Auto News 5

Honda posted a 6.6 percent rise in quarterly net profit, helped by strong U.S. sales of its Accord and CR-V models.

Honda posted a 6.6 percent rise in quarterly net profit, helped by strong sales of its Accord and CR-V models the United States.

Toyota affiliate Denso, the world's second-largest auto parts supplier, booked operating profit of 74 billion yen ($748 million) for the January-March quarter, down 5 percent from a year earlier when it was still recovering from an earthquake that...

Juergen Stackmann, new boss of VW's Seat brand, must discover what the ailing brand really stands for.

Hyundai apologized for an ad that sought to promote the zero carbon emissions of a fuel-cell powered ix35 by featuring a man failing to commit suicide using a hose attached to the exhaust.

PSA named veteran industry executive manager Yves Bonnefont as Citroen's deputy CEO. Bonnefont will lead the expansion of the upscale DS subbrand as well as the new positioning of Citroen's C-line of vehicles.

Mitsubishi forecast its operating profits will jump 48 percent in the fiscal year that began April 1, lifted by a favorable yen exchange rate as well as an anticipated sales surge in the United States.

Johnson Controls, citing weaker automotive production in Europe, posted lower profits during its most recent quarter, but reaffirmed its financial outlook for the year.

The Mercedes Citan van has been given three out of five stars in a EuroNCAP crash test. It is the worst safety score for one of the automaker's vehicles in more than 15 years.

GM CEO Dan Akerson's compensation mix was changed in 2012 to accommodate the possibility he may retire before his long-term restricted stock vests in three years, the company said.

From GMM

Although still referred to as the famous British team's 'supremo', the 65-year-old - succeeded by Martin Whitmarsh - stepped down as McLaren team principal some years ago.

He also sold half of his 30 per cent stake in the Woking based company to the Bahrain investment vehicle Mumtalakat Holding, and most recently has been focused on McLaren's road car production subsidiary.

McLaren MP4-12c GT3. (Photo: McLaren Automotive)

And according to Auto Motor und Sport, it is the road car business, and the extent of Bahrain's new influence at McLaren, that has resulted in Dennis' latest demotion.

The German magazine reports that Dennis has lost his voting rights on the McLaren Group board, leaving him only a non-executive member due to his status as co-owner.

Auto Motor und Sport said Bahrain is angry because Dennis' pet project, McLaren Automotive, is losing rather than making money.

"Instead of the planned 3,500 units, only half of that are sold," wrote correspondents Michael Schmidt and Bianca Leppert.

"The Bahrainis are seeing their money disappear, never to return," they added, estimating Bahrain's losses in the hundreds of millions.

UPDATE
McLaren played down reports Ron Dennis has been demoted by team co-owner Bahrain.

A McLaren spokesperson on Friday told the BBC that Dennis' change of role was decided by himself.

The spokesman did, however, admit that group chairman Dennis is now a non-executive board member.

Dennis is quoted as saying: "The difference in the job is I don't have accountability for the actions of the management."

He denied rumours of significant disagreements with the Bahrainis and also shareholder Mansour Ojjeh, or that he had attempted to wrest back control of the F1 team from Martin Whitmarsh.

"There has absolutely been no suggestion of my role in the company changing beyond the change of roles that took place as per my contract in January," said Dennis.

We auto critics at Auto123.com get to drive news cars every week. Over the years, this equates to hundreds if not thousands of new cars. The following is our list of cars per category that should be on all of our bucket lists.

Convertible: 2013 Mazda MX-5

Photo: Mazda

Continue reading 1 car per category that must be driven

German car manufacturer, Audi intends to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June with a special, low-drag version of its R18 e-tron Quattro.

Audi will race a long-tail R18 at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps May 4, Round 2 of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).

But the German team has already tested the long-tail car on Monza's circuit in Italy. The layout of the track was specially modified so that the chicane could be avoided, resulting on a very fast race track which resembles that of Le Mans.

The long-tail R18 features a lengthened rear section which is designed to reduce drag at high speeds. The rear wing is also position a bit lower, again in an attempt to increase top speed.

Porsche also produced a long-tail version of its mighty 917 to race Le Mans a little more than 40 years ago.

IndyCar driver Alex Tagliani has officially announced this morning that he will be returning to the streets of Trois-Rivieres this coming August to take part in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series round.

Tagliani will be driving a car that will be prepared by none other than the current champion's team DJ Kennington. The NCTS event is one of the most exciting of the season and it will be presented during the week end of August 9 thru 11.

