Auto News 5

The South Korean labor union of Hyundai narrowly voted in favor of a wage deal, averting more strikes and production losses at the automaker that has led to its first monthly sales drop in over three years.

Magna Steyr says it will not install a Polish production facility in Warsaw "for the time being" following widespread reports it could manufacture Mini and Infiniti models there from 2015.

PSA Peugeot Citroen has appointed Maxime Picat as managing director of its Peugeot brand, replacing Vincent Rambaud who is leaving the group for personal reasons.

Hyundai Motor Company is poised to move into the Myanmar market to tap what is understood to be enormous growth potential, according to media reports.

News 4 Sep, 2012

Mercedes Aesthetics S Paris Motor Show concept previews new S-Class

Pictures 4 Sep, 2012

China's policy of requiring foreign car makers to form local joint ventures is "like opium" for local firms and is failing to foster world-class indigenous automakers, according to a former minister.

Volkswagen hopes a sleek makeover for its seventh-generation Golf will help it remain a best-selling compact car and allow the automaker to achieve its aim of overtaking General Motors and Toyota in global sales.

Volkswagen hopes a sleek makeover for its seventh-generation Golf, to be unveiled in Berlin today, will help it remain a best-selling compact car and allow the automaker to achieve its aim of overtaking General Motors and Toyota in global sales.

Bill Pollack was one of the founding drivers during the early days of sports car racing on the West Coast of America.

AvtoVAZ has revealed the replacement for the 1110-series Lada Kalina, the B-segment car that has been the Russian market's best selling vehicle for the year to date.

Monthly new-car registrations fell again in Germany, France and Italy in August with mass-market brands hit hardest as southern countries bore the brunt of the euro zone debt crisis and its withering effect on consumer demand.

Suzuki plans to cut production at its car factory in Hungary. The automaker cited the "dire business environment" for the decision."

On Monday, three new Audi board members joined the company from different brands within the Volkswagen Group.

From GMM

BMW has ruled out returning to formula one in the "medium term".

"There are currently no plans," said the German carmaker's motor sport director Jens Marquardt, whose predecessor was the well-known F1 figure Mario Theissen.

BMW, having collaborated first with Williams and then Sauber between 2000 and 2009, pulled out of formula one three years ago.

Robert Kubica aboard the 2009 BMW Sauber. (Photo: BMW Motorsport)

"In July of 2009, a very clear decision was made," Marquardt told the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell. "This (decision) stands. We are very well positioned in terms of our motor sport programme and this is not going to change at all in the medium term."

BMW returned to the premier German touring car series DTM this year.

Bruno Spengler, BMW M3 DTM. (Photo: BMW Motorsport)

As the third of five all-new Nissan vehicles being introduced in a 15-month period, the 2013 Nissan Sentra will appeal to compact car buyers and their wallet with a 13% improvement in fuel economy over the outgoing model.

2013 Nissan Sentra (Photo: Nissan)

The Japanese automaker has announced a rating of 4.9L/100km on the highway and a best-in-class 5.8L/100km combined rating.

Nissan engineers pulled it off by shaving 150 pounds while still offering more interior room than the 2012 model.

The 2013 Nissan Sentra is motivated by an advanced 1.8L DOHC four-cylinder engine with a next-generation Xtronic CVT for greater efficiency and driving pleasure.

Available features include 17'' alloy wheels, fog lights, a chrome exhaust tip finisher and a rear spoiler with integrated LED brake lights, just to name a few. Let's not forget NissanConnect with navigation, hands-free text messaging assistant and POIs powered by Google.

Pricing for the 2013 Nissan Sentra has yet to be revealed. Check it out in showrooms this fall.

2013 Nissan Sentra (Photo: Nissan)

From GMM

Jenson Button has revealed he is "disappointed" Lewis Hamilton gave away McLaren secrets last weekend at Spa.

In trying to show his million Twitter followers why he was so much slower than the sister McLaren in qualifying, Hamilton published a highly-confidential telemetry image that also contained sensitive information about ride heights and acceleration rates.

The 2008 world champion was reportedly scolded behind closed doors for the breach, although team boss Martin Whitmarsh and communications chief Matt Bishop have been trying to play down the affair.

Telemetry sheet published by Hamilton and broadcasted by Eurosport.

"Very surprised and, yes, disappointed," Button answered when asked how he feels about the Hamilton incident. "We work so hard to improve the car and to keep things like that secret and private. I didn't want to see it on Twitter. It was the whole telemetry from qualifying."

