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Showing results for tags 'end of life'.
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The Ford Ka, whose life began in 1996, will probably not see a replacement beyond the current second generation. According to Ford of Europe's Executive Design Director, Martin Smith, the Ka is not a profitable model and is not in line with the brand's global 'One Ford' direction. "It won't pass a US crash test, it was designed too narrowly to suit European tastes and it's only built in one place. It'll get a light mid-life refresh but, as things stand, I can't see a life for the car much beyond that," commented Mr Martin. But, he suggested that Ford of Europe is analysing the prospects of a more diverse range of superminis for the European market that could bring the company back in the black. The second generation Ford Ka made its debut in the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, being driven by Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko. It was unveiled to the public at the 2008 Paris Motor Show subsequently.
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[extract] The Lamborghini Gallardo started production back in 2003 and is the best-selling Lamborghini of all time with more than 10,000 sales globally. To mark the end-of-life of the Gallardo, the Italian car maker has launched a 2013MY LP 560-4 model, which is labeled as
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Lexus has stopped production of European-spec IS models due to new crash safety legislations that goes into effect at the end of the year. The issue concerns the shape of the front-end, which does not meet the new pedestrian safety requirements. Lexus has chosen not to make the necessary modifications to the current model as the all-new model is due early next year. The current IS will continue to be available at European dealerships until the existing inventory runs out. The second-generation IS was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2005 as a pre-production model, with the production version debuting shortly after. Lexus sales in Europe have suffered in recent years - with the brand selling 15,000 cars in 2007 before declining rapidly to 10,000 in 2008 and just 6,200 cars in 2010. The arrival of the all new IS saloon will give the firm the impetus it needs in the junior executive sector. The third-generation IS is previewed by the striking LF-CC concept, featuring the latest version of the brand
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[extract] The C30 is a three-door, four-seater hatchback produced by Volvo that was officially unveiled at the 2006 Paris Motor Show. The exterior design of the C30 is based on the 2001 SCC concept car, which was inspired by the 1800ES, the estate version of the P1800 Coupe. Six years on, the Swedish automaker has announced that the production of the brand
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The Copen is a two-seater convertible for the man with a small budget. However, time is running out for this affordable little car as Daihatsu is ending its production in August after a 10 year run, due to poor sales in recent years. The beginning of the end for the Copen could have started in January 2011 when Daihatsu announced that it would withdraw the Copen from the European market due to the ongoing strength of the Japanese Yen. The Copen was launched in June 2002 and enjoyed its highest sales in 2003, moving 11,000 units in that year. However, sales declined to around 2000 cars in 2011. I feel that Daihatsu already made plans to withdraw the sales of the Copen a few years ago as no automaker would leave a model unchanged for a decade. The model was unveiled in 1999 at the Tokyo Motor Show as the Daihatsu Copen concept. It was originally designed with a 660 cc turbocharged engine in order to meet Japanese kei car regulations, but it also came with a more powerful 1.3 L engine for the other countries to meet the environmental emissions standards. According to SgCarMart, Jack Cars Enterprise is still offering the 660cc turbo Copen for sale. If you wish to get a unit, do act fast.
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Mazda announced that it is launching a final edition of its rotary-engined sports car, the RX-8, which will only be available in the Japan domestic market with sales set to start on 24 November. Production will be limited to 1,000 units. Stricter fuel economy and CO2 emission regulations have forced the Hiroshima-based carmaker to pull the RX-8 from overseas markets and keeping it alive only in Japan. The RX-8 Spirit will be sold in two versions, one with a six speed manual transmission based on the Type RS and the other with a six speed automatic based on the Type E model. Mazda
