GM, a year after reclaiming global sales leadership, is preparing a renewed Cadillac push in China with plans to introduce new products, increase local production and expand sales outlets as it aims to boost sales in the country at least fivefold to...
It's been two years since the deal was announced but the first collaboration between LA-based British fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and Land Rover has broken cover as a 200-unit Evoque Special Edition revealed ahead of the Beijing show.
It's been two years since the deal was announced but the first collaboration between LA-based British fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and Tata Motors-owned Land Rover has broken cover as a 200-unit Evoque Special Edition revealed ahead of the Beijing show.
While most electric cars are being targeted at people who live in towns and cities because of their limited range on a full charge, Chevrolet UK will be taking a completely different approach with the Volt.
When gasoline prices go up, sales followand#8212;especially sales of diesel and hybrid cars.
I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky, and all I ask is a patch of dirt, three wheels, a sail and a foot-operated tiller to steer her by . . .
Ford, seeking to tap into China's growing appetite for brawny SUVs, will quadruple its offerings in that segment over the next year.
First look: Lamborghini Urus
Lamborghini has taken the wraps off its much-anticipated full-size crossover.Lamborghini has taken the wraps off its much-anticipated full-size crossover. Although we're still not convinced that the Italian supercar maker has any business building such a vehicle, we can at least report that the Urus, as the concept is called, does not look hideous. In fact, it's rather nice.
Photo Gallery: First look: Lamborghini Urus - Automoblie Magazine
Photo Gallery: First look: Lamborghini Urus - Automoblie Magazine
Lamborghini unveiled the Urus concept that previews an SUV set to become the brand's third model line. The super carmaker foresees annual sales of 3,000 for the SUV, with China, the U.S., Europe, Russia and the Middle East as the main markets.
Lamborghini unveiled the Urus concept that previews an SUV set to become the brand's third model line. The supercar maker foresees annual sales of 3,000 for the SUV, with China, the U.S., Europe, Russia and the Middle East as the main markets.
European automakers are showcasing luxury concepts at this year's Beijing auto show to help boost sales in what for many of them is their biggest market.
From GMM
He may be in Bahrain, but Fernando Alonso's mind is thinking firmly ahead to Europe as the Spaniard prepares to struggle on Sunday yet again.
Ferrari's number one driver squeezed into Q3 with the struggling F2012 on Saturday, and is targeting some minor points on Sunday.
"The two McLarens and the two Red Bulls are at the front, and there's (also) Rosberg," Alonso is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport, predicting how Sunday's race will unfold.
"We're not going to go past them. For us, we are racing behind the top five."
He is hoping it will be his latest and last experience of life as a midfielder in 2012.
For Barcelona, the first European race of the season mid next month, Ferrari - so disappointed with its start to the season - is planning a major upgrade for the F2012.
An added bonus is that it can be tested at Mugello in early May.
"Despite our problems I am in third place in the championship, and tomorrow (Sunday) I have a chance to score well. That's more than we expected.
"Next is Barcelona, a most important race for us. I hope the season starts again for me (there)," said Alonso.
Davide Valsecchi clinched his second victory this season, as the italian driver won the race 1 presented in Bahrain.
Valsecchi set the pole position and then drove his car like he had stole it, on the Saturday race. He concluded the race ahead of Luis Razia, while Esteban Gutierrez, who started from second place on the grid, grabbed third position from Max Chilton in the last lap, recovering from a bad tire change that cost him a handful of seconds.
Sepang's Race 2 winner, James Calado took fifth place ahead of Tom Dillmann who performed a great catch up from his 15th position on the grid. Fabio Leimer took eighth position behind Fabio Onidi, and will therefore start from pole position in Race 2, because of the reversed top 8 regulations.
Race 1 results - Bahrain (GP2)
1 - Davide Valsecchi - Dams - 32 laps in 59min31.115s
2 - Luiz Razia - Arden + 7.770s
3 - Esteban Gutierrez - Lotus +13.528s
4 - Max Chilton - Carlin + 14.088s
5 - James Calado - Lotus + 16.278s
6 - Tom Dillmann - Rapax + 16.559s
7 - Fabio Leimer - Racing Engineering + 17.243s
8 - Fabio Onidi - Coloni + 28.109s
Etc.
