Auto News 5

AutoNation, the nation's largest dealership group, posted higher net income for the first quarter as U.S. consumers replaced their aging vehicles at an increasing clip. AutoNation reported net income from continuing operations of $73.

NSG Automotive Group is developing a rating system that will quantify the environmental impact of automotive products throughout their life and give an insight into how this is offset during the life of the vehicle. Matthew Beecham talked with Andy Richards, Global Product Manager, Pilkington Automotive Limited to find out more.

Our spies have caught the new 800bhp V8-powered McLaren F1 hypercar testing

The current Mazda CX-9 isn't sold in the UK, but its replacement is set to come here in late 2013

New network of 40 dealers will sell Great Wall’s vehicles across Britain

Ford will suspend production at its plant in Cologne, Germany, for as many as eight days before the summer break starts in July because of falling sales in southern Europe.

General Motors says some of its suppliers have been affected following the huge explosion at Nylon 12 resin producer, Evonik's chemicals factory last month.

A baby Mercedes SLS will go into production in 2014, and it could be joined by a crossover, Auto Express has learned

Delphi has raised its 2012 earnings per share (EPS) guidance after booking first quarter net income of US$342m compared with $291m in Q1 2011 on revenue up 2.4% to $4.1bn.

New baby Porsche Boxster with mid-engined rear-wheel-drive chassis and 200bhp flat-four is planned for 2014

Data released by JATO Dynamics shows that the market leading Volkswagen Golf, Nissan's Qashqai and the new Toyota Yaris are the only models in the top ten sellers to have recorded improved sales in March.

PSA Peugeot Citroën has posted first-quarter 2012 group revenues of EUR14.3bn (US$18.9bn) down 7% and reflecting continuing European recession.

The CO2 emissions threshold for cars that qualify for road tax exemption could be lowered from 99g/km to 85g/km

Johnson Controls has appointed Brian Kesseler to the newly created position of chief operating officer (COO) for the company's 'Power Solutions' business - automotive batteries.

New Aston Martin DBS gets One-77-inspired look and a power boost to 550bhp

Insurance company leaves reader without a courtesy car after her Vauxhall Zafira was written off in a collision with uninsured driver

Peugeot has previewed an SUV-styled variant of the brand's recently launched 208 subcompact hatchback with the Urban Crossover Concept.

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone has revealed he was not happy Bahrain organisers used the acronym 'F1' in its political slogan for last weekend's race.

The F1 chief executive was highly supportive of the island Kingdom's intensely controversial return to the sport's calendar, insisting Bahrain will retain its grand prix "forever".

But when asked about the banners around the Sakhir circuit and the island Kingdom that read 'UniF1ed', 81-year-old Ecclestone admitted to the Mirror: "We never put it there. We told them to take it down, not to use it. I saw other things, not like that."

Photo: Bahraingp.com

But Sakhir circuit chief Zayed Alzayani wore a cap bearing the slogan throughout the grand prix weekend, even when in Ecclestone's company.

Briton Ecclestone, however, denied the Bahrain slogan only intensified the opposition's anger.

"Before they started using that slogan there was trouble about F1," he insisted. "People make excuses but there are only two sports where politics come into it; us and the Olympics because the profile is big enough. There was a big golf match in Bahrain before F1 arrived and there was no problems there. We are not here to tell people how to run their country."

Ecclestone, however, was angry with some of F1's British journalists in Bahrain, following their harsh criticism of the decision to push ahead with the race.

"I saw Bernie get angry in the press room with some British journalists," revealed O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper correspondent Livio Oricchio. "I had never seen him that angry."

From Lotus

Lotus is proud to present the official video of its LMP2 endurance team created by Daniel Simon.

Hollywood designer Daniel Simon, who is known for movies like Tron: Legacy and the famous black and gold livery of the Lotus LMP2 car, visited the inaugural race of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship and accompanied the Lotus team day and night.

This clip shares moments of the Lotus team at the 12 Hours of Sebring where the crew finished in 6th place in the LMP2 category and 10th overall at their very first endurance race.

French driver Simon Pagenaud showed again just how good he is by taking second place at the Long Beach Grand Prix IndyCar race. He's been racing for a while now, in the States and around the world.

The Frenchman's career started out in 2001, with a drive in the Formula Campus series. Soon he moved to Formula Renault 2.0 - for a string of runner up titles: twice in the national championship in 2002 and 2003, than once in the Eurocup in 2004.

In 2005, he graduated to Formula Renault 3.5, a year before he moved to the States.

Simon Pagenaud during his Formula Atlantic days. (Photo: WRI2)

In 2006, as a 22-year-old, the Poitiers-native took top honours in the Formula Altantic series, driving for Team Australia. It allowed him to move up in 2007 to the affiliated Champ Car World Series, in which he finished seventh in his rookie season.

In 2008, the merger between Champ Car and IndyCar forced him to rethink his career path. Still in the States, he took a drive in the American Le Mans Series to race the Acura-powered ARX-01b LMP2 prototype of De Ferran Motorsports alongside his boss Gil de Ferran.

Winning the ALMS title with Honda. (Photo: WRI2)

In 2009, the two stepped up to the LMP1 class, winning five races on their way to second place in the championship. It must have caught the eyes of Acura's head of states, because Pagenaud was signed by the brand's official Highcroft Racing team ahead of the 2010 season - in which he took the P1 title with David Brabham.

The 2009 season also saw Pagenaud commit to racing in Europe with Peugeot. At the wheel of the turbo diesel 908, he won rounds in the Le Mans Series, at Spa in 2009, and at Silverstone in 2011. Four participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans yielded second place as a best result, in 2011.

That same year, on top of racing for Highcroft on and off, Pagenaud went back to open-wheel, in the IndyCar series, taking part in the Barber, Mid Ohio and Sonoma rounds.

At the end of 2011, Pagenaud replaced Simona de Silvestro. (Photo: WRI2)

Encouraging performances at those venues convinced Sam Schmidt Motorsports to give Pagenaud a full-time drive in 2012, at the wheel of their Dallara DW12-Honda.

So far this year, he's taken sixth place at the season-opener in St. Petersburg, a fifth at Barber and a podium in the streets of Long Beach. Although Pagenaud missed out on the win, by hair, his spectacular drive through the field was a highlight of the race.

Strong showings have Pagenaud third in the standings, but whether he can run with the top guys on ovals, which will be crucial if he is to challenge for the overall title, remains to see.