Auto News 5

German carmakers are lagging behind their Japanese rivals in aftersales customer satisfaction in South Korea, according to a survey.

Hyundai's premium models now account for more than 10% of the South Korean brand's sales in Europe.

BorgWarner has opened another production plant at its campus in Ningbo, China.

The newly launched Octavia is at the heart of Skoda's strategy to boost annual sales to 1.5m, according to its CEO, Winfried Vahland talking at the unveiling of the new five-door in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic.

ZF Friedrichshafen says it will introduce a new concept for its board of management next year, with the former separation of responsibilities for corporate functions and divisions eliminated.

News 18 Dec, 2012

The new Maserati Ghibli has been spied cold weather testing in Scandinavia ahead of its 2013 launch

News 18 Dec, 2012

Infiniti has revealed that all future models will be badged as either Q or QX

Johnson Controls has filed an appeal in the bankruptcy court of the 11 December, 2012 sale order approving Wanxiang's purchase of A123 Systems.

News 14 Jan, 2013

Pictures and details of the revised BMW Z4, following its world debut at the Detroit Motor Show

Nissan's Hong Kong-based Infiniti division has announced a new system of model names to be applied from 2013.

Gearheads around the world know that car culture is facing something of an existential crisis: Kids don't seem to care all that much about cars these days.

Renault plans to build a factory in Algeria as part of its push for growth in Africa. The factory will produce vehicles in the same segment as the Symbol sedan.

Volvo is expecting roughly flat sales next year but has no plans at present to cut more staff in its production, CEO Hakan Samuelsson said.

Honda Motor Co., hit by Consumer Reports' stinging review for its Civic small car last year, got high marks for the revamped 2013 Accord that the magazine said ranks among the market's best mid-sized cars.

Toyota was the first automaker to bring a compact crossover to the U.S. market. But since 1995, Toyota's dominance of the segment has eroded. It now resides in fourth place in the segment sales race.

Infiniti is renaming its entire product portfolio for the 2014 model year, returning to the letter 'Q' from the brand's early history for every car and 'QX' for every Infiniti crossover and SUV.

Renault has given Gerard Detourbet, the man behind the no-frills Logan, a mission to devise an even cheaper vehicle program for India that can compete with such champions of frugality as Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai.

From GMM

Sebastian Vettel has admitted his teammate Mark Webber initially had a better handle of Red Bull's 2012 car.

Ultimately, on the way to collecting his third consecutive drivers' title this year, German Vettel outscored Australian Webber by more than 100 points.

And Webber won two grands prix in 2012, both in the first half of the season, compared to Vettel's five.

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber on Silverstone's podium. (Photo: WRi2)

A report in Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said Red Bull's renowned designer, Adrian Newey, "took half a season" to get the RB8 fully up to speed.

"I just felt more comfortable in the car (in the second half of the season)," Vettel explained.

"The balance was better for me than it was at the beginning, which caused problems especially in qualifying. For a long time I was not happy with the exhaust, even though it brought more downforce than the old version. I couldn't play with the car the way I wanted, to fit my driving style. I get my speed in the corners in the entry, while Mark is better at the exit. Only the last 'Coanda'-solution got me close to what we had last year," added Vettel.

From GMM

Mark Gillan, chief operations engineer, has left Williams.

Citing the confirmation of a team spokeswoman, Reuters news agency reports that Gillan - who only joined the famous British team just over a year ago - wants to "spend more time with his family".

Gillan worked for Jaguar from 2002, moving from Red Bull to Toyota in 2006 to head the Cologne based team's aerodynamics department.

Reuters claimed that, alongside Mike Coughlan and Jason Sommerville, Gillan was "one of a top technical trio credited with turning around" Williams' fortunes after its abysmal 2011 season.

Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW34. (Photo: WRi2)

From GMM

Niki Lauda is looking to tweak the Christmas holiday plans of team staff, as he bids to get Mercedes up to speed for 2013.

Germany's Bild newspaper said that, since the triple world champion started his new job as Mercedes' non-executive chairman, he often "arrives unannounced" at the team's Brackley headquarters.

The report said Lauda, 63, has concluded that "the communication between the departments of the factory is in great need of improvement".

Bild claimed that great Austrian Lauda has also been studying the vacation plans of Brackley's 450 staff, with many to be completely absent in December and January.

"Understandable after a long season," said Bild. "But that is when ideas for the new car are needed."

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W03. (Photo: WRi2)

Lauda told Welt am Sonntag newspaper: "I am in England very often; right now just to analyse things. It is interesting that Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were always in the top five at the beginning of the year, and we won in Shanghai. Everything was on track until suddenly it was completely backwards. Together with Ross Brawn we have to ensure that never happens again."

He also confirmed that Christmas will not be a period for quiet reflection.

"When everyone else is on vacation, I will use the time to do everything to bring Mercedes to the front again -- because that's where we belong," said Niki Lauda.