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Visteon posted lower second-quarter profits, but the company raised its full-year forecast after CEO Tim Leuliette pointed to stronger operating earnings in all of the company's regions, including Europe.

Working on the line at Volkswagen's U.S.

BMW has a good idea where it will sell the majority of its new i8 plug-in hybrid supercars. 'The U.S. will be by far the largest sales market for the i8,' the car's product manager, Hendrik Wenders, said.

Demographic trends unfolding in China could ultimately lead Africa to replace the world's most populous country as a global center of low-cost manufacturing, according to Ford's official futurist.

Visteon posted lower second-quarter profits, but the company raised its full-year forecast after CEO Tim Leuliette pointed to stronger operating earnings in all of the company's regions, including Europe.

The failure of a Germany transport group to make a definitive ruling on the safety of the refrigerant HFO-1234yf gives European car buyers another reason to delay their purchases.

Working on the line at Volkswagen's U.S.

Audi is on pace to sell more than its stated goal of 150,000 cars and SUVs in the United States this year and will get a boost from diesel models reaching dealerships this month, a brand executive said.

Demographic trends unfolding in China could ultimately lead Africa to replace the world's most populous country as a global center of low-cost manufacturing, according to Ford's official futurist.

Audi is on pace to sell more than its stated goal of 150,000 cars and SUVs in the United States this year and will get a boost from diesel models reaching dealerships this month, a brand executive said.

Working on the line at Volkswagen's U.S.

The failure of a Germany transport group to make a definitive ruling on the safety of the refrigerant HFO-1234yf gives European car buyers another reason to delay their purchases.

Working on the line at Volkswagen's U.S.

Italian brake maker Brembo has bought the 30 percent of its Chinese joint venture it did not already own, the company said.

From GMM

Leading figures of Sauber's Russian rescue deal have played down reports of a delay that means vital money is not yet flowing to the embattled Swiss team.

The German newspaper Die Welt claimed this week that Russian president Vladimir Putin is stalling over the final signature.

Sauber could, therefore, still run off the road because Ferrari is reportedly threatening to cut off its supply of customer V8 engines if a EUR 9 million bill is not paid imminently.

Central to the entire Russian deal is the scheduled debut of teenage Russian driver Sergey Sirotkin, and his manager Nikolay Vetrov confirmed the holdup.

"Yes, we have not had time to implement the whole of the planned ambitious programme," he told the f1news.ru website, "but otherwise everything is going according to plan.

"I just spoke with (team boss) Mrs (Monisha) Kaltenborn, and she said, literally, that this (Die Welt) article is not even worthy of a comment. There is no doubting the realism of these plans," added Vetrov.

17-year-old Sirotkin's father Oleg is also closely involved in the Sauber deal, as director-general of the National Institute of Aviation Technologies.

Photo: Sauber F1 Team

He also confirmed the delay in the Sauber deal.

"Indeed, we are still in the implementation phase of our agreement of intent," he said. "We are preparing all the relevant documents, and it takes quite a long time.

"We have a plan, we're moving on it, we are somewhat behind in some areas, somewhat ahead in others. What I would say is that this procedure is more technical than political. In general, we do not see any big problems, but there will be a slight shift in the timing. Of course, I want everything to happen tomorrow, but we need patience on all sides and everything will be fine -- that's my point of view."

When asked by Blick newspaper about the Die Welt report, Sauber spokesman Hanspeter Brack answered: "There are some articles that are not even worth the denial."

Toyota Canada is recalling 26,830 Tacoma pickup trucks equipped with an Access Cab because the fasteners within the driver and front passenger seat belt assemblies could loosen if the access doors are repeatedly and forcefully closed over an extended period of time.

Should the fasteners loosen completely, the seat belt may not properly restrain the occupant, which could increase the risk of injury in a crash or sudden stop.

Toyota dealers will therefore replace the fasteners or the seat belt assemblies as necessary.

Source: Transport Canada

Photo: Rob Rothwell

BMW will unveil the production version of its new i8 plug-in hybrid at the upcoming Frankfurt Auto Show, the German automaker announced while giving no pricing indications.

Larger than the recently introduced BMW i3, this new model is made of aluminum and carbon fibre-reinforced plastics, and weighs a mere 1,490 kg (3,285 lbs). A 231-hp, 1.5L three-cylinder engine combines with a 131-hp electric motor to propel the BMW i8 from 0-96 km/h in 4.5 seconds, which is comparable to a Tesla Model S. The gasoline engine drives the front wheel, and the electric motor takes care of the rear wheels, essentially forming an all-wheel drive setup.

