Auto News 5

Mercedes-Benz and BMW will spend heavily in the next 18 months to sponsor and advertise during high-profile sporting events -- an increasingly important marketing tool as they battle for luxury sales leadership in the United States.

With some clever advertising on Google, Subaru used interest in a top competitor, the Honda CR-V, to reduce summer inventory of aging Forester crossovers.

General Motors plans a luxury trim level for its next-generation Chevrolet Silverado pickup, its answer to the leather-swathed top offerings of its rivals.

Many consumers who are finally ready to buy a new vehicle after waiting out the recession are up for grabs.

Volkswagen's minimalist styling is the look of the future because the fad for flamboyant "overdesign" is finished, says Walter de' Silva, VW's global design chief.

J Mays says his days as an egotistical artiste-car designer are ancient history. These days, Mays, 57, feels vindicated because the 2013 Ford Fusion was a smash at the Detroit auto show, winning best-in-show raves from many critics.

Lincoln is radically revising the way it pays dealers as it seeks to reassert itself in the premium segment.

The futuristic TeRRA SUV concept that Nissan Motor Co. will show Paris auto show visitors this week may never get to a dealer showroom.

2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport First Impressions

2012 BMW M5 Review

2012 Buick Verano Review

Other very interesting topics:

• 2013 Range Rover preview
• Blog: Why driving an Audi Q5 in Germany has its perks
• Top 2012 winter tires
• Ford announces Canadian pricing for the 2013 Fusion
• 2012 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR review

German driver Michael Schumacher has been penalised for a race accident during the Grand Prix of Singapore held Sunday.

Schumacher, who drives for the Mercedes AMG team has been punished by the Singapore stewards for his collision with Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne during the race.

Schumacher receives a 10-place grid penalty for the next round in Japan.

Schumacher and Vergne both retired immediately after the Mercedes driver slammed into the back of the Frenchman's STR7 on the race's restart following the first safety-car period.

The Japanese Grand Prix takes place at Suzuka from October 5-7.

Photos: WRi2

This November, visitors at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show will get to see the production version of the all-new 2014 Acura RLX. Unveiled in concept form at the New York Auto Show earlier this year, the full-size sedan aims to make more waves than its predecessor, the Acura RL.

The 2014 RLX will pose a serious threat to other luxury sedans with sophisticated interior fit and finish, cutting-edge audio and navigation systems as well as the next-generation AcuraLink communication service, which is similar to GM's OnStar.

It will be the first-ever Acura to use the Sport Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive) system. A direct-injected 3.5L V6 engine will team up with three electric motors to boost output to 370 horsepower.

Acura will launch the new RLX in Canada in the spring of 2013.

Photo: Acura

AIKEN, SC. -- Bridgestone is a tire company. A big tire company. So big, in fact, that they build and sell just about every type of tire for self-propelled vehicles on this big green earth. Even those used for them giant dump trucks we see on the Discovery Channel.

These tires are big bucks, and so require big bucks. It's no surprise then that some of the largest consumers of these goods are mining companies, including Suncor Energy and Canadian Natural. If you've not heard of these two companies, they are the ones exploiting Canada's oil sands in the North. These oil sands give Canada the title of the third largest oil reserve in the World. Yay, us!

Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre

The ever increasing demand for oil brings with it an increase in demand for large rubber, which in turn explains why Bridgestone -- soon to be bar none the most important provider in Off-Road Radial tires (ORR) -- is establishing its first ever ORR tire plant outside of Japan.

This impressive facility is only in its infancy, but it is huge. It represents a $900 million investment from Bridgestone, which includes 545 acres of land across the road from their own Passenger/Light Truck (PSR/LTR) plant.

Although the operations set to take place here will be very industrial, it's the environment in which it will all take place that is especially noteworthy. Get this: Bridgestone will invest lots of money into restoring a local ecosystem that has all but been destroyed by humans on 400 of their 545 acres.

On those 400 acres, Bridgestone people are already hard at work planting the native Longleaf pine which has all but disappeared in the last 150 years. So far, they've planted 14,250 trees on 34 acres and will plant a further 15,100 trees this winter on 36 more acres. You read that right: A big industrial company like Bridgestone is planting trees.

