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Porsche is aiming to match last year's profit in 2013, the company said on Friday. In 2012 Porsche posted an operating profit of 2.44 billion euros ($3.17 billion). Porsche said net debt dropped to 1.87 billion euros at the end of December from 2.

Deutsche Bank put on sale a block of about 5.8 million Volkswagen AG preferred shares for as much as 929 million euros ($1.21 billion) in an accelerated bookbuilding.

6,197 units in the same month of last year, according to data released by the Vietnam Automotive Manufacturers Association.

Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn believes that electric vehicles can help the broader auto industry as the numbers of cars produced globally continues to rise.

GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky isn't happy with the lukewarm reception the Opel Ampera plug-in hybrid has received in Europe.

New Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann says he can revive the beleaguered European brand and stem its persistent losses -- with plenty of help from parent company General Motors.

PSA sold its stake in French bank BNP Paribas for about 177 million euros ($229 million) to boost financing as part of a restructuring at Europe's second-largest carmaker.

VW Group and BMW Group predicted a "difficult" 2013 as the European auto market contracts, vehicle prices in the region drop and growth in China slows.

PSA is planning to produce its compact, mid-sized and SUV models on a common platform that also is likely to underpin models made by alliance partner GM.

Susan Docherty, head of Chevrolet and Cadillac in Europe, is girding for an industry sales slide of 6 percent this year atop last year's 8 percent drop. But there's a bright side: She has seen this play before.

The debut of the Volkswagen XL1, touted by VW as the world's most fuel-efficient production car, marks VW's entry into the plug-in hybrid market.

VW Group remains open to making further acquisitions, though the German group has its work cut out integrating its 12 brands, CEO Martin Winterkorn said.

GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky isn't happy with the lukewarm reception the Opel Ampera plug-in hybrid has received in Europe.

Robert Kubica unveils the livery of his Citroën DS3 RRC and the rounds he will contest in the European Rally Championship this season.

The Pole will be backed by groupe Lotos, an oil company from Poland. His co-driver will be his fellow countryman Maciak Baran aboard his works DS3 RRC. Kubica will make his ERC debuts next week in Rally Canarias (21 to 23 march), before contesting rally Azores, Tour de Corse, and Rally Poland, where we can expect a huge amount of fans.

Robert Kubica will also be at the start of selected rounds of the WRC2, the former-S2000 championship, in the World Rally Championship.

Sebastian Vettel once again clocked the fastest time in second practice for the Australian Grand Prix with a 1:25.908s lap.

The current world champion spent most of the afternoon ahead of his competitors and finally finished the day 0.264 seconds ahead of Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, despite the Australian topping the time sheets briefly during the super soft runs.

Sebastian Vettel, the quickest of the day. (Photo: Red Bull Racing)

Nico Rosberg once again underlined the impressive pace of the Mercedes by finishing the session in third, whilst Hamilton wound up the day in seventh. However, towards the end of the session, both cars suffered mechanical issues that saw the 2008 world champion finish his day in the gravel and Rosberg by the side of the road.

McLaren continued to struggle with its new MP4/28 and the Woking team endured a poor afternoon with Button and Perez finishing down in 11th and 13th respectively. The team's main competitors, Lotus and Ferrari finished in the top 10 with Raikkonen and Grosjean finishing fourth and fifth, and Massa and Alonso occupying sixth and eighth.

Lewis Hamilton in Melbourne. (Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team)

The question of tire longevity was also answered when the teams ran with higher fuel loads. This resulted - most notably on the super soft tire - in lap times dramatically decreasing after the initial flying laps, and long run pace slowing progressively. Before tomorrow's qualifying, engineers will have to figure out how much the drivers can push in the session, and how much of a bearing it will have on race pace.

The heavy fuel and worn tire combination saw Webber spin on worn tires in the final minutes after a long run.

Other spinners were Caterham's Giedo Van der Garde who dropped his car in the gravel at turn six and ended up at the bottom of the time sheets, and Jean-Eric Vergne who took full advantage of the run off area just after turn four in his Toro Rosso.

Further down the grid, Jules Bianchi impressed in the Marussia, finishing once again ahead of both Caterhams and his team-mate.

Jules Bianchi, impressed in the Marussia MR02. (Photo: Marussia F1 Team)

Australian Grand Prix
Friday March 15, 2013

First Practice session 2 - Results*
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'25"908 - 33 laps
2 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'26"172 - 31
3 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'26"322 - 26
4 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'26"361 - 38
5 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'26"680 - 32
6 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 1'26"748 - 35
7 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 1'26"772 - 28
8 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1'26"855 - 32
9 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'27"435 - 35
10 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'28"187 - 34
11 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4-28-Mercedes) - 1'28"294 - 30
12 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'28"311 - 37
13 - Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4-28-Mercedes) - 1'28"566 - 33
14 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'28"627 - 31
15 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'28"772 - 33
16 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'28"852 - 36
17 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'28"968 - 36
18 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'29"386 - 39
19 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'29"696 - 32
20 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'30"165 - 37
21 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'30"600 - 36
22 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'32"450 - 11

*Unofficial results

From GMM

F1 teams will make do with a normal test programme early next year, despite the introduction of radical new engine regulations.

Some of the engine suppliers reportedly want either an earlier or an extended winter test period ahead of the 2014 season, as F1 switches from V8 to turbo V6 engines.

But the FIA's Charlie Whiting is quoted in Melbourne by Russia's f1news.ru: "We have been talking with the teams, and they do not want to increase the number of test days."

