Alfa Romeo announces the new giulia retains a good percentage of its value after three years & 60,000 miles

• Highly-anticipated all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia will have a competitive residual value in the compact executive class of up to 38.2%
• The Giulia 2.2d 180 Speciale secures higher residual value percentage than BMW 3 Series MSport and Mercedes-Benz C Class AMG line
• All-new Alfa Romeo Giulia will be available for £269+VAT per month with a competitive profile of 6+23 months and 10,000 miles pa on Business Contract Hire
• The announcement comes as the all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia is awarded Car of the Year at the Auto Europa 2017 awards
• For more information about the all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia range, visit alfaromeo.co.uk/models/alfa-romeo-giulia

Alfa Romeo announces competitive CAP residual values for the eagerly-anticipated all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia. In the UK, CAP forecast over the course of three years and 60,000 miles, the all-new Giulia will hold a competitive residual value of up to 38.2%.

When compared against the competition, the all-new Giulia performs strongly, with the Alfa Giulia 2.2 JTDm-2 180 Speciale securing better CAP residual value percentage (37% based on 3 years and 60,000 miles) than rivals BMW 3 Series 320d MSport and the Mercedes-Benz C Class c220d AMG Line.

This strong residual value means the all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia will be available on Business Contract Hire with a starting rental of £269+VAT per month and a competitive profile of 6+23 months and 10,000 miles pa.

The top-of-the-range Giulia Quadrifoglio, powered by a new 510hp, 600Nm Bi-Turbo V6 petrol engine, with an eight-speed paddle shift automatic transmission as standard, and featuring sector first Alfa^TM Chassis Domain Control (CDC) system, also received a competitive CAP residual value of 38.2% based on 3 years and 60,000 miles.

Francis Bleasdale, Fleet and Business Sales Director, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles UK, said: ‘These figures reflect the confidence the industry places on the all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia and we’re delighted to not only be competing but surpassing our competitors. With eye-catching Italian styling, efficient engine and driver technologies, a perfect 50/50 weight distribution and a Euro NCAP Five Star rating – the highest score ever achieved - the new Alfa Romeo Giulia is a complete choice for business and retail customers.’

Andrew Mee, Senior Forecast Editor at CAP said: ‘“With the introduction of the new Giulia, Alfa Romeo has created an interesting and credible alternative to established models from premium brands. The marque’s sporty DNA flows through the vehicle, from the long bonnet, coupe like lines and muscular rear, to the rear wheel drive.  The interior is driver focused, with supportive seating, high quality materials and an uncluttered dashboard.  The cap-hpi gold book forecasts reflect this fresh approach, attention to detail, and relatively low anticipated registration volumes, all of which should result in the Giulia being a desirable future used car.”

The Giulia range includes comprehensive interior and exterior standard specification across the range, as well as including new efficient active safety systems, including Forward Collision Warning with Autonomous Emergency Brake with pedestrian recognition, Integrated Brake System and Lane Departure Warning  – all of which have contributed to the all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia being awarded a prestigious Five Star Euro NCAP rating, with 98% protection result for adult occupants – making it the highest score ever achieved by a car, despite the more severe Euro NCAP evaluation system introduced in 2015.

This announcement follows news that the all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia has won the prestigious Car of the Year accolade at the Auto Europa 2017 awards. Surpassing the competition, the all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia was recognised for its technological excellence and distinctive Italian style.

Offering best in class power-to-weight ratios, and innovative engine and driver technologies, the all-new Giulia is available to order in the UK now. For more information on the range visit - www.alfaromeo.co.uk/models/alfa-romeo-giulia

Ingneium: The all new family of engines to power JLR products for years to come.

• Ingenium is an all-new family of compact, lightweight, low-emissions diesel and petrol turbocharged engines that deliver both the efficiency and performance that our global customers desire
• Configurable and flexible common diesel and petrol architecture enables maximum manufacturing efficiency, more variants, higher quality and greater speed to market
• Designed and engineered in-house by Jaguar Land Rover engineers, volume production begins in early 2015 at the all-new Jaguar Land Rover Engine Manufacturing Centre near Wolverhampton, UK
• Weighing up to 80kg less than today’s engines, Ingenium uses patented technologies to reduce friction and deliver class-leading CO₂ emissions, refinement and high performance

Ingenium, the new family of premium diesel and petrol engines designed, engineered and manufactured by Jaguar Land Rover, delivers class-leading levels of torque, horsepower and refinement while reducing emissions and fuel consumption.

The company today revealed more of the technical details of these new lightweight, compact low-emissions modular enginesas it showcased some of the company’s future technologies.

Ingenium: Configurable, Flexible, Modular

Jaguar Land Rover has developed its own new family of advanced technology, low-friction, high-performance petrol and diesel engines to meet growing customer demand for lower fuel consumption and cost of ownership, without compromising performance and the driver experience.

