red and GTI badging and big air intakes.

Power is expected to come from a 1.4L supercharged and turbocharged 4-cylinder TSI. That will be good for 178-hp with maximum torque of 184 lb-ft allowing for a 0 to 60 mph time of 7 seconds with a top speed of 140 mph.

Continue reading…

After being approved for a financial rescue that saved it from the equivalent of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Italian firm Pininfarina has announced that it will cease contract manufacturing when current production ends. Pininfarina said that it will concentrate exclusively on building electric-cars.

In a press release, Pininfarina said that it will not look to get new contract manufacturing orders after its current contracts expire at the end of 2011. The Italian company is currently working on the Alfa Romeo Brera coupe and Spider and the Ford Focus coupe-convertible.

The company said that it will launch production of the B0, an electric-car that it is building in a joint venture with French company Bollore, in 2010 with volume production to begin in 2011.

Continue reading…

As Chrysler faces financial challengers, the company has canceled its annual getaway that rewards top-performing dealers. Chrysler told dealers this week that it would not send representatives from 300 dealerships to the Mexico for five days to stay in the Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort in San Jose del Cabo.

While many taxpayers probably think that’s the right thing to do - others are angry at Chrysler for thanking them for investing in Chrysler. That’s right - Chrysler is facing major backlash from taxpayers after running a series of full-page news paper ads last week thanking Americans for investing in the company via the $17.4 billion federal loan. 

Continue reading…

If you thought the BMW X6 was a huge risk by the popular luxury German automaker, wait until you see what else they have in the works. According to AutoCar, BMW is moving ahead with plans to produce what is known as the Progressive Activity Sedan (PAS) or a “5-Series GT.”

The BMW PAS, which insiders say is “modern grand tourer with a luxury cabin and interior flexibility,” will be priced somewhere between the BMW 5-Series sedan and wagon and the 7-Series. It will be pitched at drivers who want an SUV but are not looking for a full-scale sports-utility.

Continue reading…

Everyone’s soul has a price and now, so does Kia’s Soul. Kia has dropped the pricing details on the new 2010 Kia Soul which will start at $13,995. That number is for the base model that will come with a 122-hp 1.6L 4-cylinder engine, AC, AM/FM/CD/MP3, USB and AUX jacks, power windows and locks, ABS and ESC and 6 airbags.

Moving up a notch will be the Kia Soul + (plus) which starts at $14,950 with manual transmission and $15,900 with an automatic. Power comes from a 2.0L 4-cylinder making a total of 142-hp. The Kia Soul + will come with everything that base Kia Soul does plus 16-inch alloy wheels, rear disc brakes, cruise control, keyless entry, power outside mirrors and Bluetooth.

There will be two range-topper models including the Soul ! (exclaim) and Soul Sport. Both models come standard with 18-inch alloy wheels, an upgraded audio package, fog lamps, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob and a metal finish interior trim. The Soul ! also offers a sunroof, read/black interior trim, sport cloth seats and a metal pedals. The Soul Sport a new front and rear fascia, side skirts, a rear spoiler and a sport tuned suspension. Pricing for both models starts at $16,950 and $17,900 respectively.

Follow the jump for the high-res image gallery.

2010 Kia Soul:

Continue reading…

As reported yesterday, two new Lincoln’s in mid-2009 will get a new feature called Active Park Assist. The new feature will allow the 2010 Lincoln MKS sedan and the new 7-seater Lincoln MKT Crossover to parallel park themselves with a simple push of a button.

Ford has just released a video of the new feature in action. So for those of you that didn’t want to read how the technology works in yesterday’s post, Ali Jammoul, Chief Engineer at FoMoCo, will describe the Active Park Assist to you in this 2 minute video.

Click through for the video.

Continue reading…

Just a couple hours after the U.S. Treasury department announced that it will purchase a $5 billion stake in GMAC LLC, General Motors has announced new incentives. GM announced today that it is offering 0 percent financing on the discontinued Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Saab 9-7X, Saab 9-3 and the Saab 9-5.

GM said that it is also offering new cash incentives on other vehicles including both 2008 and 2009 models. The incentives will run through Jan. 5th.

According to Automotive News, Mark LaNeve, GM’s North American vice president of sales and marketing said that GM may expand the incentives starting Jan. 6. He said that dealers are happy to have GMAC writing more car loans.

Continue reading…

Our friend JF from Fast Lane Daily tipped us on a new Fisker concept that will debut at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Known as the Fisker Sunset, the concept will be revealed alongside the production version of the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid sedan. 

Little detail is known about the Fisker Sunset, but from what we gather we’re going to say that it’s a convertible version of the Fisker Karma (hence the Sunset badge). Earlier this year, Fisker showed a teaser of a convertible version of the Karma hybrid sedan that it said will also the basis for a Fisker Karma coupe. 

Fisker is expected to use the same architecture and drivetrain from the Karma hybrid sedan. We’ll bring you more details from the 2009 Detroit Auto Show next month.

Fisker Sunset Concept:

Audi has launched a new quirky yet impressive commercial in Europe for the new Audi Q5. “Unbox the Box” features an animated carton character building an Audi Q5 out of a cardboard box  and features the famous American folk singer Woody Guthrie’s “Car Song”.

The ad was created and directed by Aaron Duffy and Russell Brooke. It was developed by Bartle Bogle Hegarty London, a British ad agency. Executive creative director on the project was Nick Gill.

Of course we have no idea who those people are and you probably don’t care. So head over after the jump to see the commercial.

Click through for the video.

Continue reading…

It was recently reported by AutoExpress that Honda has shelved plans to build the Acura/Honda NSX supercar. Honda made no comment on the report that said Honda pulled the plug on the 600-hp supercar due to the economic slowdown.

Well, Autotelegraaf is now saying that Honda will bring the final NSX concept to the 2009 Detroit Auto Show next month. The report says that the concept will be very close to the final production version which will make its debut at the end of 2009 in Tokyo and 2010 in Europe.

The news comes a couple days after Toyota announced that it will still bring the Lexus LF-A to the market by 2011 despite the current economic situation.

2010 Acura NSX Prototype at Nurburgring :

Continue reading…

Lotec is well known for its 854-hp V8 C1000 that made its debut in 2003. Only one unit was produced and was bought by an Arab sheikh (no big surprise there) that felt that the top speed of 235 mph gave him enough bragging rights.

Well Lotec is back now and has released some computer images of its 2009 Sirius model that it is targeting at the Bugatti Veyron and the Koenigsegg CCX-R. No technical specs are available as of yet but the previous Sirius, which faced major production obstacles, came with output ranging from 850-hp to 1,200-hp with a twin-turbocharged Mercedes-Benz 6.0 V12 under the hood.

Lotec at the time claimed that its Sirius was capable of going from 0 to 62 mph in 3.8 seconds with a top speed of 242 mph.

Follow the jump for more high-res images.

2009 Lotec Sirius:

Continue reading…