But that's not all. On this site, and the one on the other side of the Bettis Academy Rd, Bridgestone will develop wildflower meadows, wetlands and set up a series of nature trails throughout the entire property. The area is home to beaver ponds, Canadian geese, wood ducks, turtles, the rare fox squirrel, and the blue bird. For this last creature, Bridgestone put together a program to build blue bird boxes to help increase this bird's numbers.

Photo: Bridgestone

Are you as dumbfounded as I am?

Wait, there's even more. Bridgestone has some lofty environmental goals that it wants to achieve by 2020 through its three objectives which include: 1) In Harmony with nature; 2) Value natural resources; and 3) Reduce CO2 emissions.

Bridgestone uses the following line as one of their mantras: “It's not just what we make that counts. How we make it matters.”

It is clear to me that Bridgestone is a highly environmentally conscientious company. It is heartwarming to see a big business spend large sums of its money on the greater good. They even donated 10,000 acres of land to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources for public access. It's amazing.

As well, they strive to achieve the highest environmental standards for their buildings. The two Bridgestone Americas tire plants, the new Americas Technical Center in Akron, Ohio, and a retail store in Tennessee are all LEED certified. The new ORR manufacturing facility is also being built to LEED specifications. These are the first tire plants in the world to earn LEED certification.

Could Bridgestone be the good guys in the tire industry? I'll let you decide.

Denny Hamlin bounced back from the disappointment from running out of fuel in Chicago last week into a dominant win in New Hampshire.

Hamlin had come into the Chase with great momentum only to run out of fuel at the end of the race last week and fall from a ninth place run to a 16th place finish.

Only the team refused let that setback ruin morale. Hamlin's team came to New Hampshire with car which was fast out of the trailer. Despite a tire mistake in qualifying Hamlin was perfect the remainder of the weekend at the top of all charts.

Team owner Joe Gibbs said “the way Denny reacted that meant a lot to his team. Last week he was real relaxed afterwards. Darian (Grubb- the crew chief) just does a great job with team. Many times that can make the difference down the road they way they (the crew) were treated.” It was the team's 100th win in Sprint Cup.

Photo: NASCAR

After the race Hamlin said “these are lightning fast race cars. I told them I had a great shot to win it. You don't what to sound too cocky but I know what I'm capable of.”

“I think we could have won everything this weekend,” added Hamlin.

At the green flag Hamlin was 28th but he carved through the field like a hot knife through butter taking the lead on lap 94 and really only threatened on restarts after cautions. There were a total of four cautions.

“We had a goal of getting to the lead by lap 100 and we, obviously, did that,” Hamlin said after his fifth victory of the year.
For the second week in-a-row five-time champion, Jimmie Johnson finished runner-up. This week he took the points lead by one point over last week's winner, Brad Keselowski who finished sixth “we just had a decent day, not a bad day made something happen at the end. The 11 car (Hamlin was just phenomenal today.

Johnson admitted “we were next best car. We knew based on the Spring race we knew they were good here.” But looking towards a sixth title he added: I think, in two races, in all we left is seven points on the table. To beat our average here and go to Dover a place I love,” meant Johnson thinks Dover is his race to lose.

Jeff Gordon, who had a disastrous outing in Chicago due to crash due to a stuck throttle, finished third after winning the pole. “It's still going to take a miracle for us to win the championship. But we have to go and race every race. There's a lot of racing and a lot of different tracks that a lot can happen at. So this is step one and we'll go to the next one.”

From press release

Williams Advanced Engineering will introduce to the public for the first time the Middle East's most advanced road safety simulator at this year's ITS & Road Safety Forum, taking place between October 2 and 4 in Doha, Qatar.

Williams Advanced Engineering in Qatar has taken the cutting edge simulator technology used by the Williams F1 Team to train its racing drivers and adapted and extended it for use as a training tool for road going vehicles. The simulator has been developed in partnership with Mowasalat, Qatar's leading transport company, and will help improve the safety, environmental efficiency, passenger comfort and cost efficiency of drivers.

