Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

Tata Motors is going to build a bigger, more expensive version of the Nano city-car within the next 18-24 months.  That’s according to recent reports coming from the Indian automotive press, who have also leaked the new version’s internal code name: Dolphin.

Right now, the Nano is a pint-sized four door with a starting price that begins at approximately $2,200. Upper trim levels, like the Nano LX, include features such as air-conditioning, front power windows, and power brakes.   The price for a even fully loaded Nano LX still comes in around $3,500.

At present, the Nano is about 2 feet shorter than a Mini Cooper – a perfect size for negotiating India’s crowded and narrow roadways.  No specifics have been mentioned about the size of the larger Nano, though a stretch of 6-12 inches could give a boost to both interior stretch-out space, as well as technical wiggle room when it comes to engineering the car to meet crash test standards in Europe and the U.S.   Tata Motors has promised to export the Nano to both markets within 2-3 years.

A bigger Nano would inevitably require a beefier engine.  The car’s current 624-cc engine provides 35-horsepower and a top speed of 65 miles per hour.  Expect something closer to 1.0-liter in capacity and a minimum of 70-90 hp for the larger model.  An opening rear hatch should also (finally) make it into production – at present, luggage has to be loaded into the Nano using the rear doors and fold-able backrest for the rear seats.

The cost for the XL-sized Nano is reported to be at least double the price of the current base model.  Tata Motors will be hoping that this is not a stretch too far for the Nano, which is billed as being the low-cost ‘people’s car of India.’

Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

Renault-Nissan and Daimler AG have announced a “wide ranging strategic cooperation,” specifically relating to the development of small cars and the sharing of gas and diesel powertrains, according to a company press release.  This marks the end of a multi-year search by Renault-Nissan, as the Franco-Japanese  company looked to form a partnership with another automaker to help bring down production costs and expand into new markets (such as India and China).  Rumors of an alliance with Chrysler or General Motors eventually led to nothing – other than splashy headlines and rampant speculation in the business section of every newspaper and automotive website.

The news comes as welcome relief to fans of the tiny Smart Fortwo, Daimler’s city-car brand which has recently struggled in the U.S.  Smart sales this year are roughly half that of 2009 – which were already half of 2008 levels, Smart’s first year in the U.S.   Renault-Nissan and Daimler will co-develop the next generation Renault Twingo and Smart Fortwo on the same platform.  This will include electric versions, along with a wider range of models for both the Smart and Twingo family of vehicles.   It’s likely Smart will revive its discontinued four-door model and, possibly, produce a new budget-priced small sports car.

The deal also includes Daimler’s agreement to provide a range of diesel and gasoline-powered engines to Infiniti, Nissan’s luxury brand which only recently entered the European market.  In return, Renault will share a diesel engine and transmission with the Mercedes-Benz Vito van.  Future collaboration in the field of light commercial vehicles is also part of the deal, as is a one-time cross-shareholding – amounting to 3.1 percent of each company’s equity capital – and long-term “synergies” in product development and parts purchasing.

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The low-cost Tata Nano is all about the bare essentials, but the first example to arrive in New York City looks to have developed a taste for the good life.  Rather than rubbing fenders with other cars at this year’s New York Auto Show, held April 2-11, a bright yellow Nano has taken up temporary residence in the ornate lobby of Andrew Carnegie’s former mansion, now the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.The Nano will be on display in its swanky Upper East Side setting until April 25.

Known as “the people’s car of India,” a base Nano costs approximately $2,200 and comes with no frills.  There are no airbags, no power steering, and not even a separate opening for the trunk – the luggage compartment is accessed via the rear doors and folding rear seat-back. Yet Tata Motors has grand plans for the Nano, including planned exports to Europe and the U.S. within several years.

As part of the Cooper-Hewitt museum’s rotating series of exhibitions, called “Quicktake,” the Nano is intended to promote discussion, according to Cara McCarty, the museum’s curatorial director.  The Quicktake series is about “responding to ‘of the moment’ innovations and design,” she said, adding that even in New York, where driving can be a nightmare, “people simply love cars.”

