Auto News 5

As the world awaits the debut of the new BMW M3 and M4, which will take place on January 13th at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the German automaker gave us this official teaser.

The BMW M3 and M4 share many attributes, including a 3.0L inline 6-cylinder turbocharged engine that produces around 430 horsepower. The former is based on the 3 Series sedan, while the latter derives from the 4 Series coupe.

You may remember that an M4 concept was unveiled earlier this year at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California.

From GMM

Heikki Kovalainen says there is no guarantee Kevin Magnussen will thrive at McLaren, insisting 2014 could make or break the Danish rookie.

The famous British team, for whom Finn Kovalainen drove alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and 2009 before losing his seat, recently made the surprise decision to oust Sergio Perez in favour of the 21-year-old Magnussen.

"I'm still surprised by the team's decision," Mexican Perez, who it is believed will switch to Force India for 2014, told Brazil's Totalrace this week.

"I didn't know the news was coming and, in fact, my contract was already signed. So I was surprised. Time will tell if it was the right decision," added Perez, referring to McLaren's signing of the new Formula Renault 3.5 champion Magnussen over him.

Finn Kovalainen, who is also hoping to find a race seat for 2014, told the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat he also cannot be sure that McLaren's gamble on Magnussen will pay off.

"There are two possibilities: Kevin will do well, or he will do badly," said the 32-year-old, who despite his experience struggled late in 2013 when he replaced Kimi Raikkonen in the competitive Lotus cockpit.

"It is difficult to say which one of the possibilities is the most likely," added Kovalainen, referring again to Magnussen's chances.

"McLaren seems to really believe in him, but I don't really know him, other than knowing that he is fast and a good driver," he continued.

Kevin Magnussen, McLaren. (Photo: WRi2)

McLaren is hoping Magnussen can emulate the feats of its impressive 2007 rookie Lewis Hamilton, but Kovalainen warned that the team's most recent experiment with a new driver - Perez - appeared not to pay off.

"Hamilton was able to fight for the podium from the first race, but in the past season Sergio Perez has not met expectations," he explained.

"They were expecting they could polish the diamond, but it didn't turn out like that. In any case, McLaren is a very strong team with excellent facilities and vast resources, so at least in theory they can create the conditions to solve all of a driver's problems. There is no guarantee that Magnussen will succeed, but at least he will have a great chance," added Kovalainen.

McLaren and Sahara Force India Formula 1 teams have decided not to attend Pirelli's Bahrain tire test, scheduled December 17-19.

McLaren told Sky Sports F1 that the tight timeframes involved in getting ready for next week's hastily-arranged session forced them to change its plans.

"We are not testing in Bahrain next week," a McLaren spokesman said.

A spokesman for Force India, meanwhile, made clear that the late timing of the test's scheduling meant they didn't have sufficient notice to freight cars and equipment to Bahrain.

Meanwhile, Scuderia Ferrari has confirmed their participation and will run the team's third driver, Pedro de la Rosa and Ferrari Driver Academy member, Jules Bianchi to drive the F138.

Photo: Pirelli

On Wednesday NASCAR chairman and CEO, Brian France, named Brent Dewar as chief operating officer.

Previously he'd been senior vice president global Chevrolet, responsible for leading GM's volume brand across four regions and 130 markets. But he comes from the background of the general manager of the C6 Corvette which went on to LeMans 24 Hours titles.

“In Brent Dewar, we will add a seasoned leader with deep experience in the automotive sector, plus intimate knowledge of and passion for NASCAR as well as various other forms of motorsports,” Brian France said. “Brent brings creativity, drive, intelligence, operational acumen and a clear understanding of our assets and challenges to NASCAR. He's a leader who's naturally collaborative, an essential trait as we work more closely with the OEMs, teams, tracks, broadcast partners and others to grow the sport over the next decade.”

Brent Dewar. (Photo: NASCAR)

“When Dewar was at Chevrolet, he took an analytical approach to the business as the chief marketing officer. “We were pretty aggressive about making sure the investment was something we wanted to make,” Dewar said. “We did ROI research on the fan base and we learned early that this [NASCAR] is a great place to invest because of the fan loyalty.

“In my position here, I get to work with great teams and great people, and my hope is to be able to move the ecosystem forward.”

As the new COO of NASCAR, Dewar hopes to hit the ground running, and there is much he hopes to accomplish in his first 100 days.