Ingenium’s design brief presented Jaguar Land Rover’s engineers with a tough and complex challenge. Its new engine family would need to be:

• Configurable and flexible to enable seamless installation in a range of new Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles
• Scalable up and down to create smaller or larger displacement variants in the future
• Able to accommodate a range of powertrain layouts including rear-, all- and four-wheel drive
• Engineered to support manual and automatic transmissions as well as electrified hybrid drive systems
• Easily accepting of new advances in engine technologies as they become available

Jaguar Land Rover powertrain engineers at the company’s Whitley and Gaydon development facilities have based Ingenium’s foundation on extremely strong and compact aluminium blocks for both diesel and petrol versions.

These lightweight blocks share the same bore, stroke, cylinder spacing and 500cc cylinder capacity. This helps give Ingenium the configurability and flexibility around which smaller or larger engines can quickly and efficiently be developed to meet future regulatory and competitive requirements. To support the development of this future powertrain technology, including the new Ingenium family, Jaguar Land Rover has invested £40 million to expand and enhance its Powertrain Engineering facility at its Whitley Technical Centre.

All diesel and petrol Ingenium variants will be equipped with state-of-the-art turbochargers that improve performance, particularly at low speeds, and that help reduce consumption and CO₂ emissions.

Ingenium’s modular design enables both petrol and diesel engines to share many common internal components and calibration strategies. This reduces complexity, raises quality and simplifies manufacturing, and allows Jaguar Land Rover to react more quickly to changes in global demand.

“Customers around the world are increasingly demanding cleaner-running, more efficient vehicles that maintain or even enhance the performance attributes expected of a rugged all-terrain vehicle or a high performance car. Our Ingenium engines deliver this to a new level,” said Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart, Jaguar Land Rover Group Engineering Director.

“Engineering and manufacturing our own engines improves our ability to react to changes in demand and improves our ability to react to changes in legislation and competitive technologies in the future,” added Dr Ziebart. “We believe that with the range of technologies we are investing in, Jaguar Land Rover can absolutely satisfy the often conflicting requirements of delivering engaging high-performance luxury vehicles that reduce our carbon footprint in the long-term.”

Technology Powerhouse

Ingenium bristles with innovations that will deliver more of what Jaguar Land Rover’s global customers expect from premium high-performance engines: outstanding low-end torque, effortless acceleration and class-leading emissions performance with low consumption.

One strategy Jaguar Land Rover powertrain engineers used to accomplish this was a focus on reducing internal friction.

In the first Ingenium engine to go into volume production, a 2.0-litre diesel known as AJ200D, friction is reduced by 17 per cent compared to the current engine, helping to make it one of the most efficient and responsive 2.0-litre turbo diesels in its segment.

Ingenium engines feature six key technologies that combine to reduce friction, add refinement and improve performance. They include:

• Roller bearings on cam and balancer shafts, instead of machined-in bearing surfaces.
• Computer-controlled variable oil pumps that save energy by delivering the optimum amount of oil at all speeds, engine loads and temperatures.
• Computer-controlled variable water pumps that adjust the amount of coolant flowing through the engine, based on temperature, speed and driving conditions. The split or twin circuit cooling system offers the twin benefits of lowering CO₂ emissions by enabling fast warm ups, and providing quick cabin heat on cold days.
• Simplified cam drive system designed for modular application.
• Crankshafts that are offset from the centre of the block.
• Electronically controlled piston cooling jets to improve efficiency in the oil pumping circuit. Jets are switched off when piston cooling is not needed. They also enable the engine to reach its optimum operating temperature faster, further helping to reduce CO₂ emissions.

All Ingenium engines will be equipped with advanced and efficient turbochargers, central direct high-pressure fuel injection, variable valve timing and start-stop technology.

Ingenium will also come to market as one of the most tested and proven Jaguar Land Rover engines ever. Before the first Ingenium engine is sold, it will have already undergone the equivalent of more than eight years of the toughest, most punishing testing that Jaguar Land Rover engineers could devise. These tests include a huge range of integrity and durability testing, including more than 72,000 hours of dyno testing and 2 million miles of real-world testing to ensure these engines deliver – and continue to deliver.

Key Role in Vehicle Weight Reduction

Jaguar Land Rover already leads the industry in the production of lightweight, aluminium-bodied vehicles. The introduction of Ingenium unites the company’s light-weight chassis expertise with powertrains specifically designed and calibrated to complement reduced weight vehicles.

Jaguar Land Rover engineers are focusing on reducing vehicle weight by optimising every component in every system, powertrains included. Despite adding features and increasing power output, Ingenium engines weigh as much as 80kg less than today’s equivalent engines.

“Ingenium fulfils our commitment to offer our global customers some of the most advanced powertrains available in some of the lightest vehicles in the premium SUV and performance car segments,” said Ron Lee, Jaguar Land Rover Director of Powertrain Engineering.

