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Russian politicians are calling on domestic OEMs to look more overseas as demand gradually reaches its peak at home and as the country adapts to its recent accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The first Mazda6 has rolled off the line at an assembly plant in Russia.

News 16 Apr, 2013

Police used Find My iPhone app to track burglar who stole an Audi A6

News 23 Apr, 2013

Peugeot has released first pictures of the 208 T16, which is set to compete at Pikes Peak in June

PSA's bank was cut to one level below investment grade by Moody's Investors Service today, which said the auto-financing unit can't escape the European car-market contraction plaguing its parent.

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The Volkswagen Group is reshuffling the senior management of SEAT, by appointing Jürgen Stackmann as the new division's new chairman as at 1 May. James Muir, the incumbent, will assume a senior management function within the Volkswagen Group and will report direct to the Board of Management.

Pictures 16 Apr, 2013

With the yen weakening and Europe's debt crisis spreading, VW Group and its German peers are planning to spend more than $25 billion by 2017 to expand production outside their home region and insulate themselves from currency convulsions.

Volkswagen and its German peers are planning to spend more than $25 billion by 2017 to expand production outside their home region and insulate themselves from currency convulsions.

South Korea's Hyundai Mobis said today it had won a $530 million order to supply automotive lamps to U.S. automaker Chrysler Group LLC -- the supplier's biggest lamp deal ever.

VW has promoted Gerry Dorizas, its veteran head of sales in India and a former chief of Hyundai Europe, to run its overall operations in the country.

Audi Motorsport chief Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich believes the driver will be even more important in this year's DTM title battle.

With the regulation changes introducing a more compact race weekend format, Formula 1 style DRS and option tyres which are expected to last five to seven laps, Ullrich believes driver skill will play a larger part in the outcome of the race and Audi - given its 2013 have all visited the podium at least once in their careers - are the best prepared of the manufacturers to do this.

“We're expecting it [the drivers] will [play a larger role] - that's why we rely on drivers who have all been on the DTM podium at least once,” said Ullrich.

“I think we have the strongest squad we've ever had in the DTM.”

Wolfgang Ullrich. (Photo: Audi Motorsport)

Ullrich also believes the Ingolstadt manufacturer is in better shape for 2013, considering the regulations surrounding the technology of the DTM cars was “frozen” at the end of last season. Audi struggled to adapt to the technical changes for 2012 and won just two events, with their best placed driver, Mike Rockenfeller, finishing fourth in the championship.

Rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW won three and five respectively, with Bruno Spengler winning the title for the latter.

“It's true that last year didn't go the way we had expected,” he continued. “We were forced to catch up during the season - that's difficult in a championship which is on such a high level.

In 2012, we didn't squeeze the optimum out of the things we developed and installed in the cars during the season.

In winter, we tried to improve the usability of the things that are available to us within the constraints of the regulations.”

Despite targeting a win around the Norisring with new arrival Jamie Green, Ullrich has played down talk of a title challenge.

Jamie Green. (Photo: Audi Motorsport)

The Norisring is somewhat of a home race for Audi, with the factory some 60 miles away, and over the last five years, the Brit has won four from five races around the former Nazi party rally ground.

However, it has been 11 years since Audi scored their last victory there in 2002, courtesy of Laurent Aiello in an Abt prepared TT-R.

“Jamie has gelled with the team quite superbly,” said Ullrich. “He was positively received and fits really well with Audi. Maybe we'll finally manage winning at the Norisring again with him too.”

“The aim at Audi is always to be in contention for victory,” he continued. “We intensively worked toward this aim throughout the winter.

Of course this doesn't mean you automatically win the title.”

According to reports, Audi is considering three possible factory programs for its North American activities and, besides the proposed domestic DTM championship (2015) and the United SportsCar Racing series (2014), the IZOD IndyCar series would also being considered.

Meeting with a small group of reporters, Audi board member Wolfgang Durheimer, the company's head of technical development mentioned that the German car manufacturer could be interested in open-wheel racing.

"Another opportunity can be IndyCars, that I also think is still very popular,” he said.

“The Indy 500 is an outstanding race. That's about all I can see right now."

Photo: IndyCar

Audi would likely choose two of the three options, with a move into the Daytona Prototype ranks in the new unified USCR series a strong possibility.

For the IndyCar Series, adding a wealthy and engaged European engine manufacturer to complement the investments made by Chevrolet and Honda would be a major boost for all involved.

Both the GM and Honda Racing bosses share the same interest in having Audi join the IndyCar series, and believe they would become a formidable opponent and that, obviously, it would raise the series' domestic and international standing.

The most recent participation by a German car manufacturer in Indy car racing came with Mercedes-Benz between 1994 and 2000.

