1989 in motoring - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

United Kingdom

1980s

File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...

draws to a close, many British manufacturers have new models on the way for a new decade

1990s

File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...

. The most significant of these is the latest incarnation of the Ford Fiesta

Ford Fiesta

The Ford Fiesta is a front wheel drive supermini/subcompact manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company and built in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India, Thailand and South Africa...

. It uses the same floorplan as the original 1976 version, but an entirely new bodyshell which for the first time is available with five doors as well as three. The range will run from an economical 1.0 unit to a 1.6 8-valve CVH powerhouse which will fit under the bonnet of the sporty XR2i, which has fuel injection. There will also be a well-equipped 1.4 Ghia with electric front windows and the option of anti-lock brakes. It is competitively priced, modern-looking and offers a wide range of engines and trim levels, and it looks set to continue the old model's outstanding sales success.

For Rover Group plc

MG Rover Group

MG Rover was the last domestically owned mass-production car manufacturer in the British motor industry. The company was formed when BMW sold the car-making and engine manufacturing assets of the original Rover Group to the Phoenix Consortium in 2000....

the big news of 1989 was the launch of an entirely new 200 Series

Rover 200 Series

The Rover 200 Series, and the later Rover 25, were a series of small car models produced by the Austin Rover Group, and latterly the Rover Group and MG Rover....

, which unlike the previous four-door saloon, is a hatchback available with three or five doors. The saloon version goes on sale in the new year. The new 200 Series is powered by an excellent range of new K-Series petrol engines ranging from 1.4 to 2.0 litres. There will also be a 1.8 turbo-diesel. Equipment levels and interior design are both impressive, and the car is competitively priced considering its packaging and technical innovation. The hatchback is marketed as a Ford Escort rival, but the slightly larger saloon will be competing against the likes of the Ford Sierra

Ford Sierra

The Ford Sierra is a large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....

and Vauxhall Cavalier

Vauxhall Cavalier

The Vauxhall Cavalier is a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall Motors, the British division of General Motors , from 1975 to 1995...

. The launch of these new model ranges will see Maestro

Austin Maestro

The Austin Maestro is a compact-sized 5-door hatchback car that was produced from 1983 to 1994, initially by the Austin Rover subsidiary of British Leyland , and from 1988 onwards by its successor, Rover Group. The car was produced at the former Morris plant in Cowley, Oxford. It was initially...

and Montego

Austin Montego

The Austin Montego is a British mid-size saloon car that was produced by the Austin Rover subsidiary of British Leyland , and its successors, from 1984 until 1994. The Montego was the replacement for the Morris Ital, to give British Leyland a modern competitor for the Ford Sierra and Vauxhall...

production pruned back, while a new version of the Metro will go on sale next year.

Jaguar

Jaguar (car)

Jaguar Cars Ltd, known simply as Jaguar , is a British luxury car manufacturer, headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England. It is part of the Jaguar Land Rover business, a subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors....

has become part of the Ford combine

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

, five years after being privatised in its sell-off from British Leyland. There were no new car launches for Jaguar in 1989, but the next two years will see the re-introduction of the XJS cabriolet

Jaguar XJS

The Jaguar XJ-S is a luxury grand tourer produced by the British manufacturer Jaguar from 1975 to 1996. The XJ-S replaced the E-Type in September 1975, and was based on the XJ saloon. It had been developed as the XK-F, though it was very different in character from its predecessor...

as well as an all-new sports car - the XJ220

Jaguar XJ220

The Jaguar XJ220 is a mid-engined supercar produced by Jaguar in collaboration with Tom Walkinshaw Racing as Jaguar Sport between 1992 and 1994. It held the record for the highest top speed of a production car , until the arrival of the McLaren F1 in 1994...

- which is set to be the fastest production car in the world.

Vauxhall

Vauxhall Motors

Vauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...

has re-entered the coupe market, eight years after the Cavalier Sport Hatch

Vauxhall Cavalier

The Vauxhall Cavalier is a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall Motors, the British division of General Motors , from 1975 to 1995...

went out of production. The new entrant in this sector is the Calibra, which is based on the front-wheel drive chassis of the latest Cavalier. It uses the Cavalier's 2.0 8-valve and 16-valve engines, and a turbocharged version with four-wheel drive is due in 1991.

