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On September 8th 2000, Katsuhiko Kawasoe, Mitsubishi General Manager, resigned after having acknowledged 3 weeks earlier that he had hidden, for over 20 years, more than 64,000 complaints regarding defective vehicles. There were no recalls emitted for these vehicles.

A huge scandal broke in Japan, and the manufacturer was obliged to recall over 700,00 vehicles, carrying a 512 million franc price tag at the time, or more than 120.5 million dollars. Administrative sanctions were brought upon Mitsubishi.

Source : lapresse.ca

Photo: Sébastien D'Amour

From GMM

The Monza paddock began to disband late on Sunday amid the swirling rumour that Ross Brawn may be buying into the Williams team.

The story was mentioned by the British broadcaster Sky, in the wake of earlier news that Toto Wolff is moving to sell his 15 per cent share in the Grove based team.

Wolff and Brawn currently work together at Mercedes, who will supply V6 engines to Williams next year.

Brawn, team boss, has acknowledged he will eventually be replaced by Mercedes' new signing Paddy Lowe, so - if true - buying into Williams would breathe new life into his long career.

Ross Brawn, Toto Wolff (Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team)

Briton Brawn, 58, began his career in the 70s when Sir Frank Williams gave him a job as a machinist.

Later, in the mid 90s, he worked with great success at Benetton alongside Pat Symonds, who has just started work as Williams' new technical boss.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, however, reported on Saturday that Wolff in fact seems to be selling his 15 per cent team stake to a Russian interest.

And Sky acknowledged on Sunday that Williams advisor Alex Wurz, a former team driver, had vehemently denied the rumour.

Other reports said Wolff himself also denied he is selling his stake to Brawn.

Model: 2010 to 2013 Kia Forte

Vehicle Type: Sedan, Coupe or 5-Door

The Verdict: A healthy used model that's free of transmission issues should prove an affordable way to access a sporty, well-equipped and high-value motoring experience. The most commonly reported issues with the Kia Forte should be easily identified on a test drive, if present.

Photo: Justin Pritchard

What Owners Like: Owner-stated likes include styling -- both inside and out -- a great list of standard features, decent fuel economy, and a nice steering feel. Braking performance, especially on the Koup model, is also noted, as is performance. Forte 5 owners typically comment positively on a good price-to-space ratio and appreciate the model's flexible, ready-for-anything utility.

What Owners Dislike: On used Kia Forte models with a manual transmission, many owners complain of a fake, vague and “delayed” feeling to the electronic throttle. Other complaints include a “cheap” feeling to some interior trim and limited headroom for taller drivers. Finally, some owners complain of squeaks and rattles as the vehicle ages.

Photo: Justin Pritchard

Continue reading 2010-2013 Kia Forte Pre-Owned

Carl Edwards won the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night, after a restart with three laps to go beating Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman.

Only the cause of that restart, a caution when Clint Bowyer spun, sent tongues wagging at the three-quarter mile oval and on Twitter.

The race, which sets up the final field of 26 for the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup, was a relatively tame affair with Ryan Newman leading Edwards with a few laps remaining.

Then Bowyer spun and drivers dived into the pits for final service. Edwards came out second and Paul Menard first. Newman had a slow stop. According to Edwards, Menard had a problem.

“I knew he was going to be at a big advantage with grip -- big disadvantage with grip.  He took off.  I waited until he went to go,” Edwards said. “As we were going, his car actually touched my door.  I think it surprised him a little bit or something.  He turned a little bit.  I heard his engine speed up.  He spun the tires.”

Edwards grabbed the lead and went on to his second victory of the year.

Photo: Roush Fenway Racing

“That's my pit crew that won this race for us, just awesome job by them,” said Edwards in Victory Lane. He added “we're going to win the championship. That's our mission.”

Bowyer's spin helped Martin Truex Jr. into a wild card berth in the NASCAR's playoff called the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

And Bowyer denied spinning on purpose, but, Dale Earnhardt Jr. who in a following car smiled sheepishly when asked what he saw and said "he just spun out. It was the craziest thing I ever saw."

Kurt Busch did the improbable, taking the single-car Furniture Row Racing into the Chase. “It's been a great ride of trying to persevere and going up against the odds when certain things are against you that are out of your control...” he said.

Jimmie Johnson, the five-time champion, who had led the points for most of the year prior to Richmond, had the fourth bad finish in the last four races. This time, due to a tire problem, he finished 40th.  In the past four weeks his best finish was 28th.

Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Champion, led a race high 142 laps but fell back in the field for the caution brought out by Johnson's tire problem and ended up 17th (16th in the points) with no victories. Therefore he doesn't make the Chase and a chance to defend his title.