“I'm still working with Mike Helton on instituting competition reform, and they will be rolled out at the beginning of the year, and that's exciting,” he said. “We also have industry initiatives that are close to my heart: the digital and social communications.”

Dewar said that his relationship with NASCAR has given him the chance to see how France runs the company. He said he's excited to bring his enthusiasm for racing to his new position.

“Working closely with NASCAR over the last year, I've been very impressed by Brian's vision for NASCAR's future and the talented people he has put in place to achieve that vision,” said Dewar. “I have great passion for racing, and I look forward to adding my experience, ideas and relationships throughout racing to help the team drive NASCAR's growth and position it for a bright future.”

Hyundai's new Intrado concept, which will make its debut at next year's Geneva Auto Show, is the Korean company's first prototype to embody its ''Fluidic Sculpture 2.0'' design language (first shown on the 2015 Genesis).

The fuel cell technology at work in the Hyundai Intrado is similar to the current Tucson FCEV's, but smaller and lighter.

The Intrado is a 5-door crossover with outrageously sized wheels, boomerang-shaped taillights, and styling cues inspired from the world of aeronautics. In fact, the name of the concept refers to the underside of an aircraft's wing.

More details to come in the weeks leading up to the Geneva show in March.

Source: Motor Authority

From GMM

F1's reigning champions Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull have broken ranks and slammed the new 'double points' finale.

Germany's Sport Bild reports that Red Bull voted against the highly controversial change agreed in the strategy group and F1 Commission meeting on Monday, which is being introduced after Vettel utterly dominated the 2013 season.

Next year, while the winner of classics like Monaco and Monza will collect just 25 points, victory in the Abu Dhabi finale will attract 50 points, with the FIA explaining that the move is to "maximise focus on the championship until the end of the campaign".

Sebastian Vettel, winner in Korea, in 2013. (Photo: WRi2)

German Vettel slammed the new rule.

"Imagine there is suddenly double points in the last Bundesliga match," he told Sport Bild.

"This is nonsense, and punishes those who have worked hard for the rest of the season. I like the old traditions of formula one and don't understand this new rule," added Vettel.

Sport Bild reports that, while also against the wishes of Abu Dhabi's rival race promoters, the rule was pushed through by Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt, and teams including Ferrari and Mercedes.

"We were against it," confirmed Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko, "but our team boss Christian Horner was overruled. At first the double points was planned for the last four races, but that would have made the rest of the world championship almost meaningless."

Let's review the top 5 key moments, or most memorable events of the 2013 Formula 1 season which saw German Sebastian Vettel capture his fourth world title for Red Bull Racing.

5
Singapore Grand Prix - Sebastian Vettel proves he's (by far) the best
Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel massacred the opposition as he scored a crushing victory on the streets of Singapore. Vettel started from pole and led all 61 laps in a Renault-powered RB9 that was sometimes two seconds a lap faster than any other car.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, in Singapore. (Photo: Red Bull)

4
Brazilian Grand Prix - Jenson Button scores the best finish of the year for McLaren
By finishing fourth at Interlagos, Jenson Button scored the best finish of the season for the mighty McLaren team. That concluded the worst even season for the British team, failing to score a single podium for the first time since 1980, the year Ron Dennis took over control of the team.

Jenson Button, McLaren MP4-28, Brazil. (Photo: McLaren)

3
British Grand Prix - A race marked by the blowout of five tires
Nico Rosberg scored victory for Mercedes AMG but the Silverstone race will be remembered for the dramatic fact that five drivers had their Pirelli tires blowout and several more narrowly avoiding having the same disaster.

In an effort to reduce their excessive tire wear, some teams were found to have been running the uni-directional tires the wrong way round and at camber angles up to four degrees.

Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Silverstone. (Photo: WRi2)

2
Mercedes illegal tire test
Certainly the most bizarre affair of the season. The F1 paddock discovered in Monaco that Mercedes AMG held a secret Pirelli tire test in Barcelona the week following the recent Grand Prix, which is forbidden under the current regulations. Mercedes booked the test without other teams' knowledge and used blank driver helmets. The FIA reprimanded the team and Pirelli for carrying out the test, and Mercedes was also banned from the upcoming Young Driver Test at Silverstone.