From GMM
Bernie Ecclestone on Sunday confirmed reports France is definitely heading back to the F1 calendar.
Reports earlier this weekend said authorities had "finally agreed" a figure for the sanctioning fee with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.
It is expected that the Ecclestone-owned Paul Ricard will share an annually alternating grand prix date with Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps, beginning in 2013.
"Yes," the 81-year-old Briton told French daily L'Équipe in the Bahrain paddock on Sunday.
"The deal is done," said Ecclestone.
"We agreed the financial terms with the sports minister David Douillet, in my office on Tuesday.
"We are still discussing a few things about money: 'You give me this, I want that'," he added.
"But, for me, there is no doubt, we will sign it now," said Ecclestone.
He said the outcome of the forthcoming presidential elections in France will not spoil the deal.
"Whatever happens, I don't care," said Ecclestone. "That's a local issue that doesn't concern me."
Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) made it four different winners in four races so far in in 2012.
The German came out on top of a two-way fight with 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen who, much like his teammate Romain Grosjean, delivered a great performance for Lotus. They respectively finished second and third.
Both stormed through the field in the opening phase of the grand prix, Raikkonen eventually getting the upper hand over Grosjean.
The Finn gave Vettel a run for his money, but didn't have quite enough to get passed.
Behind, Mark Webber in the second Red Bull had yet another fourth place finish. He enjoyed a calm race, unlike Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), who crossed the line in fifth after dropping to ninth in a hairy first lap.
McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button won't keep a good souvenir of Sakhir.
A bad pitstop dropped Hamilton down the order - he had to settle for eighth after having started beside pole-sitter Vettel - while Button pulled into the pits in the second last lap, discouraged by an early puncture and some late mechanical problems.
Honourable mentions to Paul di Resta (Force India) who, thanks to a good strategy and a solid performance, briefly led a grand prix (for the first time) and to the two Ferrari drivers, Fernando Alonso who squeezed seventh out of his slow F2012 and Felipe Massa who, for once, was close to his teammate in terms of pace.
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) can also be proud of his effort. From 22nd on the grid, he managed to score 10th place's only point. So it was the 43-year-old who had the last laugh over Heikki Kovalainen. The Finn may have pushed Schumacher out of Q2, but at least the German picked up a point, while the best Kovalainen could pick up was a puncture.
Daniel Ricciardo's (Toro Rosso) promising qualifying run also didn't materialize into good race fortune. The Australian only finished 15th, even though, a day before, he had qualified sixth.
Source: AUTOSPORT.com
Race results - Bahrain Grand Prix
From ItaliaRacing.net
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 57 laps
2 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 3.3s
3 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) - 10.1s
4 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 38.7s
5 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 55.4s
6 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 57.5s
7 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 57.8s
8 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 58.9s
9 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 1min04.9s
10 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1min11.4s
11 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1min12.7s
12 - Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1min16.5s
13 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1min30.3s
14 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1min33.7s
15 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1 lap
16 - Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1 lap
17 - Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1 lap
18 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 2 laps
19 - Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 2 laps
20 - Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 2 laps
21 - Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 2 laps
Fastest lap by Sebastian Vettel 1min36.379s
Retirements
Lap 54 - Bruno Senna
Lap 26 - Pastor Maldonado
Lap 25 - Charles Pic
Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 53; 2.Hamilton 49; 3.Webber 48; 4.Button, Alonso 43; 6.Rosberg 35; 7.Raikkonen 34; 8.Grosjean 23; 9.Perez 22; 10.Di Resta 15; 11.Senna 14; 12.Kobayashi 9; 13.Vergne, Maldonado 4; 15.Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Schumacher, Massa 2.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 101; 2.McLaren-Mercedes 92; 3.Lotus-Renault 57; 4.Ferrari 45; 5.Mercedes 37; 6.Sauber-Ferrari 31; 7.Williams-Renault 18; 8.Force India-Mercedes 17; 9.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton lost some precious time - and points - because of bad pitstops during the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Twice Hamilton stormed into the pits, twice the left rear gun man struggled his his task.