Comments from museum visitors hint that the Nano is building its own New York fan base.  “I think it’s great,” said Jean-Noël, who lives with his wife, Betsy, in Central Park West. “Instead of looking at it like a cheap car, you can see it as a better scooter,” he said, referring to a panel describing how the Nano was developed for families who could otherwise not afford an automobile.  An adjacent picture of an Indian family precariously perched on an overloaded scooter drives the point home.

A small car like the Nano “is absolutely all you need in most cases,” agreed Jorg and Antonella, who call the Upper East Side home.  Stepping back from the car, Jorg nodded his approval.  “I absolutely do like it…I love it.”  Their only major concern:  the Nano’s tiny 12-inch wheels might not be able to cope with New York City’s cavernous potholes.

Matthias, a security guard stationed in the front lobby, was more immediate in his approval of the Nano. “Personally, I would buy it,” he said, without hesitation.  “This would be a perfect car for college students and delivery companies.”  The Nano’s small size could be a time saver too, he added, since finding a parking spot would be easier.  The Nano is almost two feet shorter than a Mini Cooper.  As this video shows, the Nano’s small size also came in handy when positioning the car in the Cooper-Hewitt museum.

Of course, not everyone proved as convinced of the Nano’s design merits.  “I like that it doesn’t have any pretense of speed,” said Adam, a student who lives on the Upper West Side.  However, he found the museum setting made the Nano feel more like a “concept” than a real production car.  “I like that it’s cheap,” he said.  “But I’d still be terrified to get hit by a truck while driving one.”

Porsche has yet to decide whether it will build this 78 mpg sports car

Porsche owners have been called many things, but ecologically-minded is usually not near the top of the list.  That could change if the German sports car specialist decides to build the 918 Spyder, a hybrid supercar capable of delivering a whopping 78 miles per gallon.

The 918 Spyder was a surprise introduction at the recent Geneva Motor Show.  Lurking beneath the exotic body is a mid-engine 3.8-liter V-8 engine rated at 500 horsepower, and working in conjunction with two electric motors – because, let’s face it, 500 horsepower just won’t cut it.

The electric motors add an additional 218 hp, bumping output to 718 hp and, according to Porsche, providing the slinky tw0-seat coupe with a 198 mph top speed.  The sprint from o to 62 mph takes only 3.2 seconds.  Of course, when driven aggressively, owners wouldn’t see anything close to that much-hyped 78 m.p.g. average.

The 918 Spyder does a lot of things well, though not all at the same time. It has four drive modes. An all-electric “E-Power” mode has 15.5 miles of range from a lithium-ion battery pack. “Race-Hybrid” mode unleashes the 500-horsepower V-8 gas engine and 218-horsepower electric motor to help the car accelerate from zero-to-62 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds and give it a top speed of 198 miles an hour. An “E-Boost” button allows the driver to call on maximum electric power for “racing and when passing,” Porsche said.

(via The New York Times, Porsche’s Stealth Debut)

So when driven like a Porsche and not a Prius, the 918 Spyder returns a much more realistic (i.e. lower) economy average.  While the figures are a tad optimistic, at least there’s no doubt about how this Porsche hybrid stole the spotlight from another equally exotic debut in Geneva.

The Ferrari 599 Hybrid wowed the crowds with its jaw-dropping looks.  But the Italian sports car (painted green, of course) left many scratching their heads, wondering what the big deal was about a hybrid capable of averaging only 14 m.p.g.

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German automaker Daimler has sold its 5.34 percent stake in Tata Motors, India’s largest indigenous car manufacturer and best known for building the low cost Nano city-car.  With a starting price of approximately $2,500, the Nano is currently the world’s cheapest car, and has been on sale in India since mid-2009.