The Lachenaie, Qc. native is quite familiar with the urban circuit having raced there two-times in the Atlantic Series and also in NCTS, in 2007, 2008 and most recently in 2009, where he earned pole.

In 15 starts in the Canadian stock-car series, he has 1 win (Edmonton 2008) and his best result in Trois-Rivieres is an 18th place in 2009.

British motorsport publication Autosport Friday writes that teams are working to get the winter test sessions to be revamped in order to run the new turbo cars in January of next year instead of February.

The switch to normally aspirated V8s to the 1.6-litre V6 turbo is already a huge task, the teams, as well as the engine suppliers (Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes-Benz) want to track test the new motors as early as possible to ensure that everyone is as ready for the first race of the season.

Although no dates have yet been formally approved, Autosport has learned that F1 teams are now gearing up for an earlier than usual start to running because of the desire of engine supplier to get some track mileage done in January.

Photo: Mercedes-Benz

They are currently edging towards a plan of getting a test done at Jerez in Spain in late January next year prior to some tests in the Middle East. The FIA is currently reworking that rule so it can then be approved by teams.

It is hoped this can be ratified at the next meeting of Formula 1's Sporting Working Group that takes place ahead of the Grand Prix of Spain in Barcelona.

The go-ahead for a January test would leave the door open for teams to prepare an interim test car for the V6 turbo engine test, but such a scenario appears unlikely because of the huge drain of resources that would require amid the extensive effort needed just to get a 2014 contender up and running.

Sixteen-year-old Alex Guenette has confirmed that he will be part of the 2013 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driving a Dodge car prepared by Dave Jacombs and backed by major sponsors Motos Illimitées and DLG.

Last year, Guenette took part in the Pro Truck Series where he earned Rookie of the year title. During the summer he lives and races in Quebec and in Florida for the rest of the year, where he competes in various winter series and completes his schooling.

In his rookie season in stock cars in 2012, Guenette won four of the 10 races. This past February, Alex raced in the NASCAR-sanctioned World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Beach Raceway in Florida, in the highly competitive Pro Late Model Class, where he finished the series tied for second place in points. 

The team will be on track for a preseason testing session on the road course at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, on April 30. The first race of the 2013 Canadian Tire Series season will be held at the same track, on May 19.

Photo: Alex Guenette Facebook

From GMM

Formula one testing has resumed at the Duxford airfield in Cambridgeshire, UK.

There has been no F1 running at the Imperial War Museum facility since Maria de Villota was seriously injured, and lost an eye, in a crash whilst testing for Marussia last July.

But an unnamed team was in action on the runway at Duxford on Friday, and the local Haverhill Echo newspaper said more test days are booked for next Wednesday and also in May, June and August.

On Friday, Spaniard de Villota said in Madrid that she thinks Fernando Alonso will win this year's world championship.

"Soon everything will line up for him and he will not have so much bad luck; for me he is the most complete driver on the grid -- the perfect combination of talent, passion and work," she is quoted by the EFE news agency.

The hipster movement is not new. Car fanatics have been liking the un-cool, the ugly and the nasty for decades. More than that, cruising the streets with an ugly forgettable disaster of a car takes cohones and chutzpah. Although some of these cars require less of either to be seen in, they remain awful to look at but very chill to have.

Lincoln Versailles

Photo: That Hartford Guy / Flickr

Continue reading Top 10 ugliest cool cars

While Fisker's demise has been a foregone conclusion for a little while, it was only on Tuesday that co-founder and COO Bernard Koehler admitted to the U.S. government that “the company may be obliged to seek bankruptcy protection to facilitate its continued efforts to preserve value for all stakeholders.”

At the same time, Koehler said he doesn't know exactly what the future holds for Fisker, including whether new investors will emerge.

The struggling electric car maker, which laid off 75% of its employees earlier this month, has some serious financial problems that are only getting worse.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), which seized Fisker's emergency reserve funds this week, is also under fire after a PrivCo report claimed it knew by December 2010 that Fisker wasn't meeting milestones required to keep drawing taxpayer funds, yet waited until June 2011 to cut off funding.

Source: The Detroit Bureau

Subaru Canada will recall 1,000 all-new 2014 Forester SUVs because the floor mats can curl when exposed to heat.

A deformed mat could interfere with the driver when shifting his or her foot from one pedal to another. This could cause a delay in brake pedal application, which could increase stopping distances.

Subaru dealers will therefore replace the four carpeted floor mats in all affected Foresters.

Source: Transports Canada

Photo: Mike Goetz