Hey, Your Top Automobile News for 28 September, 2020

Your Daily Automobile updates From Around The World [img]  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [img]( [The Automobile News]( [Detroit auto show is pushed back again — to fall 2021]( The Detroit auto show, which was supposed to move from January to June so that events could take place outdoors, has been moved again — to September 2021. The summer debut of the North American International Auto Show had been planned for June of this year, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the annual extravaganza to next summer as the TCF Center was repurposed as a field hospital. It has now been moved to Sept. 28-Oct. 9, 2021, show officials said Monday, with the public show happening Oct. 2-9. That will mean a nearly 33-month gap since the last show was held in January 2019. The move comes after the Los Angeles Auto Show recently rescheduled its November event for May 2021, between the New York International Auto Show in April, and the planned show in Detroit in June, making it logistically challenging for automakers and vendors to traverse the country and set up shows in three different cities within such a limited timeframe. For that reason, analysts, auto companies and city stakeholders say the push to fall makes sense. “It really created quite a tight schedule for the manufacturers,” said Doug North, the chairman of the 2021 NAIAS who owns North Brothers Ford in Westland. There are no other shows in North America in the fall, and the new date “also coincided with when many of the new model releases are in the fall, for the next year’s product,” he added. “So it really seemed to be the real sweet spot.” The fall show in Detroit will have the same product experiences that were planned for summer, including ride-and-drives and Motor Bella, a street festival celebrating Italian and British car culture. NAIAS will remain a fall show going forward after the inaugural event in 2021, with show dates secured with the TCF Center for the next three years. Organizers secured dates toward the end of the month partly because of the International Motor Show in Munich, which is scheduled for the first full week in September. Moving the show makes sense to Michelle Krebs, executive analyst at AutoTrader: “The way the calendar was looking … there’s a lot of jamming of auto shows, basically one in every month for several months, so in that way it’s good.” A June auto show is really too early to show the following year’s models, said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iseecars.com — and it’s also too late to show anything for the current model year. But fall is actually “the best time for them to do it,” he said. “They’ve gotten away from the dead of winter that the show was in for so many years, which is not the best time to be in Detroit, but they’re at the beginning of the fall next model year availability, so it’s when the weather’s the best, and it’s when the new model introduction cycle’s the best.” In 1961, the first year the show took place at the former Cobo Center, the event was held in October, North noted: “We’re kind of coming full circle.” For years the show kicked off the year in the bitter cold of January. Organizers were encouraged to consider a shift to summer as a way to inject more excitement into the NAIAS as fewer global automakers participated. The cancellation of this summer’s show was a great economic blow for the city’s hotels and restaurants, but Larry Alexander, CEO of Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, already sees the potential. Moving the auto show to fall not only elevates its importance but opens up the month of June for other events to take place in the city, Alexander said. And the weather should still be good enough for outdoor exhibits. When pushing before for a move from January to the summer, Terry Rhadigan, GM’s executive director of communications and corporate giving, said the automaker “wanted to showcase everything that’s great about the city, and we wanted to do indoor and outdoor. September accomplishes that for us so we’re very happy.” Ford Motor Co. confirmed it will be at all three North American auto shows in 2021. “This provides thousands of people — including families — an opportunity to experience Detroit and the auto industry’s best offerings when the weather is better and auto companies like Ford can showcase their vehicles and technologies in a more festival-like atmosphere,” said Mark Truby, chief communications officer for Ford. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said: “Detroit will now stand alone in the fall, among the prominent domestic shows. This should prove beneficial for show organizers, consumers and manufacturers.” [Read more…]( The post [Detroit auto show is pushed back again — to fall 2021]( first appeared on [TheAutomobileNews.com](. [Read Full Story]( [5 Upcoming Cruiser Motorcycles In India – TVS Zeppelin To RE 650 KX]( Check out our list of five upcoming cruiser bikes in India, including TVS Zeppelin, and even the new 650cc Royal Enfield cruiser The Indian automobile market is going through a slowdown, which has forced manufacturers to play conservative and limit new vehicle launches. The two-wheeler market has been affected heavily as well, with almost all new motorcycle launches being delayed. That said, things seem to be improving now, and we expect to see new product launches happening soon. Interestingly, the motorcycle market has matured quite a lot in recent years. The motorcycle touring community is on the rise, and manufacturers seemed to have taken notice. As such, we have a few new cruiser motorcycles lined up for launch in the Indian market, from brands like Royal Enfield, Honda, Suzuki, and even TVS. 1. Royal Enfield Meteor 350 Royal Enfield will be launching its Thunderbird replacement in the Indian market soon. The new motorcycle, named ‘Meteor 350’, was expected to launch earlier this year, but sadly, it got delayed. The motorcycle is currently expected to launch in India in October. It will be available in three variants – Fireball, Stellar, and Supernova. The Meteor will debut the next-generation 350cc engine from Royal Enfield. This new motor will feature an SOHC setup, and not pushrod-type architecture like before. This will result in smoother power delivery and lesser vibrations. The new powerplant will generate a maximum power of 20.2 HP and 27 Nm of maximum torque, and will be paired to a 5-speed gearbox. 