Auto News 5

Mitsubishi Motors has completed the sale of its wholly owned car plant subsidiary in the Netherlands to the country's VD Leegte Beheer for EUR1, in line with an agreement reached in July.

Hyundai Mobis is beginning operations at a Slovakian plant to produce core brake control systems for 600,000 cars per year.

Toyota Boshoku's European unit has raised its stake in a Polish joint venture to make it a subsidiary to strengthen its management base in Europe.

News 17 Dec, 2012

Leaked patent images give us our first glimpse at the production-ready Renault Captur crossover

Administrators handling London black cab producer, Manganese Bronze Holdings, say they remain hopeful the business will be sold as a going concern.

News 17 Dec, 2012

The final version of the Lexus LF-A supercar has been built in Japan

News 17 Dec, 2012

The facelifted Renault Scenic range will include a four-wheel-drive MPV

In line with plans to strengthen European R&D, Toyota Motor Europe (TME) has announced several executive appointments at its headquarters in Brussels and at its UK plant, from 1 January 2013.

Singapore's Gallant Venture is reported to have signed a conditional purchase agreement for a majority stake in PT Indomobil Sukses Internasional, Indonesia's second largest vehicle distributor.

Last week's premiere of General Motors' redesigned full-sized pickups spotlighted the divergent truck strategies of GM and its Detroit 3 rivals.

Toyota will roll out Tundra and Corolla redesigns next year and will revise the RAV4, Avalon and Highlander, but there are some things the division probably won't do.

UAW President Bob King said he expects few defections by his members when Michigan's right-to-work law takes effect in March. Unionized workers at parts suppliers will be among the first to test King's confidence.

Four recalls on the redesigned 2013 Ford Escape crossover, on the heels of embarrassing technology glitches and delays introducing other important models, have raised concerns about Ford's launch processes.

By calling for cleaner gasoline to help reduce tailpipe emissions, automakers again have put themselves on a collision course with the oil industry. Automakers say they are willing to follow California rules across the United States.

Consumers now have unprecedented Internet access to vehicle prices, so some dealers are turning to an old retail concept: no-dicker selling.

Nissan admits its launch strategy on the Leaf miscalculated the short-term market potential for the electric vehicle and says it will do a better job of targeting potential buyers.

The biggest car manufacturer of South Korea plans to make a return to the FIA World Rally Championship in 2014 with the i20 model. Here's a video of the test European test of the new world rally car.

The prototype of the i20 WRC was unveiled at the Paris international auto show in September. After a shakedown in South Korea, the car was shown in public at a test ground locate near Frankfurt, Germany.

Several medias were invited to attend the event. Hyundai's test driver Kwang Il-Song was behind the wheel of the i20 druing the two days of the test.

From GMM

Romain Grosjean insists his formula one career remains "on track".

His comments follow a period of intense speculation, amid suggestions Lotus - and sponsor Total - are considering dropping the 26-year-old after his often impressive yet tumultuous 2012 season.

Some good news for Grosjean, however, is that he won the prestigious Race of Champions event in Bangkok at the weekend, beating the likes of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.

Romain Grosjean, winner of the 2012 Race of Champions. (Photo: Race of Champions)

Lotus celebrated the 26-year-old's "emphatic" triumph with a lengthy press release.

As for his F1 career, "Things are on track," the Frenchman is quoted as saying by L'Equipe.

"I hope everything turns out well and I am able to put into practice what I learned this year. I hope to be stronger next season. Normally, you say that the first year is about learning, but F1 is a little different. We went through ups and downs this season, but I learned a thousand things. I had a good start but also went through some difficult times. Ultimately, the team allowed me to grow and I became a better driver. I hope to continue to learn next year," added Romain Grosjean.

Here is a video of the moment moments of the 2012 ROC, Race of Champions held last weekend at at Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium.

Lotus Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean put in a stunning performance to eclipse 15 fellow superstars of motorsport and win the Race Of Champions.

Following Team Germany's victory over Team France in last night's ROC Nations Cup, the Race Of Champions pitted many of the biggest names in motorsport against each other in head-to-head combat in a variety of different cars.

In the end, Grosjean overcame Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen in the best-of-three Grand Final to become Champion of Champions for the first time.

From GMM

Marussia team owner Nikolai Fomenko has confirmed speculation British rookie Max Chilton will make his formula one debut in 2013.

Fomenko, the head of Russian supercar Marussia who bought into the then Virgin team at the end of 2010, was asked by Russian journalists the identity of the driver replacing Caterham-bound Frenchman Charles Pic.

International reports, including RMC (France), Speed Week (Switzerland) and MTV3 (Finland) say Fomenko answered Chilton's name, the GP2 driver whose wealthy father Grahame is the chairman of the Aon company.

Max Chilton aboard the Marussia MR01. (Photo: WRi2)

The reports said Chilton comes with a financial contribution of EUR 11.5 million.

Meanwhile, Fomenko dismissed reports Marussia is weighed down with US $125 million in debt.

"We have debts, but not $125m, as I read recently," he insisted.