The BMW i8 will apparently charge in about 3.5 hours from a 120V outlet or just 1.5 hour from a 240V Level 2 charger. DC fast charging at 440V has yet to be confirmed, but it could allow the i8's battery to get back to 80% in 20 minutes or less.

In pure EV mode, the BMW i8 will offer a range of about 35 km and a top speed of 120 km/h. With both sources of power engaged, it will top out at 250 km/h. Calculated using the EU test cycle for plug-in hybrid vehicles, the average fuel efficiency of the BMW i8 at model launch will be less than 2.5L/100km, the company claims.

Source : thedetroitbureau.com

Photo: BMW

From GMM

Red Bull is leading not only the drivers' and constructors' championships in 2013, its pit crew is also the fastest in formula one.

That is the finding of Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, reporting that the average pitstop for Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber so far this year took just 2.83 seconds.

"In the second half of last year we were on average three tenths faster than Red Bull. Now it's the other way around," McLaren sporting director Sam Michael is quoted as saying.

Indeed, Ferrari is in second place with an average time of 2.9 seconds, followed by Mercedes at 3.06 seconds.

Auto Motor und Sport said Red Bull has also recorded every one of the top five fastest pitstops of the season so far, headed by Webber's 2.13 second stop in Malaysia.

Photo: Red Bull Racing

Mercedes, however, thinks it can go even faster than that.

"We did a practice stop at the Nurburgring in 1.6 seconds," said sporting director Ron Meadows.

"But, of course, practice lacks the tension of an actual stop during the race," he acknowledged.

In fact, the speed of pitstops looks set to dip in the second half of the season.

After Webber's flying wheel struck a cameraman in the Nurburgring pitlane, the FIA is preparing to introduce a system where a backup row of pins on the wheel nuts will ensure a loose wheel cannot fly off a car.

Auto Motor und Sport said Red Bull voluntarily trialled the system in Hungary, which promptly cost Webber and Vettel an average of half a second per stop.

In a recent interview posted on Mercedes' official site, Mercedes AMG F1 team boss Ross Brawn said the team should carry their good form into the second half of the season thanks to a number of upcoming technical developments.

Mercedes entered the mid-season break having scored three wins and four pole positions in the last five races, results that have boosted their world championship aspirations substantially. The team is currently second to Red Bull Racing in the constructors' championship with 208 points.

“The team has great spirit at the moment. I know the things that are coming through on the technical front and our hit rate has been pretty good on new technical innovations - the things that we've brought to the track have generally worked,” said Brawn.

“We've got a few things coming up in the next few races which could give us that extra impetus, that extra momentum, to take us through the second half of the year,” Brawn explained.

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG. (Photo: WRi2)

The British engineer said that the team is capable to pursue the development of the current W04 car while putting massive energy into the design of the W05 turbo car of next year.

“There are areas of the 2013 car that we will continue to develop, almost until the end of season because they can follow on to 2014,” Brawn explained.

“If we look at suspension systems; we think fundamentally the tires will be similar next year and therefore developing suspension systems is entirely relevant for next season.

“There are areas of the 2013 car that have no relevance to the 2014 car, so we'll draw a line under those at some point. I think teams that don't have an opportunity will just draw a line under their ‘13 car and get on with their ‘14 car. We're fortunate enough at the moment to be able to do both - we've got a strong car at the moment, a strong team, we're on a run and we don't want to spoil that,” Brawn declared.

Frenchman Simon Pagenaud will drive for Level 5 at this weekend's Orion Energy Systems 245 race of the American Le Mans Series at Road America.

The IZOD IndyCar driver will replace Ryan Briscoe still on the mend from last month's Honda Indy Toronto, where he sustained a fractured wrist.

Pagenaud has been drafted in to team with nine-time national driving champion Scott Tucker in Level 5's No. 551 Siemens/Alpina Watches/Ohiya Casino Resort-sponsored Honda Performance Development ARX-03b race car.

Photo: ALMS

Joining P2 championship leader Marino Franchitti in the No. 552 HPD this weekend will be Ricardo Gonzalez, who recently notched the P2 class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“It's good to have both Simon and Ricardo with us this weekend and we're anticipating having Ryan back for the next race at Baltimore,” said Level 5 team manager, David Stone.