2. Honda Rebel Since 2017, Honda has been planning to launch a Royal Enfield rival in the Indian market. Now, it seems like the company is finally ready to fulfil that plan. Recently Honda teased a new motorcycle via an audio clip. This new motorcycle is speculated to be a retro-style cruiser motorcycle, either the Honda Rebel 300 or the Rebel 500. The Rebel 300 will have the same 286cc engine as the CB300R, but tuned to offer better low-range torque. The power and torque figures are expected to be around the 27 HP and 27 Nm mark. As for the Rebel 500, it is expected to generate 47.1 HP and 43.3 Nm. Both engines come paired to a 6-speed gearbox. 3. Suzuki Intruder 250 Earlier this year, patent images of the Intruder 250 started doing rounds on the internet. According to the images, the 250cc model looked identical to the Intruder 150, complete with the bulky fairing and the long, comfy seats. The exhaust system, however, was new. Instead of the short yet bulky unit on the 150cc model, the Intruder 250 will have a simpler, rounded design. The instrument console, the riding ergonomics, etc., on the 250 will be identical to the 150. As for the engine of the Intruder 250, it will be the same as the Gixxer 250. This single-cylinder 249cc motor can generate a maximum power of 26.5 HP and 22.2 Nm, and will come mated to a 5-speed gearbox. [Read more…]( The post [5 Upcoming Cruiser Motorcycles In India – TVS Zeppelin To RE 650 KX]( first appeared on [TheAutomobileNews.com](. [Read Full Story]( [Tested: 1981 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit Rejuvenates Traditional Luxury]( Excuse us if we don’t get too Consumer Reports-y in this test. It’s just that we don’t think enough of you guys are actually considering the new Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit for us to get all solemn about Trunk Liftover Height and Area of Floor-Mat Coverage (both of which are pretty darn good, actually). This is a staggeringly expensive car. Seeing the window sticker bottom out at $109,000 only hints at the cost, because, in paying so much for a car, you give up not only the principal but also what that sum could be earning for you. Consider this: you take the $109,000 and, instead of buying the R-R, you sock it away in some CD at the prevailing rate for notes over $100,000. Use the first year’s interest as a down payment on a Porsche 928. Subsequent interest will cover not only the payments, but gas and insurance as well. Moreover, you can trade off the 928 every two years with this arrangement and never have to touch the original sum. That should give you some idea of how expensive the Silver Spirit is: $109,000 and a new 928 every two years. Maybe none of us can afford this Rolls-Royce, but its fantastic price makes it all the more interesting from an academic point of view. Automobiles are a sort of standard task. They all have wheels, seats, and trunks, and they all burn fuel. Every carmaker has to cope with the same problems. So it’s fascinating to see how a cost-is-no-object company like Rolls-Royce approaches the assignment. And how well it fares. Cutting right to the bottom line, we think it fares just fine. If we were rich guys confined to four-doors and had to live with the possibility of outrunning the Tupamaros every so often, we’d go with the Roller. It’ll really make dust. All things considered, it’s probably no more adroit an escape vehicle than a V-8 Mercedes or a 733i, but it’s certainly capable of similar performance. And when you consider that it weighs within a suitcase of 5000 pounds, and that it’s quieter inside than a church on Tuesday, that’s really saying something. For the recent past, at least, Rolls-­Royces have been great cars to be driven in, but you wouldn’t want to do the job yourself. They were totally devoid of any driving feel, like a ’55 Chrysler, only more so. It was intentional. Rolls­-Royce engineers had a way of describing the tactile sensation they were looking for. “Ball of silk,” they’d say. Smooth. No friction. No resistance. The steering felt as though it was some sort of radio hookup to the front wheels. The shift lever, in fact, moved only a set of electrical contacts, which telegraphed instructions to servos on the transmission. You encountered the world’s most beautiful detents when you moved the lever, and nothing more. The rest of the car was the same way. It was a conspicuously difficult way of carrying out the automotive assignment—nobody could ever say R-R took an easy hit—but it wasn’t at all rewarding to those of us who prefer the snick of a well-connected five-speed. The difference between the recently obsolete Silver Shadow II and the new Silver Spirit is that you’d like the new one. It somehow manages to feel right to the driver without repudiating the “ball of silk” philosophy of past models. In fact, Rolls-Royce didn’t repudiate anything with the Silver Spirit. Most particularly not bulk. Or weight. Or prodigious fuel consumption. It scores 10 EPA mpg and costs the company—and ultimately the buyer—$650 in federal gas-guzzler tax for each example sent to the U.S. Rolls-Royce does not downsize to avoid some piddling tax, thank you very much. The new car is as heavy as the model that went before, slightly lower, and just over two inches wider. Really, it’s meant to be the same car with a new body and a few significant engineering revisions. The styling improvement is questionable. Behind the trademark R-R grille stands a bland, middle-European sedan. People who see the front give it recognition followed by all due respect, but from the back it could just as well be German. [Read more…]( The post [Tested: 1981 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit Rejuvenates Traditional Luxury]( first appeared on [TheAutomobileNews.com](. 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