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News 15 Jan, 2013

A revised version of the Honda NSX concept has been unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show, giving us our first glimpse of the interior design

A final decision on whether Bentley will go ahead with its first SUV, based on the concept from the 2011 Frankfurt show, will be made in the "relatively near future," said head of sales and marketing Kevin Rose.

Local assembly allowing revised trim and equipment specifications has resulted in Nissan lowering the starting price of the Leaf EV in the US 18% to $28,800, before federal and state incentives.

Italian partsmaker Sogefi said on Tuesday it had signed two loan agreements for a total of 215 million euros ($287 million) to help fund international expansion.

It's up to 100kg lighter, will be the largest volume model on the MQB platform and replaces a model that was only four years old. Glenn Brooks drives the new Golf and finds it a big step forward for Volkswagen.

Johnson Controls (JCI) said there was "no reason" not to still be attracted by A123 Systems although the company is currently being evaluated for a potential purchase by Chinese operation Wanxiang.

Germany's automotive industry association, (VDA), is calling for any revamped European Union-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to concentrate on establishing common standards in a bid to slash billions of dollars from development costs.

News 15 Jan, 2013

The launch of the new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is huge news in the States, but should we take notice?

America's colossal debt is the largest challenge facing Michelin in the US but also it biggest opportunity, said the tyre producer.

News 15 Jan, 2013

Skoda has revealed plans to build a bigger SUV to rival the seven-seat Hyundai Santa Fe from 2015

A more profitable lineup and lower costs protect Ford from persistent weakness in Europe and increased competition in the U.S. auto market, Ford executives said.

First Look: 2014 Cadillac ELR

The Chevrolet Volt we've always wanted.

The Chevrolet Volt was developed under intensely difficult conditions. Beyond the never-done-before complexities of its powertrain, the Volt had to come to market by a certain date, had to hit a certain price, and had to be as efficient as possible. Much as we like the car that resulted -- it was our 2011 Automobile of the Year -- we wondered how good it might have been had gestated a bit longer, cost a bit more, and enjoyed a bit more design freedom. With the Cadillac ELR, which debuts at the Detroit auto show and goes on sale later this year, we no longer have to wonder.

Photo Gallery: First Look: 2014 Cadillac ELR - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: First Look: 2014 Cadillac ELR - Automobile Magazine

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Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said the Mercedes brand must turn around its struggling Chinese operations to catch up with BMW and Audi.

Cadillac today unveiled the ELR sports coupe, a plug-in hybrid wrapped in a bold, flashy package that belies its green-car bona fides.

Maserati CEO Harald Wester gets mad when he hears that the new Quattroporte is based on Chrysler underpinnings.

GM failed to outsell Toyota's forecasted 9.7 million deliveries for 2012 while narrowly beating Volkswagen.

Chrysler's Jeep brand is working to find the right solution to produce vehicles in China and Russia, but has nothing specific to announce at the moment,Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said.

Hakan Samuelsson, the new Volvo CEO, was not at all what I expected when he turned up for his first Detroit auto show.

The 2013 FIA World Rally Championship will begin this week with the prestigious Rallye Monte Carlo held in Southern France.

Citroen
Nine-time World Rally Champion, Sebastian Loeb will contest the Rallye Mont Carlo. This is be one of the four events he will compte in this season. Loeb will be one of the favorites to win. His teammate, Mikko Hirvonen will also be to watch, but third driver Dani Sordo may also cause a real surprise as he returns to Citroen after driving for MINI.

Photo: WRi2

Volkswagen
After a full year of testing, the new VW Polo R WRC will contest its first real rally. The team's number 1 driver, former Citroen driver, Sebastian Ogier is hungry for victory. The Frenchman spent the last season driving a Skoda Fabia S2000 in the WRC while developping the Polo R. His teammate will be Ford's transfuge Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn is undoutedly fast, but he really needs to avoid crashing like he did so many times during his years with Ford.

Photo: WRi2

Ford
Malcolm Wilson's M-Sport has lost the support of Ford but has managed to attact Nasser Al-Attiyah and the sponsorship of Qatar. Two young drivers, Norvegian Mads Ostberg and Russian Evgeny Novikov will be contesting the entire season in the team's Ford Fiestas RS.

Photo: WRi2

Weather conditions
There's been a lot of snow falls in the region recently and the roads will be very slippery. Sebastien Loeb is virtually unbeatable on dry tarmac but the Nordic drivers, such as Hirvonen, Latvala and Ostberg could well cause a surprise if the roads remain covered with snow.

Action starts tomorrow, Wednesday.

The snow covered paddock. (Photo: WRI2)

From GMM

Giorgio Ascanelli, the well-known F1 engineer who last year left his post as Toro Rosso's technical director, is set to return to the sport.

But Autosprint, the Italian magazine, played down reports the 53-year-old Italian has decided to go back to Ferrari.

Ascanelli began his career at Ferrari in the mid 80s, and was Gerhard Berger's engineer. He moved to Benetton and McLaren, at the latter team working alongside the great Ayrton Senna.

Giorgio Ascanelli returned to Ferrari in 1995, staying until 2001. It is known he is very good friends with the team's new technical boss, Pat Fry, and Autosprint said he recently met with the Briton.

"But he will not go (back) to Ferrari," said correspondent Alberto Antonini. "(But) Ascanelli is about to return to F1; the team's name is not yet known."

Autosprint said Ascanelli left Toro Rosso, who replaced him with James Key, "after an argument" with team boss Franz Tost.

Which F1 team will join Giorgio Ascanelli? (Photo: WRi2)