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Nissan North America has built the first 2013 (fifth generation) Altima at its Canton, Mississippi assembly plant.

Mazda has launched a training programme for employees of the new Mazda Motor Manufacturing de Mexico (MMMdM) plant currently under construction.

Renault is working on its own version of the Nissan Qashqai, and our exclusive images show how it could look

A new Australian light vehicle sales record for the month was set in May according to official VFACTS data compiled by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

Skoda reveals more rugged-looking variant of the Superb Estate, known as the Outdoor

Skoda reveals more rugged-looking variant of the Superb Estate, known as the Outdoor

Flammable fluids leaking from a BYD electric car battery might have contributed to a fire following a high-speed fatal crash in China last month, a U.S.-based BYD executive said.

Fiat will close its Turin headquarters for eight working days this month and in July to save money. Some 5,400 staff affected by the move will receive about 80 percent of their normal pay to remain at home.

And it turns out that this is a terrible thing. I've written a few times on Honda and Acura in the last little while, more so than Honda even knows...

I'm back on the subject because I recently returned an Insight and I was frustrated. This car is an unknown automotive gem that deserves to be experienced. Sure, the car is boring overall, but the product is simply amazing.

For $22,000, you get a 5-seater with a decent trunk that consumes no more fuel than a smart fortwo. Be warned, I'm a huge fan of the smart and one of the rare auto journos that doesn't complain about the transmission. I bring this up because the Insight is a normal car that requires neither adjustment period nor any measure of lifestyle-altering compromises.

That's it for the Insight as my review will soon be published. But as with the Insight, Honda has often been far ahead of the curve. The examples are numerous, but the ones that stick out the most are the ex-turbocharged RDX, the first-gen Honda Insight, the CR-Z, and the Fit and a few others. For every fail, there have obviously been numerous hits including the MDX and CR-V.

Honda's ahead because they have a sixth sense when it comes to future products, but they're always a generation too soon. The RDX is a perfect example where everyone is going turbo while Honda's been there, done that, and has returned to a normally aspirated powertrain. The old RDX would have taken off in 2013-14; instead, it labored on from 2007 to 2012. Sad.

2012 Honda Insight (Photo: Honda)

This situation has made me come up with the following:

In my career, I've never met anyone who hates Honda. Even back in my pre-career vdub days, the guys in my entourage recognized the value and merit of Honda engineering.

The only people that seem to dislike Honda are... Honda.

Why do they put so much R&D effort into cars and utility vehicles only to leave them rot by the wayside in dealerships? The Insight is $4,000 less than a Prius and consumes roughly the same. If the idea is to promote savings at the pumps and in wallets, why would Honda not promote their car?

What about the Fit? Same thing, more or less. I suspect this may change in the near future now that the car is made in China, but the fact is that the Fit has always been an excellent car! I'd pick one over a Civic any day. When was the last time you saw an ad on the Fit?

It's time for Honda to be proud of its other products. I swear that if ad agencies pulled Civic and CR-V ads from every media, Honda would all but disappear.

There are other manufactures that promote only one or two of their products, but the reasoning behind the decision has more to do with the product itself...

Honda: Consider this a friendly nudge.

End of rant.

From GMM

Admitting McLaren wants to keep Lewis Hamilton beyond 2012, managing director Jonathan Neale on Thursday played down claims the team's loss of form and repeated errors could convince the 2008 world champion to jump ship.

Back to top form in 2012, Hamilton admitted frustration with McLaren's repeated errors and mysterious slip in pace after yet another difficult weekend in Monaco recently.

But Neale told reporters ahead of the Canadian grand prix that he doubts the team's short-term issues will be the reason if 27-year-old Hamilton decides to leave McLaren at the end of his expiring contract.

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren. (Photo: McLaren)

"I wouldn't put the last two or three races into a professional like Lewis' mind in terms of where he's going to be comfortable in the future," he said.

"We would like Lewis to continue racing for us. We have plenty of time. We don't need to make that decision until much later this year. You have to judge the performance of the team in the long term relative to other teams and we stand fairly well placed. But I'm not going to walk away from the fact that we have to continue to work hard to eliminate mistakes and find the upgrades and performance," Neale admitted.

"Six races and six different winners -- nobody's consistent at the moment."

Three days after his accident at Le Mans, OAK Racing Team announces the prognosis is encouraging for Guillaume Moreau.

29-year-old Guillaume Moreau crashed heavily on Sunday morning driving his OAK Pescarolo LMP1. After being extracted from his car, the Frenchman was taken to hospital in Angers where he underwent an operation after a compression of the spinal cord generated by a crushing of the twelfth vertebra.

Guillaume Moreau. (Photo: OAK Racing)

"Despite the short time since the operation, there are already some positive signs," announces OAK Racing's press release. "Guillaume recovered a good feeling at the legs and a larger force compared to the examination at his arrival at the hospital. All those elements are encouraging to begin a rehabilitation appropriate to his conditions. Nevertheless, Guillaume is aware that it will be very long and that he will have to be very patient."

