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News 14 Jan, 2013

The Honda Urban SUV Concept previews a Jazz-based crossover

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced record sales for 2012 and said it will add 800 new jobs at its Solihull (Land Rover) facility.

News 14 Jan, 2013

Mercedes CEO says that the new S-Class family will consist of six models

News 14 Jan, 2013

The Volkswagen Group is celebrating record sales of more than nine million cars in 2012

News 14 Jan, 2013

New Volkswagen budget sub-brand is set to be approved later in 2013

After posting record global sales in 2012, VW Group expects tougher competition and more uncertainties this year, CEO Martin Winterkorn said. Deliveries in 2012 rose 11 percent to 9.07 million, VW said.

Do you know any talented young automotive executives with the potential to become future CEOs or management board members? In the past two years, Automotive News Europe has identified more than 40 people who are already demonstrating the...

Europe's shrinking car market has changed automakers' marketing messages. Since early 2012, carmakers have shifted from generic, brand-focused campaigns to ads that show how specific features benefit drivers -- and their wallets.

First Look: 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Some new decor, a new diesel, and eight speeds.

"You might not be tired of looking at the Grand Cherokee," says Mark Allen, director of Jeep design, "but we've been looking at it for quite a while." He's not kidding. Although it didn't reach dealers until the summer of 2010 as a 2011 model, Jeep first showcased the WK2-platform Grand Cherokee at the New York auto show in 2009.

Photo Gallery: First Look: 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: First Look: 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee - Automobile Magazine

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Volkswagen will introduce the world to the Passat Performance Concept at the NAIAS in Detroit next week.

This model stands out from the regular Passat with a 250-horsepower 1.8L TSI engine that has already proven quite popular in Europe and Asia.

Other upgrades include a dual exhaust, 19'' alloy wheels, bi-xenon headlights with Volkswagen's Advanced Front Lighting System (AFS), and carbon-trimmed mirror caps. A lowered sport suspension and electro-mechanical steering enhance handling.

Photo: Volkswagen

Honda will invest US$23 million at its Marysville, Ohio assembly plant to integrate the production of the new 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid. Scheduled to go on sale in the U.S. in the fall, this model is set to become the Japanese automaker's third American-built hybrid after the Civic Hybrid and Acura ILX Hybrid.

"With more than 30 years of continuously building eight generations of the Honda Accord close to our customers, our team now is using its experience and flexibility to add this sophisticated Accord Hybrid model," said Jeff Tomko, manager of the Marysville assembly plant. "At the same time, we are continuing with our commitment to manufacture new models in Ohio, along with the resulting growth in jobs."

Adding the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid to Marysville will require lengthening the main assembly line and expanding the facility by 95,000 square feet.

From GMM

Toto Wolff, a shareholder and director of the Williams team, doubts he will continue his role of driver manager.

That is despite the Austrian's latest charge, Valtteri Bottas, having successfully risen through the ranks to make his formula one debut in 2013.

But Wolff told Switzerland's Motorsport Aktuell that 22-year-old Finn Bottas is more an exception than the rule.

Rather, "If you now need 100,000 for a national karting season, and 250,000 euros for international, then eventually the level (of the drivers) will drop."

But Wolff said he hopes drivers with little money but big talent will still be able to rise through the ranks in future.

A current example, he said, is Bottas.

"He never had much money, but he always had support, just because he was good," Wolff insisted.

Valtteri Bottas and Christian Wolff, Williams. (Photo: WRi2)

But actually, he said managing motor racing drivers is a "thankless job".

"If the target fails," said Wolff, "everything's the fault of the manager. If everything goes smoothly, you never know what happens -- some drivers are champions of short memory."

He said he has no plans to repeat the Valtteri Bottas project with another young talent.

"If you have to put two million on the table for GP2, then driver management makes little sense," said Wolff.

The highly anticipated world debut of the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette finally took place last night and, in a nod to the second-generation model, marked the return of the Stingray nameplate.

Featuring a carbon fibre hood and roof, the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray (C7) is 99 lb lighter than its predecessor. Fuel economy will improve as a result and reportedly exceed the EPA-estimated 26 mpg of the current model, making it the most fuel-efficient Corvette ever. The car is also just 0.2'' longer overall than a Porsche 911.

Sprinting from 0-60 mph (96 km/h) in less than four seconds, the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray uses a new 450-horsepower V8 engine mated to a 7-speed manual gearbox with Active Rev Matching that anticipates gear selections and matches engine speed for perfect shifts every time, the automaker promises.