France

Renault

Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

has enjoyed success in Europe's most competitive car sector with the launch of its R19

Renault 19

The Renault 19 is a small family car that was produced by the French car manufacturer Renault between 1988 and 2000.-Overview:The R19 was launched on September 1988 as the replacement for the 9 and 11, both of which were ageing and outdated by the late 1980s...

range, a three- and five-door hatchback aimed at the likes of the Ford Escort and Volkswagen Golf

Volkswagen Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is a small family car manufactured by Volkswagen since 1974 and marketed worldwide across six generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada , and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico .The...

. It succeeds the outdated R9 and R11 ranges, and is powered by 1.4 and 1.7 petrol engines as well as a 1.9 diesel. A 16-valve version of the 1.7 engine is expected later, as is a cabriolet bodystyle.

Peugeot

Peugeot

Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...

has launched its first serious rival for the BMW 5 Series

BMW 5 Series

The BMW 5 Series is a mid-size / executive car manufactured by BMW since 1972. The car, now in its sixth generation, is sold in sedan and touring body styles....

in the shape of its new 605

Peugeot 605

The Peugeot 605 is an executive car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot between 1989 and 1999, with a facelift in 1995.-History:The 605 was a saloon/sedan built on the same platform as the Citroën XM, and was successor to the unsuccessful Peugeot 604 which went out of production 4 years...

range. A four-door saloon with 2.0 four-cylinder and 2.9 V6 petrol engines as well as a 2.1 turbo-diesel, the 605 is a stylish, comfortable, spacious and well-equipped executive cruiser with excellent ride and handling. It is also more competitively priced than most other cars in its sector, and could be the much-needed answer to Peugeot's need to succeed outside its homeland with large cars.

Citroen

Citroën

Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...

has replaced its long-running CX

Citroën CX

The Citroën CX is an automobile produced by the French automaker Citroën from 1974 to 1991. Citroën sold nearly 1.2 million CXs during its 16 years of production. The CX was voted European Car of the Year in 1975....

range with the all-new XM

Citroën XM

The Citroën XM is an executive car that was produced by the French automaker Citroën between 1989 and 2000. Citroën sold 333,775 XMs during the model's 11 years of production...

. It is the most distinctive and characterful Citroen currently on sale, with its quirky wedge shape and self-levelling oleo-pneumatic suspension which allows for an excellent ride quality. The interior is spacious, well-equipped and comfortable. Its engines are all sourced from the less distinctive Peugeot 605, but unlike its Peugeot twin the XM is available as an estate as well as a saloon. The saloon is a practical and spacious car, but the estate is one of the world's most capacious load carriers.

Germany

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

has launched an all-new version of its SL sports car for the first time in 18 years. The latest version is available with a 3.0 V6 or 5.0 V8, both of which offer high performance, superb handling, rock solid build quality, cast-iron reliability, luxurious equipment and unbeatable exclusivity. It is a real rival for the Porsche 911

Porsche 911

The Porsche 911 is a luxury 2-door sports coupe made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a distinctive design, rear-engined and with independent rear suspension, an evolution of the swing axle on the Porsche 356. The engine was also air-cooled until the introduction of the Type 996 in 1998...

, and offers much more in the way of refinement than its German rival.

BMW

BMW

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...

has replaced the 13-year-old 6 Series

BMW 6 Series

BMW 6 Series refers to several generations of executive coupés produced by BMW.The first was the E24, being derived from the E12 & E28 5 Series 4-door sedans. The E24 launched in 1976 to replace the 3.0CS & 3.0CSi . 14 years later, in 2003, BMW released the all new E63/E64 which was available as a...

with the entirely new 850i

BMW 8 Series

The BMW 8 Series is a V8- or V12-engined 2-door 2+2 coupe built by BMW from 1989 to 1999. While it did supplant the original E24 based 6 Series in 1991, a common misconception is that the 8 Series was developed as a successor...

. The 6 Series bore a strong family resemblance to the BMW range of its era, but the new 850i is an individually designed grand tourer with a swift 5.0 V8 engine and sports car qualities which make it a match for some Ferrari

Ferrari

Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...

s. Equipment levels, build quality, reliability and comfort are all superb, with an excellent chassis to match. There are proposals for an ultra-quick M8 sports car, but convertible fans will be disappointed to hear that BMW has no plans for an open-top version of the 8 Series.

