Only six months into its pilot stage, the car2go mobility program began serving Austin last May 21. Car2go North America President and CEO Nicholas Cole says Austin is the perfect place to continue the program, especially locals cooperated positively during the program’s early days. Cole adds that working with the city of Austin and the rest of the pilot groups helped inch their progressive transportation solution towards its goals, which is to allow people to travel around with less environmental side effects.

The program started late last year in the month of November with over 1,200 city workers participating. More than 3,000 pilot members signed up during the program’s first six months, amounting to 20,500 car2go rentals averaging around 2,000 fully automated rental transaction for every seven days. The pilot duration also helped management discover loopholes and weaknesses in the program, thus allowing them to mould it according to the needs of the people in Austin.

The program is now famous all around the world for offering a one-of-a-kind car rental service that successfully reduces traffic and pollution that both public and private vehicles are guilty of contributing. The team is now making plans to expand the program to reach more of North America and Europe in the near future.

Skoda Auto Russia has started a full production of the new Fabia in Kaluga factory. This is the second model, which has begun its full-cycle production in the factory. The first one was the Skoda Octavia.

Fabia is a best-selling model of Skoda in Russia. Last year, 264 173 cars were sold, which is an increase of 7.1 per cent on the previous year. Fabia is also the best selling car in Russia in 2009.

Reinhard Jung, head of Skoda Auto board of directors said : “Over the past few years, Skoda has been very successful and record sales were once again achieved in 2009. A main contributing factor for this market growth is the continued development in areas such as Russia, India and China. With our investments in Kaluga production, dealer network and products we will continue to strengthen our position in the Russian market,”.

Petr Janeba, Head of Skoda Russia added: “Russia is one of the key markets for Skoda and we expect to see sustained future growth. One of our primary objectives is to increase our production capacities and we are already achieving success in this as all Skoda models are produced at the Russian factory in Kaluga; providing attractive price-quality ratio to our clients, faster reaction to the local market changes and to our Russian customers’ requirements. In October 2009, we started full-cycle production of the Skoda Octavia and today we are ready to announce the start of the second
model production by CKD.

“The Skoda Fabia is such a popular vehicle in the Russian market and we happy to say that it is now the second all-Russian car of our brand. We are pleased to showcase it for the first time at our factory!”

“Skoda Fabia is the third model in the Group to be produced in full-cycle including welding, painting and assembly. Our Kaluga factory with its wide model line-up is unique for Volkswagen Group and we intend to increase the number of models in the future. Most importantly, we produce all vehicles in accordance with the highest quality standards,” concluded Dietmar Korzekwa, General Director of Volkswagen Group Rus.

The new Fabia will be available at all official Russian dealerships from the beginning of May 2010. Because of the good price of Fabia, Skoda gained a leading position in Russia’s compact car segment.

Last decade, Skoda has proven themselves in the Europe as a reliable and high quality make. Now they are expanding the production and dealerships in Asia. Definitely a smart move, because of the huge market and good opportunities.

At the upcoming German motor exhibition Tuning World Bodensee, Arden, the English rides aftermarket expert will unveil officially its all-new, retrofitted exclusively for model year 2010 Arden Range Rover Sport AR5. Fitted with an astonishing styling kit, the enhanced luxury sport utility vehicle will also showcase the brand’s new 22-inch multi-spoke design alloys Dakar II.

Another unmistakable highlight on the Arden’s booth at the show will be the fresh Jaguar AJ 20 XKR 5.0-litres Cabriolet, which already received enormous amount of successful responses.

Tuning World Bodensee 2010 will open its doors from May 13th till 16th and will display some of the most thrilling and tempting enhanced rides ever created.

Do you own a business in Europe? Are you looking for reliable, versatile commercial vehicles to mobilize your products and services? Then you’ve got to be present in next year’s Commercial Vehicle Show, to be held from April 12 to 14.

Launching exhibits will be no less than Mercedes-Benz Vans, Trucks and Approved Used Commercials divisions, plus other CV companies such as Econic, Unimog and Mitsubishi Fuso Canter. This is in redemption of last year’s show that was cancelled due to the global recession, and this year’s CV Operators Show which did not include any truck company on the showfloor.

Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles Managing Director Ian Jones however says that if the economy plays against the industry again, and if other companies decide to bail out, then they may have to change their plans on joining the show despite their decision.