Meanwhile, the cockpit boasts refined materials such as premium leather, aluminum and carbon fibre, and offers a choice of standard or racing-style seats (both with a lightweight magnesium frame for exceptional support).

The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray will hit the market in the third quarter of 2013.

Photo: Chevrolet

From GMM

Following reports he was the favourite to secure the other Caterham race seat, Vitaly Petrov's manager actually sounds far from optimistic.

German reports had suggested the Russian has found new sponsors and was on the cusp of sealing the deal to secure his place at the team for 2013.

"So far, we haven't managed to find new sponsors," Petrov's manager Oksana Kosachenko is quoted by R-Sport.

"Where do journalists get this information from? I'm a journalist myself and I know very well how this can just pop into someone's head."

Vitaly Petrov and Oksana Kosachenko. (Photo: WRi2)

She admitted Petrov is not close to sealing the deal.

"At the moment there are a lot of unanswered questions," said Kosachenko. "There are too many nuances that need to be sorted out.

"We're at the waiting stage, which is linked to the team's restructuring. We completely depend on them and can't speed anything up."

Caterham has already signed 2012 Marussia driver Charles Pic, and at the weekend Caterham Technology CEO Mike Gascoyne hinted it is likely Petrov's 2012 teammate Heikki Kovalainen will be dropped.

Alongside Petrov, it was believed the sponsored drivers Bruno Senna and Giedo van der Garde were also in the running to be Frenchman Pic's 2013 teammate.

Making its global debut, Volkswagen has unveiled an SUV concept at the Detroit Auto Show that's sure to grab a few Canadian's attention.

The VW Crossblue, if produced, will sit firmly between the current Tiguan and Touareg in the Volkswagen SUV lineup. With room for six, the VW Crossblue concept features a combination of the German brand's renowned TDI engine and two electric motors for optimal performance and fuel economy. With mileage numbers in the 2.1L/100km range, the VW CrossBlue was designed with fuel efficiency as a high priority.

Thanks to the plug-in hybrid engine, the VW CrossBlue also offers impressive performance numbers with 516 lb-ft of torque and a top speed of 127 mph (75 mph in full electric mode). It also features VW;s spectacular six-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission. On a full battery charge, the CrossBlue can travel 14 miles (according to North American tests).

The VW CrossBlue was developed in Germany in cooperation with Volkswagen of America and was specifically designed for Canada and the United States. Equipped with an electric all-wheel drive system, the CrossBlue features a wide stance on the road (1,686 mm in front and 1,696 mm in the rear) and sits atop 21” alloy wheels.

Inside, the VW CrossBlue concept features all the necessary gadgets and tidbits, from banana wood accents to an Apple iPad Mini in each headrest for backseat passengers; this is Volkswagen's foray into the future of fuel efficiency.

Photo: Volkswagen

In 1990, Subaru produced a Formula 1 engine and bolted it to the back of a Coloni chassis.

Subaru invested in Enzo Coloni's small F1 team. The Japanese car manufacturer then asked former Ferrari engine man Carlo Chiti, also the father of the Alfa Romeo F1 engine in the '70s and '80s, to design and build the motor.

Chiti produced a low centre of gravity, 60-valve, flat-12 engine called the “1235.” It is said that not only was the engine overweight, but the Coloni gearbox was not a prime example of lightness. The complete assembly is said to be 112kg overweight!

Carlo Chiti and the Subaru flat 12 engine. (Photo: Archives Auto123.com)

The Coloni C3B was to be driven by Belgian driver, Bertrand Gachot. The car completed a quick shakedown and was shipped to Phoenix, Arizona for the opening race of the 1990 season.

As most onlookers expected, the car did not complete one single lap in Phoenix. The engine was started, but Gachot stopped at the pit exit when the gear-change linkage broke (I was there!). His first run lasted about 250 metres!

At the following race in Brazil, the C3B ran a few laps, but was 10 seconds off the pace to be able to prequalify, and 17 seconds slower than the pole time set by Ayrton Senna!

In the streets of Monaco, Gachot was 18 seconds off the pace. In Montreal, he was 24 seconds down from the pole time. In France, Gachot took 14 minutes and two seconds to complete one lap of the Paul Ricard circuit!

It was clear that the underfinanced Coloni-Subaru F1 car was never going to be remotely near the prequalifying pace and, indeed, poor Gachot never managed to make it past Friday morning in the first half of the year.

