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Parliament has signed a deal to house up to 1,000 staff in the former home of Westminster City Council in Victoria while the £4bn restoration of the Palace of Westminster takes place.

2020 Honda Insight hybrid sedan gets $135 price bump, efficiency stays the same The new Honda Insight sedan will cost incrementally more in base versions, but its estimated fuel economy won't change at all. Sticking around, VW redesigns 6-speed manual transmission VW redesigned its 6-speed manual for multiple cars sold around the world, a signal...

The average property prime yield remained stable at 4.87% in June 2019, according to real estate advisor Savills.

The mighty frugal Honda Insight returns for the 2020 model year, though shoppers will be met with a $135 price hike. Honda said on Monday the hybrid sedan will cost $23,860 after a $930 destination charge. Aside from a new Platinum White Pearl exterior color available, no options or standard features change for the 2020 model year. Those kicking...

Volkswagen isn't prepared to say goodbye to the manual transmission and debuted its redesigned 6-speed unit Monday. The brand said the redesigned manual transmission focuses on efficiency and shaving carbon dioxide production while driving. Total, the gearbox will help save up to 5 grams per kilometer driven, depending on the engine application...

A small number of 2019 Subaru Outback and its sedan cousin, the Subaru Legacy, will be recalled. According to information Subaru filed with the NHTSA on July 11, the Japanese automaker is recalling 2,107 Outback and Legacy models. Legacy sedans and Outback wagons share a similar skeleton and are produced at the same production facility. The recall...

Vans is set to open a new Oxford Street store on the site of a former Miss Selfridge, which has been closed as part of Arcadia’s restructuring.

Caddick Group is set to more than double the amount of useable TV and film space in Leeds on the site of an old printworks.

Boult Wade Tennant has signed to take 17,000 sq ft of office space in Midtown, central London.

A judicial review of plans to demolish and redevelop the Elephant and Castle shopping centre which was due to begin on 17th July has just been postponed. It is likely to be rescheduled for September.

A judicial review of plans to demolish and redevelop the Elephant and Castle shopping centre which was due to begin on 17th July has just been postponed. It is likely to be rescheduled for September.

The UK government is offering technology firms more than £500k each from a £1.25m pot to help councils better monitor house building.

Sir Philip Green’s troubled retailer Arcadia said Tuesday it will defend itself against a legal challenge from its landlords in the US against its Company Voluntary Arrangements (CVA) agreed last month.

CBRE has appointed former Savills director James Delliere to lead its South East team.

Urban Exposure Finance, a wholly owned subsidiary of residential group Urban Exposure, has launched an offer of 6.5% sterling bonds due 6 August 2026.

During an event to celebrate its 30th anniversary, Lexus gave us a brief glimpse of the technologies and strategies it has in the pipeline, including its plans for hybrids. Below, we’ve boiled it down to the must-know tidbits.

• A Level II autonomous driving system, called Automated Highway Teammate, is coming in 2020. The system is designed to work “from [highway] entrance to exit” and is likely to include an automated lane-change and/or passing feature. Such a system has already undergone extensive testing on thoroughly mapped Japanese expressways.
• All Lexus models will offer some sort of electrified powertrain, meaning they will have EV, hybrid, plug-in-hybrid, or fuel cell options, with powertrain choices tailored to individual markets.

 

• Lexus is working on advances in vehicle connectivity—for example, having cars communicate with a centralized data center for real-time traffic information.
• Lexus will continue to develop its hybrid technology, and not just as an eco-solution; it is looking to provide a more dynamic experience through electrification.
• Other technologies Lexus is exploring include in-wheel motors for electrified vehicles, a steer-by-wire system, and the “E-Axle.” Though it wouldn’t give us details of the latter, it was described to us as an axle optimized to work with electric power, and which will be compatible with both in-wheel and centrally mounted electric motors.

Lexus LC 500 interior

• Lexus will show a new concept car at the 2019 Tokyo auto show, which will show the coming evolution of Lexus interiors. Among the changes we can expect are an increase in contrast and expanded use of premium materials. We interpret this as a move away from the interiors of the RX and NX, and one toward those of the LS and LC.
• Lexus is prepared to implement vehicle-to-vehicle communications (V2V), but is waiting to see how the technology develops with other automakers.
• V-8 engines will survive for now, but may fall victim to future regulation. Though turbochargers are part of Lexus’s strategy (witness the twin-turbo V-6 in the flagship LS500), Lexus feels that hybrid drivetrains are a strong candidate to take over the role as their preferred performance powertrain.

For more details on these and other initiatives, we’ll have to wait until the Tokyo Motor Show in October, where Lexus will reveal even more.

The post Lexus: Hybrids Could Become Preferred Performance Powertrain appeared first on MotorTrend.

The 2021 Ford Bronco will share underpinnings with the next-gen Ranger, but having one midsize pickup truck offering apparently isn’t good enough for Ford. Our Friends at Automobile just learned that the Blue Oval is planning to launch a pickup version of the Bronco to compete with the Jeep Gladiator.