Meanwhile, the German-language Spox quotes Briton Whiting as saying he is not expecting the outbreak of any new technical controversies, in the wake of the Renault engine mapping and Williams exhaust stories.

But "In the course of a year, you never know what is going to happen," he smiled.

Mercedes V6 turbo engine. (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)

Just three months after Sebastian Vettel was crowned world champion at the final race of 2012 in Brazil, the first practice session of the 2013 Formula 1 season began at Melbourne's Albert Park circuit at 12:30 pm local time.

Almost 40 had minutes had elapsed until (one of) the local heroes, Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo claimed 2013's first recorded lap time with a 1:36.09. The first of the ‘top five teams' to record a flying lap was Kimi Raikkonen with a 1.29.029 in his black and gold Lotus. Unsurprisingly however, it was Vettel in the Red Bull who assumed his regular position at the top of the timing sheets with a 1:27.211; just ahead a second ahead of the two Ferraris of Felipe and Fernando Alonso.

Lewis Hamilton put in a good performance on his first outing as a Mercedes driver, as he outpaced team-mate Rosberg by half a second and finished the session in fourth. The other Aussie favourite Mark Webber was fifth, and Raikkonen rounded out the top six. Formula 1's latest comeback kid Adrian Sutil returned in style by finishing eighth ahead of Jenson Button's McLaren, Romain Grosjean's and McLaren newcomer, Sergio Perez in 10th.

Whilst the ‘who is fastest in 2013' question still remains unanswered, the session indicated that following an inconclusive winter testing, the teams still have yet to fully understand the 2013 Pirelli tyres as cars returned to the pits after ten laps with grained or ‘mozzarella effect' tyres.

Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Guiterrez finished the session in 15th and 16th respectively and staked their claim as the best of the newcomers. Jules Bianchi impressed by finishing just 3/10ths behind Ricciardo, making him the best of the back markers ahead of the two Caterhams and team-mate Max Chilton who ended the session last of the 22 runners.

The only notable incident of the session was Paul Di Resta beaching his Sahara Force India after spinning on the approach to turn five. However, the car was undamaged in the incident.

Australian Grand Prix
Friday March 15, 2013

First Practice session 1 - Results*
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'27"211 - 16 laps
2 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1'27"289 - 17
3 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 1'27"547 - 16
4 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 1'27"552 - 18
5 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'27"668 - 18
6 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'27"877 - 17
7 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'28"013 - 17
8 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'28"426 - 19
9 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'28"440 - 19
10 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'28"520 - 15
11 - Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'28"597 - 19
12 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'28"786 - 19
13 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'28"910 - 18
14 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'29"443 - 20
15 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'29"928 - 19
16 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'30"203 - 17
17 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'30"729 - 17
18 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'30"969 - 19
19 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'31"263 - 24
20 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'32"176 - 23
21 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'32"274 - 21
22 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'32"388 - 18

*Unofficial results

The Grand-Am and American Le Mans Series (ALMS) have agreed on a name for their unified series, set to debut next year.

From 2014, the two series will be known as United SportsCar Racing.

Names for the five future classes were also revealed.

The top category, that combines the ALMS' P2 class and the Grand-Am DP category will be known simply as the "Prototype" class (P).

The ALMS will merge with Grand-Am next year (Photo: ALMS.com)

The Prototype Challenge (PC) class, seen before in the ALMS, remains untouched, much like the GT class of the ALMS, which will from next year be known as the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class.

GT cars from the Grand-Am field will merge with cars from the ALMS' GTC field into one GT Daytona (GTD) category.

Finally, the GX class, born this year in Grand-Am, remains the same.

Furthermore, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) was nominated as the Unified SportsCar Racing's sanctioning body.

From GMM

Pastor Maldonado has admitted he cannot be certain his F1 career will continue long after the death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

Sponsoring Williams via the state-controlled PDVSA oil company, Chavez died of cancer last week and Maldonado rushed back to his native country before Australia for his funeral.

Asked if the death will affect his career, Maldonado admitted in Melbourne: "Politically, I don't know. I think many of you in the media have said everything is gone for me, but here I am. We'll see."

Pastor Maldonado, Williams FW35. (Photo: WRi2)

The 28-year-old backed Chavez's controversial approach to ploughing state money into sports, Maldonado noting that, previously, "people only knew Venezuela for the oil and the girls".

"I think it changed a lot with Chavez and now it can be worse. We've started and now we need to carry on."

Meanwhile, technical boss Mike Coughlan is leading the Williams team in Melbourne, with team boss Frank Williams and his daughter Claire back in the UK in the wake of the death of wife and mother Ginny.

"We obviously have to move on, but I hope we do well this weekend in Ginny's memory," said Coughlan.

The all-new 2014 BMW 328d will make its world debut at the New York Auto Show less than two weeks from now. It will star alongside the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo and Active Tourer concept, both of which have yet to appear in North America.

Motivating the 328d is a four-cylinder TwinPower engine rated at 180 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque. Expect 0-60 mph (96 km/h) acceleration in 7.2 seconds.

The 2014 BMW 328d also features the eCall service to contact emergency personnel in the event of a crash, as well as the Teleservice system which alerts both the driver and local dealer when maintenance is required. Wireless Internet access is included, too.

Pricing for the 2014 BMW 328d will be announced closer to its on-sale date, although Canadian availability has yet to be confirmed.

Source : thedetroitbureau.com

Photo: Matthieu Lambert