Kia Motors dealers in the UAE still haven’t gotten around to selling the 2010 Cerato compact sedan yet, but in its Korean home market where it is known as the Forte, Kia is already offering their first commercial hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), the Forte Liquid Petroleum Injection (LPI) Hybrid.
Three newly-developed direct-injection engines are now available for the European-spec BlueEfficiency version of the 2009 Mercedes-Benz C-Class. They are the most fuel-efficient engines ever for the C-Class, and developed using traditional technology rather than a hybrid system.
The hybrid version of the Toyota Camry was only on sale in a couple of developed countries earlier, but the Japanese firm has now started building the petrol-electric car at its plant in Thailand, to supply the Far-East Asian market.
While Ford Middle East still peddles leftover four-banger versions of the 2009 Ford Fusion in the GCC, the redesigned 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid is making waves in the United States. Drivers trained in mileage-maximizing techniques were able to get an extraordinary 2313 km out of a single tank of petrol during a fund-raising road-trip and publicity stunt. They did it by averaging 2.88 litres per 100 km, using a non-modified Fusion Hybrid straight off the showroom floor. The Fusion Hybrid already calls itself the most fuel-efficient midsize sedan in North America.
The Mercedes Benz S-Class has recently launched a new minutely-changed version for 2010. It has also launched two new models, namely the S600 and the S400 Hybrid. It is said to have improved technology for better safety, comfort and drive.
Tesla broke into the scene with the promise of an all-electric sports car that was extremely quick and required no petrol whatsoever. They recently fulfilled that promise with the showroom-ready Tesla Roadster, which are already on their way to early buyers. Their latest plan is to offer a more practical car, but with the same ideas of sportiness and efficiency as the Roadster. That new car is the Tesla Model S, and its first prototype was publicly shown in the United States.
The American Chevrolet Volt has already been revealed, not quite ready, but confirming its final form when it does hit production in 2010. Now Opel, GM’s European arm, has revealed its own version of the Volt, calling it the Opel Ampera. While the play on the name is amusing, what is more interesting is the Ampera, just like the Volt, claims an electric-only range of 60 km, with a total range of 500 km aided by a small petrol engine.
The 2010 Toyota Camry will be out in the GCC by summer. The Camry models that come here are built in Australia, and now, that factory will add a hybrid model to their line-up. To celebrate the hybrid version of the Camry, Toyota Australia created this one-off concept for the 2009 Melbourne Auto Show, called the HC-CV.
While the appetite for petrol-hogs drive economies here, hybrid-electric cars continue to evolve in Western markets, with the introduction of the 2010 Toyota Prius and the 2010 Honda Insight at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Both are very similar cars, and both come with a petrol engine that supplements itself with self-generated electrical power. Both also offer increasingly impressive fuel consumption figures, compared to any other hybrids before them.
Lexus unveiled the all-new 2010 RX 350 and RX 450h hybrid at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show. The RX supposedly pioneered the car-based luxury SUV segment when it launched in 1998 for he American market. The new model continues that old formula almost exactly.