Vehicles in the year 2020: smaller, lighter and electric

Vehicles in the year 2020: smaller, lighter and electric

It's official: Honda kills S2000 roadster

TOKYO -- First Honda killed the NSX sports car. Now the S2000 roadster gets the ax.
The Japanese automaker confirmed press reports that it will stop making the two-seater in June, after a decade of production.
Honda is cutting the rear-wheel-drive, four-cylinder S2000 because it would cost too much to make future generations meet environmental regulations in the United States, Europe and Japan, spokeswoman Yasuko Matsuura said today.
The S2000 was conceived to mark Honda’s 50th anniversary. But the jaunty convertible won a fan

Magna plans to revamp Opel lineup

Magna International plans to revamp Opel's model lineup and return the carmaker to profit by 2011, the supplier's Co-CEO Siegfried Wolf said.
Opel will become profitable "in about two years," Wolf said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
Wolf said Magna will "very carefully" examine changes to the Opel product pipeline before completing a business plan by September.
He noted that Opel "has lots of new cars in the pipeline."
Opel will unveil the new generation of its Astra hatchback at the Frankurt auto show in September.
The

Chrysler, Fiat designers begin to shape product portfolio

DETROIT -- Chrysler LLC and Fiat S.p.A. design executives will begin meeting this week to determine the North American portfolio created by their new alliance.
“This week and the months following we will meet with the design studios at Fiat and figure out” what vehicles from the Fiat stable will be adapted to the U.S. market, said Ralph Gilles, Chrysler design vice president. He spoke at the Automotive News World Congress last night, a day after the two companies said Fiat would take a 35 percent stake in Chrysler.
Gilles said Fiat is

Toyota will supply iQ-based car to Aston Martin

Luxury carmaker Aston Martin has forged an innovative alliance with Toyota to develop what could be the world's first luxury city car.
Aston Martin on Monday released a photo of the Cygnet, which is a Toyota iQ with restyled front sheetmetal.
Although officially billed a concept, reports in Britain say that Aston Martin will put the Cygnet on sale next year. At first, it will be offered to current Aston owners or those who have a car on order. But it will be offered to the public later.
The price? About 23,000 euros. That's a step up