Almost alarming, considering Jenson Button, a week earlier, lost a shot at victory during the Chinese Grand Prix in the pits.
"I have no idea what went on but I was hoping the second time I came I wouldn't have that problem," Hamilton says on AUTOSPORT.com.
"I was hoping that it would be a good pit stop but it was exactly the same, if not a little bit longer, than the previous one."
The responsible mechanic was relieved from his role for the third stop, and a investigation will be carried out by McLaren, team principal Martin Whitmarsh said.
From GMM
Pirelli went on the defensive on Sunday, following criticism in the wake of the Bahrain grand prix.
British commentator Martin Brundle said the Italian marque's heavily-degrading 2012 product, so difficult to keep alive and in the narrow performance 'window', is overly dominating the season so far.
Also critical after Bahrain, where tyre performance fell away rapidly in the desert heat, was Michael Schumacher, who told reporters he wanted to talk with Pirelli chiefs about how to improve the situation.
Faced with that sort of criticism on Sunday, Pirelli's motor sport director Paul Hembery said on Twitter: "At the end of last year we had huge criticism for conservative choices and races were boring.
"Make your mind up. We are doing what is asked."
Hembery also argued that how teams tackle their tire strategies will continue to play a big role for only "a few more races, then like last year all change as they get used (to the tires)".
Davide Valsecchi (DAMS) clinched his third success in three races after he won race 2 in Bahrain.
The Italian driver, who started from eighth position on the grid, had a great catch-up to the lead, and took a second victory this weekend after he won race 1 on Saturday.
Valsecchi, who is the new championship leader, crossed the finish line ahead of both Lotus cars with Esteban Gutierrez ahead of James Calado, while Luiz Razia (Arden) took fourth place. He now stands second in provisional championship classification.
Felipe Nasr (DAMS), who started from the back of the grid following a post race penalty for an incident in race 1, stalled his engine while heading to his grid position and thus forced a restart.
When the new formation lap began, it was Tom Dillmann's turn to stall his engine, as the Frenchman was starting from third position on the grid. Both men were forced to start from the pit in the back of the field, but had a great run to the front, finishing the race in position six and 10 respectively.
Race 2 results - GP2 (Bahrain)
1 - Davide Valsecchi - Dams - 22 laps in 39min22.363s
2 - Esteban Gutierrez - Lotus + 0.399s
3 - James Calado - Lotus + 10.617s
4 - Luiz Razia - Arden + 12.463s
5 - Max Chilton - Carlin + 13.573s
6 - Felipe Nasr - Dams + 15.414s
7 - Jolyon Palmer - iSport + 22.950s
8 - Simon Trummer - Arden + 30.425s
9 - Giedo Van der Garde - Caterham + 31.976s
10 - Tom Dillmann - Rapax + 32.545s
Etc.
Championship:
1.Valsecchi 70 points; 2.Razia 57; 3.Gutierrez 45; 4.Calado 39; 5.Chilton 35; 6.Nasr, Leimer 22; 8.Van der Garde 12; 9.Coletti 10; 10.Dillmann 8, etc.
Nico Rosberg twice defended his position hard during the Bahrain Grand Prix. The post-race investigation did not yield any penalty for the German.
He once fended off Lewis Hamilton, only for some time though. Then he saved his place from Fernando Alonso's attacks.
Twice he almost crashed.
The stewards felt that, because Rosberg moved in a "constant and continuous straight line manner" and because he did so early enough while under attack, there was no infraction.
Alonso responded rather sarcastically: "I think you are going to have fun in future races! You can defend position as you want and you can overtake outside the track! Enjoy!" he wrote on his Twitter page, as quoted from AUTOSPORT.com.
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