The last defending Champ who failed to make the Chase was Tony Stewart in 2006.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase standings*
1. Matt Kenseth, 2,015
2. Jimmie Johnson, 2,012
3. Kyle Busch, 2,012
4. Kevin Harvick, 2,006
5. Carl Edwards, 2,006
6. Joey Logano, 2,003
7. Greg Biffle, 2,003
8. Clint Bowyer, 2,000
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2,000
10. Kurt Busch, 2,000
11. Kasey Kahne, 2,000
12. Martin Truex Jr. 2,000

*Every driver received 2000 points and every driver who finished in the top-ten received three bonus points for victories.

Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) cruised to his six win of the season, as the rain some had hoped for in Monza never showed up. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) just kept his title chances alive by splitting the two Red Bull drivers on the podium.

Only at the start, when he had to fend off attacks from Mark Webber (Red Bull) and Felipe Massa (Ferrari) was Vettel's lead in danger. As the triple world champion pulled away, Alonso was making his way up to second place, for which he had to settle.

He failed to take advantage of Vettel's gearbox problems, but benefitted from Webber's similar issues to keep the Australian behind.

Massa ended his anonymous race in fourth, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber), who by keeping Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) behind him showed his third place starting position of Saturday was not down to luck.

Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) bagged a satisfying seventh place for his team, compensating for his teammate Jean-Éric Vergne's engine failure. Despite starting only 13th aboard the long-wheelbase Lotus E21 and being hit by Paul di Resta (Force India) at the start, Romain Grosjean rallied to a point finish, in eighth.

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) overcame his messy performance of Saturday and radio issues to beat his former teammate Jenson Button (McLaren) to ninth.

The relationship between Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) and Sergio Perez (McLaren) took another blow, as the pair collided at the start. They recovered to 11th and 12th respectively.

Race results* - Italian Grand Prix (Monza)
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 53 laps
2 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 5"4
3 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 6"3
4 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 9"3
5 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 10"3
6 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 10"9
7 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 32"3
8 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 33"1
9 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 33"5
10 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4-28-Mercedes) - 38"3
11 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 38"6
12 - Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4-28-Mercedes) - 39"7
13 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 40"8
14 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 49"0
15 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 56"8
16 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1 lap
17 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1 lap
18 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1 lap
19 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1 lap
20 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1 lap

Fastest lap of the race: 1'25"849 by Lewis Hamilton

Retirements
Lap 38 - Jean-Eric Vergne
Lap 1 - Paul Di Resta

Drivers' standings
1. Vettel 222; 2. Alonso 169; 3. Hamilton 141; 4. Raikkonen 134; 5. Webber 130; 6. Rosberg 104; 7. Massa 79; 8. Grosjean 57; 9. Button 48; 10. Di Resta 36; 11. Sutil 25; 12. Perez 18; 13. Ricciardo 18; 14. Hulkenberg 17; 15. Vergne 13; 16. Maldonado 1.

Constructors' standings
1. Red Bull-Renault 352; 2. Ferrari 248; 3. Mercedes 245; 4. Lotus-Renault 191; 5. McLaren-Mercedes 66; 6. Force India-Mercedes 61; 7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 31; 8. Sauber-Ferrari 17; 9. Williams-Renault 1.

*Unofficial scoring

From GMM

Rumours were swirling in the Monza paddock on Sunday, and the buzzword was 'Wednesday'.

The big talking point was whether Kimi Raikkonen in fact agreed a 2014 deal to rejoin Ferrari next year on the Wednesday of last week, or whether the Italian team will announce it formally on the coming Wednesday.

Perhaps both are true.  Perhaps neither.

Felipe Massa will be hoping the latter is true, but he admitted on Sunday that a cloud does hang over his formula one future.

"We're still discussing it," he said of his talks with Ferrari about next year.

"This race was important, not only for the contract with Ferrari but to show other teams what I'm able to do," Massa, who finished fourth on Sunday, told the BBC.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber C32 (Photo: Sauber F1 Team)

Another driver hoping Ferrari's 2014 deliberations involve him is Nico Hulkenberg, who had a sensational weekend at Monza for struggling Ferrari-powered Sauber -- qualifying third and finishing fifth.

On the possibility of joining Ferrari, the German said: "It's definitely something I wouldn't deny which I'm definitely interested in -- it's a no-brainer.

"(But) I can only influence it (Ferrari's decision) by performing very well, and obviously the timing (of Monza) is not the worst," he smiled.

From GMM

Red Bull will conduct a two-day, 1000 kilometre tire test with Pirelli mid next week in Barcelona.

The news revives memories of this year's Mercedes 'test-gate' scandal, but Auto Motor und Sport reports that the world champion team will be using a 2011 car, not the title-leading RB9.

And the race drivers will not be in action.  Instead, it will be test driver Sebastien Buemi alongside 2014 race driver Daniel Ricciardo.

Their task, confirmed by Pirelli motor sport boss Paul Hembery, will be to test 2014-specification tires.

Red Bull RB7 (Photo: WRi2)

But not everyone is happy.