Italy

The Fiat Regata

Fiat Regata

The Fiat Regata is the saloon version of the Fiat Ritmo small family car, produced by Italian automaker Fiat. It was produced from 1983 to 1990, corresponding to the post-facelift Ritmo. The Regata had a choice of three gasoline and two diesel engines...

saloon and "Weekend" estate have ceased production to be replaced by the Tipo-based

Fiat Tipo

The Fiat Tipo is a small family car designed by the IDEA design house and produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat between 1988 and 1995.The Tipo was initially available only as a five-door hatchback. The car was made entirely out of galvanized body panels to avoid rust, and was built on a...

Tempra

Fiat Tempra

The Fiat Tempra is a small family car produced by Italian automaker Fiat from 1990 to 1998. The Tempra was intended as a replacement for the Fiat Regata. The original project was called Tipo 3, being a mid-size car between the Fiat Tipo and the bigger Fiat Croma...

saloon and "Station Wagon". It is powered by the same 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 petrol engines which power the more upmarket Tipo models, but offers a bigger boot. The Station Wagon comes with the option of seven seats, which makes it a credible rival for the Peugeot 505

Peugeot 505

The Peugeot 505 is a large family car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1979 to 1992 in Sochaux, France. The 505 was Peugeot's last rear-wheel drive car...

family estate. UK sales begin in the New Year.

Lancia

Lancia

Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more...

has launched a new saloon version of the Delta

Lancia Delta

The Lancia Delta is a small family car produced by Italian automaker Lancia with the first generation being produced between 1979 and 1994, the second generation running from 1993 until 1999, and the third generation Delta entering production in 2008. It was first shown inFrankfurt Motor Show in 1979...

- the Dedra

Lancia Dedra

The Lancia Dedra is a compact executive car produced by the Italian automaker Lancia from 1989 to 2000. It was initially designed to support, and later to replace, the Prisma that, six years after its launch, was having difficulties to keep in pace with its latest opponents...

- to replace the outdated Prisma

Lancia Prisma

The Lancia Prisma was a midsize car built by Lancia in the 1980s. It was basically a sedan version of the Lancia Delta, and like its smaller hatchback "brother", shared its chassis and engines with the Fiat Ritmo and Regata...

. It uses the same engine and chassis as the hatchback, and is also available with a 2.0 turbo engine from the brilliant Delta Integrale. The Dedra has a massive boot and a spacious, comfortable interior, as well as the distinctive Lancia styling which makes the marque's whole range stand out from the mainstream crowd.

Japan

Mazda

is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...

has sparked off fresh interest in the almost dead roadster market across Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

with the launch of its new MX5 two-seater roadster. It offers a distinctive style harking back to the 1968 Lotus Elan

Lotus Elan

Lotus Elan is the name of two convertible cars and one fixed head coupé produced by Lotus Cars. The original Type 26, 26R Racing version , 36R Racing version , 36 Fixed Head Coupe, 45 Drop Head Coupe, and the "Type 50" +2 Coupe, circa 1962 to 1975, are commonly known as the '60s Elans...

, and is seen by many as what a modern day MG sports car should have been. Its 1.6 engine offers performance more akin to a hot hatchback than a sports car, but its ride and handling are excellent and it is in keeping with the Mazda tradition of excellent build quality.

Nissan has launched an all-new 200SX

Nissan 200SX

From 1995 to 1998 Nissan applied the name "200SX" to two different lines of automobiles in different markets these years.In 1995, Nissan reintroduced the 200SX nameplate in United States and Canada to designate a two-door version of the Nissan Sentra , known in Japan and Mexico as Lucino, replacing...

2+2 sports coupe to compete with the Honda Prelude

Honda Prelude

The Honda Prelude was a sports coupe produced by Japanese automaker Honda from 1978 until 2001. It replaced the Honda S800, a front-engined, front wheel drive sports car...

and Toyota Celica

Toyota Celica

The Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of coupes made by the Japanese company Toyota. The name is ultimately derived from the Latin word coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial"....

. It is powered by a 2.0 16-valve turbo engine and is capable of nearly 140 mph. Ride and handling are also excellent, though the power-assisted steering is a bit over-light for some tastes. The exterior's superb styling is not carried through to the interior, where masses of grey plastic give it a very downmarket look.

United Kingdom

France

Germany

Italy

Japan

See also