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The media preview day for the 2014 Geneva motor show is Tuesday 4 March. Each time a vehicle or concept world premiere is confirmed for this event, our preview list is updated.

The media preview day for the 2014 Geneva motor show is Tuesday 4 March. Each time a vehicle or concept world premiere is confirmed for this event, our preview list is updated.

The media preview day for the 2014 Geneva motor show is Tuesday 4 March. Each time a vehicle or concept world premiere is confirmed for this event, our preview list is updated.

The media preview day for the 2014 Geneva motor show is Tuesday 4 March. Each time a vehicle or concept world premiere is confirmed for this event, our preview list is updated.

The media preview day for the 2014 Geneva motor show is Tuesday 4 March. Each time a vehicle or concept world premiere is confirmed for this event, our preview list is updated.

The media preview day for the 2014 Geneva motor show is Tuesday 4 March. BMW is the first manufacturer to have announced a vehicle world premiere for the event.

Mercedes-Benz outsold Audi last month as a new line of compacts helped boost sales. But rival BMW continued to defend its position as the No. 1 premium brand globally.

Mercedes outsold Audi last month as a new line of compacts helped boost its volume, but it wasn't enough to overcome BMW, which maintained its position as the world's No. 1 premium brand.

France's Air Liquide is expanding its business building filling stations for hydrogen-powered cars as it predicts growing demand for fuel-cell vehicles.

Porsche's global deliveries rose 10 percent in November as the automaker posted growth in all sales regions, with particularly strong demand from China and robust deliveries in Europe.

The U.S. Treasury sold its last shares of General Motors stock, ending more than four years of government ownership in the nation's largest automaker at a loss of about $10.5 billion to U.S. taxpayers.

Dalian is the latest Chinese city to restrict new-car sales to reduce pollution and congestion but the upside is that tougher emissions rules may boost sales.

Our comprehensive annual guide to global automotive partnerships offers a complete list of each automaker's subsidiaries, joint ventures, production partnerships and technical alliances.

Chevrolet has two new spots in our weekly auto brand viral video round-up leading into the holidays, tackling the dual nature of the merriest time of the year.

From press release

Canadian open-wheel racer, Luke Chudleigh, will return in Europe in 2014, having re-signed with Tech1 Racing to compete in the Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS Series.

The 18-year-old from Milton, Ontario is returning to both the team and series where he made his European debut in 2013, a season which saw Chudleigh introduced to some of the continents most renowned circuits such as Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps and Italy's famed Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

2014 will prove to be no exception as the Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS Series schedule includes a return to both Grand Prix circuits as well as rounds in Imola (Italy), Pau (France), Red Bull Ring (Austria), Mugello (Italy) and Jerez (Spain).

“I'm thrilled to be back racing in Europe in 2014,” enthused Chudleigh.

“Tech1 Racing is the perfect environment for me to continue my open-wheel racing education and with a year together to our credit, I'm confident we can enjoy a strong campaign.

Chudleigh is managed by Trevor Wickens and mentored on-track by his brother, former Marussia Racing Formula One test driver and 2013 Mercedes DTM race winner, Robert Wickens.

The 2014 Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS Series kicks off with a double-header round on the 6th April at the illustrious Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy.


From GMM

Lewis Hamilton's father and former manager has admitted he actually was paid by the 2008 world champion.

Last week, as Anthony Hamilton sues his former charge Paul di Resta for wrongful dismissal, he said in court that he was never paid by his son Lewis when he handled the first few seasons of his famous formula one career.

"I never asked Lewis for a penny," Hamilton snr had told the London court.

But as a new week of testimony kicked off, Anthony Hamilton has admitted he was in fact paid three million pounds ($5 million) by his son, who now drives for Mercedes.

"I completely forgot there was an agreement between Lewis' company and my company," Anthony told the court.

"He (Lewis) maintained to pay HMG (Hamilton Management Group) half a million pounds a year until 2012," he added.

Lexus has released a partial image of its latest F model, which will make its debut in Detroit next month.