Pirelli tires on the Mercedes. (Photo: WRi2)

1
Malaysian Grand Prix - Multi-21
Undoubtedly the most controversial affair of the year. Sebastian Vettel deliberately ignored the Red Bull team orders (Multi-21), attacked and passed race leader, his teammate Mark Webber. Meanwhile, Mercedes told its drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, to slow down and not to attack each other and not fight for third place. After obeying the team orders, Rosberg told to the team “Remember this one...”

Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel duringthe post-race press conference in Malaysia. (Photo: WRi2)

Juan Pablo Montoya got some oval time yesterday when he joined his new Penske IndyCar team for more testing this time on the Phoenix International Speedway one-mile oval.

Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske-Chevrolet. (Photo: LAT/IndyCar)

Montoya had tested previously on the Sebring road course back in November where he got acquainted for the first time with a DW12 Dallara-Chevrolet.

Montoya and Castroneves did some laps in a road car. While Castroneves was driving, Montoya told him “In NASCAR we brake here and here”. And Castroneves replied “No, this is going to be wide open!”

Next up on the testing schedule, Montoya will join teammates Castroneves and Will Power for a manufacturer test in mid-January at Sebring.

An IndyCar Open Test is slated for March 16-17 at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Alabama.

Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya at the Phoenix International Speedway. (Photo: LAT/IndyCar)

GM will end vehicle and engine manufacturing and scale back its engineering operations in Australia by the end of 2017.

Fisker might not be making its plug-in Karma sports cars anymore, but it still knows speed. The company's lawyers convinced a bankruptcy judge on Tuesday that its Chapter 11 should proceed at an unusually rapid pace.

Asbury Automotive said that Keith Style will become the company's CFO, effective Jan. 1. Style, now Asbury's vice president of finance, will replace CFO Scott Krenz, who is retiring.

General Motors' next CEO is both a product of the company's bureaucratic, hidebound culture, and a crusader against it.

In the 39 months since Dan Akerson volunteered to be General Motors' CEO during a board meeting, the automaker has earned about $16 billion.

General Motors dealers responded positively today to news that Mary Barra will be the automaker's next CEO.

General Motors' media-buying ad agency Carat has hired longtime automotive advertising executive Alex Crowther to succeed Steven Feuling as the lead on the account.

The

2014 Acura RLX Sport Hybrid SH-AWD Review

Battery-powered torque vectoring.

SAN FRANCISCO, California -- Acura answers the age-old question of "Why?" with the age-old answer, "Because it can" with the launch of its new, all-wheel-drive hybrid version of the RLX flagship sedan. The name of the car says it all, in that the hybrid system is there to provide all-wheel drive and, thus, the sport. If you check "hybrid" on the order sheet, the RLX is no longer a front-wheel-drive car. That doesn't make it a sport sedan, a term Acura assiduously avoids in describing the car, although it makes liberal use of the words "sporty" and "dynamic" as adjectives. In this context, Sport Hybrid means that two of the RLX's three electric motors straighten out its handling, virtually eliminating the benign understeer you'll find in the base front-wheel-drive car. This is not an über-high-fuel-mileage competitor for the Mercedes-Benz E250 BlueTec or BMW 535d xDrive turbo-diesels, although the RLX Sport Hybrid will cost about as much as the latter.

Photo Gallery: 2014 Acura RLX Sport Hybrid SH-AWD Review - Automoblie Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2014 Acura RLX Sport Hybrid SH-AWD Review - Automoblie Magazine

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Barra and Reuss: A New Leadership Team for a New General Motors

General Motors’ independence, its shedding of the “Government Motors” epithet, seemed like a long way off when I was attending the frequent press conferences in Detroit’s Renaissance Center in 2009.

General Motors’ independence, its shedding of the “Government Motors” epithet, seemed like a long way off when I was attending the frequent press conferences in Detroit’s Renaissance Center in 2009. Just shy of mid-decade, the U.S. Treasury has sold off its remaining GM stock, at a loss of more than $10 billion compared with the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout. Altogether, reports the New York Times, the Treasury has recouped $433 billion on its initial TARP “investment” of $422 billion.

Photo Gallery: Barra and Reuss: A New Leadership Team for a New General Motors - Automobile Magazine

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The Cadillac CTS, Mazda3 and Chevrolet Corvette Stingray were named finalists today for North American Car of the Year, while the Jeep Cherokee, Chevrolet Silverado and Acura MDX were named truck/utility finalists.

News 11 Dec, 2013

A new Skoda Octavia Coupe is set to be revealed at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show and will be a rival for the VW CC