Daimler reportedly earned $410 million from the stock sale, causing Tata Motors’ shares to slip roughly 6 percent during that day’s trading.   The cooperation between Daimler and Tata Motors stretches back 50 years.  However, according to a report in The Financial Times, the sale of Tata Motors stock signals a desire for Daimler, based in Stuttgart, Germany, to streamline its worldwide automotive partnerships.

The move marks another step in the premium car and truckmaker’s move to disentangle itself from a web of partnerships built over the past decade with carmakers including Chrysler and Mitsubishi.

It will further boost Daimler’s net cash position, which had already jumped by several billion euros to €7.3bn in its industrial business by the end of 2009.

(via The Financial Times, Tata Motors hit by Daimler stake sale)

In separate news, Daimler used the recent Geneva Motor Show to announce a partnership with Chinese carmaker BYD (Build Your Dreams).  The two companies plan on jointly developing an electric car, tailored to meet the needs of the Chinese market.

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Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, certainly knows how to trim costs and pare wasteful spending to a bare minimum.  While normally an admirable corporate attribute, a recently revealed internal document proves the Japanese auto giant prided itself on being able to wiggle its way out of expensive safety-related recalls.  A report in The New York Times finds that Toyota boasted of saving upwards of $100 million by delaying or negotiating its way out of recalling large amounts of vehicles.

Toyota estimated that it saved $100 million by negotiating with regulators for a limited recall of 2007 Toyota Camry and Lexus ES models for sudden acceleration, the same problem that has since prompted it to recall millions of cars, documents turned over to a Congressional committee showed Sunday

The estimate was in a confidential presentation from July 2009 listing legislative and regulatory “wins” for the company. The presentation was among thousands of pages of documents provided as a result of subpoenas by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, one of three panels holding hearings in the next two weeks on Toyota’s safety problems.

(via Toyota Cited $100 Million Savings After Limiting Recall, The New York Times)

The document could not come at a worse time for Toyota executives, who later this week will have to answer to Congress as to why the company seemingly dragged its feet on a number of a complaints regarding vehicles suddenly accelerating or failing to slow down.

Toyota finally attributed the problem to poorly designed floor mats, and a faulty pedal mechanism.  Nearly 9 million vehicles are now part of two massive recalls.  However, questions remain as to whether the problem might be related to the company’s electronic throttle control system (rather than floor mats or pedal assemblies).

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The world’s most popular hybrid, the Toyota Prius, will soon be recalled to fix problems relating to its braking system.  The problem specifically affects the car on bumpy and slippery road surfaces, where there is a noticeable delay between pressing the brake pedal and brake actuation.   In other words: the brakes don’t brake for a split second. According to several reports, this has led to hundreds of consumer complaints and several accidents in the U.S. and Japan.

Unlike the car’s vaunted gasoline-electric drivetrain – which saves fuel by switching from a gas-powered engine to an electric motor – the Prius recall has been anything but seamless.  Millions of confused and concerned Toyota owners (upwards of 7 million) have already been subjected to two previous recalls, one for sticking gas pedals and another for faulty floor-mats.  The Prius recall will affect only the 2010 model year (built from last spring until late January, 2010, which is when Toyota says it fixed the Prius’ brake problem with a software change at the factory).

Toyota will likely announce this week that it plans to recall at least 311,000 of its 2010 Prius hybrids around the world to fix the brakes, reports Japanese media and the New York Times.

It will become Toyota’s third major recall at present, following two for unintended acceleration. But at least on this one, at least the numbers are fairly paltry compared to the eight million cars under recall around the world, more than five million of them in the U.S.

(via Toyota Prius recall could come this week, reports say – USA Today)

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Reeling from a  series of recalls which affect approximately 9 million vehicles, Toyota is now set to be hammered by a growing list of class action lawsuits being filed by current owners.

As Toyota’s president apologizes for the global recalls of his vehicles and promises to improve quality, Toyota owners in New York and New Jersey are filing a class action suit against the car manufacturer, citing gross negligence.

The law firm is representing several Toyota owners who claim they were in an accident as a result of a faulty accelerator.

