USA - Ford Motor Company to invest nealry £2 billion in plant upgrades and new models.

• $850 million Michigan Assembly Plant upgrade supports return of Ford Ranger, Bronco
• $150 million investment and 130 jobs at Romeo Engine expands capacity for engine components for several vehicles, including Ranger and Bronco
• $200 million investment for advanced data center in Michigan supports Ford’s expansion to an auto and mobility company and expected dramatic increase in data storage needs
• Investments are in addition to $700 million and 700 new jobs at Ford’s Flat Rock, Michigan facility, announced in January, for high-tech electrified and autonomous vehicles; Ford has announced $1.9 billion in new investments in Michigan this year

Ford Motor Company is investing $1.2 billion in three Michigan manufacturing facilities to strengthen its leadership in trucks and SUVs and support the company’s expansion to an auto and mobility company.

Ford is investing $850 million in Michigan Assembly Plant to retool the plant to build the all-new Ford Ranger and Ford Bronco. Employees at Michigan Assembly Plant will begin building Ranger at the end of 2018 and Bronco in 2020.

The company also plans to create or retain 130 jobs and invest $150 million to expand capacity for engine components for several vehicles, including Ranger and Bronco, at Romeo Engine Plant in Michigan.

In addition, Ford is investing $200 million for an advanced data center to support the company’s expansion to an auto and a mobility company. 

It is the second of two new data centers Ford is building in Michigan, as the company expects its data usage to increase 1,000 percent – driven by manufacturing and business needs and new mobility services, such as more connected, autonomous and electrified vehicles.

The second new data center will be located at Ford’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant, where the company is investing $700 million and adding 700 direct new jobs – announced in January – to create a factory capable of producing high-tech electrified and autonomous vehicles.

“At Ford, we are investing aggressively in building on our strengths today – including trucks, vans, commercial vehicles, performance vehicles and SUVs – while at the same time growing our leadership in electrification, autonomy and mobility services,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford president, The Americas. “As America’s top producer of automobiles, we are proud to be going even further in our commitment to invest in manufacturing here at home.”

The company’s investments are supported by Ford’s strong partnership with the UAW, as well as with federal, state, county and local governments.

“UAW-Ford is proud of the total investments in three of our Southeast Michigan assembly and engine plants, which will lead to stronger job security for our members and continued support for the surrounding communities,” said UAW-Ford Vice President Jimmy Settles. “Thanks to collective bargaining, the hard-working men and women at each of these locations will now reap the full fruits of their labor. We look forward to celebrating more product investment and job growth at each of our UAW represented facilities in the months and years to come.”

In the past three months alone, Ford has announced $1.9 billion in new investments in Michigan. During the past five years, Ford has invested $12 billion in its U.S. plants and created a total of nearly 28,000 U.S. jobs.

Ford builds more vehicles in the United States and employs more hourly U.S. workers than any other automaker.

New Ranger and Bronco at Michigan Assembly

The work to transform Michigan Assembly Plant begins next May. Following the same pattern used during vehicle changeover at Dearborn Truck Plant in 2014, Michigan Assembly will take just four weeks to remove and reinstall the tooling necessary to build the all-new Ford Ranger and Ford Bronco.

The iconic Ranger and Bronco will further expand Ford’s truck and SUV leadership in North America – two of the company’s profit pillars.

During the last five years, sales of midsize pickups have grown nearly 50 percent. Many truck buyers want an affordable, functional, rugged and maneuverable pickup that’s Built Ford Tough. Ranger is built to meet their needs.

Rugged utilities have been the second fastest-growing SUV segment during the last five years, making it the time right for Bronco’s return – especially with its legendary 4x4 off-road capability.

Expanded capacity at Romeo Engine

Romeo Engine Plant produces engines for Ford Super Duty, E-Series, Ford Shelby GT 350 Mustang and Shelby GT350R Mustang, along with components for F-Series, Mustang, Explorer and Edge. This investment adds capacity and tooling for components for an additional engine when the plant begins its transformation in early 2018.