Laurent Mekies, Chief Engineer at Scuderia Toro Rosso, explained us in Montreal how the Italian team manages its stock of engines and gearboxes during a full season of Grand Prix racing.

“For a full season of 20 races, we have per car a stock of eight sealed engines along with transmissions that must complete five consecutive Grands Prix,” Mekies told us.

“We basically do what we want to do with the motors. We install the engine we want, when we want it. We can even install a first engine in the car and have it run as many races as we wish. The technological development of the engine is frozen, so all engines are almost identical. We do not chose one engine for a race in particular. However, it is different with the transmissions. One unit must cover five consecutive races before it gets changed,” Mekies added.

Franz Tost and Laurent Mékiès. (Photo: René Fagnan/Auto123.com)

“From our lap-time simulation software, we estimate the difference in lap times if the engine would have, for example, an additional 10 horsepower. So we determine on which circuits we need the extra horsepower from a fresh engine. Then with our engine supplier Ferrari, we plan the rotation of engines for the entire season, based on the tracks where we'll need fresh, and therefore powerful engines,” he added.

The Toro Rosso engineering team does not put into consideration if a circuit is hard on engines. In fact, the tracks where the engine makes a difference in lap times is also hard on its internal components. “The circuits where a slightly more powerful engine will make a difference are Montreal, Spa, Silverstone, Monza...” said Mekies.

Photo: Tororosso.com

Things are a bit more simple with the gearboxes. “Managing the stock of gearboxes along the season is much simpler because one has to complete five consecutive races before we change it. It's been like that for several years now, and we are now used to it,” said the French engineer.

“However, there's always a little something that can go wrong. But the current gearboxes are incredibly reliable. And that's why the F1 teams are now so big. We need a lot of people and equipment to make calculations, simulations on computers, to test the units on the dynos, to have extensive quality control, and more. There is also major investments in making better oils, lubricants and grease. Honestly, the transmissions have become extremely reliable,” Mekies ended.

From GMM

Threats to disrupt this weekend's Canadian grand prix will affect attendance, promoter Francois Dumontier has revealed.

"They said they wanted to disrupt the grand prix," Dumontier said, referring to protesting students and internet terrorists.

"They already have," he told the Montreal Gazette.

He said ticket sales began to decline precisely when the threats became international news.

Photo: WRi2

Organisers have already cancelled the traditional 'open day' on Thursday, which traditionally involves free-of-charge access for spectators including the F1 pitlane.

"I can't remember the last time we didn't sell out. It's been that long," Dumontier said.

He defended the decision to cancel the open day.

"I didn't want to jeopardise the entire weekend," Dumontier said. "Imagine if someone with bad intentions was standing in front of a driver, or an open garage? The teams have told me they understand the decision to cancel, but they say it's a shame because they enjoyed it. I took no pleasure in cancelling it."

From GMM

Spain's formula one race hosts have finally agreed to annually alternate a single grand prix date.

Spanish sports newspapers Marca and Diario Sport said the respective organisers and supporting governments of the Barcelona and Valencia races have now agreed that the country should host only one grand prix per year.

Presidents Artur Mas (Catalonia) and Alberto Fabra (Valencia) have agreed the arrangement should remain in place through 2019.

Start of the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona. (Photo: Pirelli)

But they must now await the "approval" of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who has previously said that an alternating scheme is the best solution for the calendar and for crisis-struck Spain.

Marca said the idea is that Barcelona will host the Spanish grand prix in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019, with Valencia's street circuit returning to the calendar in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

A clause in Valencia's existing contract, for the annual European grand prix, allows the race to be called the Spanish grand prix if Barcelona is not hosting F1 on the same calendar.

Following Porsche, which introduced a 7-speed manual transmission in the new 911 (991), BMW is reportedly considering a new manual with seven or more gears for future models. The company even filed a patent late last year.

Photo: BIMMERPOST

Hypothetically, an 8-speed manual transmission would need four shift gates, not to mention an extra cog for reverse, and the limited spacing between gears would increase the risk of bad shifting.

BMW's solution is to surround the gates with a magnetorheologic or electrorheologic fluid whose viscosity would change based on data from various sensors to physically block the engaging of certain gears. For instance, drivers would not be able to shift to 5th gear at 15 km/h or worse, shift to 1st gear at 120 km/h.

According to BMW, the technology can be used on a traditional manual transmission with up to eight gears as well as on a shift-by-wire (clutchless) transmission. Don't start waiting now, though, as patents can take years to see actual implementation.


_{Source: BIMMERPOST}

Speaking in front of shareholders at Tesla's annual meeting in Mountain View, California, CEO Elon Musk said that he's "highly confident" of reaching sales of 20,000 vehicles in 2013 and also generate a 25% gross margin in the near future.

Photo: Tesla Motors

Right now, the electric car manufacturer is still losing money. In fact, the $89.9 million net loss in the first quarter of 2012 is even worse than its $48.9 million loss during the same period of 2011. Musk reiterated that the 90% of the company's projected $560 million to $600 million revenue this year will come from the new Model S sedan.

