Auto News 5

The Chrysler brand will end production of its minivan, the Town and Country, in two years and replace it with a smaller crossover. The switch is part of CEO Sergio Marchionne's plan to differentiate the Chrysler brand and nudge it upscale.

Alan Batey isn't getting comfy in his role as General Motors' interim chief marketing officer. "Longer term, I don't think you're going to see me as the CMO," Batey told Automotive News. He is also GM's vice president of U.S. sales and service

Nissan's Infiniti luxury brand has had a lot going for it in the past 23 years. But there is also something it never had: a senior executive who could give Infiniti undivided attention.

The timing of Alfa Romeo's return to the United States is up in the air again. On Oct. 30, Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is scheduled to unveil a new timetable for Alfa Romeo's upcoming models and international expansion plans.

Ford Motor Company has reached yet another milestone with the production of its 350 millionth vehicle - a Ford Focus that came out of the new assembly plant in Rayong, Thailand, which opened in May.

"Producing 350 million vehicles is equivalent to producing one vehicle every 10 seconds for our 109-year history. If placed end to end, the vehicles would stretch to the moon and back - twice," said John Fleming, Ford executive vice president of global manufacturing.

It initially took five decades and a 1959 Ford Galaxie to get to the 50 million mark. In the half-century since, Ford has produced more than 300 million additional vehicles.

Photo: Sébastien D'Amour

Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay, who had his share of bad luck during qualifying, worked his way up the file to win and action-filled IZOD IndyCar race in Baltimore.

Hunter-Reay was able to take the lead during a restart near the end of the race but nearly lost everything a little while later when he locked up on the way into the first corner and was lucky to avoid both the wall and losing a place to Simon Pagenaud.

The American was able to maintain the pace and finally crossed the finish line with a priority of more than 1.4 seconds over Team Penske Ryan Briscoe who had just passed Pagenaud.

Another good day for the Frenchman who finished in third.

Ryan Hunter-Reay ahead Simon Pagenaud. (Photo: IndyCar)

Polesitter and series leader Will Power was comfortable in the lead until a light rain on Lap 18 made him decide to switch to vets. Unfortunately for him, the rain cleared quickly and the track began to dry immediately but, still, he decided to stay on the track with his rain tires.

Soon enough, Power found himself in 17th place, more than 48.8s behind the leaders. He was able to fight his way back to fifth, only to be hit by Rubens Barrichello on the second-last lap and drop two places. The Australian's lead over Hunter-Reay is now down to 17 points.

Baltimore Grand Prix Results - 75 laps:

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy 2h09m02.9522s
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske Dallara-Chevy + 1.4391s
3. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda + 3.0253s
4. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 3.9281s
5. Rubens Barrichello KV Dallara-Chevy + 5.0450s
6. Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy + 5.7467s
7. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy + 7.5913s
8. Alex Tagliani Herta Dallara-Honda + 7.7701s
9. EJ Viso KV Dallara-Chevy + 8.8651s
10. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy + 9.0843s
11. Graham Rahal Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 10.2963s
12. JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy + 17.1591s
13. Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 1 lap*
14. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 1 lap
15. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 2 laps
16. Mike Conway Foyt Dallara-Honda + 2 laps
17. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda + 3 laps

Retirements:
Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda 65 laps
Bruno Junqueira Fisher Dallara-Honda 64 laps
Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy 52 laps
Takuma Sato Rahal Dallara-Honda 50 laps
Simona de Silvestro HVM Dallara-Lotus 38 laps
Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Dallara-Chevy 32 laps
James Jakes Coyne Dallara-Honda 31 laps
Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy 7 laps

After his second win in-a-row Denny Hamlin is firmly in the spotlight as a Sprint Cup Chase favorite.

Winning a charge out of the pits, on a green-white-checkered restart with two laps to go, at the 1.5 mile Atlanta Motor Speedway oval - his fourth this year - put the Virginian native as top seed in the Chase which will commence after Richmond next week.

And it was on Hamlin's mind.

"First, I wanted to win to be the No. 1 seed," Hamlin said. "Second is that was going to knock my teammate out of the Chase, and we couldn't afford that. I'm a Joe Gibbs blood guy for life. We need Kyle (Busch) in there, and if Jeff won that race, it was going to be all over."

Denny Hamlin leading the race. (Photo: NASCAR)

Gordon, the four-time Champion gave a ten-tenths effort but came up short.