In North America alone, Ford has invested more than $3.8 billion to develop more than 30 engines since 2009, when the company introduced its first EcoBoost^® engine. Since then, Ford has produced more than 8 million engines globally with the fuel-saving technology.

Data center supports auto and mobility company expansion

As Ford expands to be both an automotive and mobility company, the company’s data storage requirements are expected to increase from 13 petabytes today to more than 200 petabytes in 2021. This is especially true as Ford grows its leadership in connectivity, autonomous vehicles, electrification and mobility services.

The new data centers are helping Ford create a world-class infrastructure for storage, processing and integration of this data.

The centers also will increase the ability of Ford’s global data insights and analytics team to transform the customer experience, enable new mobility products and services, and help Ford operate more efficiently. 

USA - With a major makeover for the GT-R comes a special GT-R Track Edition.

• Available late summer by order only with a starting MSRP¹ of $127,990¹ USD

Among Nissan GT-R enthusiasts, 2017 is turning out to be a milestone year. The model year started with a major makeover for both the GT-R Premium and GT-R NISMO – and caps off with the North American debut of the limited production GT-R Track Edition at the New York International Auto Show. The show runs April 14 - 23 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.

As the third model in the GT-R lineup, the Track Edition occupies a unique position between the “T” (touring) and “R” (racing) sides of the GT-R equation. 

Designed to deliver a higher level of performance than the GT-R Premium, the Track Edition features elements of the flagship GT-R NISMO, though retaining the GT-R Premium model’s 565-horsepower engine rating (versus the GT-R NISMO’s 600-horsepower version). 

The new GT-R Track Edition has a starting MSRP¹ of $127,990 and will be available late summer 2017 by order only at GT-R certified Nissan dealers nationwide.

“The new GT-R Track Edition gives buyers a specialized model, one true to GT-R heritage and available only by special order,” said Michael Bunce, vice president, Product Planning, Nissan North America, Inc. “Building on the major upgrade to every GT-R for 2017, the Track Edition is an amazing package inside, outside and under the skin.”

The new GT-R Track Edition’s performance-oriented features start with the body’s additional adhesive bonding (in addition to spot welding), which helps increase body shell rigidity versus the GT-R Premium model. Next, the advanced 4-wheel independent suspension receives unique NISMO tuning, with reduced weight and additional roll stiffness (versus GT-R Premium), as well as NISMO-spec tires.

Other standard equipment includes GT-R NISMO front fenders, 20-inch NISMO forged aluminum-alloy wheels and a special dry carbon-fiber rear spoiler². Inside, the Track Edition interior includes a unique red and black color treatment with high-grip, motorsports-inspired Recaro® seats.

USA - The Honda Civic Type R will get it's US debut at the AutoCon before a full rollout.

• The long-awaited Civic Type R finally comes stateside with an appearance at a hub of automotive performance and tuning

After its global reveal in Geneva earlier this month, the first production Civic Type R coming to America will make its U.S. debut at the 2017 AutoCon automotive performance and tuning convention in Los Angeles on March 26 with an on-stage presentation scheduled for 4:00 PM PDT. 

With 306 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque¹ on tap from its 2.0-liter DOHC, direct-injected and turbocharged i-VTEC® in-line 4-cylinder engine, the 2017 Civic Type R is the fastest, most powerful Honda ever sold in America.

Featuring aggressive styling to match its performance, the Civic Type R is the "hot hatch" that U.S. compact enthusiasts have been dreaming about.

For East Coast enthusiasts, the Type R will make its debut at the New York International Auto Show on Apr. 12. 

The first Type R-badged Honda will go on sale nationwide in late spring with an MSRP in the mid-$30,000 range.

TMW - The Licence loser or the car to frighten the elderly, either way, this is one hell of a car.

There is only one car thats available that will frighten the old and get the kids to grin with envy, and that is the Subaru WRX/STi, and when it is the traditional Blue, then you know you have a car thats not only a licence loser, but a back cruncher, and thats exactly what you have here with this Subaru.

