New Car: 2009 Dodge Journey

Meet the all new American alternative to a Ford S-Max, Vauxhall Zafira or Volkswagen Touran; this is the Dodge Journey, which will be introduced as a production model at the Frankfurt motor show in a fortnight and it wil go on sale in the UK early 2008.

This new seven-seat Dodge Journey MPV has been hitherto known to us by its development codename: Crew/NCC. It will replace the smallest version of Chrysler’s legendary Voyager minivan in the US car group’s UK model line-up.

Based on the Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep platform that underpins at least five other models, the Journey is ostensibly a stretched Avenger; it sits on a 2890mm wheelbase, 124mm longer than an Avenger, enough to squeeze in a third-row of seats, which will be standard in the UK.

Rear space is claimed to be better than the Ford S-Max, allowing the Journey to sit just below the voluminous Grand Voyager in the brand line-up.

Interior flexibility and cabin storage are the Journey’s trump cards. The car’s second row of seats slide and feature Volvo-like pop-up child booster seats, and there’s a plethora of storage bins, including a pair of can-coolers in the rear floor able to store up to 12 drinks cans each.

Two engines options will be available — the VW-sourced 140bhp 2.0 diesel and a four-cylinder 145bhp 2.4-litre petrol shared with Mitsubishi — both of which already feature in Dodge’s models. Manual and auto boxes will be offered with both engines, the diesel with a six-speed dual-clutch transmission, the petrol with a less cutting-edge conventional four-speed auto. UK might not be offered the all-wheel drive V6 petrol version sold in the US.

Prices are promised to be “highly competitive,” starting at around £19,000 to match the entry-level Voyager rising to the early-£20ks for a top-spec SXT model.

Renault Modus gets new face

The Renault Clio based mini-MPV, Modus will receive a facelift. Our spies captured a few prototypes running around the back roads of France.

The front face is set to be mixed between the current Clio and Scenic although Modus did get a small revision done to its headlamps and tail lamps last year which was marketed as a 2007 model year. The new Modus could be unveiled at the Paris Motorshow next year.

Engines could stay the same but a long wheelbase Modus will also arrive on the scene in 2008. Its currently dubbed "Grandé Modus" and should offer class leading rear legroom or boot room. The new "Grandé Modus" will sit above the regular Modus in the Renault line-up.

Concept Car: Ford Verve

What you are currently looking at could be the next Ford Fiesta. Ford has dropped the strongest hints about the shape and size of next year’s Fiesta in an ultra-sporty three-door concept called Verve, one of the stars of next week’s Frankfurt Show.

The car is the first of three Fiesta concepts — all with near-production shapes — to be unveiled in the next four months. The others are believed to be a four-door saloon for Beijing in November and a US-spec five-door hatch earmarked for Detroit next January.

Verve, which uses the all-new chassis and component set just launched in the Mazda 2, is clear evidence of Ford’s intention to dramatically lift the emotional design content of its small cars. Martin Smith says his team has been greatly encouraged by the results of several years’ research among “design progressives” — notably young female supermini owners across Europe.

This group has already okayed radical features like the Verve’s aggressive egg-crate grille, the radically raked windscreen, the coupe-like roofline and the fascia design, which draws heavily on mobile phone technology. Ford won’t confirm it, but it seems the only major Verve feature that won’t make production is its lack of a centre pillar and use of frameless doors.

The car, which shares the present Fiesta’s overall length and wheelbase, also shows Ford’s intention to call a halt to “dimension creep” in B-cars. The Mazda 2 has already won copious praise for being slightly smaller and lighter than its predecessor. The present Fiesta is smaller than rivals like the Fiat Punto, Opel Corsa and Peugeot 207, and Ford has established that its research group wants it kept that way.

The new Fiesta, to be launched in various versions between mid-2008 and 2010, will be powered by a comprehensive range of Ford-PSA diesels and Ford-Mazda petrol engines.

Maserati Quattroporte recall (UK, Australia and USA)

If you were one of the first Brits to take delivery of a Maserati Quattroporte Automatic, it might be wise to schedule a trip to the dealership in the next couple of weeks. That’s because the marque is about to recall the first 90 examples of the car sold in the UK in order to rectify a fault that could disable its electronic stability control system.

The Italian brand’s problem is with the ECU software that controls the ‘Maserati Stability Program (MSP)’. When the car’s battery is low, a bug in the software prevents any signals sent by the car’s electronic sensors from being received by the ECU. The car’s onboard computer then assumes that the sensors are faulty, and disengages the car’s traction and stability control systems; its antilock brakes, however, will continue to work.

“If you use your Quattroporte every day, you’ll probably never encounter the fault,” a company spokesperson told us, “and if you do, it’ll go away once you charge the battery and restart the car.”

“We’ll be informing the affected owners by post in the next few weeks, and they’ll be asked to bring their cars back to their nearest service outlet, where a new ECU will be fitted free of charge. The fix should only take a couple of hours.”

Maserati was quick to assure us that it had updated its factory stock of ECUs to fix the problem on new-built cars some months ago, so if you buy a Quattroporte Automatic today, you’ve got nothing to be concerned about. However, it’ll be a pretty costly episode for the Trident overall, with 90 cars affected here, 30 affected in Australia, and in excess of 700 in the USA.

