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News 3 Jan, 2013

The Honda S2000 Modulo Climax will debut at the Tokyo Auto Salon

PSA has appointed Naza Euro Motors, a subsidiary of the Naza Group, as the official distributor for the Citroen brand in Malaysia.

Toyota luxury brand Lexus has decided to defer its entry into India, already home to rival luxury brands Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz which all assemble locally.

News 3 Jan, 2013

The Ford Focus is set to become the world's best-selling car for 2012

News 3 Jan, 2013

New boards will stop other motorists from slowing down to look at crashes

Automakers in India ended 2012 on a dull note with some reporting a year on year drop in sales for December.

German auto sales fell 2.9 percent in 2012 to their lowest level in two years, in line with a trend of weaker car demand in other key markets in Europe. New car registrations in Europe's biggest economy dropped 16.

News 3 Jan, 2013

Gazoo Racing will unveil a tuned Toyota GT 86 at the Tokyo Auto Salon

Subaru plans to increase capacity by 30% in the US, its only overseas production facility, according to the Nikkei.

New vehicle sales in Indonesia are expected to approach 1.1m units in 2012 - which would represent a 23% increase on the previous year's 893,164 units.

News 9 Jan, 2013

Exclusive images show how the stunning new Volkswagen Golf CC could look when it arrives in 2015

"Preliminary industry registration data shows total new vehicle sales for 2012 topped 100,000 units," said Perry Kerr, chief executive officer of New Zealand's Motor Industry Association (MIA).

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Car sales in France, Spain and Italy in 2012 fell to the lowest levels in years, with December registration data underscoring the challenges facing the broader European economy.

Hyundai and smaller affiliate Kia forecast their slowest sales growth in seven years as a slowing global economy and strengthening won saps demand. The two companies plan combined sales to rise 4.1 percent to 7.

Sales of new autos, a bright spot for the U.S. in 2012, will grow further this year as an improving economy and demand for pickups and for mid-sized cars boosts registrations 6.6 percent, according to R.L. Polk and Co. About 15.

Opel/Vauxhall is confident it can produce its new Adam minicar in Germany and still make money.

From GMM

Money was "a factor" in Mercedes' failure to succeed during his three-year comeback, Michael Schumacher insists.

The German marque openly admits that it does not spend as much on its Brackley based works team than top teams like Red Bull and Ferrari.

Schumacher told Auto Motor und Sport: "It's a factor. Over the years Red Bull built an infrastructure and has a budget giving them the possibility to respond to anything in the best possible way."

"It is nothing more or less than what we had at Ferrari," said the 44-year-old, who won five titles for the Maranello based team last decade.

Mercedes, never higher than fourth in the constructors' championship since the Brawn buyout in 2010, has denied it is now pumping in more funding for 2013 and beyond.

Photo: WRi2

It has, however, replaced Schumacher with 27-year-old Lewis Hamilton.

Briton Hamilton has said he wants to turn Mercedes into a top team.

"I know that deep in his heart he wants to win all the time," team boss Ross Brawn is quoted by Germany's Die Welt, "but he must also understand the course of development we are on at the moment."

Niki Lauda, the new non-executive chairman, agrees: "I prefer a sober analysis of the situation rather than promising something we cannot deliver."

But Hamilton's teammate Nico Rosberg insists that, although car development appeared to stall in the second half of 2012, Mercedes is making progress.

"If you walked through the factory today, you would see a massive improvement compared to three years ago," said the German, who is six months younger than Hamilton.

From GMM

Pedro de la Rosa, HRT's lead driver in 2012, has joined boss Luis Perez-Sala in admitting that the Spanish team has folded.

Spaniard de la Rosa, who was contracted to keep racing this year, has already said he is on the lookout for a new role elsewhere as test or reserve driver.

"There has been no official announcement, but we all feel that the project will end," the 41-year-old told the Spanish sports daily Marca.

"The sad thing," de la Rosa continued, "is that there was never a Spanish team before and now I think we will not see one again. It was an historic occasion. With a great champion like Fernando (Alonso), it was a good time and an excellent backdrop for the national interest."

"I think it will be very difficult to have these circumstances again," he added.

As for HRT's demise, Pedro de la Rosa admitted: "If the project failed, we're all a little responsible."

Pedro de la Rosa. (Photo: HRT F1 Team)