Auto News 5

Hundreds of the most sought-after American and European car models are appearing in Northwest Iran from a nearby free trade zone close to Armenia and Azerbaijan, showing how sanctions rarely stop the flow of luxury goods.

Explosive growth in digital advertising by automakers and their dealers was a key consideration in Dealertrack Technologies' decision this week to buy Dealer.com for about $1 billion in cash and stock.

From Audi

Audi will be competing with three DTM Champions in the 2014 season. Mike Rockenfeller, Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider have all been confirmed as drivers.

“I'm delighted that, alongside title defender Mike Rockenfeller, our two most successful DTM drivers also continue to be on board,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.

Mattias Ekström is tackling an amazing 14th DTM season for Audi next year. From 2001 to 2003, he competed in the Abt Audi TT-R. Since 2004, the Swede has been an Audi factory driver. With 17 victories and two Champion's titles (2004 and 2007) under his belt he is the most successful Audi DTM driver of all.

Timo Scheider, Mattias Ekström, Mike Rockenfeller (Photo: Audi)

Timo Scheider joined Audi in 2006 and in his first season was immediately the best driver of a year-old Audi. In 2008 and 2009, he won the DTM, perfecting a title hat-trick for Audi. Audi has been the first and only automobile manufacturer to date to have clinched three DTM drivers' titles in succession.

“The dream with Audi can continue,” says Timo Scheider, looking forward to his ninth season under the symbol of the four rings.

Two-time overall American Le Mans Series champion Muscle Milk Pickett Racing has announced a new partnership with ORECA to race in the Prototype (P) category of the new United Sports Car Championship (USCC).

Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr will share this No. 6 Muscle Milk ORECA/Nissan Prototype, the first entered in USCC competition. The two Germans have already raced to 18 wins in 28 starts together.

Since its debut in 2011, the ORECA 03 chassis also has 18 wins, in LMP2 categories of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and European Le Mans Series (ELMS).

ORECA 03 (Photo: oreca.fr)

"This is an exciting time for us at Muscle Milk Pickett Racing," said team owner Greg Pickett.

"After winning the last two P1 Championships in the American Le Mans Series, it was important for us to choose a partner for our new adventure into the TUDOR Championship, that can help us continue, and build on, the success we've known so far."

From GMM

Ferrari has denied rumours it was among the teams who wanted the minimum weight limit to be further increased for 2014.

The rumours suggested the Maranello based team's all-new turbo V6 and 'ERS' systems were tipping the scales beyond expectations.

But in fact, team boss Stefano Domenicali insists it is others in the paddock who are using the argument about heavy drivers as cover for their own desire for a weight limit increase.

"They (the other teams) only want it because they are realising they are having problems," Domenicali is quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

"The argument that bigger drivers are disadvantaged is only an excuse," he added. "They always have been (at a disadvantage), as even when a car is well below the limit, he (a heavier driver) has less ballast to move around."

A bigger concern for Ferrari about 2014 is about the complexity of the racing for the fans.

"We want the TV companies to develop infographics that make it easier for the commentators to explain what's going on," said president Luca di Montezemolo.

One option could be a graphic showing a driver's fuel consumption during the race.

"Then the viewer can at least see why he is going faster or slower," he added.

While electric car sales remain disappointingly low in North America, it's the exact opposite in Norway, so much so that the existing infrastructure is unable to sustain the demand, according to local newspaper Budstikka.

Norway has the largest proportion of electric cars in the world, with more than 7,000 units sold in 2013 alone, for a total of 13,000. In September and October, the two best-selling vehicles -- all classes combined -- were the Tesla Model S and Nissan LEAF.

The popularity of electric cars in this country is growing so rapidly that the 5,000 charging stations (500 in Oslo) can't keep up. What's more, they represent around 75% of all the traffic in lanes reserved for alternative transit.

Source : actualite.portail.free.fr

From GMM

The only race cockpit vacancies on the 2014 grid are now with Marussia (one seat) and Caterham (two), since Sauber confirmed Mexican Gutierrez.

We reported on Friday that former Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi was spotted at Caterham's factory this week.

Michael Schmidt, the respected correspondent for Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, said the Japanese as well as rookie Marcus Ericsson are on pole position for the race seats.

