Auto News 5

French President Francois Hollande says PSA's plan to close a factory and slash 14,000 jobs won't be tolerated. History suggests otherwise.

If your last name isn't already on the sign in front of a car dealership, getting it there has become a tough goal to achieve.

When GM last had a profitable year in Europe, the company was in the midst of a $600 million global project to ensure Y2K readiness. Steve Girsky was an auto analyst on Wall Street.

When General Motors last had a profitable year in Europe, the company was in the midst of a $600 million global project to ensure Y2K readiness. Steve Girsky was an auto analyst on Wall Street.

BMW said it is boosting Mini production capacity and confirmed that it will increase the lineup to as many as 10 vehicles. The brand sells six now.

As sales rebound from last year's earthquake-constrained levels, dealerships' new-vehicle revenues are soaring.

The wild Lexus LF-LC coupe concept that wowed visitors at the Detroit auto show is on track for development, signaling a new direction for a brand that has fallen from first to third in the U.S. luxury sales rankings.

Self-driving cars have become a hot topic, but it will be a long time before drivers can sit back and let the car do all the work.

Light-vehicle supplies filled out in June following a decline in May. Industrywide stocks rose from a 52-day supply on June 1 to 58 days on July 1.

Jaguar hasn't offered a four-cylinder engine since 1948 and no V-6 since the small, lackluster X-Type was pulled from the United States four years ago. But in an era of mpg obsession, even this proud British luxury brand is changing its spots.

Two and a half years after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Delphi Automotive is growing again.

Volvo is touting three new technologies that it says will help make the Volvos of the future a good deal safer: autonomous driving, ''Intersection Support'' and animal detection.

2012 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Highline Review

2012 Porsche Panamera S Hybrid Review

2012 McLaren MP4-12C First Impressions

Other very interesting topics:

• Blog: The beige Corolla
• Smart headlights that make rain and snow invisible
• Ford's three-cylinder EcoBoost a small but mighty game-changer
• 2013 Ford Mustang buyer's guide

From GMM

A long period of speculation about Lewis Hamilton's future could end soon.

With the 2008 world champion's contract expiring, he told the Russian news agency Ria Novosti on a weekend visit to Russia that he is gearing up to talk with McLaren about 2013 and beyond.

"We haven't sat down and discussed anything yet but I'm sure over the summer break, when we have the summer break it would be nice to get something in place," said the Briton.

There have been rumours about Hamilton's alternatives beyond 2012, but he indicated that a new deal with McLaren is likely.

"These people have supported me; these are the people that got me into formula one," he said.

"But, you know, I want to win. I'm not that young any more so I want to make sure that whatever I do I make the right decision so I can maximise my career, you know. I just need to make sure that I'm winning."

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, at Montreal. (Photo: WRi2)

That note of warning coincides with a performance slump for the famous British team, but Hamilton indicated that he will look beyond the most recent disappointments.

"To be honest, you have to base your decisions on much, much longer than such a short period of time," the 27-year-old said.

"Only half a year cannot decide six years of partnership, or actually 13 years of partnership. I've been with them since I was 13, so it's 14 years, so it's much more than these small details, it's a much, much bigger picture."

I demonstrated Ford's Active Park Assist for my neighbour, using a 2013 Flex crossover. I actually put Peter in the driver's seat and had him cruise the street until the system alerted him to a parking space of sufficient size.

I then had Peter follow the simple instructions that are displayed on the navigation screen as the Flex cut the wheels right and left, backing into the spot with surgical precision. Peter was absolutely amazed at the accuracy of the system and the simplicity of its use.

Photo: Ford

After a few gleeful exclamations, a pall came over him as he lowered his voice and uttered, “This is bad for business.” I countered with a differing opinion, believing that active park assist programs are the next great step toward driverless cars.

Peter: “no... bad for my business!”

I should tell you that Peter's a registered massage therapist, owning a highly successful clinic. The way he sees it, if people no longer have to twist and contort in order to parallel park, they're less likely to seek massage therapy.

