Auto News 5

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.

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.

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

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.

Ferrari's limited-edition supercars are special.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

Having reshaped a big piece of the world's economy around its Windows software, Microsoft Corp. now wants to do the same thing in the car business. What the Seattle giant sees there says as much about the future of cars as it does about itself.

Andretti Autosport's James Hinchcliffe took his second IndyCar victory of the season after winning the Sao Paulo round after a close battle with Takuma Sato ( AJ Foyt Racing) that saw him take the final corner of the last lap.

The Canadian pass the finish line with only 0.3464 seconds to spare ahead the Japanese for the closest finish in the circuit's history.

Even thought Sato finished second, he was comforted in knowing that he now leads the IndyCar standings.

Meanwhile Marco Andretti went on to cross the finish line in third place and he is now sitting second in the standings after four road and street races.

Photo: LAT/IndyCar

Just like it had been the case in yesterday's qualifications, It was once again a disastrous outing for the Penske squad. Will Power started from 22nd, but managed to move upward to 11th until he was forced out of the race when a fire broke out on his car.

Current champion and pole sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay led early on, but but has to settle for 11th after bieng forced to go into the pits to have a puncture repaired.

Sao Paulo Indy 300 Results - 95 laps:
Pos  Driver   Team/Car  Time/Gap
1. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy 2h09m34.7383s
2. Takuma Sato Foyt Dallara-Honda + 0.3463s
3. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 1.1376s
4. Oriol Servia Panther DRR Dallara-Chevy + 1.1745s
5. Josef Newgarden Fisher Dallara-Honda + 1.6516s
6. EJ Viso Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 2.8119s
7. Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 3.5961s
8. Simona de Silvestro KV Dallara-Chevy + 4.7772s
9. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda + 7.6331s
10. Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 9.0265s
11. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 9.5135s
12. Alex Tagliani Herta Dallara-Honda + 10.4393s
13. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy + 11.1234s
14. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Dallara-Chevy + 13.6406s
15. JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy + 13.7377s
16. Tristan Vautier Schmidt Dallara-Honda + 14.3517s
17. James Jakes Rahal Dallara-Honda + 19.8585s
18. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 29.4261s
19. Sebastian Saavedra Dragon Dallara-Chevy + 54.7223s
20. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda + 2 laps
21. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy + 3 laps
22. Graham Rahal Rahal Dallara-Honda + 4 laps
23. Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy + 4 laps

Retirements:
Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy 17 laps
Ana Beatriz Coyne Dallara-Honda 6 laps

Frenchman Yvan Muller (Chevrolet) took victory in Race 1 win of the WTCC in Budapest, and now stands 46 points ahead of Gabriele Tarquini (Honda) in the point standings of the World Touring Car Championship.

Photo: FIA WTCC

After their domination in Slovakia, the Honda Civics were beaten by Yvan Muller's Chevrolet one week later in Hungary.

The three-time world champion set the pace during the free practice sessions, and clinch his second pole position of the season, before taking his third victory of the year in Race 1 ahead of local hero, Norbert Michelisz.

Mehdi Bennani (BMW) inherited the pole position for Race 2, and the driver from Morocco led the first part of the race, until reigning WTCC champion, Rob Huff overtook him, to take a first victory for his new team.

Photo: FIA WTCC

ON the opening lap of thjat race, Gabriele Tarquini had a huge accident and he destroyed his car, but he was not injured did. But his retirement was a chance for Muller, who finished 5th in Race 2, and who now enjoys a huge lead on the points' table.

From GMM

Lotus has admitted it is "surprised" at Pirelli's decision to not supply the 'soft'-compound tire this weekend in Barcelona.

Following all the controversy about the Italian supplier's 2013 tires, with Red Bull by far the loudest critic, Pirelli announced that it is tweaking its 'hard' compound for Barcelona and beyond.

But, in the past, Pirelli has usually supplied the 'hard' and the 'soft' tires for the Spanish grand prix.

So far this year, Lotus' 2013 car has shown to be arguably the most effective in managing the heavily degrading compounds, and the team and its lead driver Kimi Raikkonen are both currently second in the championship points standings.

Lotus E21. (Photo: WRi2)

It's no surprise, then, that technical director James Allison is disappointed Pirelli has not allocated the 'soft' compound for Barcelona.

"We've used Pirelli's hard and soft compounds for the last few years (in Spain), so we were slightly surprised to see them opt for the more conservative hard and medium this season," he said.

Similarly, 1996 world champion thinks Pirelli's moves will favour championship leaders Red Bull.

"You might see that (Pirelli's decisions) swings towards Red Bull's favour and there are mutterings that that is the case and some of the teams are suggesting that is not what they want to see and that they quite like the softer tire," he told Britain's Sky.

"But that's formula one."

Caterham returnee Heikki Kovalainen believes the team should have achieved more with the equipment it had in the 2013 Formula 1 season's opening four races.

The opening three races saw Caterham comprehensively beaten by Marussia, but the team's former race driver Kovalainen, who after returning to the team in Bahrain as a reserve driver, believes the team's CT03 car had the potential to perform better than it did, despite being more difficult to drive than its predecessor.

Heikki Kovalainen, Caterham (Photo Caterham F1 Team)

“The car is more difficult to drive than it was at the end of last year," he told SkySports.

“[This] is mainly because tires have changed [and] the set-up has changed.

“I could feel there was more we could use in this car and I felt that after driving the car we should be able to beat Marussia and now with the updates coming we should be in a position to beat them.”

Due to the lack of progress made by Caterham in the opening stages of the season, the team lies 11th in the constructors' championship.