(via Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Toyota , NY1 News)

The growing list of lawsuits will not be confined to disgruntled Toyota owners in the U.S.   The CBC news reports that hundreds of Canadian Toyota owners are in the process of filing a class action against the Japanese automaker.  With the recall also involving cars sold in China and Europe, Toyota’s legal woes could soon be global in scale.

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This about as good as good news can get at Toyota – and, trust me, the news really isn’t all that good.

Despite media reports that the 2010 Toyota Prius would be recalled due to problems with its ABS brakes, the Japanese auto giant has confirmed the matter is presently under investigation by the NHTSA and not subject to a formal recall.  Well, at least not yet.

The government is opening a formal investigation into the brakes of the 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid sedan. It comes only hours after the automaker in Japan acknowledged problems, but is yet to commit to another recall there.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said today it will look specifically at whether the Prius’ brakes stop working momentarily after the car hits a bump:

It says its Office of Defects Investigation has received 124 complaints about Prius brakes from consumers, including four reports in which crashes are alleged to have occurred. Investigators have spoken with consumers and conducted pre-investigatory field work, the agency said.

(via U.S. safety official open investigation into Toyota Prius brakes, USA Today)

Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota, said during a press conference this morning that the company deeply regrets the ongoing recalls and will do everything it can to correct the situation.  Questions about the safety of the 2010 Prius come after Toyota’s announcement of two other recalls, one for floor mats which can jam the accelerator and another for sticking gas pedals.  Those recalls affect approximately 9 million Toyota vehicles worldwide.

As for the current situation, Mr. Toyoda appeared to be under no illusions as to how serious this crisis has become.  In a report published by The New York Times, he offered apologies to Toyota owners and shareholders.

“I deeply regret that I caused concern among so many people,” Mr. Toyoda said. “We will do our utmost to regain the trust of our customers.”

Asked whether Toyota had underestimated the situation, Mr. Toyoda said, “I believe what is happening now is a very big problem. We are in a crisis.”

Mr. Toyoda also apologized to shareholders for the fall in the company’s share price. The company’s stock has dropped about 20 percent in the last two weeks.

(via Toyota’s Chief Steps Forward to Apologize for Problems, The New York Times)

That is a dramatic turnaround for a company which, only earlier this week, was termed “safety deaf” by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood when discussing the automakers slow response to recall its vehicles.

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The Toyota Prius, the hybrid-powered eco-darling of the Japanese company’s vehicle lineup, is set to be recalled over braking problems.

Toyota Motor Corp will recall around 270,000 Prius in the United States and Japan to correct a brake problem, the Nikkei reported on its Web site on Thursday. The Japanese automaker is expected to file with the the U.S. Department of Transportation for a recall to change the control program for the hybrid’s anti-lock brake system, the Japanese news agency said. The recall will affect the third-generation Prius, which was introduced in May, according to the Nikkei. The recall will reportedly target only about 100,000 vehicles in the United States.

(via Toyota to recall Prius in U.S. over brakes at www.marketwatch.com)

This comes on top of two previously announced recalls, which affect up to 9 million Toyota vehicles worldwide.  The first, announced November 25, 2009, was in response to floor mats becoming jammed in the gas pedal.  Toyota promised owners it would redesign the mats, and replace them in more than 4 million vehicles already sold.

On January 21 of this year, Toyota announced a recall to fix a mechanical part in the gas pedal mechanism.  Toyota stated that, over time, the pedal could become slow to return to an idle position or get stuck under acceleration.

Toyota officials have confirmed the price of the recalls (in parts and lost sales) would total approximately $2 billion.  The company has stopped selling eight of its best-selling models due to concerns over the pedal assembly.

Initially, Toyota said the problems were limited to vehicles built and sold only in the U.S.  However,  with the Japanese-built Prius now included in this worsening situation, the cost in terms of tarnishing Toyota’s reputation for quality and dependability could prove incalculable.