Auto News 5

The likely return to the F1 calendar of the Canadian grand prix continues to confuse, after another day of confirmation swiftly followed by denial. Full story...

Next year's World Rally Championship events have been agreed following a decision of the WRC commission today to approve the application of the candidate rally in Bulgaria. Full story...

Juan Pablo Montoya, the ex-Formula One driver, and Jeff Gordon, who drove Montoya's F-One Williams at an exhibition at Indianapolis, expressed novel reactions to the controversy roiling the Formula One circuit Full story...

Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya captured Friday, moments before rain started to fall, pole position for the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Full story...

The road-safety visions of society, politics, business and science haven now been clearly defined as "Vision Zero (Accident-Free Mobility)" and "Safety for All". The "Ko-FAS" (Cooperative Vehicle Safety) research initiative has set itself the goal of implementing these visions. It wants to make a contribution towards making accident-free mobility a reality. Full story...

Interestingly, the previously-powerful Briatore's departure from formula one has opened the floodgates to open criticism of the flamboyant former Renault boss. Full story...

An electric-powered Ford Focus is ready to race tonight on "The Jay Leno Show" (NBC, Monday through Friday, 10-11 p.m. ET) in a segment called "Green Car Challenge." Tuned to perform on a racetrack that was specifically designed for "The Jay Leno Show," the battery-electric Ford Focus will be the car used throughout the first season. Full story...

Ageless Mark Martin will be the primary driver of #5 Hendrick Motor Sports Chevrolet through 2011. Full story...

Ganassi's Scott Dixon has taken pole position of the 2009 IndyCar race presented at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan after his final effort was enough to displace Mario Moraes (KV Racing) for a surprise top spot. Full story...

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., The award-winning Elantra enters 2010 an improved weapon against gas prices, with the all-new Blue model achieving an estimated highway fuel economy rating of 35 miles per gallon. Smart engineering enhancements to the rest of the 2010 Elantra lineup improve fuel efficiency by up to four percent. These new fuel economy numbers give Elantra an advantage in price-per-MPG ratio, making it an even stronger value for 2010. Full story...

Peter Sauber has refused to rule out returning to the pitwall as the boss of the Qadbak-owned "Sauber-Ferrari" team in 2010. Full story...

FRANKFURT, - Valeo's Tri-Xenon lighting technology is being launched as a world first on the new Audi Q7. In addition to traditional high and low beams, the module has a "highway" function activated at 115 km/h which doubles the range of conventional Xenon low beams (from 80 m to 140 m), without dazzling other drivers. Full story...

Affalterbach - Pole position for the new E 63 AMG Estate: the high-performance estate develops 386 kW/525 hp, accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds, offers a maximum luggage compartment capacity of 1950 litres - all with a relatively low fuel consumption of 12.8 litres per 100 km (combined, provisional figures). With these dream figures, the new E 63 AMG Estate adds up to an extraordinary combination of driving dynamics, high utility value and superb efficiency. Full story...

Earlier this year former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya raced for points to lock into the Chase, now he's thinking about wins. Full story...

The chairman of Japan's key automaker group on Thursday current tax breaks for fuel-efficient cars have been effective in boosting sales and urged the new government to maintain them until March 2012 as planned. Full story...

The auto industry will continue to struggle because it has not cut its production capacity enough, Fiat chief Executive Sergio Marchionne told Reuters TV. Full story...

Geely Automobile Holdings has approached Magna International about a potential partnership involving Opel, a media report said. Full story...

Nissan's powertrain assembly plant in Decherd, Tennessee, on Thursday (17 September) completed the first engine for export to Japan where it will be installed in the redesigned Infiniti QX56 full-size sport utility vehicle. Full story...

Boosted by the Chinese government's consumer incentives, Nissan Motor Co believes its sales in the country to jump 18% ahead of its original targets of 570,000 vehicles in 2009. Full story...

Magna's planned buy of a majority stake in shows carmakers have lost the upper hand in the industry by outsourcing development work to suppliers and relying on them for technology, GM vice president Carl-Peter Forster said in Frankfurt. Full story...