Auto News 5

Automakers are increasingly strengthening their relationships with video-game manufacturers as they seek to promote their vehicles and woo young gamers as future customers.

Blowing off media speculation that its bold ambitions for electric vehicles might have cooled, Nissan says it will expand its global EV product line to five models.

Automakers are increasingly strengthening their relationships with video-game manufacturers as they seek to promote their vehicles and woo young gamers as future customers.

Automakers are increasingly strengthening their relationships with video-game manufacturers as they seek to promote their vehicles and woo young gamers as future customers.

Blowing off media speculation that its bold ambitions for electric vehicles might have cooled, Nissan says it will expand its global EV product line to five models.

For more than a year, Volvo's U.S. sales arm and its dealers pressed executives in Sweden to reverse a decision not to sell the V60 station wagon in the United States.

Torque and towing, payload and ponies: They've long been the weapons of choice in the pickup wars.

Don't blame the test. That's the EPA's message in the wake of Ford Motor Co.'s decision to restate fuel economy estimates on its C-Max Hybrid.

Osamu Nagata, the troubleshooting Toyota executive who now heads North American manufacturing and randd, is on a mission to boost capacity and do it quickly -- first by expanding existing factories and then probably adding an assembly plant in Mexico.

Big data is turbocharging the old-fashioned business of direct-mail marketing, giving dealers the ability to pinpoint prospective customers.

General Motors is footing a $5 million bill for 60 days so its 4,324 dealers can test adaptive Web site software that automatically adjusts photos and content based on a visitor's online search history.

Nissan Motor Co. may be working on a more aggressive-looking Maxima sedan with a sportier tapered rear roofline and new front-end design and headlight treatment.

As dealership buy-sells heat up, large privately held dealership groups are bidding aggressively against the large public groups, even for the largest deals.

Geely Automobile, whose parent owns Volvo Cars, said it plans to start exporting vehicles that it develops with the Swedish brand to the United States in 2016.

Toyota Motor Corp. is racing to make its cars stronger in frontal crash tests after some vehicles, including the RAV4 compact crossover, were stung by poor safety ratings.

Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel has taken his 31st career victory at the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix, held Sunday on the longest circuit of the year - Spa-Francorchamps.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing. (Photo: WRi2)

Vettel's latest win means that he draws level with Nigel Mansell in terms of overall victories.

The 26-year-old Red Bull driver, who also set the fastest lap of the race, claimed the lead from second on the grid and now extends his championship advantage to 46 points over Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari. (Photo: WRi2)

Lewis Hamilton of the Mercedes-AMG team finished in third place.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG. (Photo: WRi2)

Photo: WRi2

Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus. (Photo: WRi2)

Stewart-Haas Racing has notified the media of a 2pm press conference on Tuesday to announce a team expansion.

Most likely that involves hiring Kurt Busch, the 2004 Sprint Cup champion, as the fourth driver and, likely, adding Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 55 crew chief Rodney Childers.

The SHR lineup for 2014 would include the recuperating, three-time champion, Tony Stewart, the returning Danica Patrick and Kevin Harvick who is leaving Richard Childress Racing at the end of the year.

Kurt Busch, who won the title with Roush Fenway Racing, then went to Penske Racing is currently with the one-car Furniture Row Racing.

Furniture Row Racing General Manager, Joe Garone, issued the following statement on Kurt Busch's decision to sign with Stewart Haas Racing.

“It was always our intention to extend Kurt's contract with Furniture Row Racing. We made him an offer last week to continue as the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet in 2014 and beyond. Though he did not accept our offer we respect his decision and wish him future success. His driving skill and being a dedicated team player will always be appreciated at Furniture Row Racing. But for right now the main focus for Kurt and the team is to qualify for the Chase and contend for the 2013 Sprint Cup Series championship.

“Furniture Row Racing's technical and engineering programs along with a talented road crew have made great strides this season, which have been evident with the consistently fast race cars that we have brought to the track week in and week out. We, along with our technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing, are deeply committed to continuing the work in progress. We are currently in a search process for a new driver in 2014, one who shares the same commitment and winning attitude that we all do at Furniture Row Racing.”