While Peter's comments were obviously made in jest, they illuminated a valid point. Aged drivers often find it difficult to adequately twist torso and neck to see where they're reversing. And there have certainly been times when back pain has interfered with my ability to do so.

A vehicle that can park itself could be of great benefit to seniors and those with limited mobility, such as me after a day of yard work. I'm sure that Ford won't put Peter on the street, I'm also sure that there will come a day when Peter will clamor for an active park system. We're all getting older, good thing that technology is getting wiser.

On the last days off before the arduous Hockenheim-Hungary Formula 1 double header, Russia was the centre of the sport's attention.

The World Series by Renault, which featured races of the Formula Renault 3.5, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Eurocup Megane Trophy staged a first race ever on the Moscow Raceway.

Vitaly Petrov with Russian supporters. (Photo: Manuscript Agency)

Daniel Ricciardo also demonstrated the Renault-powered Red Bull car. The first international motorsport event on track in Russia attracted 85 000 people for this first event.

In downtown Moscow, modern F1 cars and current drivers including Lewis Hamilton, Vitaly Petrov and Charles Pic as well as Ferrari test driver Giancarlo Fisichella demonstrated their wares on a temporary street circuit around the Kremlin.

Pit lane of Moscow Raceway. (Photo: World Series by Renault)

Moscow City Hall spokesman Vladimir Chernikov admitted he hopes it was a prelude to something more.

"Moscow really is ready to hold a formula one stage," Chernikov said.

85,000 people watched the World Series by Renault race. (Photo: World Series by Renault)

Meanwhile, at Moscow Raceway, four time world champion Alain Prost said a street race in the Russian capital "could be possible".

"I know that Bernie (Ecclestone) and some constructors would love it," he said.

Spanish driver Daniel Juncadella won the annual Zandvoort Formula 3 Masters held on Sunday at Zanvoort, Netherlands, featuring the best F3 drivers from the British and Euroseries championships.

Daniel Juncadella (Photo: f3euroseries)

After claiming victory at the 2011 Macao Grand Prix - the other great F3 classic event - Juncadella was again victorious at Zandvoort on Sunday. Last year, he was forced to retired after he made contact at the start of the race with his teammate Roberto Mehri.

The Prema driver started from pole position, alongside fellow countryman Carlo Sainz Jr. But Sainz had a poor start, which allowed Juncadella's teammate Raffaele Marciello to move up to second.

Juncadella and Marciello captured a one-two finish for team Prema, while local heroe Hannes Van Asseldonk took third place. Juncadella became the first Spaniard to win the F3 Masters.

Final classification :
1 - Daniel Juncadella (Dallara-Mercedes) - Prema - 25 laps in 39'28"564
2 - Raffaele Marciello (Dallara-Mercedes) - Prema - 7"594
3 - Hannes Van Asseldonk (Dallara-Mercedes) - Fortec - 17"394
4 - Carlos Sainz (Dallara-Volkswagen) - Carlin - 18"473
5 - Pascal Wehrlein (Dallara-Mercedes) - Mucke - 22"008
6 - William Buller (Dallara-Volkswagen) - Carlin - 28"611
7 - Alex Lynn (Dallara-Mercedes) - Fortec - 29"450
8 - Michael Lewis (Dallara-Mercedes) - Prema - 29"975
9 - Felix Rosenqvist (Dallara-Mercedes) - Mucke - 31"793
10 - Sven Muller (Dallara-Mercedes) - Prema - 32"613
Etc.

From GMM

Almost half of the world's 25 biggest companies have been involved in formula one in the past five years.

And the new research by F1's industry monitor Formula Money said a third of the world's 100 top companies have in the same period been involved in F1 as sponsors, owners or investors.

They include three of the world's five biggest companies -- Ferrari sponsor Shell, Exxon Mobil (McLaren) and former Chinese grand prix backer Sinopec.

