De Tomaso Mangusta Legacy Design Study Inspired by the 1965 Original

The revival of the De Tomaso brand at this year's Geneva Salon with the Deauville showcar inspired design graduate and digital artist Maxime de Keiser to craft a modern interpretation of the original Mangusta from the late 1960s (De Tomaso had revived the name with the production version of the Bigua concept in the early 2000s). Introduced in 1967, the first Mangusta was designed by the famed Giorgetto Giugiaro, who at the time worked for Turin-based coachbuilder Ghia, and was offered with a choice of Ford-sourced V8 engines. It was replaced by the cheaper to produce Pantera in 1971.
Keiser's design proposal blends several characteristic styling cues of the original Mangusta such as the low-placed headlamps with a more angular shaped body that features a pair of scissor doors.
“Like the original, it had to be spectacular and communicate an impression of wild ferocity and power while recalling the serenity of a feline at rest, and the elegance of the animal that doesn’t need to fear anything," says Keiser.
Story References: CarBodyDesign

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India's Mahindra & Mahindra Interested in Saa

The sad story of Saab is far from over as the court-appointed administrators who are overseeing the Swedish automaker's bankruptcy are now on the lookout for possible investors to either sell parts of the brand or the company as a whole. In today's news, Bloomberg reports that Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, a maker of SUVs and a flagship company of the Mahindra Group, which is a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India, is in private talks with Saab's administrators.
The report says that according to two unnamed people who are familiar with the situation, Mahindra & Mahindra is interested in "buying at least parts" of the bankrupt Swedish automaker. The Indian automaker's spokesperson, Roma Balwani, declined to comment on the matter.
Aside from the Indian company, the same insiders said that there's also "at least one Turkish company" interested in investing in Saab. The move is believed to be part of the Turkish government's initiative to create a car brand of its own, and for that reason it is helping a local manufacturer to obtain at least some parts of Saab.

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Toyota Plans to Sell a €100,000 Fuel Cell Car in Europe by 2015

[2007 Toyota Hybrid X Concept pictured above]

There’s no doubt that Toyota, with its Prius, is the carmaker that made hybrid cars an everyday word in our vocabulary. Granted, other companies like Honda with its first, odd-looking Insight, offered their own models, but it was the best-selling Prius that made hybrid cars popular to the masses. As emission regulations become tougher though, even Toyota is looking for ways to offer even “greener” cars. All-electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf are one option. But Toyota wants to go the extra mile and launch a new fuel cell model in Europe by 2015.
Toyota is not the first carmaker to manufacture a hydrogen-powered car as most major car companies have created fuel cell prototypes. For example, Honda launched the FCX Clarity in 2008, but it is only available for lease for a limited number of customers.
Toyota’s zero-emissions hydrogen car will actually be sold in the European market in four years’ time – albeit again, at limited numbers, since it will have a very high price tag due to its extremely advanced, and thus costly, technology.
"We could expect a fuel cell vehicle to retail at about €100,000 [US$138,000] in Europe," Toyota Europe Vice President for Product Planning & Marketing, Alain Uyttenhoven, told Automotive News.
The Toyota exec, however, does not diminish the importance of hybrid models, on which Toyota has recently decided to base its recovery: “We see pure battery-powered vehicles to be just a solution for small trips in the city, while a plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid is the best solution for both weekday urban commuting and weekend trips,” Uyttenhoven added.
Now, 100,000 euros for a futuristic fuel cell car is quite a lot, and Toyota is entering unchartered waters competing with brands that have much more cache, even if their offerings pollute more.
Will the fuel cell Toyota prove to be the Prius of deep-pocketed Europeans? Only time will tell.

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Saab Presents New Restructuring Plan to its Creditors

On Monday, Swedish Automobile presented the restructuring plan of Saab Automobile to the company's creditors at a preliminary meeting in Vanersborg, Sweden. Saab’s management informed the creditors about the key points of the reorganization process, which has the support both of the administrators who are overseeing the process as well as future owners Pang Da and Youngman.
The two Chinese companies have committed to provide €50 million (US $69.6 million) in order to fund the restructuring process. They have also pledge to give at least €600 million (US $835.8 million) in 2012 and 2013 to restart production and clear the carmaker of all its debts.
Pang Da and Youngman claim to have made plans to secure Saab’s future existence by expanding its model line-up and setting up new operations in China. Among other measures, the plan also calls for cutting operating costs by reducing the workforce by 500 employees.
The new owners plan to accelerate Saab’s penetration in the Chinese market as well as other emerging countries including Russia. They also want to restart production as soon as possible and reposition Saab as a “distinctive, near premium brand supported by a renewed and broadened portfolio”.
The sales target set for next year is a modest 35,000-55,000 units. For 2013, however, Saab is supposed to ramp up production and sales drastically, practically doubling 2012’s figures to 75-85,000 cars annually.
The next two years are seen by Pang Da and Youngman as “transitional” and they expect Saab to be profitable again by 2014. According to the plan they presented, they aim to vastly increase annual production to 185-205,000 units in the long run.
Somewhere in the statement, though, was a rather interesting statement: “Saab Automobile has not received the funds from Pang Da and Youngman that have been committed for today.”
You can make what you want of that. We sincerely hope that, even though it does sound ominously familiar, this is just a glitch and the deal will eventually go through.

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Automotive Cars News, Cool Car and Beautiful Girl

Cool Car and Beautiful Girl. Dress this beautiful girl in clothes, and pick her car. Designers often combine their passions for design with other passions in life and a good example of this is taking a love of cars and turning that love into 30 Most beautiful & Cool car wallpapers. Cars, Watches and other cool things. The aim of this blog is to find useful and Automotive Cars News, Cool Car and Beautiful Girl.

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