Photo: IndyCar

DTM's Augusto Farfus has opened his 2013 season with a win for BMW Motorsport in the VLN endurance championship at the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

The Brazilian - with the help of Dirk and Jorg Muller - won the VLN opener behind the wheel of the #19 BMW Z4 GT3 after four hours and 27 laps, some 15 seconds ahead of the second place Timbuli Racing Porsche.

Farfus' BMW stablemate in the DTM, Martin Tomczyk, shared the #20 Z4 GT3 with Claudia Hurtgen and Jens Klingmann and finished the race in third.

Photo: VLN Deutschland

“To return to the Nordschleife two years after my victory in the 24-hour race, and to win again, is simply brilliant,” said the Brazilian. “The BMW Z4 GT3 is a fantastic car.”

Tomczyk, who like Farfus used the race as a form of preparation for the DTM season opener on May 4-5, was equally as enthusiastic about the result.

“First and third - you can't make a much better start to the VLN than that,” said the 2011 DTM champion. “We are really happy and the car is extremely competitive. I really enjoyed this outing.”

This latest success comes off the back of a successful DTM test for BMW at Hockenheim where the Bavarian marque topped the time sheets of all four days of running.

Adapted from GMM

Pirelli has decided against taking its soft tire compound to this weekend's Bahrain grand prix.

Before the season began, F1's official tire supplier announced that it would take its hard and soft tires to the island Kingdom.

"This is designed to ensure plenty of speed in qualifying coupled with the durability needed for the race," Pirelli said in a pre-season statement.

But the Italian marque has now announced that, in fact, the hard and medium compound tires will be raced this weekend.

Photo: Pirelli

The news follows the Chinese grand prix, where Pirelli was heavily criticised when the soft compound lasted only a few laps at the Shanghai circuit.

The asphalt surface of the Bahrain International Circuit, made up of 60,000 tonnes of imported granite from England, offers good grip when clean and is classified as medium to high in terms of abrasion.

According to Pirelli, the expected lifespan of the hard tire, when it comes to wear, should be 15-17 laps, whereas the medium tire should last for approximately 13 to 15 laps.

Pirelli added on Monday that "tire degradation (is) expected to be reasonably high (in Bahrain), which is why the two hardest compounds of the range have been nominated."

Paul Hembery commented: "It's one of the most demanding tracks of the year for the tires, mostly because of the high ambient and track temperatures."

Aston Martin will unveil a gas/hydrogen hybrid variant of the Rapide S during the 24 Hours of Nürburgring (May 19-20). It will be the first of its kind to race at this international event.

The Aston Martin Rapide S Hybrid Hydrogen features a 6.0L twin-turbo V12 engine and is capable of running on hydrogen, gasoline, or a combination of both. Driving dynamics can be optimized for power, acceleration, or fuel economy.

Top speed is rated at more than 300 km/h, while 0-100km/h takes 4.9 seconds. The car is expected to complete the first lap running on hydrogen alone, which means it'll emit nothing but water vapour.

Aston Martin currently has no plans to produce and sell the Rapide S Hybrid Hydrogen.

Photo: Aston Martin

Italian driver Raffaele Marciello captured another victory this past weekend at Silverstone and now leads the provisional standings of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship.

Start of Race 2. (Photo: FIA F3 Europe)

Three races were held at Silverstone. Carlin driver Harry Tincknell captured victory in Race 1, Felix Rosenqvist took victory in Race 2 while Ferrari protégé, Marciello won Race 3.

Marciello, who drives for Prema Powerteam beat Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) in a thrilling battle Sunday. The Swede came home second; Alex Lynn (Prema Powerteam) crossed the finish line in third place.

Felix Rosenqvist, Rafaelle Marciello and Alex Lynn. (Photo: FIA F3 Europe)

Point standings
Pos Driver  Points
1 Marciello  106,5
2 Rosenqvist  70
3 Tincknell  63

This weekend's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will mark Chip Ganassi Racing's Dario Franchitti's 250th IndyCar start, which will be putting him right behind still active drivers Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves.

In his long CART/ChampCar/IndyCar career, Franchitti has earned four championships, including 31 victories (three Indy 500), 29 runner-up finishes, 112 top-five finishes and 29 pole starts.

The Scot began his career on March 2, 1997, in a CART race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Franchitti will make his 12th start at Long Beach, where he won in 2009 in the first IndyCar-sanctioned race on the temporary street circuit.

Most Indy car starts 1946-2013
407 - Mario Andretti
369 - A.J. Foyt
329 - Al Unser. Jr.
320 - Al Unser
317 - Michael Andretti
315 - Johnny Rutherford
281 - Paul Tracy
264 - Bobby Rahal
261 - Gordon Johncock
260 - Helio Castroneves
259 - Tony Kanaan and Bobby Unser
249 - Dario Franchitti