The first two units were delivered last week, with a broader-scale rollout to begin later this month. Europe and Japan will follow in about six months, and then China in 2013. Tesla expects to sell 35,000 vehicles in 2014 when the Model X crossover arrives.

The Model S starts at $57,400 in the US but can go as high as $105,400 with higher-performance battery packs.


_{Source: Automotive News}

Highway patrol officers in South Korea are now giving tickets to individuals who watch TV while driving. There was already a law against it, but no sanctions were being given, except in the event of a crash.

The decision came after a TV-addicted semi-trailer truck driver caused a major accident, killing three cyclists and sending four others to the hospital. He was arrested for dangerous driving, not for watching TV while behind the wheel.

Photo: Matthieu Lambert

In-car television systems are usually locked until the vehicle comes to a full stop and the engine is turned off. However, it seems that many people have found an easy way to trick the system and enjoy their favourite shows anytime they want.

Offenders will now receive a fine of 30,000 to 70,000 won ($26 to $61). "It depends on how quickly the National Assembly passes the law, but we hope to enforce it early next year following a campaign period to enhance public awareness of the new regulation," said Lee Weong-Woo, a director at the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.

By the way, the average daily wage in South Korea is 30,160 won.


_{Source: La Presse}

As part of its 15^th anniversary, Euro NCAP will hold a special event with a focus on the availability of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems.

Numerous experts and professionals from the auto industry will be on hand at the Autoworld in Brussels to analyze the progress and safety benefits of AEB systems, which help prevent collisions or at least reduce their severity.

Euro NCAP has recently carried out a survey of car makes and models to identify which manufacturer offers which technology in Europe. The results will be presented on June 13^th.

The promoters of rally events refuse the conditions of the contracts imposed by the WRC Commission to integrate next year's calendar.

The rallies wanting to be part of the 2013 WRC calendar must sign and return the porposed contract to the FIA before Friday.

If the conditions that are imposed by the WRC Commision to be part of next season have not been revealed, it appears that an additional 100 000 euros (around 130 000 canadian dollars) must be paid to cover various costs such as timing and the promotion of the event.

The president of the French motorsport federation, Nicolas Deschaux, backed by several other promoters, is against such a contract and he has sent a letter expressing his concerns to Jarmo Mahonen, the president of the WRC commission.

Photo: WRC

"We remind you that the internal regulations of the WRC Commission states that its mission is to define the agenda of the WRC and propose it to the World Council," wrote Deschaux. "It is not reported a validation by the Commission with a condition to signing a contract with the FIA ."

"We also remind you that no constitutional power allows you, as president of the Commission, subject to defining the agenda of a rule determined by your own initiative and without a legal basis."

"Finally, the procedure you followed for the second time, by sending a contract to be signed and returned in a short time, is completely unacceptable... This is contrary to the principle of good faith that should dictate all negotiations between the FIA and organizers, some of whom are members of the FIA."

"For this reason, even beyond the important legal and regulatory issues raised in the contract that you offer, the process that you adopted must be questioned and denounced. If you insist in this way, we will consider appealing to the World Motor Sport Council to arbitrate."

Next up
What about insurance?

Québec is not Canada's only province to consider parents responsible for their kids' behaviour. The rest of the country operates much the same way; all the provinces state that parents can be held responsible for their kids' actions, as well as for the consequences.

The Éducaloi website warns that "if a minor commits a fault or acts in a way that causes injury to another person, an animal or to the property of another, the law assumes that the parents are at fault. The law presumes that the damage would never have happened if the child had been well supervised or educated properly."


Much in the same way, article 1459 of the Québec Civil code states that "a person having parental authority is liable to reparation for injury caused to another by the act or fault of the minor under his authority, unless he proves that he himself did not commit any fault with regard to the custody, supervision or education of the minor."

In other words, if your kid harms, injures or - worst - kills someone in an accident caused by alcohol, speed or aggressive behaviour, you could be held responsible. The victim could sue both of you. It would then be up to yourself to prove you were not at fault and that your child was educated the right way.

Also, don't forget that if you lost custody of your child in a divorce, you are still liable for him or her.

But why let it drift to such extremes when you can avoid dangers altogether?

For one, you could offer to taxi everyone, picking up and dropping off your kid and his friends to the prom. Or, just like back in the days, you could rent a limousine service. If that alternative sounds too expensive, maybe coupons such as CoolTaxi are the way to go for you.

Mother Against Drunk Driving (MADD) reminds people of the possibility of being held responsible for giving alcohol to a minor, or serving alcohol to an event attended by minors.

A report tells the story of a defendant, who gave his younger friend a bottle of rum, and was later held responsible, together with several other defendants, for the sum of 8.5 million dollars - after said friend crashed his car at a red light. The minor suffered heavy burns in the accident he caused.

So think again if you're about to let your teenager party at home to save him the trouble of running around; you could put yourself at risk if it ever comes up that you served alcohol to minors.