Author: karla

The sudden and unfortunate death of actor Paul Walker opened up a whole lot of questions about the future of the Fast & Furious franchise.Will the seventh movie continue or will the whole franchise be sent to the archives? According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fast & Furious 7 will go on as planned, except that it will come with a lot of revisions to the original script. The changes center around how to give Walker’s character, Brian O’Connor, the proper send-off and doing it in a manner that can be tied into the movie. There’s still a strong possibility that the scenes Paul Walker was able to shoot will still be used, making such a dramatic transition that much more important in the grand scheme of things both for Walker’s legacy and that of the Fast & Furious franchise.

Source: Top Speed

Toyota allegedly released this official teaser of its new concept — said to be the potential successor of Supra. We’ll have to wait until Toyota finally reveals its new concept to find out more, though the wait may not be long as the Japanese automaker is reported to be planning a surprise for next month’s Detroit Auto Show.

Source: Motor Authority

 

If you’re the proud owner of a 3D printer, and if you possess even a mediocre modicum of artistic talent, then Porsche has an interesting challenge for you: The company is now accepting submissions of 3D-printed, colored, and customized models of the Cayman S. All you need to do is head to the Porsche website, download the 3D printing data, and go to town. Once you’ve printed and designed your Cayman S, you can send a photo (or photos) of the finished product to Porsche via Twitter using the hashtag #3DCayman. You can also head to YouTube and drop a link to photos of your finished project in the comments section of the video below. Go forth, 3D artists, and show Porsche how the Cayman S should really look.

Source: Road & Track

Another sports car will arrive next year, codenamed “P13,” which is said to be a little bit more practical than the 12C; “practical” meaning it will have a trunk, of course. The new P13 will take aim at the Porsche 911 and models like it, and McLaren will price it a little under $200k. While no significant details have been revealed, it is rumored that the upcoming P13 will be powered by a de-tuned version of the twin-turbo V-8 engine used in the 12C. We expect an output somewhere in the 500-horsepower area. On the outside, the P13 will feature design elements seen on the recently unveiled P1.

Source: Top Speed

MANILA, Philippines, Dec. 12, 2013 — Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (NML) today announced the establishment of Nissan Philippines, Inc. (NPI), a new joint venture formed with long time partners Universal Motors Corporation (UMC) and Nissan Motor Philippines, Inc. (NMPI).

NPI, to be headquartered in Manila, will start operations as the new national sales company for the Philippines from early 2014 and will be responsible for strengthening branding, marketing and sales strategy, and dealer operations in the Filipino market. NPI intends to reinforce brand and sales power by broadening the product lineup and strengthening sales and services across the nation.

“With the establishment of NPI, Nissan will proactively improve and enhance Nissan’s brand awareness in the Philippines. We will introduce new and exciting products into the market and strive to improve total customer experience,” said Kenji Naito, the newly-assigned president of NPI.

Naito joined Nissan in 1985 and has held key positions in various markets including Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. From 2005 to 2008, he was vice president, corporate planning, at Nissan Motor (Thailand) Co., Ltd. and most recently, served as CEO of Nissan Korea Co., Ltd.

The new company is capitalized at 1.0 billion yen (US$9.8 million), with Nissan holding a 51% stake in the company, while UMC and NMPI own 24.5% each. UMC and NMPI will remain as production sources of Nissan vehicles in the Philippines. Nissan is committed driving growth across the ASEAN region. A key target of the ASEAN mid-term plan is to more than triple sales across the region to 500,000 units and achieve 15% market share by the end of 2016. Nissan considers the Filipino market as an important component of this plan, and the establishment of NPI is an illustration of the company’s commitment to the Philippines.

“This is an important milestone for Nissan,” said Takayuki Kimura, regional vice president, NML. “With NPI now as the unified voice of Nissan in the Philippines, we will be bolder and more proactive in expanding our business in this market. I would like to thank UMC and NMPI for their accomplishments to date, and we look forward to continuing to build our presence in the Philippines through this new partnership.”

Note: The rate is 100 Yen per 0.98 U.S. dollar, based on the exchange rate as of Nov, 2013.

 

Source: Nissan Global Co., Ltd.