The Scooby just oozes speed from the outside, from the Pic-Nic table spoiler at the back, the side skirts and the deep grill at the front and the huge air duct on the bonnet, you just know that you will not be let down in this car.

Being that this car is a four wheel drive with manual gearbox, getting the power down smoothly is difficult, well, at the start of ownership, once you get used to the way the car works then getting the car to pull away at speed without either slipping the clutch, over revving or making the car misbehave, either way, that noise you get from the quad exhaust is just awesome, and one that you never get used too, take it through a tunnel, rev hard and the noise is phenomenal.

The four door saloon, as a bog standard car is great, plenty of room in the back for the rear passengers, and the huge boot space, bring it to the front and again you have loads of space for front seat passengers, but then add it to that power and it takes it to another level, a level thats not matched or beaten by anyone, the nearest rival is no long available, and the Mitsubishi Evo X is no more.

the 2.5 litre Boxer engine, with twin scroll turbocharger is more power that you will ever need, the top speed of the car is 159mph, so more than double the UK maximum speed limit, and because of the power and speed, it means that the CO2 is a whopping 242g/km, and thusly the fuel consumption just happens to be :-

• Urban Cycle 20.2mpg
• Extra Urban Cycle 33.6mpg
• Combined Cycle 27.2mpg

Now, these figures might look low, and they are, but you expect this in a car of this ilk, working your way through the short shift gears is easy, and you get up to 6th gear quickly and efficiently, with the fully independent suspension all around giving stability and making journey's sure footed and easy.

The display up front gives you all the info you could ever need, now, whether it was me, or the car, i cant say, but i found the central display difficult to operate and getting the info i needed was not that easy, so i left it on the fuel consumption page, so that i can see what i was, or was not achieving.

You can lock the central dif if your needing to drive heavy in a straight line, but try and turn a corner with teh central diff lock on, and it does not like it, at all  !

The Car cost £29,000 before any options are added, but then it comes with a whole host of standard kit including, but not limited too :-

• LED Lamps Front & Rear
• Pop-Up Headlamp Washers
• Front Fog Lamps
• Rear Diffuser
• Rear Privacy Glass
• Leather & Alcantara Seats
• Aluminium Pedals
• Electric Windows
• Keyless Entry
• Push Button Start
• Dual Zone Air Con
• Multi Function Display
• Seven Airbags
• ABS with EBD
• Bluetooth
• Four Cylinder Boxer Burble
• Cruise Control
• Hill Start Assist
• Torque Vectoring
• Boost Pressure Gauge

And So on, these are just a small selection of the options that you will find on this car, and it is all these and more that make the car a brilliant car to own and run.

CONCLUSION

So, would i have one, well, if you ignore the low mpg, the firm suspension, and the over hard seats that can hurt your back, then too damned right i would, but then those things are expected, and complaining about them after you have taken delivery is wrong, owning a car like this comes with these foibles, so, you have to suck it up and enjoy it.

Just enjoy the speed, the room, the look, oh yes that look, it is a stunning car, and the noise, thats another reason to have this car, the noise it makes, you will never get fed up with opening the window and tapping the accelerator, the growl is something to love and enjoy, ok, yes i want one, and i want it now, unfortunately i dont think my back would cope though.

The new updated, lighter and faster Elise move Lotus another step forward to being reborn.

• New iteration of handbuilt Lotus sports car launched with Sprint edition
• Sprint adds carbon fibre to cut 41 kg and hit 798 kg dry weight
• New front and rear design, and significant interior upgrades
• Available to order from Lotus dealers now

Evolved, energised and even lighter, a significant update for the legendary Lotus Elise has been unveiled ahead of its arrival in showrooms this spring.

Pride of place in the latest Elise line-up is the new Sprint edition, capturing the spirit of Lotus by offering the latest in efficient engineering to deliver a car that sets the standard at under 800 kg. 

Featuring a host of weight-saving items as standard, as well as the Elise's distinctive new styling, the new Lotus remains true to the company’s founding principles. 

Benefitting the range as a whole, all new Elise editions receive the car’s new look and new interior options, and every single one of the Sprint’s lightweight components can be specified on the standard Elise Sport and the Elise Sport 220 variants.