“Being configurable and flexible are the two key strands of Ingenium’s DNA because we have future-proofed our new engines from the outset. Ingenium will be able to accept new advances in fuel, turbocharging, emissions, performance and electrification technologies when they are ready and accessible to be deployed.

“We were able to design Ingenium in this way because we had the rare opportunity to start the project with a clean sheet of paper. We weren’t locked into any of the usual restrictions that force engineering compromises because we had no existing production machinery that would dictate design parameters, no carryover engine architectures to utilise and no existing factory to modify,” said Lee.

BMW releases pictures and info on new FRONT WHEEL DRIVE 2-Series Active Tourer

BMW today released details and pictures of the 2-series Active Tourer, a minivan rival to the Mercedes-Benz B class that will be the brand's first front-wheel-drive vehicle.

The model is underpinned by BMW Group's UKW fwd architecture that debuted last year on the third-generation Mini hatchback. The 2-series Active Tourer will also be the first BMW to offer a three-cylinder engine -- a new turbocharged 1.5-liter gasoline engine that is also available on the Mini.

The 2-series Active Tourer combines comfort and functionality with BMW's driving dynamics, BMW said in a statement.

The model will debut at the Geneva auto show on March 4 and will join the rear-wheel-drive 2-series coupe in BMW's lineup when it launches later this year.

The 2 series Active Tourer's fwd marks a departure for the BMW brand, traditionally known for its sedans and sporty SUVs.

The 2 series Active Tourer has luggage capacity that can be enlarged to 1,510 liters from 468 liters.

The vehicle's fwd platform may upset BMW purists who value the driving dynamics of the automaker's rwd models, but BMW will remain a very much a rwd company, development director Herbert Diess told Automotive News Europe in an interview earlier this year.

The 2-series Active Tourer is a response to customers downsizing from larger sedans, especially in Europe, he said. BMW plans about 30 rwd models and 15 fwd vehicles, including Mini-badged models.

Diess said the company is still discussing if and when to launch other fwd BMWs. He said the fwd platform has considerable flexibility because it can underpin midsized models up to 4600mm long, as well as compact vehicles and Minis.

2014 Cadillac CTS faces the gigantic Nurburgring, and comes away smiling.

Cadillac validated its all-new 2014 CTS midsize luxury sedan and power-packed CTS Vsport at the world’s most-demanding test track – Germany’s Nürburgring – and recorded lap times to enhance the nameplate’s reputation as a driver’s car.

Notably, the 2014 CTS Vsport, featuring Cadillac’s first  Twin-Turbo engine and eight-speed transmission, recorded a lap time of 8:14.10, almost six seconds faster than the first generation CTS-V recorded 10 years ago with a larger V-8 engine.

Nürburgring validation certified that all CTS suspension packages are capable of handling the extreme conditions and unlimited speeds of Autobahn driving. CTS development included Autobahn and track calibrations of the steering system, shock absorbers, chassis controls and powertrain cooling.

“The Nürburgring’s extreme conditions allow us to push cars to the limits of stability, steering, braking, ride and handling,” said Dave Leone, CTS executive chief engineer, Performance Luxury Vehicles. “The new CTS models had a lot to live up to considering the nameplate’s history of outstanding performance, and we were not disappointed.”

Measuring 12.9 miles (20.8 km) and including some 154 turns, the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife (“north loop”) is widely considered the world’s most-demanding course for vehicle validation. Cadillac vehicle dynamics performance engineer Kevin Zelenka and Jeff Grabowski drove full production models of CTS and CTS Vsport with no performance modifications, validating all-new 2014 CTS sedan that goes on sale this fall.

“The new CTS was an absolute riot to drive on the Ring,” said Zelenka. “It’s more athletic and refined, and the Vsport proved extremely capable. If a car performs well on the Ring, it will perform well on any road in the world.”

The CTS has been the centerpiece of Cadillac’s portfolio for more than a decade. The third-generation CTS is one inch lower, five inches longer and more than 200 pounds lighter than its predecessor. The new car also has lower curb weight, greater structural stiffness and more horsepower than its primary competitors.

The all-new CTS is engineered from the ground up to deliver a driving experience that combines sport-tuned handling with world-class comfort. Its segment-exclusive Magnetic Ride Control and electronic limited slip differential constantly monitor rear-wheel rotation to ensure optimal handling in a variety of road conditions.

The 2014 CTS standard model will start at $46,025, including $925 destination. Three collections of option packages – Luxury, Performance and Premium – will be offered with either the 2.0T turbocharged four cylinder or 3.6L naturally aspirated V6 engine in either rear- or all-wheel drive. The CTS Vsport model starts at $59,995, including $925 destination, and features the new Cadillac Twin-Turbo 3.6L V6 (420 hp) in RWD only with an eight-speed transmission.