2012 Nissan Maxima on 2040-cars

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Nissan, Mahindra may bond over EVs

Like Lloyd in Dumb & Dumber rejoicing that he's got a "one out of a million" chance with Mary Swanson, electric-vehicle advocates in India can do the same. That's because both local automaker Mahindra and Japan-based Nissan say they would consider working together to promote EVs in that country. Executives with Nissan and Mahindra, which makes the Reva e2o EV, independently told Autocar Professional that they would consider collaborating with the other company in order to speed up plug-in vehicle adoption in India. Nissan, which already works with companies such as Honda, Mitsubishi and Toyota to various degrees, said this collaboration would most likely revolve around electric-vehicle charging infrastructure advancements, a move that obviously helps all plug-in vehicles. Of course, nothing official has been announced. Last March, the Mahindra Reva e2o, which costs the equivalent of about $11,000, went on sale in India, with the company estimating at the time that it could manufacture 30,000 of the electric vehicles each year. In February, Mahindra debuted two electric cars at the New Delhi Auto Show, including the Mahindra Reva Halo EV concept sports car and the Mahindra Racing Formula E electric race car. The following month, India's Financial Express reported that Mahindra was targeting Sri Lanka and Norway for e2o sales. That car has a 62-mile single-charge range and a top speed of about 60 miles per hour. Featured Gallery Mahindra Reva E2O News Source: Autocar Professional via Cartrade.comImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Gisli Gislason Green Nissan Electric mahindra collaboration

'Car Wars' says Ford, Honda to pick up share, Fiat-Chrysler ambitions downplayed

Don't look for a tremendous shifts in automotive market share over the next three years because it might not be coming. That's at least according to the annual Car Wars report by John Murphy, from Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research.
In the report's analysis of automakers' market share from 2013 to 2017, it predicts only small changes among the major companies. Ford and Honda see the biggest positive effect with an estimated 0.5 percent increase in their shares over the next three years; to 16.2 percent and 10.3 percent respectively. On the flip side, European automakers and Nissan are expected to lose 0.2 percent each to fall to 8.3 percent and 7.8 percent each respectively. The rest of the industry is predicted to hold steady as it is now.
The biggest loser in that prediction might be Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles. The report certainly throws a wet blanket on its plan for significant gains in market share. Murphy told The Detroit News that the company's goal was "almost unattainable."

2013 Nissan GT-R and 2013 Alpina B6 mix it up on track and street

Here we have Autocar making an unforeseen comparison: the Nissan GT-R against the Alpina B6 at Brands Hatch and on public roads. Steve Sutcliffe clobbers the circuit in the 3,828-pound, all-wheel-drive sports car, then sees how well the 4,114-pound, rear-wheel drive grand tourer does against it.
Sutcliffe says there are quite a few similarities between the two cars, but that's really only on the spec sheet. The Nissan's got two turbos attached to its 3.8-liter V6, 542 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque. The Alpina's got two turbos attached to its 4.4-liter V8, 532 hp and 528 lb-ft. But one's brief is to be a monster on the track, the other on the boulevard, and if there's anything the video demonstrates, it's each car's focus.