In the biggest weight cut to the car since the introduction of the first-generation Elise, Lotus has returned to its roots by employing the same intense engineering strategy as used on its most recent models. The Sprint edition of the Lotus Elise has removed 41 kg from the previous model, to reach a benchmark dry weight of just 798 kg.

Focusing on driver involvement, to provide an immersive experience, the new Elise reaffirms the company’s leading position in automotive engineering. A benchmark in purity and balance, the Elise is a favourite amongst drivers and enthusiasts, and to date nearly 33,000 examples have been hand built at Lotus’ famous Hethel factory. Distilled from the very essence of the company’s heritage, the Elise carries Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s vision of efficient engineering into the future and arrives as the company continues its return to form with its strongest ever line-up of vehicles.

Integrating a new front and rear aesthetic with Lotus’ established design language, this latest Elise also receives a wide range of cabin enhancements - including the lightweight open-gate gear select mechanism first introduced on the Lotus Exige Sport 350. The Sprint is available in both the 1.6-litre naturally aspirated and 1.8-litre supercharged versions. Delivering an exciting mid-point in the range, it broadens the car’s appeal by including lightweight and carbon components as standard.

Speaking of the new car Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Group Lotus plc. said, “Once again, the Elise continues to redefine what is possible in terms of adding lightness to a sports car. Whilst other manufacturers try to keep pace with Lotus’ weight reduction achievements, we’ve raised the bar beyond their reach. An agile, lightweight sports car does not weigh just over a tonne. It should weigh substantially less and, it is a fantastic achievement from Lotus in ensuring that the fully type approved new Elise now dips below the 800 kg barrier.”

Jean-Marc Gales continued, “Enhanced by less weight, the Elise now provides even more driving purity, greater agility and higher all-round performance. As we say at Hethel: less weight equals more Lotus.”

The Sprint and the spirit of Lotus

Ensuring that this latest Elise remains true to the company’s DNA, the return for the Sprint badge - as used on historic models including the Elan - is designed to provide a highly attractive super-lightweight option sitting above the respective Elise Sport models, and below the top of the range Elise Cup 250.

The Sprint’s standard lightweight components include a Lithium-Ion battery, saving 9 kg, Lotus’ beautifully detailed carbon race seats, 6 kg, new lightweight forged alloy wheels, 5 kg, while the carbon access panel, roll hoop cover and engine cover, and polycarbonate rear screen save 6 kg. Collectively they cut an impressive 26 kg, compared to the previous Sport and Sport 220 models, and together with the improvements made to the whole Elise range bring the weight of the new Elise Sprint down to just 798 kg (dry). This includes new, optional two-piece brake discs, saving 4 kg, which will be available from May this year and optional carbon sill covers (-0.8 kg). This reduction in weight translates into quicker acceleration (with 0-60 mph in 5.9 seconds and 4.1 seconds for the Elise Sprint and Elise Sprint 220 respectively), harder cornering and a power to weight ratio of up to 168 hp / tonne (Elise Sprint) and 257 hp / tonne (Elise Sprint 220).

Unlike some manufacturers, Lotus understands the importance of engine note, and Hethel’s acoustic engineers have spent time altering the aural appeal of the more powerful Elise Sport 220 and Elise Sprint 220 models. Providing the perfect soundtrack at any speed, the new exhaust makes the 1.8-litre supercharged Elise the best-sounding 4-cylinder car on the market.

External design touches for the Sprint range include a matt black transom panel, black wheels which come with custom contrasting metal spun rims, distinctive yet subtle side stripes on the bodywork and unique side and rear badging.

Other highlights comprise bodywork keyed colour inserts for the sports seats, transmission console and HVAC surround, along with Sprint badge stitching. The Sprint’s detailing continues inside with an array of optional Alcantara® trim panels on the doors, sills, seats and vents surrounds, all with contrasting stitching.

