Auto News 5

EDITOR WES RAYNAL: A while back I visited the largest Jaguar/Land Rover dealer in the country, Prestige in Paramus, N.J. I remember a sales guy telling me he couldn't wait for the all-wheel-drive Jags. and#8220;At least they'll give us a chance.

Former rally driver Matt Johnston pays the rent these days by shooting sports, commercial and documentary video for clients such as Ford, ESPN and National Geographic Channel.

We here at Autoweek agree: Vannin' needs to make a comeback. But until science and the dark arts achieve a way to resurrect

Mitsubishi hit our radar on Tuesday for the first time in a long time.

General Motors CEO Dan Akerson reiterated that GM has no immediate plans to invest further in struggling PSA.

Mercedes-Benz has set up a new sales-support unit for China and is stepping up the pace of dealer openings in the country as it seeks to catch rival Audi, the best-selling premium brand in the market.

Chrysler Group, saying it's settled a dispute with federal safety regulators, will inspect older-model Jeep Grand Cherokee and Jeep Liberty SUVs and install a trailer hitch assembly if necessary to 'better manage crash forces in low-speed...

Dacia has started selling its Lodgy minivan in Denmark, the latest western European market for Renault's no-frills brand that was originally created for developing markets.The expansion into Denmark marks the completion of Dacia's rollout in the EU.

Jaguar Land Rover is targeting global sales of 750,000 units by the end of the decade, with an eventual target of 1 million units, a top executive said Tuesday.

Chrysler Group, saying it has settled a dispute with U.S.

Many dealerships are experimenting with ways to get more bang for the buck in the FandI department. Some dealerships have merged sales and finance responsibilities into lower-paid hybrid positions.

Senior members of the German government have warned EU member states that German automakers could scale back or scrap production plans in their countries unless they support weakened carbon emissions rules, according to diplomatic sources.

Dacia has started selling its Lodgy minivan in Denmark, the latest western European market for Renault's no-frills brand that was originally created for developing markets. The expansion into Denmark marks the completion of Dacia's rollout in the EU.

Toyota used Twitter to broadcast the steps taken to build the Auris hybrid compact car at its UK factory in what the automaker says is a world-first social media project.

The two Lotus Praga LMP2 cars have been returned to their owners today after being seized Tuesday by the French justice in the paddock of the Le Mans circuit.

The following is the press release issued by the team:

Lotus Praga LMP2/Kodewa have instructed their lawyers to file a criminal complaint against Stéphane Chosse, Adess AG and SCE Solutions on Monday, 17th June 2013.

Stéphane Chosse is in debt and owes Kodewa a seven-figure amount. Chosse presented fictitious and not justified invoices to the court in France. He insisted that Kodewa is in debt. This is not true.

On Tuesday evening (18th June), a bailiff seized parts of the Lotus Praga T128 LMP2 cars.

The court in Le Mans decided this afternoon (19th June) to give the seized parts back to the team as the allegations were reasonless.

Kodewa will take further action against Stéphane Chosse, Adess AG and SCE Solutions.

Aston Martin today unveiled the Vanquish Volante, a new luxury convertible that sits at the top of the British automaker's sports car lineup. It uses a 565-horsepower, 6.0L V12 engine to sprint from 0-100 km/h in 4.1 seconds and reach a top speed of 294 km/h.

The Aston Martin Vanquish Volante is the first Volante model with a full carbon fibre body, and at 1,844 kg, this drop-top is just 9 kg heavier than the coupe. The top folds away in 14 seconds only at speeds of up to 50 km/h.

Moreover, the LED taillight blades are derived from the One-77 supercar, and the Adaptive Damping System (ADS) allows the driver to switch between three distinct damping modes: Normal, Sport, and Track.

“Vanquish Volante, like the Vanquish coupe before it, uses the very latest technologies employed in the very best ways to create a sports car which is easy to control, and to enjoy dynamic performance at the finest level,” said Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez.

Priced from $297,995 USD, the car is expected to begin deliveries across the Americas from early next year.

From GMM

Ron Dennis has played down expectations there could be a female driver on the formula one grid in the near future.

Williams test driver Susie Wolff is pushing for a super license and expecting to contest next month's young drivers' test at Silverstone, while Maria de Villota was Marussia's test driver last year before her horrific Duxford crash.

Dennis, McLaren supremo, was asked this week when he thinks F1 will see a female driver on the grid once again.

"I don't think it will happen soon. There are some sports that are difficult from a physical point of view for women, and formula one is one of them," he is quoted by Italy's La Repubblica.

Susie Wolff. (Photo: Williams F1 Team)

McLaren's lead driver Jenson Button, however, insists it is "possible" for women to race in F1.

"There are a couple of women racing in Nascar and Indycar, have actually won races," he said.

"The big issue is that I don't think women are given the opportunity at an early age. It is a very demanding sport, very specific training and taking time to get race fit. I personally think it's possible," added Button.

Meanwhile, Dennis has also been quoted as firing a barb at a former McLaren driver for losing focus on the real 'objective' of the sport.