"I got everything I could ask for, got the restart I wanted, and Denny made a mistake off (turn) two, and I got a run, and I made a bad decision," said Gordon, who is in a battle with Hamlin's teammate Busch for the final wild-card spot in the Chase. "I should have just run in the back of (Hamlin) in (turn) three. This Chase is too important for me not to make a move like that. I wouldn't have wanted to wreck him, but I would have liked to have that one over again."

While Brad Keselowski finished third, Martin Truex Jr. who finished fourth may have been Sunday night's biggest loser. Truex, who just announced a three-year contract extension at Michael Waltrip Racing, had the race in the bag until a final caution which caused the green-white-checkered finish. Then he spun his wheels in third gear. “That never happens,” Truex said.

Truex had taken the lead with 40 laps to go, from Hamlin, and was cruising until that final caution when Carl Edwards' engine blew just about taking last year's Chase runner-up out of this year.

Ryan Newman drives his car towards the garage after he was knocked out of the race. (Photo: NASCAR)

With one race to go in NASCAR's “regular season,” the field of 12 Chaser's is just about locked up except for the two Wild Card entries.

The top two drivers, in the top 20 in points, can win the Wild Card into the Chase based upon wins. Kasey Kahne - who has two wins, 11th in the points, 18 behind 10th place Tony Stewart - has the first Wild Card spot based on those two wins.

Next up is Kyle Busch, with one win, is in 12th place five points behind Kahne. Then Gordon who is 13th, 12 points behind Busch with one win. A second win on Saturday night would have put him ahead of Busch.

Edwards is 14th, but, has no wins. So the driver who lost the Championship in a tie-breaker to Tony Stewart has to win and hope his rivals like Busch and Gordon have a terrible finish in Richmond next Saturday evening to have a hope of making the Chase.

Marcos Ambrose and Ryan Newman, who are 16th and 17th respectfully, could get the second Wild Card with a victory in Richmond because they have one win apiece.

Team Lada may run a full WTCC programme in 2013 with James Thompson and russian driver Alexei Dudukalo, who would bring Lukoil in the team.

After a two years break, Lada made its WTCC return for two races this season, in Slovakia and Hungary, where the russian constructor ran a Granta Sport WTCC powered by a 1,6 liters turbocharged engine, developped by Oreca. James Thompson was at the wheel.

It seems that Lada would run a full programme in 2013. James Thompson would stay as number one driver, while the russian petrol company Lukoil would also join the team. For two years, Lukoil is backing the Seat Leon Tdi driven by Gabriele Tarquini and russian driver Alexei Dudukalo, which could follow Lukoil in Lada team.

Honda will make its WTCC debuts with a full programme in 2013 after three races in 2012, while Chevrolet will retire from the championship at the end of the season. A third constructor, to be announced, could join the WTCC next season...

I LOOOOVE road trips. Whenever an opportunity to hit the open road arises, I rise to the challenge. I've been on a few this summer, and plan to do a fair amount more mileage before the snow gets here.

In my experience, there are two types of equally fulfilling road trips, and I've only really realized the existence of the second one recently.

Typically, I ride with the wife as we head to wherever the road may take us. Our conversations are generally relaxed, talking about work, family, cats, and on occasion we play the “name that car” game. My wife has developed an uncanny ability to identify countless cars solely based on their rear ends. Its good fun, and we enjoy it quite a bit.

Although my far-better half can appreciate automobiles for what they do, my occasional outbursts of “OMG! Did you see the Renault Fuego Turbo parked by that barn?” are nearly always met with indifference. This allows the road trip to safely continue, undisturbed.

That resumes Road Trip Type 1.

Road trip type 2 is kind of dangerous. On recent excursions south of the border, my good friend and buddy and I just about caused a dozen accidents. You see, when I would say, “OMG! Did you see the Renault Fuego Turbo parked by that barn?” the response would be: “Yeah! Let's go check it out!” In less than the bat of an eyelash the turn signal, brakes and steering wheel would be fully engaged to get us back to the automotive treasure. The cars behind us did not appreciate our maneuovres...

We couldn't help it... We were feeding off each other's lunacy.

