Spied: Citroen DS9 Concept

These are the first pictures of the new Citroen DS9 – a flagship luxury car concept that has been spotted completely undisguised ahead of its debut at the Beijing Motor Show next month.

Spied on a photoshoot at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, the DS9 is charged with spearheading a new DS range specifically for China.

It follows on from the DS3 supermini and DS4 and DS5 crossovers, which have been designed for Europe. The DS9 is a large, luxurious Mercedes S-Class-sized four-door coupe.

It’s inspired by the C6-based Metropolis concept car, which was unveiled at the Shanghai Motor Show in 2010.

Inside, expect a spacious seating arrangement – wealthy Chinese often have chauffeurs and place great importance on the amount of rear legroom.

There is no word on how the DS9 will be powered, but the Metropolis concept used a 2.0-litre petrol V6 mated to an electric motor, delivering 460bhp and CO2 emissions of 70g/km.

We can expect the DS9 to offer a similar low-emission, four-wheel-drive hybrid powertrain.

The car will be built as part of Citroen’s joint venture with the Changan Automotive Group in Guangdong Province, and sold exclusively in China. There are no plans to bring it to the UK.

The DS9 will be joined by two other DS-badged Chinese cars: a C4-sized saloon and an SUV. For more details click here.
Thanks to: Auto Express

First Sketch: 2013 Fisker Nina

Fisker gives us a chance to peek into the future with a sketch of the first vehicle to be spawned from its Project Nina vehicle platform.

Fisker’s Project Nina, announced at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, will introduce three new vehicles by 2014, and the drawing above is a good indication of what we can expect to see from the second model line after the Karma. The first Nina vehicle is reported to be a midsize luxury sedan with some sort of extended-range electric drivetrain, and price is expected to start in the $50,000 range. Considering the new Nina vehicle is expected to be more affordable than the Fisker Karma, it should be smaller as well.

The sketch shows a car with a rear end that’s a bit more truncated than the Karma’s, but the new car should stick with a four-door layout. Given the new purchasing agreement between BMW and Fisker, we also wouldn’t be surprised if this car comes with a BMW-sourced four-cylinder under the hood as part of a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but we’ll find out more details at the New York auto show.

A production version of the first Fisker Nina is scheduled to roll off the line at Fisker’s Wilmington, Delaware plant at the end of 2012.

Thanks to: Motor Trend

New Car: 2012 Ram 1500 Lone Star 10th Anniversary

When its pickup truck garnered a lot of love in Texas, Ram decided to make a special edition celebrating the partnership. That special edition turned 10 years old this year, so Ram is celebrating with another special edition. It’s called the Ram 1500 Lone Star 10^th Anniversary.

The truck is called the Ram 1500 Lone Star, a version of the famous Ram 1500 Crew Cab pickup that is sold only in Texas. According to Ram, some 30 to 40 percent of all Ram 1500s sold in Texas are Lone Star editions, and Ram says it has sold more than 80,000 of them over the last 10 years.

The new Lone Star 10^th Anniversary Edition Ram 1500 deletes the stock truck’s Ram 1500 badges on the doors and tailgate and replaces them with even larger Lone Star 10^th Anniversary badges. That same logo (albeit smaller) goes on the glovebox lid, embossed into the seats, and embroidered into the floor mats. Those seats are also upholstered in perforated Katzkin leather.

Other than that, the Lone Star 10^th Anniversary is much like any other Lone Star edition Ram 1500: it’s powered by a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine that makes 390 horsepower and 407 pound-feet of torque, sent through a six-speed automatic transmission. The truck sits on 20-inch aluminum wheels. On the inside, the Lone Star Ram gets a power adjustable seat and leather-wrapped steering wheel, as well as 60/40 split rear seats.

The Lone Star 10^th Anniversary will start at $36,440 for a Ram 1500 Crew Cab with two-wheel drive, and will go on sale this summer only in Texas.

Thanks to: Motor Trend