Our colleagues’ intel comes from AutoForecast Solutions, which says the Bronco pickup is scheduled to begin production in July 2024, a few years after the launch of the 2021 Bronco SUV. That could coincide with the Bronco’s midcycle refresh. Beyond that, not much is known about the upcoming Bronco pickup. Like the Gladiator, expect the truck variant of the Bronco to be off-road-focused with more ground clearance and suspension travel compared to the Ranger. Also expect a crew cab body style like the Gladiator. We think the Bronco SUV will be offered in both two-and four-door configurations, but at any rate those doors will be removable.

One of the Bronco’s engine options is said to be an EcoBoost 2.3-liter turbo-four similar to the one found in the current Ranger. In that application, the engine makes 270 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque and pairs exclusively to a 10-speed automatic transmission. The Bronco will also offer a hybrid drivetrain, though no details on that option are known.

Head over to Automobile for more details and to see their exclusive rendering of the Ford Bronco pickup!

The post Watch Out, Gladiator! There’s a Ford Bronco Pickup Truck in the Works appeared first on MotorTrend.

The 2020 mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8 will be officially unveiled on Thursday, but if you’ve been following along then you’ve already seen a leaked photo of the rear end, the car’s new crossed-flags logo, and an official image of the steering wheel. Now comes confirmation that when the cover is pulled off the car in Orange County, California, it’ll be called Stingray.

“The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette will debut as a Stingray July 18, 2019. Did you know the second-generation Corvette debuted as a Sting Ray in 1963?” Chevrolet touts on its media site. “This nameplate ran until 1976”—now as one word on the C3, we’ll note—”and was then revived for 2014 to introduce the seventh-generation Corvette. Chevrolet is proud to announce the Stingray name will live on.”

Read More
This Is the Mid-Engine Corvette’s Steering Wheel
Photo of C8 Corvette’s Rear End Leaked
What’s Up with C8 Corvette Development Issues?

The new logo can be seen above, and a black Stingray badge and a few treatments of the Corvette name that will be used for the C8 can be found in the gallery below. Full details on the mid-engine Corvette are still forthcoming, but based on what we’ve seen so far, this new Stingray should easily be worthy of the name. Be sure to check back at 5:15 p.m. Pacific and 8:15 p.m. Eastern on Thursday to finally see the long-anticipated, all-new C8 mid-engine Corvette.

The post Mid-Engine Corvette C8 Will Keep the Stingray Name appeared first on MotorTrend.

We had the chance to catch up with Nissan North America’s new boss, Jose Valls, at the season finale race of the Formula E electric vehicle racing series in Brooklyn, New York. After confirming it was Valls’ first Formula E race and discussing his Argentinian heritage and passion for racing in general, we got down to the elephants in the room.

How would you describe the current state of the leadership at the very top of Nissan Motor Company?

JV: Well, I know more or less what everybody knows, what came out of the shareholders meeting [at the end of June 2019]—a lot of questions. The situation with Mr. Ghosn back in November 2018 created a big eruption in the company, after 20 years of leadership under one person. It was really unexpected. I would say not only for Nissan, but the [Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi] Alliance in general, it was a big shock. After that, the company is trying to reorganize, to take advantage of the situation to reorganize, put stronger governance in place and so on.

I’m a member of the Global Executive Committee, so I was in the shareholder meeting, and there was a lot of tension. Performance at this point, in the first half of 2019, is not coming as expected. Some of the reason is all the adjustments we’re putting in the U.S. [operation], moving from quality of sales, more into the brand, trying to move away from the hard-sell piece, big incentives, fleet, and so on. All of that is kind of transformational and will not happen overnight.

Nissan North America CEO Jose Valls

Of course, some people are looking for short-term results, but it’s a process. We have a really robust strategy in moving and preparing for all the new cars that are coming. More than 70 percent of the total lineup will change. Many things are coming, new technologies, Nissan Intelligent Mobility technology. It will be a transformational lineup.

We’re preparing the ground, the brand, our go-to-market strategy, in this direction. But again, when we talk about short term there is always a bit of anxiety to see short-term results. The leaders in Japan, they’re supporting the leadership in North America, supporting our strategy and are being patient. But of course, they have a lot of pressures, from the external side, coming from the analysts and shareholders.

What does short term mean?

JV: Short term means they want to see results in 2019, to show very strong change in direction. We are starting to change the whole product lineup next year, so they want to see high improvement in sales —but we still have the same portfolio. The portfolio will start changing big time next year, but that is the situation we are facing. Of course, people don’t want to get into details, but this is not a detail. A whole new Rogue is coming, a whole new Sentra is coming, a whole new platform is coming, new Titan, new Frontier. So many, many new products coming in the next two or three years.

No Juke for the U.S.?

JV: When we had Juke in the past, we didn’t have Kicks. I would say Kicks is a different proposal. Juke is more turbo engine, meant for Europe. Kicks is, size-wise, pretty similar, but has more [interior] space, new technology, and I don’t think we have space for Juke and Kicks. In the Americas, not only North America/U.S., everybody wants more Kicks. It’s a big volume [seller], and it has been quite successful for us so far. I know we have more than 20 percent segment share at this point. Our dealers are happy, we are happy, and this is just the beginning for everybody and Kicks. Having Juke, Kicks, Rogue Sport, Rogue—just too crowded.