On one such trip, we were out scouring New England for PlastiDip and we spent more time ogling old relics -- such as a pair of sexy SAAB Sonetts (YES!), some MK1 Volkswagen Sciroccos and more Citroens and Peugeots than I've seen in the last 10 years combined -- than we did actually shopping.

Needless to say, although we covered a fair amount of ground we could have done far more, but our slightly unhealthy addiction to all things automotive prevented us from making good time.

I now know that should I want to get somewhere safely and in good time that I need to go at it alone or with people that consider cars as nothing more than appliances.

Photo: Olivier Delorme

Photo: Olivier Delorme

Schmidt's Tristan Vautier had a very good day in Baltimore Sunday by not only winning the Indy Lights race but by also taking the championship lead over from Esteban Guerrieri.

Talk about a dominant win; Vautier not only started from pole position but he was able to cross the finish line no less than 15.3 seconds clear of Gustavo Yacaman, who was involved in an incident with both Guerrieri and Sebastian Saavedra at the hairpin.

Tristan Vautier, Sam Schmidt. (Photo: IndyCar)

In the process, Yacaman caught Saavedra as he was trying to go inside him at the exit of the corner, tipping him into the wall.

Saavedra had to go to the pits for repairs but Guerrieri was able to recover to finish third.

Results - 35 laps:

Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Tristan Vautier Schmidt 50m07.1769s
2. Gustavo Yacaman Moore + 15.3783s
3. Esteban Guerrieri Schmidt + 17.3347s
4. David Ostella Moore + 46.3099s
5. Peter Dempsey Belardi + 51.2491s
6. Oliver Webb Schmidt + 58.6928s
7. Jorge Goncalvez Belardi + 1m19.7736s
8. Adderly Fong Brooks + 1m22.6538s
9. Juan Pablo Garcia Jeffrey Mark + 2 laps
10. Sebastian Saavedra AFS/Andretti + 5 laps

Retirements:
Carlos Munoz Andretti 29 laps
Emerson Newton-John Fan Force 3 laps
Victor Carbone Schmidt 0 laps

Some people never leave the city. For them, everything they need is within a few kilometres: the grocery store, the shopping centre, the movies, friends, family, and work.

But a car is a necessity.

A small and manoeuvrable car is best for squirrelling through the urban jungle. A fuel-efficient car would also be good, because chances are if you live in a crowded borough, you're paying top dollar for real estate, so you can't spend too much on fuel.


However, instead of a gas-powered car to run your errands, Mitsubishi would like you to consider their fully electric i-MiEV. Crisscrossing through town on four wheels has never been more efficient, and the 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV is currently the cheapest electric car you can buy. There are some prerequisites, though.

And if you decide to leave the outer limits of the city to explore the rural world, you better plan out your itinerary... Actually, it's not as bad as it sounds.

It's a real car
I'll agree with you on this: The four-passenger i-MiEV looks dinky, like a toy car or a really luxurious golf cart. However, this is a car and it drives like a car should, despite the skimpy tires (145/65R15 front, 175/60R15 rear) and narrow stance.

It also accelerates like a car should, thanks to its electric motor that develops 66 hp and 145 lb-ft of torque. OK, it's not blindingly fast, but you definitely won't hold up traffic unless you're in the passing lane during rush hour. Actually, no matter the time of day, you shouldn't be there anyhow.

Yet the i-MiEV's bubble-on-wheels shape prevents it from displaying any form of seriousness. During the course of this road test, the car drew a fair amount of attention, but it was easy to realize that it wasn't admiration. Other motorists smile, laugh, point a finger and shout remarks such as: “Hey, did you forget your caddy?”

There's ample room for four adults, although you might rub shoulders from time to time. When you fold down the rear seatbacks, you get 1,430 litres of cargo volume, which is pretty good for a car of its size.

The 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV is an all-electric car with a 100-km range between charges.

Keep off the highways if you can
Like all electric cars, the i-MiEV performs best at lower speeds, such as commuting around town in stop-and-go traffic. Of course, you can hit the highway, but going with the flow will take its toll on the car's range.

Speaking of range, that's something you'll have to get used to. The range display in the instrument panel can vary quite a bit when you turn on accessories such as air conditioning or the heated driver's seat. The system will try its best to estimate how much juice you have left based on your driving habits.

With a 100-km range between charges, the i-MiEV is obviously not the vehicle of choice for road-tripping. Thirty-five kilometres separate my house from Auto123.com's offices, which means I'd arguably be a potential candidate for this car.