Jenson Button also said he thought Hamilton was making an irrelevant point about the 6 tenth top-speed difference between the new and old wing specifications.

"He (Hamilton) should be gaining it back in the corners because he's got more downforce on. And I was eight tenths quicker in qualifying anyway," Button insisted.

Gary Anderson, a former F1 technical chief who now works for the British broadcaster BBC, said the fact Hamilton opened a "cupboard" of McLaren secrets to the world "shows how naive" the Briton is, and "how little he understands the big picture".

McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe played down the damage.

"The data in there isn't any great use to anyone, so I don't think there is much damage done," he said.

But the BBC cited an unnamed engineer who said rival teams could 'work out how McLaren were running their car' from the telemetry sheet.

Former long-time McLaren driver David Coulthard wrote in the Telegraph: "Teams go to great lengths to protect that sort of information. I remember when I started out there used to be bin hokers who would go through the rubbish bins of rival teams on a Monday after a race, searching for just such telemetry. Nowadays everyone has shredders in their motor homes and high-tech security on their computers. It's another lesson learned for Lewis, I'm afraid."

Former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari added: "I would never do something like this because it is a kick in the teeth to confidentiality, to yourself and to your team, who are all working so you can do your best and the company can improve."

It's no secret: I like to make fun of Toyota Corollas; and I'm not the only one. It's a bit of a running gag in the auto-journalism world. We poke fun at the model, particularly in the beige paint, for lack of driving, parking and auto skills in general. It's just something we do.

Despite our ribbing on the Toyota Corolla, it's about to close in on the 40-million-sold mark (since 1966). That means it's outsold the Beetle (which is close to the 22 million mark). Since the beginning of this year, Toyota has sold over 25,000 Corollas already in Canada alone. The numbers are staggering (and quite alarming for other motorists on the road...).

So, obviously their marketing gurus are doing something right. Or are they?

I recently saw a Toyota Corolla commercial that got me thinking. It didn't hit me the first time I saw the commercial, it took a few viewings. Here, watch it for yourself, first:



My first thought was: Cool shoes, dude; unfortunate choice of vehicle. Upon my second or third viewing of the commercial it hit me: What is Toyota trying to say here? That James chose the same shoes (and by association, car) as a 90-year-old woman? Um, how is that helping your case, Toyota? James gets mad props from granny on his kicks, but she doesn't even look at his car (another neg on the Corolla).

I know marketing is a complex, full-of-twists-and-turns kind of business, and I make no illusions about understanding the ins-and-outs of it all, but I gotta wonder what was going through Toyota's marketing team's brain when they came up with the Corolla grandma/shoes commercial. Especially when companies like Dodge are coming out with uber cool commercials like this:



As the fourth best-selling car in Canada, I highly doubt this one commercial will hurt the car's sales (especially since most who see it will have the first initial reaction that I did: Cool shoes, dude.). But it might, subconsciously, dissuade younger buyers from getting behind the wheel of a brand new Toyota Corolla.

I may not be a marketing guru, but I am a consumer and a potential Toyota Corolla buyer (did I really just write that?), so my reaction to their latest commercial surely isn't unique. What do you think?

After Autolib', Car2go and DriveNow, here's Multicity - a new carsharing service launched by Citroën in Berlin. A hundred Citroën C-Zero cars will soon be available to users across the German capital.

Just like Autolib' in Paris, Multicity doesn't require a subscription. Rather, there are monthly packages starting at €10 - or you can just pay for each time you use one of the cars.

The service also includes access to reserved parking spaces and free charging through the RWE network.

Berlin hopes to expand Multicity to 500 Citroën cars in the near future.

Source: voitureelectrique.net

Citroën C-Zero (Photo: Citroën)

From GMM

British Formula 1 team McLaren could get involved in the FIA's new electric-only open wheeler series Formula E.

The series, featuring single seaters powered only by electric motors, will debut in 2014 and race in the centre of cities on street circuits.

Formulec EF01 electric (Photo: Formulec)

"Who knows, we might pop up in it," Martin Whitmarsh, boss of the famous Formula 1 team McLaren, told Reuters.

"I think it's a good initiative and we'd be delighted in whatever form to be involved with it."

Asked if that means there will be an electric McLaren team on the Formula E grid, Whitmarsh confirmed: "At some point, yes. But that's not at the moment."