“Engineered from scratch, one performance layer at a time, the newest F model promises a bold, gritty, experience synonymous with the famed Lexus F heritage,” Lexus says.

We don't have any more details about this mystery car, which could be a production version of the RC coupe unveiled in Tokyo last month, or the replacement for the LFA supercar or IS-F sedan.

Source: The Detroit Bureau

Photo: Lexus

Tesla Motors celebrated the inauguration of its all-new service centre in Toronto on December 6th. Covering 17,000 square feet, the state-of-the-art facility will allow Tesla to better serve current and future customers in Ontario.

There's an interactive touchscreen that can not only answer questions from potential buyers, but also help them build and customize their own Model S.

Photo: Lucas Scarfone

The rapidly expanding electric car maker now has four stores and galleries, as well as four service centres, across Canada -- and nearly 60 stores and service centres worldwide, with more than 50 new facilities set to open in the next few months (mostly in Europe), including a service centre in Calgary.

Photo: Lucas Scarfone

Photo: Lucas Scarfone

For the first time ever, General Motors will be headed by a woman: Mary Barra, executive vice president of Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, will succeed current CEO Dan Akerson on January 15th, 2014, after the latter announced he's stepping down due to his wife's cancer.

Barra, 51, has been working at GM for 33 years. She has risen through a series of manufacturing, engineering, and senior staff positions.

“With an amazing portfolio of cars and trucks and the strongest financial performance in our recent history, this is an exciting time at today's GM,” she said. “I'm honoured to lead the best team in the business and to keep our momentum at full speed.”

Mary Barra will be replaced by Mark Reuss, currently GM's executive vice president and president of North American operations.

Photo: GM

From Porsche

Porsche has concluded its 2013 test programme with the new LMP1 race car, and former Formula 1 driver, Mark Webber got the chance to drive it.

The Porsche LMP1 completed its final test laps of the year on the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve near Portimão, Portugal.

Porsche LMP1 (Photo: Porsche)

Testing will resume in early 2014. Porsche AG will field two LMP1 race cars in the sports car World Endurance Championship (WEC) which starts in April 2014, with the Le Mans 24 Hours as the highlight of the season.

The WEC regulations stipulate that manufacturers run hybrid vehicles in the highest class for Le Mans Prototypes (LMP1).

In developing the all-new LMP1 race car featuring a very efficient, high-performance hybrid drive, Porsche's engineers are faced with major challenges that can only be solved using innovative solutions.

Porsche LMP1 (Photo: Porsche)

Therefore, the race car features a hybrid system that consists of a four-cylinder petrol engine with direct injection and two energy recuperation systems. The recovered energy is stored in a battery until retrieved by the driver.

A powerful electric motor then provides additional drive to the front axle. However, the WEC rules limit the amount of fuel as well as the electrical energy, or so-called boost, available to the driver per lap. The development of such a highly-efficient drive will have positive influences on production development at Porsche.

Mark Webber (Photo: Porsche)

On the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Mark Webber got his first chance to climb aboard the Porsche LMP1 racer.

The Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team gave the Australian the green light to conduct these initial tests, despite Webber still being under contract. From 1 January 2014, Mark Webber officially joins the Porsche factory team as a works driver and reinforces the already-signed driver line-up of Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Neel Jani.

Mark Webber commented in Portimão: “My first day in this fascinating project was an intense experience for me. I would like to thank Red Bull Racing for giving me the chance to join the project so early. This is a major and important step for us all. It allows me to integrate with the team quicker and to contribute to further developing the LMP1 race car. We have a long way to go and it involves a lot of hard work. I have no misconceptions about this.”

On the schedule of the final test for 2013 in Portugal were primarily suspension and tire tests with partner Michelin.

Mark Webber (m.) with Wolfgang Hatz, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development at Porsche AG; Alexander Hitzinger, Technical Director LMP1 and Andreas Seidl, Director Race Operations LMP1 (from le. to ri.) (Photo: Porsche)