The simulator has been developed and built at the Williams Technology Centre in Doha's Science and Technology Park, using the skills of local Qatari engineers and graduates. It is the most technologically advanced road safety simulator in the Middle East, benefitting from a state of the art software package called 3D Doha that accurately maps the roads of Doha and simulates realistic driving scenarios. Drivers also sit in an authentic chassis with true to life controls further adding to the simulator's realism.

Damien Scott, General Manager of the Williams Technology Centre in Qatar, indicated that the team in Doha have spent the past three years developing this simulator to help improve Qatar's road safety record.

From GMM

Sebastian Vettel clung onto Singapore victory despite a stewards enquiry late on Sunday night.

After the Red Bull driver beat McLaren's Jenson Button to the chequered flag, FIA officials looked into whether he 'brake tested' his British rival whilst behind the safety car.

"It was not intentional," the German insisted.

"You try to warm up your tyres and also try to keep the brakes at the right temperature. So it was possible that he (Button) was looking at his steering wheel and I was braking a bit abruptly and then you almost meet at a spot where you both would not want to be. Thank goodness nothing happened," added Vettel.

Sebastian Vettel wins at Singapore. (Photo: WRi2)

Button also admitted that the new championship standings runner-up did not 'brake test' him.

"I don't think it was a brake test," said Button, "because Sebastian is not a stupid driver, he knows if he brake tests me we are going to crash. I was not trying to get him penalised, I was just looking for clarification of where we are."

And Mark Webber was stripped of his championship point, for leaving the track during his pass on Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi.

From GMM

F1 cars could be fitted with a mandatory engine cover 'shark fin' next year.

The move would be designed to help television viewers and trackside spectators easier identify the drivers, in the era of deep cockpits and ever-changing helmet designs.

Mercedes tested the 'shark fin' solution at the recent Magny Cours test.

On the German squad's test car, the shark fin featured the drivers' race number, his national flag and his three-letter F1 initial.

Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team

"The teams have been working for some time on how to improve the identification of the drivers on the track," team boss Ross Brawn told Auto Motor und Sport.

"It seems to be a trend nowadays that drivers are constantly changing their helmet designs, which makes it very difficult to know who's sitting in the cars. At the moment, the requirement for the size of the race number on the car is very small. The solution with the fin at Magny Cours was an experiment. Now we need to discuss with the FIA if there are better alternatives," added Brawn.

He suggested the shark fin is not the ideal solution.

"You have to be balanced," said Brawn. "If you have something that is so dominant, is the audience being distracted from the logos of our partners and sponsors?"

Brawn also revealed that Mercedes will test its so-nicknamed 'triple DRS' concept in free practice in Japan in two weeks.

"We could use it in practice and at the moment I think it's very unlikely that we will see it in the race just yet," he said.

Auto123.com is proud to present yet another column from Canadian driver Bruno Spengler, works driver for BMW in the DTM series , featuring his thoughts on his latest victory.

Hello all!

It's a pleasure to share my thoughts with you, as we approach the end of the 2012 DTM season.

The most recent round mirrored our season, as we at BMW were discovering at Oschersleben a new track for the third consecutive time.

Photo: dtm.com

For us at BMW, that means racing with no prior data. This being said, at the Nürburgring, we earned pole and victory on an unknown track. To be fair, the same approach didn't go down so well at Zandvoort the week after.

Anyhow, at Oschersleben we hit the ground running, our development work eased by consistent weather. It's always better to work set-ups when the track is dry. On the results front, my teammate Dirk Werner proved us right, posting the fastest lap during the first free practice session. I took over from him Saturday morning.

Things were still going well in qualifying where I managed to pull a perfect lap to put my BMW M3 on pole. Similar story Sunday, where I grabbed my third win of the season, also the third for my team.

It was Bruno Spengler's birthday on August 23. (Photo: BMW)

This means we are well within the fight for the title, which is hard to believe when you think this is our first season. Still, it's not time to celebrate yet, so everyone's focus is at 110 % until the final checkered drops at Hockenheim.

Being where we are shows just how well the team can adapt. It's a great motivational boost for the guys behind me who prepare the car, work the strategy and execute the pit stops. Now we really must take it one race at a time - first Valencia, then Hockenheim - and not think too much about the title.

