Auto News 5

Ryan Truex took a serious option today on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series title, a possible second for him, by winning the New Hampshire 125 at the Loudon oval on Friday. Full story...

The programme F1 in Schools will determine a new champion during this upcoming week. The Canadian National Champions will be in Singapore from the 18 to the 24th to convince the World that their 1/20-scale Eclipse F1 car is the best there is. Full story...

Tony Stewart, the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, set the best time Saturday morning in the first of two practice sessions for the NASCAR Sprint Cup held at the ost flat, one-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Full story...

Lotus commemorated their successful relationship with Toyota today (17th September) at a celebration at the British Embassy in Tokyo where Lotus CEO Dany Bahar presented Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda with a specially equipped Lotus Elise powered by the last ever Toyota 2ZZ-GE VVTL-i engine. The occasion marked the end of an era and the start of an even stronger relationship between the two companies. Full story...

When Porsche realized some years back that most of its owners parked their 911's and Boxsters next to a premium SUV in the garage, the German sports car maker set out to create one such model. The end result was the Cayenne-- an off-road capable 4x4 built by a brand famous for world-class, high-performance coupes. Full story...

An executive at Daimler AG's U.K. truck unit was arrested by police as part of a cartel probe by British antitrust regulators. Ian Jones, the head of the U.K. Mercedes-Benz truck division, was detained by police earlier this week. Full story...

AutoTrader.com, a third-party auto classified site, has purchased vAuto Inc., a software company that specializes in used-vehicle inventory management tools. The amount was undisclosed. Full story...

General Motors Co. is evaluating new investments in North American plant capacity to ease short supplies of key vehicles, Mark Reuss, the automaker's North American president, said today. Full story...

General Motors will invest $483 million to make the current and next-generation Ecotec four-cylinder engine at the Spring Hill plant in Tennessee. Full story...

WITH VIDEO -- Red Bull Racing's X1 Prototype, designed by Adrian Newey and tested by Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel, will be included in the Gran Turismo 5 video game set to go on sale in November. Full story...

A helicopter crashed near the summit of Pike's Peak in Colorado on Friday while filming a test run of Audi's self-guided vehicle. Full story...

A helicopter carrying a crew crashed early today while filming an experimental Audi sports car going up Pikes Peak without a driver. An Audi spokesman said the pilot was airlifted to a hospital. Full story...

Saab's first-ever electric car will debut on the Swedish automaker's stand at the Paris motor show Sept. 30. Full story...

In today's News Brake, our thoughts on an Alfa-based Dodge Viper, Carl Edwards joins the Race of Champions, and the Automotive X-Prize names the winners ... But Wait, There's More! Full story...

Foreign automakers may have to share innovative electric-vehicle technology with Chinese companies in exchange for access to the nation's growing light-vehicle market, according to the The Wall Street Journal. Full story...

Saab's first-ever electric car will debut on the Swedish automaker's stand at the Paris motor show late this month. Full story...

Ford Motor Co. is taking the 2011 F-150 pickup on the road for a seven-city drive program to compare its redesigned engines to those of competitors. Full story...

Audi is developing an extended-range electric vehicle that uses a rotary engine to recharge the batteries. The automaker is testing prototypes based on the A1 e-tron concept, which debuted in March at the Geneva auto show. Full story...

Fiat has appointed former Toyota Europe sales chief Andrea Formica as CEO of its passenger-car brand. Full story...

A combination of my bad knee playing up, inspection of the tea leaves left in the newsdesk cup and one of those-omits-more-than-it-tells press releases one occasionally gets from automakers has me a bit worried about yet another UK vehicle assembly plant this Friday afternoon. I hope I'm wrong. Full story...