"It's a huge advantage for them," said Force India sporting director Otmar Szafnauer.  "We were not offered a test like this."

It is believed however that a condition of Pirelli's tire testing with individual teams is that all of the other teams also have to be offered a similar opportunity.

Hembery denied Szafnauer's claim.

"We asked everyone.  We have another team that is interested but no date as yet," he insisted.

2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet First Look

A Sharper Entry-Level Drop-Top.

Though Americans' conception of the Audi A3 has always been that of an upscale four-door hatch, Europe has long enjoyed a much broader offering of Audi's compact model, including a cabriolet model. At the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, the wraps are coming off the 2015 A3 Cabriolet, giving Audi's entry-level drop top sharper yet still restrained styling consistent with the brand's larger offerings, as well as a healthy helping of technology.

Photo Gallery: 2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet First Look - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet First Look - Automobile Magazine

2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet First Look | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet First Look

A Sharper Entry-Level Drop-Top.

Though Americans' conception of the Audi A3 has always been that of an upscale four-door hatch, Europe has long enjoyed a much broader offering of Audi's compact model, including a cabriolet model. At the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, the wraps are coming off the 2015 A3 Cabriolet, giving Audi's entry-level drop top sharper yet still restrained styling consistent with the brand's larger offerings, as well as a healthy helping of technology.

Photo Gallery: 2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet First Look - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet First Look - Automobile Magazine

2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet First Look | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us

Daimler AG plans to build a new Mercedes factory in Brazil to benefit from growing demand for compact cars in the country, CEO Dieter Zetsche told a German newspaper.

Russia's car market passed Germany to become Europe's biggest in sales in August, according to Russia's analytical agency Autostat.

Russia's car market passed Germany to become Europe's biggest in sales in August, according to Russia's analytical agency Autostat.

The Chevrolet Malibu Eco, which uses General Motors' eAssist mild-hybrid system to boost fuel efficiency, is about to become a tough sell.

After four years of rapid growth for the auto industry, a top Toyota executive says sales are "starting to plateau" around a rate of 16 million units a year. Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.

Russia's car market passed Germany to become Europe's biggest in sales in August, according to Russia's analytical agency Autostat.

Russia's car market passed Germany to become Europe's biggest in sales in August, according to Russia's analytical agency Autostat.

Russia's car market passed Germany to become Europe's biggest in sales in August, according to Russia's analytical agency Autostat.

From GMM

Jean Todt has finally indicated he intends to fight for his role as FIA president.

Challenger David Ward has already published his manifesto as he seeks election in December, while incumbent Todt had yet to even say he will push for a second term.

"I guess to have an election you've got to have more than one candidate," said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner at Monza.

Finally on Saturday, on a visit to the Italian grand prix, Frenchman Todt told Auto Motor und Sport: "Why should I not want to finish what I have started?"

Also on Saturday, former Ferrari driver and ex Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger backtracked on earlier comments in which he suggested Todt's reign had not been good for F1.

"Jean Todt is 25 years a friend of mine and the reason why I do certain things in the FIA," the Austrian, also at Monza, told Reuters.

"And I support the FIA and Jean, just to clarify this.

"I would be very surprised if Jean does not stay long term in this role," added Berger.

On September 6th and 7th 1914, over 650 Parisian cabs, Renault AG1's, were requisitioned in order to carry troops from the front to stem the German advance on Paris. 3,000 soldiers from the 7th Division boarded these vehicles (1 on the running board, 3 in the rear and 1 by the driver). Called Marne Taxis, these vehicles made history.

The Renault AG1 ran on wooden wheels and was powered by a 2-cylinder engine. Lighting consisted of a petrol-soaked wick lamp. They needed to stick close together at night so as not to lose sight of each other. This initiative can be considered as the first ‘'mechanized unit'', which proved to be so successful in WWII.

This operation constituted the first mechanized unit. For the record, the requisitioned vehicles cost the pubic treasury some 70,000 francs, as the drivers were paid the regular fees for their services...

Source : Musée Automobile Reims Champagne

Taxi de la Marne © musée de l'Armée (Dist. RMN-Grand Palais) Photo: Pascal Segrette

From GMM

Pirelli has signed supply contracts with all eleven formula one teams, motor sport director Paul Hembery told reporters at Monza.

The Italian marque also has a new deal in place with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, giving the impression Pirelli is surely staying in the sport beyond its 2013 tenure.

"Yes, we now have an agreement with all the teams, and the promoter of the championship," Hembery is quoted by Russia f1news.ru.

But the final signature, that of F1's governing FIA, is still conspicuously missing.

Amid speculation Jean Todt favours the return of French supplier Michelin, Hembery said recently that a change now for 2014 would be "farcical".

Hembery said at Monza: "In two weeks we need to clearly define the programme for next year and give the teams the information they need.

"We have been preparing for next season for the past four months."