Jones also adds that MB’s Truck Division will also be setting up in Trucksfest Peterborough on May 2 and 3. They’ll eveb be bringing in a Mercedes-Benz Petronas Formula 1 simulator to really engage the crowd.

There’s also Van Experience in Kenilworth, Warwickshire on June 14 to 25 where Mercedes-Benz vans will be up for test drives.

Other shows lined up for Mercedes-Benz are FutureSource (formerly ‘IWM Show’), in London’s ExCeL, Green FleetArrive, Drive at Rockingham Raceway, and RWM at the NEC.

Living down under and craving for a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG? Well, guess what? Mercedes-Benz recently revealed how much it would take for an Aussie to own an SLS. Starting at around $464,000, more than 40 SLS vehicles have been paid for, in Australia, and are set to be delivered this August.

Mercedes-Benz Australia Managing Director Horst von Sanden gave out the scoop on the current demand for the SLS in the country, which was far greater than expected. Even while they’re still waiting for the units to arrive and with months to go before deliveries go underway, orders are already piling up fast.

With reservations and payouts flooding in, Sanden fears they may run out of SLS units and not be able to keep up with the year’s demand.

It’s no wonder why the Aussies are so into the SLS. It’s one of the lightest supercars ever to grace the market, and with a racing heritage that it earned from its ancestor, the 300SL Gullwing, it’s a must-have for Mercedes-Benz collectors everywhere.

The 6.2-liter V8 engine delivers an astonishing 420kW power and 650Nm torque. Coupled with a curb weight of 1,620kg and a 47-53 weight distribution, it’s Hermes on wheels.

Partnerships are made to be broken. Or are they? Hopefully not for Daimler AG and Renault-Nissan, because there are rumors circulating that Infiniti is planning to cash in on a new DX CUV model that will take cues from the Mercedes-Benz A and B Classes.

These rumors were originally in French from the L’Automobile Magazine and should prove to be quite substantial since Renault is based in France.

Still, it’s a long shot for Nissan which is planning to bout with key players BMW X1 and Audi Q3, as well as Mercedes-Benz’s own C-Class Estate. These are still rumors, anyway, so there’s yet no reason to believe that Infiniti’s EX will be welcoming a new partner in its bid to save the brand in the crossover segment.

So if you happen to dissatisfied with the Infiniti EX, and wish the company would come up with an even smaller crossover that has Daimler’s engine under the hood, you’ll have to pray very hard for the rumors to hold true. Otherwise, you’ll be better off sticking to Mercedes-Benz, BMW or Audi. No benefit in losing your sleep over some hearsay information, no offense meant to L’Automobile Magazine. Just stay tuned for updates.

Think you’ve seen everything? Well, not yet. You haven’t seen what Binz has been up to. The company got the green light from Mercedes-Benz to build a limo version of the ever-reliable E-Class, and they wasted no time in doing just that.

The outstretched E-Class gains 1.11 meters from its standard length. It gets two additional doors plus an additional row of seats, pegging its loading capacity at seven passengers, excluding the driver. Customers are given the option to turn the 2nd row aft, facing the 3rd row in traditional limo style, or simply get rid of it for a really individualized setup and lots of space. A leather-clad wall is available at the touch of a button to separate the driver from the passenger cabin portions.

Of course, with the longer wheelbase comes a strengthened chassis to increase torsional rigidity. You’ll also have the option to add armoring hardware in case you lead a very dangerous, high-profile life.

Powering the E-Class limo is a choice between the 350 CGI BlueEfficiency, the E500 and the E250 BlueEfficiency. The engine will be electronically limited, meaning the driver won’t be hooning around town while you’re in the office. Available now in Germany.

LastWe already have reported on 2011 facelift MondeoWill only appearance for the front and rear bumper, grille fences, car taillights, and two side mirrors and other detail changes in place, while the built-in part because there are no spy photos now exposed, so we can not determine whether there is Ford changes, but we should also be small changes to speculate. As for the power, the 2011 Mondeo is expected to be equipped with a new Ford Galaxy models with 2.0-liter Ecoboos of that engine, which with the engine maximum output horsepower of 200hp, will be paired with a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox. In addition, there will be a 1.6-liter Ecoboost petrol engine models, this engine’s maximum output horsepower of 180hp. AtDieselDynamic, will include a 2.0-liter Duratorq TDCi diesel engine. It was also stated, 2011 Mondeo will be in March of this year’sGeneva Motor ShowPublished on first, let’s wait and see.

[Source:Worldcarfans]