Less mass means more Lotus

As well as a new Elise Sprint edition, the whole of the new Elise line-up benefits from a range of improvements, which includes a 10 kg mass reduction thanks to a number of new components. Changes to the body including a redesigned lightweight front clam panel, with wider radiator apertures and mesh pattern grille provide a more aggressive aspect and 8.7 kg less weight. The new design of rear transom panel now has two rear light clusters, rather than four, with reversing and fog lights now mounted inboard so reducing weight by 0.3 kg and visually enhancing the rear design.

Modifications front and back are more than skin deep and have allowed the careful balancing of aerodynamic downforce across the whole car. Rubber elements mounted on the flat underside and ahead of the front wheel, together with an additional diffuser vane at the rear, help modify airflow under the car reducing drag and increasing stability.

In addition to injecting some visual drama into the new Elise’s cabin, Lotus’ beautifully detailed open-gate manual gearbox also provides a much more positive and direct operation -giving more precise and quicker shifting. Both technically and aesthetically appealing, thanks to the exposed open-gate design, it further reduces weight with a net saving of 1 kg. An evolution of the design first used on the Exige Sport 350, but specifically optimised for the Elise, it perfectly matches the Lotus’ personality.

The cabin also benefits from a new centre console, as seen on the Exige and optional carbon sill covers which reduce weight by 0.8 kg and increase the door aperture by up to 10 mm, aiding ingress and egress. The Elise’s instrument panel has also received attention, with new graphics making it easier to read and a new in-car entertainment system, including iPod® connectivity and Bluetooth® functionality, can also be selected when ordering.

Options for the new car include Alcantara® trimmed steering wheel, vent-surrounds and sills. Further enhancement can be specified, including a new paintwork colour: “Electric Light Blue” joining the Lotus core colour range.

The new Elise Sport and Sprint are available in two engine options: the 1.6-litre or the supercharged 1.8-litre. Offering 134 hp / 160 Nm of torque and 217 hp / 250 Nm of torque respectively, they have been specifically tuned to suit the Elise and both help to deliver a benchmark power-to-weight ratio and class leading efficiency. Being so lightweight, emissions are extremely low with 149 g / km CO₂ and 173 g / km CO₂ for the 1.6 engine and 1.8 engines respectivel

Stopping power is provided by AP Racing twin-piston front calipers and Brembo single-piston rear-calipers - optional lightweight two-piece brake discs are also available. All cars benefit from userselectable ESP driving modes - Drive / Sport / Off.

Retaining the elements that have always kept the Elise ahead of rivals, the car is built around an extruded and bonded aluminium chassis which is both tremendously strong and torsionally stiff - weighing just 68 kg.

The new Elise also carries over the same suspension setup as before, with fully independent double wishbone suspension and a front anti-roll bar, coupled with Bilstein high-performance gas dampers and Eibach coaxial coil springs front and rear. Being lighter than the preceding model, the effective spring rate is marginally increased, retaining the compliant ride for which all Lotus cars are legendary.

Designed to continue the legacy of the Elise as Lotus’ most popular model ever, the new range car can be ordered today with deliveries starting from April 2017.

A new Lotus Elise Cup 250

A new version of the Elise’s most popular model, the Cup 250, will be released in May 2017 with a list price of £47,400. 

Also, incorporating all the Elise range updates, the Elise Cup 250 model is a massive 23 kg lighter than its predecessor, with lightweight options including a Carbon Aero pack, front access panel, roll hoop cover and engine cover to take this to 40 kg, providing even more blistering performance. 

Further press information will be available closer to the car’s release, but customers can order the new Cup 250 today.

Lotus Exclusive

Every new Lotus Elise customer can personalise their vehicle through the Lotus Exclusive programme. Developed by the Lotus Design team, it combines traditional British craftsmanship with the best of modern design. 

Conceived to inspire customers, allowing them to tailor vehicles to their personal taste, it offers a comprehensive array of options and provides an alluring alternative to an off-the-peg sports car.

Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price

Elise Sport                               £32,300

Elise Sprint                              £37,300

Elise Sport 220                        £39,300

Elise Sprint 220                       £44,300

Elise Cup 250                          £47,400