Auto car sports

In what could be seen as a rather desperate move to keep the troubled Smart brand alive and kicking in the United States, parent company Mercedes-Benz has announced that it has teamed up with Nissan to launch a Toyota Yaris-sized five-door hatchback on the market in the fourth quarter of 2011. "The new vehicle will expand smart USA's product lineup, offering five-seat capacity while maintaining the core principles of efficiency and conservation," said Smart USA President Jill Lajdziak. The company said the B-segment car is to be sold solely in the United States and will be based on vehicle architecture from Nissan, without getting into any more details. However, the maker of the tiny Fortwo released two teaser sketches of the car, clearly depicting Nissan's latest Micra supermini with a Smart-like fascia, headlights, tail lamps and detailing. The sketches are rather crudely done (for official material), and not to mention a tad deceiving as the Micra has been squashe...

Daimler subsidiary MBTech has presented a 1:1 scale model of its Reporter concept study at the 63rd IAA Commercial Vehicles Show in Hannover. The four-seater plug in hybrid pickup truck with the Smart Fortwo-esque fascia was designed in just six months using CAD and digital prototyping. At a press conference at the show, MBTech President and Spokesperson Werner Kropsbauer explained the rationale behind the Reporter: "We wanted to create a low-emission vehicle drive for urban and regional transport which is realistically feasible today and not in 2025." Though the example shown at the IAA Show was merely a mock up, MBTech has been thinking about the drive system for a working prototype. The Reporter would use a plug-in hybrid system MBTech calls DualX E-Drive, which couples a 70 kw (94 hp) electric motor with a 75 kw (101 hp) 1.2-liter internal combustion engine that can run on either gasoline or compressed natural gas. In the DualX E-Drive system, the electric motor turns th...

Previewing a possible expansion to the world of two wheels in the very near future, Daimler's Smart division will showcase a scooter concept at next week's Paris motor show . Seen here for the first time in the flesh, the purely electrically driven ' escooter ' uses a 48-volt lithium-ion battery pack placed behind the paneling in the foot area and is capable of traveling up to 100 kilometers (over 60 miles) on a single charge. The company says the batteries can be fully recharged through any standard household power socket, within three to five hours. The charging socket is located at the front of the scooter underneath a hinged smart emblem. Smart's two-wheel study is driven by a disc-shaped wheel hub motor in the rear wheel, which offers an output of 4 kW (equal to 5.3-horsepower) allowing the scooter to reach a top speed of 45 km/h or 28mph. The connection to Smart's four-wheel products is made through the electric scooter's supporting chassis structure w...