"GP2 driver Ericsson has the double (million) figure backing of a Swedish global company," he said, adding that Kobayashi's many fans are pledging about $6 million towards his F1 return.

Marcus Ericsson, GP2 (Photo: marcusericsson.com)

And Schmidt said Jaime Alguersuari and Paul di Resta have also been connected with Caterham for 2014.

The full house at Caterham could be bad news for Max Chilton, who was hoping to keep his Marussia seat.

Schmidt said 2013 Caterham refugees Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic could buy their way into that seat, while Chilton's backers might be looking to switch their sponsorship focus to football -- despite the powerful influence at the insurance giant Aon of his father.

From Sauber

The Sauber F1 Team is pleased to announce that Esteban Gutiérrez will stay on for the 2014 season, completing the driver line-up together with Adrian Sutil.

The Mexican first tested with the team at Jerez in late 2009. The following year the talented youngster was signed as ‘affiliated driver', and 2013 saw him in his debut season as a Formula One driver finishing 16th as the best rookie in the drivers' championship.



“Last season he experienced first hand how hard it can be for a rookie to step into Formula One.

Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber C32 (photo: EstebanRacing.com)

“Nevertheless, throughout the season he improved significantly in qualifying as well as in the races and finished the year as the best rookie in the drivers' championship,” said team principal Monisha Kaltenborn.



“The technical challenges in 2014 will be massive. Therefore it will be even more important to know well the people you are working with. I will do my very best to improve even more and support the team the best way I can,” added Gutierrez.

The Sauber F1 Team is also pleased to announce it will continue its partnership with Telmex. It will stay Premium Partner with the logo of the Mexican telecommunications company continuing to have a significant presence on the cars.

Causeway Media Partners is set for a multi-million investment in the first fully-electric racing series, the Formula E championship.

Causeway Media Partners is the brain child of Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, who himself will serve on the Board of Directors of the Formula E's promoter.

"Causeway Media Partners has brought its deep network of NBA and NFL owners, as well as media executives and renowned investors, to Formula E," Grousbeck announced. "We believe Formula E is a great evolutionary step in motorsport and a way to entertain millions around the world."

The Formula E championship, which kicks off in September 2014, should spark a lot of interest from US fans, as the series features two US teams and two US races, all with coverage from FOX Sports.

(Photo: FIAFormulaE.com)

Alexander Rossi will share the wheel of the DeltaWing with regular drivers Andy Meyrick and Katherine Legge during the famous 24 Hours of Daytona, kicking off the 2014 season of the United Sports Car Championship (USCC).

The American, a regular in the GP2 series and a reserve driver for Caterham in F1, tasted sports car racing for the first time last year, driving an LMP2 prototype during the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

"The 24 Hours of Daytona is an important motorsport event and I'm honoured to be driving for Don Panoz and his DeltaWing project," admitted Rossi.

"Being able to race and work with Panoz is a bit surreal for me, as I grew up karting and watching his rich history in American motorsport and the cars he designed."

Alexander Rossi, GP2 (Photo: alexanderrossi.com)

The United States said on Friday it still has concerns about a recycling fee Russia imposes on cars even though the country recently extended the levy to cover domestic as well as imported vehicles.

Volkswagen plans to use a Super Bowl spot to show just how quality-obsessed its German engineers can be.

Ford will auction off its first retail 2015 Mustang GT at the

The 1960s-vintage West German NSU Spider was the first car to feature the Wankel rotary engine.

GM and Ford are extending holiday downtime at several North American assembly plants to keep car inventories in check. Chrysler Group is adding production shifts over the holidays at plants in Ohio and Michigan that build Jeep SUVs and Ram pickups.

U.S. auto sales are projected to increase as much as 5 percent in December, according to several analysts' forecasts, with most of the purchases taking place in the week after Christmas. The forecasts call for light-vehicle sales of about 1.

News 20 Dec, 2013

Mercedes announces development of a smartwatch that allows you to keep an eye on vehicle information

The European car market may be a challenging place and likely to remain so in 2014, but this week's digest of news in the auto biz shows no shortage of opportunities around the world.

CarMax's third-quarter net profits rose on increased used-car sales and higher income at its captive finance company. The nation's largest used-car retailer today reported net income rose 12 percent to $106.5 million in the quarter ending Nov.