Auto News 5

Atop Mark Reuss' wish list for Chevrolet's lineup is a modestly priced, rear-wheel-drive sporty car to appeal to young drivers.

April's auto sales rate was the lowest since October, but the parade of high-margin pickups and SUVs rolling off dealership lots gave the Detroit 3 double-digit increases for the month, hefty profits and a spike in market share.

Chrysler Group is serious about spending more with minority-owned suppliers and has penalized four Tier 1s that aren't following its lead. The four lost the ability, at least temporarily, to bid on future contracts.

Ford Motor Co. is modifying its vehicle-launch procedures to catch problems earlier, said Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of the Americas.

Volkswagen of America went through a growth spurt. Now the brand and its dealers are feeling growing pains.

There's little chance that the flashy Buick Riviera concept will ever grace a Buick showroom. But dealers should view the Riviera as a signal that GM is serious about adding pizazz to the Buick lineup.

BMW's i3 electric car will be priced at about $40,000, or roughly the same as a well-equipped 3-series sedan, says Ludwig Willisch, CEO of BMW of North America.

By Akio Toyoda's own admission, his beloved Lexus luxury brand has a big problem. Unlike its German rivals, Lexus has no heritage, no narrative. Now the Toyota Motor Corp.

TrueCar Inc. owes its survival to the 1,500 associations, including USAA and AAA, that give their members an opportunity to buy vehicles through the online auto-shopping service, TrueCar CEO Scott Painter said last week.

The new issue of the Automotive News Europe monthly e-magazine is ready for you to view.

Ferrari's limited-edition supercars are special.

General Motors has enlisted about 100 retired GM engineers to help monitor the launch of its next-generation full-sized pickups, which are expected to reach showrooms next month.

Parts suppliers are being tested in the European marketplace like never before. Sales have fallen dramatically and the industry is under enormous macroeconomic pressure.

When the topic is luxury brands, Jaguar Land Rover North America CEO Andy Goss wants Jaguar to be mentioned in the same sentence as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lexus.

Finance and insurance products such as extended-service contracts and other add-ons could be the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's next target in the auto lending sector.

Profit margins on new vehicles are slipping for the nation's largest dealership groups as manufacturers and retailers slug it out for market share. New-car margins dropped for all the public dealership groups during the first quarter of 2013.

From GMM

The 2013 title is slipping away from McLaren, according to the British team's former long-time driver David Coulthard.

On the record, boss Martin Whitmarsh is insisting that the season is not lost for McLaren, despite launching the troubled MP4-28 and falling a long way off the championship lead after the first four races.

"There are a lot of races this season. But when you look at the last few years, it's clear that you need to be finishing almost all of them in the points -- and in the good points," Coulthard told Germany's motorsport-magazin.com.

"I think it might be difficult for them (McLaren)," he admitted.

Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, McLaren. (Photo: WRi2)

McLaren's big upgrade package for the opening round of the European season this weekend, then, might be seen as the Woking based team's only chance to put its 2013 campaign back on track.

"We've made some progress but we need to make a lot more," Whitmarsh said after Bahrain.

Officially, lead driver Jenson Button said: "There's been a lot of talk about the importance of next weekend's upgrades ... but I'm pragmatic about what we'll discover next weekend."

However, to Brazil's Totalrace, the 2009 world champion admitted: "Barcelona is more important than ever for us, but we're not going to get the seven or eight tenths which is basically what we're missing in qualifying. But hopefully we can go in the right direction, as there is much more we can do with this car."

Another argument is that McLaren should simply write off 2013 and focus completely on 2014, because shifting resources so early in the season could pay strong dividends for the all-new V6 rules.

Martin Whitmarsh has ruled that out, but Button admitted it "should be something we are thinking about".

"On the other hand, I don't know," the 33-year-old added. "We want to win races this year; our goal is still to fight for the (2013) championship, so first of all let's focus on what we have to do in Barcelona."

In an under-the-radar move last week, Tesla Motors hired Aston Martin's chief platform manager as its new vice president of engineering.

Chris Porritt, who led the development of the Aston Martin One-77, knows a thing or two about the needs and wants of customers after a fast, luxurious automobile.

You may remember that Tesla also recruited Henrik Fisker from Aston Martin in 2006, and the man worked for two years on the Model S project before founding Fisker Automotive. Tesla sued Fisker in April 2008 for theft of confidential design information and trade secrets; the matter was settled in December of that year when an arbitrator ruled largely in Fisker's favour.

Tesla is the only electric car maker enjoying good momentum right now. As previously reported, CODA has filed for bankruptcy, and Fisker Automotive may be about to do the same.

Source: Green Car Reports

Twenty-nine-year old Augusto Farfus ran a clever race successfully used the technical novelties option tires and DRS and was the first to take the chequered flag from his fellow BMW driver Dirk Werner and Christian Vietoris (Mercedes-Benz) at the opening round of the DTM at the Hockenheimring.

Dirk Werner showed an incredible recovery. From 20th place on the starting grid, the 31-year old from Hanover moved up through the ranks to finish second.

Christian Vietoris finished third in his DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé.

Photos: DTM.com

After starting from pole position, two-time DTM champion Timo Scheider (Audi) missed out on the tactically right moment for a pit stop during a safety car intervention in the first part of the race and thus lost valuable positions.

At the end, he still made his way up to finish sixth behind Briton Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz, fourth) and reigning DTM champion, Canadian Bruno Spengler (BMW, fifth).

Volkswagen recently unveiled a new 4-cylinder engine at its Silao, Mexico plant -- the 100th VW plant in the world -- namely a 2.0L turbocharged and direct-injected TSI.

Producing 210 horsepower (up from 200) and 207 lb-ft of torque (unchanged), it will become available in the Beetle Turbo, Beetle Turbo Convertible, and Jetta GLI.

The automaker claims the more powerful TSI will also be more fuel-efficient. Look for a 9% improvement in city driving, and anywhere between 4% and 8% in the combined cycle.

With the Beetle Turbo, it allows 0-60 mph (96 km/h) acceleration of 6.6 seconds; add one tenth for the Jetta GLI.

Photo: Volkswagen