I'm really happy to be in the title hunt for BMW. In my DTM career, I've been in such a position five times out of seven. It's great for the fans, and great for the brand.

By the way, last week, I took part in a historic rally, the Klassik Hambourg-Berlin, at the wheel of a 1939 BMW 328. My co-driver Ulrich Knieps managed to finish 6th out of 300!

Bruno Spengler and the famous 1939 BMW 328. ( Photo: Bruno Spengler)

Other than that, these days, I also participate in driver education days, where I teach track-driving aboard a 3-series BMW. At the end of the day, my students get to experience the circuit aboard a Formula BMW.

But right now, I'm stationed in Munich at the team's headquarters where I can enjoy the legendary Oktober Fest, very popular here in Germany. BMW takes the opportunity to organize several PR events, and I get to drink lots of beer!

Then, on Thursday, I fly home and then it's Valencia a week later.

Photo: dtm.com

It's a track we know a at least a little since we tested there before the start of the season. Still, a track is always evolving so it's never twice the same. Unlike Mercedes and Audi, we're not used to dealing with the changing conditions. But that's not saying we don't stand a chance to beat them!

I should know more Sunday night!

All the best,

Bruno Spengler

www.brunospengler.com

Note: As two rounds remain, Bruno Spengler sits second in the championship standings, only 11 points adrift current leader Gary Paffett (Mercedes). A victory in the DTM series is worth 25 points.

From GMM

Hockenheim is ready to step in at short notice, should the Nurburgring be unable to organise next year's German grand prix.

The Nurburgring has been given only a conditional date on the draft 2013 schedule, due to the circuit's well-documented financial problems.

According to the alternating scheme in place between Germany's two grand prix hosts, Hockenheim - having hosted this year's race in the country - is not officially scheduled to return to the calendar until 2014.

Nurburgring track, aerial view.

But with the Nurburgring grappling with its financial problems, Hockenheim chief Georg Seiler said he is open to thinking about a 2013 event "in the right financial conditions".

"At the moment, we wait," he is quoted by the DAPD news agency. "Should there be a request, we would consider it."

Seiler said he hopes the Nurburgring's race can survive.

"It would be a real shame for them, in their difficult situation, to lose the grand prix," he nobly said.

From WRC

Volkswagen's new-for-2013 Polo R WRC went for jumping practice in Finland this week - and lead driver Sebastien Ogier said he was happy with the result.

Ogier and navigator Julien Ingrassia ran for two days on high-speed roads around the town of Jamsa, a popular pre-Neste Oil Rally Finland testing venue, as the German firm continued preparing for its assault on next year's FIA World Rally Championship.

“The test went well, we can be happy with the result,” said Ogier, who covered the planned 400-kilometre distance on two different test roads on Wednesday and Thursday. “The Polo already felt very good at high speed and when jumping although we weren't driving the final version yet.”



Volkswagen Motorsport chief Jost Capito added: “The rally tracks in Finland are famous for their fast pace and long jumps. That's why a modern WRC car, for instance, not only requires optimum traction and as much power output as possible but also safe flying properties and driving stability at high speed. Various components that have been developed based on simulations and wind tunnel tests were successfully tried out in these tests.”

Despite the test in Finland proving a success, Ogier said more work lies ahead. “We've still got a lot of work to do during the time that's left before the debut at Rallye Monte-Carlo - next week we'll already be continuing in Portugal.”

After a series of ratification meetings Saturday and Sunday in Hamilton, Windsor and Brampton, Ontario, workers at Ford Motor Company of Canada have approved a new collective agreement by 82%.

Here's the breakdown by classification:

Production - 81%
Skilled Trades - 87%
Office - 100%

Workers won't see their annual wage increase for the duration of the agreement. However, the company has committed to creating more than 600 jobs in the country.

"This new agreement will ensure that our facilities are well-positioned for a strong future in the North American auto industry." said CAW president Ken Lewenza.

GM workers are scheduled to vote this week on their own tentative agreement, while talks between Chrysler and the CAW are still underway.

Source: caw.ca