Political tensions inside the team and a lack of sponsorship money led Subaru to cease its involvement. From the German Grand Prix onwards, Enzo Coloni was back in full control of the team, and reverted to a Ford DFR V8 engine prepared by Langford & Peck.

That was it for Subaru's time in Formula 1.

Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada has just issued a press release to announce the upcoming arrival of a new subcompact model, to be unveiled at the Montreal International Auto Show on January 17th.

No further details have been provided, including the name of the car, but it's probably safe to put your money on ''Mirage.''

Photo: Mitsubishi

From GMM

Jules Bianchi is still in the running to become Paul di Resta's teammate at Force India in 2013.

At the weekend, Scottish driver di Resta admitted he is "surprised" the Silverstone based team is taking so long to make its decision.

Reportedly, 2012 reserve driver and Frenchman Bianchi is a leading candidate. And according to French commentator Jean-Louis Moncet, the 23-year-old's chances have just stepped up a notch.

In his Auto Plus column, Moncet wrote that Sahara Force India will switch from Mercedes to Ferrari power in 2014, with Sauber having now signed a Mercedes engine deal.

Part of Force India's Ferrari deal could be that the Nicolas Todt-managed and Ferrari-contracted Bianchi is placed in the race seat, with immediate effect.

Jules Bianchi, reserve driver for Sahara Force India in 2012. (Photo: WRi2)

"I am waiting," Bianchi, who at the weekend won Felipe Massa's karting event, told the French-language RMC Sport in Florianopolis. "It has been quite a hard winter this time because I haven't known what I am doing (next). We have a chance, and it's a good one. We'll wait and see what Force India will decide."

Also waiting on the final pieces of the 2013 grid to take shape is Bruno Senna, who has been linked with the other remaining race seat, at Caterham.

"For 2013, it is still unclear," the Brazilian, also in Florianopolis, is quoted by Totalrace.

"We are in the game but it is not easy to know where I'll end up even if I imagine that it will not take long for the pieces to fit together. I hope everything goes well. We are looking at all the options, both inside and outside of formula one," added the former Williams driver.

Asked if Sahara Force India is one of those options, Bruno Senna answered: "I am talking to the teams that still have seats free."

From BMW Motorsport

Belgian driver Maxime Martin has been promoted to the rank of BMW works driver for the 2013 season.

The 26-year-old will replace German Marco Wittmann as test and development driver in the DTM and will also contest the complete season in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) for BMW Team RLL.

Maxime Martin. (Photo: BMW Motorsport)

Martin finished runner-up in the Drivers' Championship in the 2012 Blancpain Endurance Series and also enjoyed success in the ADAC GT Masters.

This season he will contest all ten ALMS races in the new BMW Z4 GTE, and will also be present at seven of the ten DTM race weekends.

Martin will make his debut in North America at the wheel of a Turner Motorsport BMW M3 at the 24 Hours of Daytona at the end of January.

“This exciting new Infiniti Q50 stretches the boundaries of what a sports sedan can be, propelling Infiniti in a bold new direction.” -- Johan de Nysschen, Infiniti President.

And propel it into a new direction it shall, since the 2014 Infiniti Q50 sports sedan currently features two powertrains: a 3.7L V6 (rated at 328 hp and 269 lb-ft of torque) and a 3.5L Hybrid (rated at a combined 354 horsepower). The 3.7L is coupled to Infiniti's Continuously Variable Valve Timing Control System (CVVTCS) and Variable Valve Event & Lift (VVEL), while the Hybrid features the Infiniti Direct Response Hybrid system with Intelligent Dual Clutch Control with a 7-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission.

Photo: Infiniti

The 2014 Infiniti Q50 is available in rear-drive and Intelligent All-Wheel Drive in both powertrains.

A few world firsts are seen on the 2014 Infiniti Q50 sedan including Direct Adaptive Steering technology, which allows independent control of the sedan's tire angle and steering inputes. This system works faster than a mechanical system and intelligently communicates with the road's surface with four different steering settings.

Active Lane Control (the other world first), is a camera-controlled system that not only offers driver's a warning when lane drifting occurs, but offers a bit of steering input as well to keep the Q50 on the straight and narrow, and within the lines.

With style cues taken from the Essence concept vehicle, the 2014 Infiniti Q50 is sporty and sophisticated with all the standard design flare we've come to expect from Infiniti as well as a host of technological gadgets within.

The 2014 Infiniti Q50 is set to go on sale in North America starting the summer of 2013.