We don't yet have a 220-volt charging station at work, but I can plug the i-MiEV in a standard power outlet and gain about 5 km of range an hour. Fully juicing up the car with a 220-volt charger takes 7 hours; with a 110-volt outlet, make that 22 hours.

The Mitsubishi boasts fuel economy equivalent ratings of 1.9 Le/100km in the city and 2.1 Le/100km on the highway; only the Ford Focus Electric can do better with ratings of 1.7/2.0 Le/100km.

Charging the i-MiEV with a 220V charger takes 7 hours, or 22 hours with a standard 110V outlet.

Selective purchase process
Wanna buy a 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV? Know that your local dealer will ask you a bunch of questions regarding how far you drive each day, what the electrical installations look like at your house (because you'll need to get a 220-volt charging station installed), and how far away you live from the dealer. If you don't have a garage, they'll probably encourage you to buy a Lancer instead.

Base price for an i-MiEV is $32,998, the least expensive electric car available in Canada right now. It includes amenities such air conditioning, a heated and height-adjustable driver's seat, power windows, keyless entry, a 50/50-split folding seatback, electronic stability control and six airbags. For an extra $3,000, you get alloy wheels, a 360-watt sound system with navigation, Bluetooth connectivity and trim upgrades.

Right now, the car is eligible for rebates in certain provinces: $8,231 in Ontario, $7,769 in Quebec and $5,000 in British Columbia.

Less expensive doesn't necessarily mean better. A Nissan LEAF is a more refined car, and more satisfying to drive than the i-MiEV. So is the Focus Electric. The Mitsubishi is amusingly different, and that's probably what makes people hesitate to buy one. That and the fear of being stranded with no juice left in the battery pack.

However, if you drive, say 50-60 km a day, live in an urban area and have a garage attached to the house, the 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV may be for you.

From GMM

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has hinted Lewis Hamilton is lucky to avoid an internal punishment as the result of the 'Twittergate' affair.

The 2008 world champion is believed to have been scolded behind closed doors for publishing a highly-confidential telemetry sheet to his million Twitter followers.

Telemetry sheet published by Lewis Hamilton and broadcasted by Eurosport.

Some paddock insiders believe it's the tip of the iceberg as Hamilton wages "war" with the British team over his unsigned 2013 contract.

Asked if McLaren needs to take action against the 27-year-old, Whitmarsh answered: "No.

"But it would be interesting to see how other team principals would deal with it," he is quoted by the Daily Mail.

Having re-signed Mark Webber for 2012 despite rumours of approaches by Hamilton's management, Red Bull chief Christian Horner boasted that his drivers would never commit a similar "breach of confidentiality".

"From what I understand it was car data, and if it was car data then I'm sure every engineer in the pitlane is having a very close look at it," said Horner.

From GMM

Felipe Massa has begun a race-by-race quest for a new Ferrari contract.

After F1's five-week summer break, he went into the Belgian grand prix acknowledging that the remaining races of 2012 are crucial "regarding my future".

The Brazilian then qualified a poor 14th compared to his teammate Fernando Alonso's sixth.

But that was before Spaniard Alonso crashed at the first corner of the race, while Massa had a solid run to fifth -- his second-best result of the entire season.

"I don't know if this race changes anything regarding my future, but I am very satisfied," said the 31-year-old on Sunday.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali was also happy with Massa's "great race" at Spa.

"We are happy for him, because a good result is just what was required at this point of the season," he said.

Felipe Massa and Stefano Domenicali. (Photo: WRi2)

From GMM

Romain Grosjean will sit out this weekend's Italian grand prix at Monza, after Lotus decided not to appeal the Frenchman's one-race ban for causing the first corner crash at Spa.

F1 returnee Grosjean's actions, which also ended title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso's races and so nearly caused serious injury to the latter, was described by the stewards as an "extremely serious breach of the regulations".

He was also fined a whopping EUR 50,000.

"I judged the gap to Hamilton poorly. A small error but with big consequences," Grosjean is quoted by Brazil's O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper. "I apologise and I'm glad that no one was hurt."

Big crash at the start of the Belgium Grand Prix. (Photo: WRi2)

Grosjean, while impressive in 2012, has been involved in several early-race incidents this year.