BMW Z4 production moves to Germany

Although nothing has yet been confirmed, Spartanburg Herald-Journal and BMW's suppliers in the Spartanburg area are assured that BMW will move the production of the next generation Z4 to Regensburg, Germany to allow the Spartanburg plant to focus solely on BMW's X-range Sports Activity Vehicles.

BMW's Spartanburg plant, set up in 1995 to produce the Z3 roadster, is reportedly expanding production capacity from 140,000 vehicles per annum to 200,000 units a year. The plant currently produces the X5 and the Z4 and is set to take on the production of the X3 that is currently manufactured at BMW's Magna Steyr plant in Austria next year. 2008 will also see the launch of the X6 Crossover and it is unlikely that the production of the X6 will take place anywhere else than in Spartanburg.

A closer look at BMW's U.S. sales figures reveals as to why BMW is so keen on shifting Z4 production to Europe. In 2007 through July, BMW sold 19,469 units of the new-generation X5 SUV (up 22% over last year) whereas sales of the Z4 have been sluggish (down 17% to 5,420 units). To industry analyst Jim Hall, Vice President, AutoPacific, BMW's shift comes as no surprise, since "the U.S. is a larger market for SUVs than Europe, and they're selling more Z4s in Europe." Bobby Hitt, BMW Manufacturing Corp. spokesman declined to comment the move.

New Dodge Ram spy photos

We previously reported on the upcoming Dodge Ram pick-up truck and what we showed you were pictures of a cooling mule but eariler this week, spies captured the pre-production Dodge Ram undergoing hot-weather testing in Death Valley andmanaged to snap shots of a couple different versions of Dodge's half-ton truck. At a recent industry conference in Traverse City, Michigan, Frank Klegon, Chrysler's executive vice president of product development, reiterated earlier statements that Chrysler is focused on producing advanced engines for all of its vehicles, including the Ram. "A significantly upgraded version of the renowned 5.7-liter Hemi V8 with gains in fuel efficiency, refinement, horsepower and torque will debut in the 2009 model year," said Klegon. We don't expect the Hemi to receive an increase in displacement; instead it will rely on technology for most of its newfound power. Chrysler will also offer a new, more fuel-efficient version of the E85 flex-fuel 4.7-liter base V8 engine, shared with the Dodge Dakota midsize pickup and featuring a 30 percent increase in horsepower and a 10 percent increase in torque over the old 4.7-liter V8.

Subaru Impreza pricing announced (UK)

Subaru's finally released prices for most of the all-new Impreza range, and they don't necessarily make the unusual styling any more palatable. What should make things more attractive, however, are details of the now-confirmed new WRX.

The new WRX will be available from November for an expected cost price of around £21,500, followed by a range-topping WRX STi in Spring 2008.

The WRX comes with an updated version of the last car's 2.5-litre turbocharged flat four powerplant. It will pack the same 227bhp as its predecessor, but at 5200rpm instead of 5600rpm, and the same 236lb ft, but at 2800rpm instead of 3600rpm. It'll perform the benchmark 0-60mph sprint in 5.4sec (down from 5.9sec), but fuel economy is down from 27.4 to 27.2mpg, which also means CO2 emissions are up from 244 to 246g/km.

Power is put to the wheels via a five speed manual gearbox, and a centre diff (as on all new Imprezas), but the old WRX's rear viscous limited-slip diff has been swapped for a lighter mechanical one.

Interior space should be much-improved over the old car, thanks to a longer wheelbase. Refinement should also be better; Subaru says it's targeting mainstream rivals such as the Honda Civic, Mazda 3 and VW Golf

The 100bhp Impreza:

At the other end of the range from the WRX is the 1.5 litre 106bhp 1.5R, which starts at £12,495. As with all new Imprezas, it's got all-wheel drive, including a low-range transfer 'box, plus standard equipment that includes alloy wheels, climate control, a CD player, height and reach adjustable steering wheel, foglamps, and driver, passenger, side and curtain airbags. Gearboxes are five-speed manuals or four-speed autos.

It's not quick, at 13.7sec to 60mph and 109mph flat out, but we're expecting it to have the same excellent dynamics as its predecessor. It manages a reasonable 37.7mpg combined. There's also an automatic version for £13,495, which is even slower, at 14.8sec and 104mph, but manages the same economy.

Splash out £14,995 for the 2.0R (£15,995 for the auto) and you get 148bhp and 145lb ft, which lowers the 0-60mph time to 9.2sec (11.3 auto) and the economy to 33.6mpg (34.4). You also get 16-inch alloys (up from 15), xenon lights and heated mirrors.

More upmarket is the 2.0 RX, which comes with front and rear spoilers, side skirts, a chrome exhaust end-cap, a rear bumper diffuser and 17-inch alloys. Inside there's sat-nav, cruise-control and a 10-speaker CD system for £17,495 (£18,495 for the auto).

Grey model is the entry level 1.5R followed by 2.0R in red and Impreza RX is in silver