"Some people lost sight of what the objective is," he said. "When you lost sight of what you are doing, then you lost sight of what it takes to be a world champion."

From GMM

Niki Lauda only knew about Mercedes' secret tire test at Barcelona in May once "the wheels were turning".

That is the claim on Wednesday of the respected Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt, as F1 braces for the first ever hearing of Jean Todt's new international tribunal.

Reportedly armed with lawyers and engineers of the Brackley based team, the sole Mercedes chief deployed to Paris on Thursday morning will be Ross Brawn, after a spokesman confirmed that Lauda and Toto Wolff will not be there.

After a disappointing first three years of the 'works' F1 foray, the Austrian pair are the new faces at Mercedes, and both shareholders.

Photo: WRi2

There has been speculation Brawn will be the scapegoat, or fall guy, with former McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe already at work at Brackley, and earmarked to eventually succeed Brawn.

"It was my decision to do the test, so that's a fact. Let's see what occurs at the tribunal and go from there," Ross Brawn told reporters in Canada recently.

Schmidt reported on Wednesday that Lauda, the triple world champion and Mercedes F1 chairman, first heard about the highly controversial Barcelona test "when the wheels were already turning".

He added that Lauda's deputies insisted that permission had been sought for the use of the 2013 car.

Britain's SportsPro magazine got an exclusive interview with Mansoor Ijaz, one of the new investors in the Lotus Formula 1 Team.

Yesterday, Lotus confirmed that its owner, Genii Capital, has sold a 35 per cent stake in the business to Infinity Racing Partners. Infinity is a special purpose vehicle set up by what Lotus called 'an American hedge fund manager, an Abu Dhabi-based multinational business group and royal family interest of a major oil producing nation'.

Mansoor Ijaz, a US investment banker and sometime media pundit, is also the founder and chairman of New York-based investment firm Crescent Investment Management.

“For us it was an opportunity to bring our technological capabilities,” said Ijaz to SportsPro.

“We have enormous technological capabilities that we can bring and we're going to make Lotus the number one team for sponsorship within the next year. That's simply a result of my network around the world,” he added.

Mansoor Ijaz.

Some medias speculated that there are interests from the United Arab Emirates and also Brunei in that project.

“I will not comment on the royal family, whether it's Brunei or not. What I will tell you is the people who are part of the consortium are old, dear friends, business partners, investors in other things that I've done,” replied Ijaz.

Ijaz also explained why he chose to invest in the Lotus F1 Team. “We have been looking at Formula 1 for about two years now. We looked at three other teams before we decided on Lotus,” he said to SportsPro.

“Team Lotus has the element of real team spirit, meaning across the board - vertically as well as horizontally - in terms of the breadth and depth of the team's capacity. Secondly, there are the business brains that run Genii Capital and the business brains that affect the way in which Lotus is managed as a business; these are men cut from the same cloth as I have been throughout my career,” he added.

“We will be integrally involved in the technology development side, as the engines change next year, as technology comes to the front.

“I have a younger brother, Mujeeb and he is the chief technology officer of A123 Venture Technologies in Boston. He's an important part of the story of what we're doing because he brings a certain capability as a systems integrator and an expert in battery technology that will, I think, dramatically enhance what we're doing on the technological side come next season,” Ijaz continued.

Ijaz confirmed that the new investors have high expectations for the future of the Lotus F1 Team.

“Of course we want to make a profit, but it's not the primary objective. Next year, when there is a change in the way the races will be run, there's a lot of opportunity going forward to differentiate one car from another technologically. We'll be number one in 12 months. I say it simply, flatly, completely - we'll be number one in 12 months,” he concluded.

Here is a preview of this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans - the 81st running of the great endurance race in France.

LMP1
In LMP1 - the top endurance category - it's quite difficult to imagine how Audi can lose victory. The German car manufacturer has dominated Le Mans since 2000, scoring 11 wins in 13 races. Why things should be different this year?

Audi's top trio made of Lotterer-Treluyer-Fassler (winners of the last two Le Mans races and reigning World Endurance champions) intends to win the race for a third time. The fact is that Audi has virtually no rivals, except Toyota. Despite the fact that they performed well at Le Mans last year, the Toyota TS030s are not as fast as the mighty German machines.

Behind the factory teams, the two Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyotas intends to win the “independents” race in front of the HPD of Strakka Racing.

LMP2
An impressive field of 22 cars will battle in the LMP2 class. Winners of last year, Starworks Motorsport are not back. Battle for the win includes OAK Racing's Morgan-Nissan, the Alpine-Nissan and the Zytek Nissan.

GTE Pro
Five car manufacturers are entered in the GTE Pro category. Four works teams - Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin and STR Viper and one semi-private, Ferrari AF Corse - will be in the hunt for victory. The Porsche factory will be involved, rehearsing for next year's challenge with its new LMP1 prototype.

GTE Am
Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin will be racing in the GTE Am category. Fourteen cars will be battling for 24 hours, including a pair of factory Vantages.