Nissan Pivo 2 to debut at Tokyo 2007

Nissan will be displaying an updated version of their Nissan Pivo concept, rather straightforwardly called the Nissan Pivo 2 concept. It continues with the original Pivo’s fully rotating cabin design which makes the concept of reversing your car obsolete. The Pivo 2 adds In-Wheel 3D motors for the car’s four wheels. These wheels can turn 90 degrees to allow the Pivo 2 to move sideways like a crab as well as the normal forward and reverse movement.

The little robot thing you will see in the photos after the jump is what Nissan calls a Robotic Agent, which can communicate to you everything from basic vehicle functions through to the nearest available parking and can have conversations with you in Japanese and English.

For readers who are in Japan, you can see the Pivo 2 displayed before the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show on the 13th and 14th of October 2007 at the Nissan Ginza Gallery in Chuo-ku, Tokyo from 10am to 8pm.

Lamborghini Embolado

This is the Lamborghini Embolado Concept, designed by Italian design student Luca Serafini. Serafini dreams to work at Lamborghini, and he created the Embolado Concept with the same dimensions as a Gallardo.

For those who are wondering what Embolado means exactly, it comes from the Spanish festival Toro Embolado which means bull in balls - an event where balls of flammable material are attached to a bull’s horns and lit on fire. This bull is then set free in the streets at night.

The Embolado Concept features a cab forward-ish design that is not very common in the world of supercars, having only appeared on the Pagani Zonda in recent years.

Mazda Taiki Concept featuring RENESIS 16X engine

Mazda’s latest Mazda Taiki Concept will be making it’s international debut at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, and is the fourth concept car int he Nagare design series. Taiki means atmosphere in Japanese, and this concept coupe is meant to create the feeling of the flow of air in the atmosphere protecting the earth.

This is achieved via the full-glass canopy which gives the car a liberating feeling, yet you are protected from the elements within. The rest of the car is inspired by a pair of Hogoromo, which are flowing robes which in Japanese legend supposedly enable a celestial maiden to fly.

Under all that design execution lies a front engine rear wheel drive layout that uses the next generation RENESIS 16X, which has it’s displacement enlarged to 1.6 liters for the first time in a long history of production rotaries that were 1.3 liters in displacement.

Volkswagen NSF

While Tata seems to be right on track with their expected 1 lakh (US$2500) pricing of their 1 lakh car, Volkswagen’s NSF (New Small Family) project has exceeded the originally intended 8,000 Euro price and is now expected to cost about 8,950 Euro.

Volkswagen intends to sell 462,000 units of the NSF annually, with 100,000 badged as Volkswagens in Europe and another 200,000 badged as Seats or Skodas, with the remaining 162,000 units to be sold in emerging markets.

Subaru Justy joins the rebadged Daihatsu Boon clan

The Daihatsu Boon, the Toyota Passo and the Perodua Myvi triplets have a new sibling now in the form of the Subaru Justy. This is expected since Toyota has some stakeholding in Subaru now. The new Subaru Justy was unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show and is positioned as an entry-level model in Subaru’s line-up. The Subaru Justy is only available with a 3-cylinder 1.0 liter DOHC engine making 68 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 94Nm of torque at 3,600rpm, slightly higher than what we get in the 1 liter version of our Myvi - 57hp at 6,000rpm and 88Nm at 3,600rpm.

This is because the Justy uses the 1KR-FE 1.0 liter engine from the Passo, Boon and Aygo instead of our Myvi’s EJ-VE. This engine is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission with no automatic option currently. Two trim levels are available - the “sporty” 1.0S and the basic 1.0E, which to me actually look very similiar other than the wheels put on the car. The 1.0S gets 14 inch aluminium alloy wheels with 175/65/R14 tyres while the 1.0E gets 13 inch steel wheels with full wheel caps wrapped with 155/80R13 tyres. On the inside, the 1.0S gets more airbags then the 1.0E - 6 versus 4, with the additional 2 being curtain airbags for the front and rear on both sides. Other 1.0S exclusive options are a chrome accented gear knob and a manual seat lifter for the driver’s seat. Safety features include usual ABS and EBD for both models.

2008 Jaguar XJ

While the mid-sized Jaguar S-Type gets an all-new replacement in the form of the sleek new Jaguar XF (E-Class and 5-Series competitor), the full-sized Jaguar XJ gets a refreshed look for the 2008 model year and it will be in SISMA Auto showrooms in Malaysia by the end of September 2007.

This new 2008 facelifted Jaguar XJ recently won the annual Design Award ‘Autonis’ in the luxury category of the German car magazine Auto Motor und Sport, ahead of German competitors BMW, Mercedes and Audi. The winner was decided by roughly 16,000 readers of Auto Motor und Sport who took part in in voting for the winner.

The XJ continues to use it’s all-aluminium body construction. The aluminium body is said to have reduced the XJ’s weight by 40%. The new front bumper has revised upper and lower mesh grilles with chromed detailing. Behind the front wheels, two power vents match those introduced on the beautiful new XK sports car. The wing mirrors now have integrated signal indicator lights. The rear end has also been reworked with a newly reshaped bumper, subtle aero spoiler and revised tailpipe finishers.

The new Jaguar XJ will be sold from RM648,888, which is just about the price range for a full-sized car here - think S-Class, LS460 and 7-Series. Full model range and pricing details to be revealed later when the car is launched.