"It's time to put a stop to it," he admitted. "Some, like today, have been my fault, others not. I hope to not make any more mistakes in the remaining races."

Journalist Livio Oricchio said that because Ferrari driver Alonso's 40-point lead was slashed to 24 because of the crash, the headline from Spa might be "Grosjean re-opens the championship".

"Romain has great talent and is very fast. When he develops, he will be a great driver," his boss Eric Boullier said after the crash and ban.

In an official team statement, he said Grosjean's replacement for Monza will be announced this week.

As far as Ferrari's Stefano Domenicali is concerned, Grosjean's ban is a chance for the FIA to think about the bigger picture.

"What is certain is that, it would be better if, starting with the junior formulae, rules relating to on-track behaviour were enforced in an inflexible manner, so as to have drivers as well prepared as possible when they reach this, the highest level of motor sport," he said.

Alonso, who briefly visited the medical centre after Grosjean's car sliced across his cockpit opening, watched the race with his mechanics whilst nursing a sore left shoulder.

"Everything is alright, the pain only comes from the whiplash," said the Spaniard. "I am not angry with Grosjean, he definitely didn't do it on purpose," added Alonso.

Also feeling the FIA's wrath on Sunday was another repeat-offender Pastor Maldonado, who will take a double 10-place grid penalty at Monza for badly jumping the start and then crashing with Timo Glock.

The most anger in the paddock was, however, about Grosjean.

McLaren reserve driver Gary Paffett described the Frenchman's behaviour as "stupid", and after climbing out of his wreck, Hamilton gestured towards his helmet before confronting Grosjean, demonstrating the foolishness of the move.

Triple world champion and German commentator Niki Lauda said the stewards got the ban - the first in F1 since Michael Schumacher in 1994 - "absolutely right".

"That could have broken Alonso's neck. It could have killed him. He (Grosjean) is talented, but sometimes incredibly stupid. I count this as the seventh time he has done something like that this year. Madness."

Lotus did not attempt to fight the FIA's decision, but boss Boullier noted that Williams' Maldonado has also had "many accidents" in 2012.

"So in one way this penalty for Romain seems pretty hard," said the Frenchman.

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Jacques Villeneuve will join City Challenge GT in Baku, Azerbaidjan, driving an Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The canadian driver, who took part to several NASCAR Nationwide events this season, and who is about to race a V8 championship event in Australia, will be at the start of a GT race for the first time in his career.

Villeneuve's team mate will be an other former F1 driver, Jos Verstappen. Some prestigious GT drivers such as Michael Bartels or Matteo Bobbi will take part to the event.

City Challenge GT, Baku, Azerbaidjan.

With a population of around nine millions, Azerbaidjan was founded after Soviet Union collapsed. It is located in the Caucasus Region, near the Caspian Sea, between Turkey, Iran and Russia. The race, presented from 5th to 7th october, will be the first main motorsport event held in the country.

"GT racing will be an entirely new experience for me, which I am really looking forward to," Villeneuve said. "Racing on a street circuit is always something special, as I know from such events I have raced in before, mainly in the US."

"I have never been in Baku or Azerbaijan before, so that is something new, too. From what I have read and heard about the city, there is a lot of development going on. Of course, there is not much of a motor racing tradition there, so seeing race cars on the streets will be a new experience for the local people."

GPS manufacturer TomTom has agreed to a partnership with German automaker BMW to integrate its GO LIVE navigation devices in selected BMW 1 Series, 3 Series, X1 and X3 models.

BMW dealers all over Europe can now install customized TomTom devices designed to connect with BMW's existing in-car entertainment systems.

A special mount even attaches the 5'' touchscreen TomTom device onto the dashboard of the car.

GO LIVE operates through Bluetooth connectivity and provides real-time traffic information. Meanwhile, navigation directions and hands-free phone calls are given over the car's speakers and temporarily mute any other audio sources to ensure navigation instructions as well as phone conversations are easily heard.

Photo: TomTom

News 2 Sep, 2012

Button takes a dominant win in the Belgian Grand Prix, following a big accident at the first corner

Audi plans to begin production in Russia as premium-car sales take off in the country. The automaker will start building cars at parent Volkswagen's factory south of Moscow in 2013.

Tata Motors is examining the possibility of building a plant in Saudi Arabia to assemble Jaguar Land Rover vehicles, chairman Ratan Tata said in a magazine interview.