Journalist Christian Sylt said oil companies and carmakers are "naturally drawn to F1 due to the obvious affinity between the sport and their businesses".

The banking industry is also attracted to F1 "by the networking opportunities offered by the sport", Sylt added.

General Electric on CT01's car. (Photo: Caterham F1 Team)

The other top-25 companies involved in F1 recently are Toyota (8th), Red Bull and Lotus sponsor Total (11th), Toro Rosso supplier Volkswagen (13th), Caterham backer General Electric (16th), former Renault sponsor ING (17th), Samsung (22nd), ENI (23rd) and Mercedes owner Daimler (24th).

"The involvement of so many major companies is one of the factors that distinguishes F1 from other sports," continued Sylt.

American companies, like former Williams title sponsor AT-T, are also playing a big role, making up 17 per cent of the teams' sponsors -- the highest of any nationality.

From wrc.com

Craig Breen said his decision to return to the FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship in Finland next month following the death of his codriver Gareth Roberts was the most difficult he's ever had to make.

The inaugural FIA WRC Academy champions were tackling the non-championship Targa Florio Rally in Sicily last month during a break from their SWRC campaign when Roberts lost his life in an accident on the second day of the event.

Breen, who suffered shock but was otherwise uninjured in the crash, has recruited fellow Irishman Paul Nagle to co-drive his Ford Fiesta S2000 on Neste Oil Rally Finland from 2-4 August.

“This has been the hardest decision of my life,” said Breen, 22.

“I will never fully come to terms with Gareth's death. It's only with the support of my own family and Gareth's family that I'm now ready to take the next step. I will never forget Gareth, we were firstly a driver/codriver partnership but most of all we were best friends.

“Getting back behind the wheel again without the little man will be emotionally very hard but I know that Gareth would want me to continue. From our first event together we were winners and now I want to continue on that road with the same ambition,” Green said.

Marussia Formula 1 team issue Monday a press release saying that the Cosworth-powered MR01 F1 car was not at fault in the accident that caused test driver Maria de Villota to lose an eye and endure extensive reconstructive surgery on her face.

Two weeks ago, the Spaniard had just completed the first straight line aero testing run of the day Duxford Airfield, was manoeuvring at low speed close to the team's test base off the main runway when the car went into the back of a truck. She was immediately taken to hospital with several injuries.

This is the press release issued today:

“14 days after Maria de Villota's accident at, the Marussia F1 Team has now completed its own detailed investigation into the cause of the crash.

The accident occurred on 3 July during a straight-line test, at which Maria was making her testing debut for the Team and driving an F1 car for the fourth time in her career.

The Marussia F1 Team conducted an initial analysis immediately after the crash. This aimed to identify the causes and contributory factors behind the accident and also served to determine if there were any car-related implications for the impending British Grand Prix. Having carefully examined all the data and supplementary information available at that time, the Team were satisfied that there were no such car-related issues and cleared its chassis for race weekend participation.

“Following its initial investigation, the Team proceeded to carry out further detailed analysis of the accident. An external forensic investigation was commissioned and carried out at Duxford Airfield (a FIA-approved and much used testing venue, compliant with the recommendations for a test of this nature) and with the team at the Marussia Technical Centre in Banbury. This external analysis has been carried out autonomously of the team's own internal investigation.

“As would be normal procedure, the Team's findings have been shared with the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), the independent UK regulator which acts in the public interest in respect of work-related accidents.

“John Booth, Team Principal of the Marussia F1 Team, commented: “We are satisfied that the findings of our internal investigation exclude the car as a factor in the accident. We have shared and discussed our findings with the HSE for their consideration as part of their ongoing investigation. This has been a necessarily thorough process in order to understand the cause of the accident. We have now concluded our investigatory work and can again focus on the priority, which continues to be Maria's wellbeing. In that regard, we continue to support Maria and the De Villota family in any way we can.”