Kurt Busch was on the threshold of qualifying for a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but had a setback in Bristol on Saturday night. He still has two more opportunities to improve his points' position before all the spots are filled.

From press release

Lucas di Grassi and Nico Müller will get the opportunity to test the Audi RS 5 DTM this week at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg (Austria).

Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz complete a multiday test at the race track in Styria in preparation for the final spurt beginning at Oschersleben on September 15.

Audi driver Mike Rockenfeller starts the final dash as championship leader with a 35-point advantage. Rockenfeller and Mattias Ekström are in action for Audi in Spielberg. At the same time, Audi Sport offers two young racing drivers the chance to test the Audi RS 5 DTM.

The former Formula 1 driver and GP2 runner-up Lucas di Grassi belongs to Audi's sportscar driver line-up since mid 2012. The Brazilian clinched a podium position on his Le Mans debut in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro in June 2013.

Nico Müller had previously impressed Audi at the wheel of an Audi A4 DTM at a driver test for budding talents in spring 2012. The 21-year old Swiss now receives the opportunity to drive a current DTM racecar for the first time. Müller currently races in Formula Renault 3.5 and won the series' highlight of the season in Monaco this year. 
 

“We are intrigued to see just how Nico (Müller) and Lucas (di Grassi) get to grips with our RS 5 DTM,” says Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. “Nico is a promising young driver whose career we have followed with great interest for some years now. Lucas has impressed our sportscar team with his speed and knowledgeable technical feedback, which is why he is regarded as excellent test driver.”

2005 to 2007 Honda Accord Hybrid

Photo: Honda

The Draw: All of this generation Honda Accord's sensibility and style was available powered by a high-performance hybrid system for a short lifespan. The big draw here was the Accord using its available hybrid system as a performance enhancement -- as it was only available with the V6 engine and turned up the performance a notch, netting 255 horsepower or an improvement of 15. Other than the extra power and badging, the Accord Hybrid functioned, looked, and operated like a standard Accord, which is a good thing.

The Common Issues: Perhaps the most common issue reported dealt with a vibration or “tone” emitted from the Accord Hybrid's engine compartment. This appears to be caused when the vehicle's “Active Noise Cancellation” circuitry conks out, thereby failing to cancel out unwanted engine noises when the V6 runs on three cylinders to save fuel. If you notice any strange or unwelcome noises like these from the engine compartment on a test drive, be sure to find out why.

Further, some drivers report a “clunking,” “surging” or “vibration” from the transmission when shifting gears, though it's not completely clear whether this is normal -- given the nature of hybrid models and how they blend gas and electric power to propel the vehicle. If the Accord Hybrid you're considering doesn't feel like it's shifting properly, be doubly sure to have it inspected by a hybrid-certified dealer mechanic.

Photo: Honda

Continue reading Part II: Used Hybrids at a Glance

From GMM

Red Bull is playing down expectations Sebastian Vettel will continue his dominance next weekend at Monza.

Although some insiders thought Mercedes would have the upper hand on the long Spa-Francorchamps straights, German Vettel dominated the Belgian grand prix from start to finish.

Monza is an even higher-speed and lower-downforce circuit, but Vettel is not so sure the RB9 will continue to dominate in Italy.

Sebastian Vettel in Spa-Francorchamps. (Photo: Red Bull Racing)

"It's very difficult to predict," said the reigning triple world champion, whose points advantage over Fernando Alonso is now 46 points with eight races to go.

"We had some painful years (at Monza), where we just got hammered down the straights, and we've had years where the loss down the straight was limited, so we could come back in the corners. How it turns out to be this year is difficult to say," added Vettel.

Designer Adrian Newey is also unsure.

"I think Monza could be a difficult circuit for us," he is quoted by Italy's Autosprint. "There are a lot of straights and not so many corners."