Really? Seems like most OEMs are trying to flood the market with SUVs.

JV: Well, in my case I prefer to have less complexity and very strong core models. I think it’s much more efficient than populating a car lineup with different models and versions and different nameplates. The customer gets lost, and it’s very difficult to manage such complexity. That’s basically one of my strategies.

What is the time frame for the coming vehicles?

JV: It is starting next year, I would say about second quarter, next year we are starting to move and [the new models] will come for about two years. We can include Altima in the process, so it was actually three years, from late ’18 when we launched Altima. Before the end of the year, we’re launching Versa, and then all of this coming in the next two years.

 

So would you characterize this as a turnaround—a big turnaround, a medium-size turnaround? Nissan is famous for turnarounds.

JV: It’s an evolution of our portfolio. I wouldn’t characterize it as a turnaround or a product turnaround, but an evolution of our Nissan Intelligent Mobility (NIM) portfolio. NIM is the new strategy for the company—it’s bringing the technology piece and innovative products that are affordable to all. It’s not just NIM technology for very high-end products; it’s affordable for all, starting from our entry versions and nameplates. And this is coming down the pipe—it’s a Nissan promise—innovation for all. Starting now. Every single launch will have a very strong foundation of Nissan Intelligent Mobility. And that could be seen as a turnaround, but it’s really just delivering on our brand promise.

And that’s a global strategy?

JV: Yes. The turnaround really has more to do with our go-to-market strategy. You know, we’re a brand that really offers great value for the money on our cars. We are not a ‘deal’ brand, you know, so the turnaround is moving our marketing approach into our value proposal and the strength of our brand: Japanese heritage, performance—at the same time all the Nissan Intelligent Mobility proposal.

It’s got a lot to do with electrification, a lot to do with e-power, EVs, that’s why we have to be very strong in electric vehicles. Whether it’s a Leaf with 40 kilowatts, 60 kilowatts, or what is coming down the pipe. I will not get into the details, but you will be amazed at what is coming. We will have some interesting vehicles coming soon. I will say the jewel in the crown of this product refresh—it’s more than a refresh, I would call it a turnaround—is coming at the end, and is an amazing EV. I don’t want to mention any more, but you will be amazed. I just saw the vehicle, the mock-up [concept]. It looks very good.

You heard it here first. Hot on the heels of the new Altima and Versa, Nissan North America will update its lineup with new Rogue, Sentra, Titan, and long-awaited Frontier models. Expect to see an “amazing” EV as the topper. Given that we did this interview at a Formula E race and that Chairman Valls did not comment on Nissan’s two flagship performance cars, GT-R and 370Z, both long overdue for overhauls, might some sort of electrifying Z or GT-R be in the offing? Stay tuned.

The post New Frontier, Titan, Rogue, and Sentra! Nissan’s Future Product Plans appeared first on MotorTrend.

Lincoln redesigned the Navigator a few years ago, giving it an improved ride, stunning exterior, and an interior that’s nothing short of opulent. As it stands now, the older Escalade just isn’t as refined as the Navigator, but Cadillac will have the chance to catch up when it introduces the next-generation SUV next year.

So what should we expect? The Escalade will likely share front end design cues with other new Cadillacs such as the CT5, CT6, XT4, and XT6. That should mean slender headlights and a similar shield-like grille shape, although the grille will be much larger than on other Cadillacs. Also, don’t expect the three-row SUV to give up its boxy figure. The square-shaped rear should look more sculpted than the old model, and it will likely continue to adopt vertical taillights. Check out these exclusive renderings for a better idea of how we think Cadillac’s next-gen flagship SUV will look.

The 2021 Cadillac Escalade will stay true to its body-on-frame heritage, so expect it to share hardware and other components with the forthcoming Tahoe and Yukon. It will benefit from improvements in refinement, performance, and quality being injected into GM’s next-gen pickup and full-size SUV architecture. The Escalade will receive an independent rear suspension and air springs for improved ride quality. And by ditching the live axle, GM can lower the floor at the rear, allowing for more space in the third row. No Escalade EXT pickup is in the works.

Stricter fuel regulations may have automakers worried around the world, but the V-8 lives on. Cadillac is likely to stick with the 6.2-liter V-8 that currently makes 420 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque. It’s also likely the Escalade will add a V-badged variant packing a supercharged V-8 that delivers north of 600 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque (the unit in the outgoing CTS-V makes 640 hp and 630 lb-ft of torque). Both engines will be paired with the 10-speed automatic co-developed by GM and Ford.

Of course, expect major interior improvements to keep the SUV worthy of the Escalade name. If it wants to compete with Navigator, it should get a bigger touchscreen than the current 8.0-inch unit and lose the clunky steering column-mounted gear selector. The Escalade won’t have Super Cruise next year at launch, but it should come eventually. Super Cruise begins to roll out to future vehicles in 2020, and in most cases, it will be added in the second or third model year.

The post 2021 Cadillac Escalade: Here’s What We Think it Will Look Like appeared first on MotorTrend.