Auto News 5

Closing up shop was not an option for Scott Pitman, America's best-selling Suzuki dealer. He couldn't fathom leaving the business and laying off 86 employees at his Suzuki of Wichita.

To attract a bigger audience to electric cars, Nissan officials say they must get more public EV chargers in place -- particularly the more powerful and expensive fast-charging stations.

An innovative surfer, pioneering Olympian and others who Mazda calls "game changers" will help launch the redesigned Mazda6 mid-sized sedan in an advertising campaign kicking off this week.

A Michigan couple found guilty of stealing General Motors trade secrets related to hybrid-car technology to help develop similar vehicles in China will be sentenced Tuesday in Detroit.

White-haired, tanned and vigorous at 80, Frank Stronach clearly has zero interest in retiring after building North America's biggest auto parts company. He now intends to jolt politics in his native Austria.

For the first time in nearly three decades, Mercedes-Benz will offer a four-cylinder diesel engine in the United States when the GLK250 BlueTec compact crossover goes on sale Tuesday, April 30.

Carjacking a Mercedes-Benz M class proved to be a critical mistake for the alleged Boston Marathon bombers. When the driver escaped and called police, officers were able to track the vehicle using the crossover's factory-installed GPS system.

Automotive News will put a spotlight on dealership finance and insurance issues during the third annual FandI Week, an online conference in June. Experts, academics and FandI professionals will headline six Webinars on June 11-13.

Automakers, urged on by China's national and local governments, are eager to expand in the markets of central and western China. Future growth will be in the hinterland, auto executives interviewed during this month's Shanghai auto show agreed.

Dealers and automakers are slugging it out in some state legislatures over state franchise laws. Several state dealer associations are trying to beef up existing laws.

Honda has turned off the incentive spigot for the 2013 Civic that arrived in January -- and so far, so good. The revamped car is winning over consumers who are looking for more than just the deal of the week.

White-haired, tanned and vigorous at 80, Frank Stronach clearly has zero interest in retiring after building North America's biggest auto parts company. He now intends to jolt politics in his native Austria.

Stair-step programs, the incentive plans that drive many dealers crazy, are causing more grumbling than they were a year ago.

Chrysler Group's chief marketing officer says the automaker's "Farmer" campaign launched during the 2013 Super Bowl is boosting Ram consideration among prospective pickup buyers.

The roots of Fisker Automotive's precarious state go back several years, to a time when the company and the Department of Energy established unrealistic sales goals for an unknown automaker working with tricky hybrid technology.

From GMM

The team that finishes last will no longer receive any formula one income, Bernie Ecclestone has revealed.

Marussia officials have been puzzling as to why they were not offered a new Concorde Agreement for this season and beyond.

The truth now emerges: F1 chief executive Ecclestone has revealed he has scrapped the $10 million prize-money for any teams that finish the constructors' world championship outside the top ten.

"They (Marussia) don't have a commercial agreement because they are not in the top ten. We pay the top ten, that's what we do," he told F1 business journalist Christian Sylt in the Telegraph newspaper. "For three years we did something different because we had an agreement with (former FIA president) Max (Mosley) but from now on we will pay the top ten and that is it."

The battle for the tenth position is more crucial than ever between Caterham and Marussia. (Photo: WRi2)

Bernie Ecclestone also revealed that the sport is pushing ahead with plans to float on the stock exchange.

"We have agreed to do it," he said. "It will happen this year and it will be up and running."

Toyota Racing press release

TOYOTA Racing's 2013-specification TS030 HYBRID will make its race debut at this weekend's 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Round 2 of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Photo: Toyota Racing

After finishing third and fourth in the 6 Hours of Silverstone earlier this month with the 2012-specification TS030 HYBRID, the team will bring one updated car to Belgium.

The No. 7 car of Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima - competing for TOYOTA Racing for the first time in 2013 after missing Silverstone due to Super Formula commitments in Japan - will drive the updated car.

Following their podium at Silverstone, the No. 8 line-up of Anthony Davidson, Stephane Sarrazin and Sebastien Buemi will again participate with a 2012-specification car.

Photo: Toyota Racing

The updated TS030 HYBRID features modifications to chassis and powertrain, with increased performance, reliability and serviceability the priorities.

A revised aerodynamic package, including an updated monocoque, delivers improved performance whilst minimising the impact of updated regulations in 2013 which an increase of the minimum weight for manufacturer LMP1 cars by 15kg.

Photo: Toyota Racing

The TOYOTA HYBRID System - Racing powertrain again uses a unique super capacitor to deliver 300hp of boost automatically, on top of the 530hp generated by a 3.4-litre, normally-aspirated V8 gasoline engine.

Ahead of a completely new development for 2014 due to regulation changes, TOYOTA's Motor Sport Division in Higashifuji has fine-tuned the powertrain to improve power, efficiency, management of component usage and reliability.

From GMM

There would be "no bullshit" in the Red Bull garage if Sebastian Vettel is paired with friend Kimi Raikkonen in 2014.

Amid speculation Red Bull is considering the Finn as a potential replacement for Mark Webber next year, world champion Vettel suggested he would be happy with that choice.

"I don't care who my teammate is," German Vettel told Sport Bild. "If you want to win, you have to beat everyone. But if Kimi was my teammate: fine! We have no problem with each other and we're mature enough to deal with it even in a difficult situation."

"I get along well with him," Vettel, whose tetchy relationship with Webber fell to an all-time low with the recent 'Multi-21' affair, continued, still referring to Raikkonen. "He's just very honest. There's no bullshit with him."

Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel happy on the Bahrain podium. (Photo: WRi2)

Kimi Raikkonen has also spoken glowingly of Vettel, even though he has been careful to drop no hints about his plans beyond his Lotus contract.

"We trust each other in a duel to not do anything stupid," said the Finn. "We're both open and honest. If we were to crash, we would probably complain about each other, but that's just normal."

Adapted from GMM

Red Bull magnate, Dietrich Mateschitz has admitted his frustration with the dominant role being played this year by Pirelli's heavily-degrading control tires.

World champions Red Bull have not hidden their displeasure with the situation, putting pressure on F1's Italian tire supplier to make mid-season changes.

“Formula 1 no longer has anything to do with 'classic' racing. Today, it's not the fastest driver in the fastest car winning, but the one with the optimum tire management,” Mateschitz told Austria's Krone newspaper.

"We've even had to scale down our car, because the tires were not lasting. If we really went as fast as we can, we would need 10 to 15 pit stops," he exclaimed.

Photo: Red Bull Racing

Vettel et Webber

Mateschitz has also confirmed reports Red Bull's drivers will no longer be subjected to team orders in 2013.

The 68-year-old confirmed: "Vettel and Webber can race freely to the end of the season. The motto is 'Go ahead of me if you can'," he told Krone newspaper.

Finally, Mateschitz said it is possible Webber will stay with Red Bull beyond 2013, amid talk the Australian may have been offered a Le Mans seat with Porsche.

"It all depends on Webber himself," he insisted. "How fast he is and what other offers he has."

Williams Grand Prix Holdings has posted a £5million loss for 2012, despite winning the Spanish Grand Prix with Pastor Maldonado last season.

The group recorded a loss of 0.6mn for Williams Grand Prix Engineering, but increased its turnover by 21.5% to £124.3mn.

Despite team boss Sir Frank Williams admitting that his team still has a way to go to meet its on track targets, its performance last season had been encouraging for the business' future.

“At the end of the year the Williams F1 Team finished 8th in the constructors' championship. There is still a way to go for the team to get to where we should be, but improvements on previous seasons are evident,” said Williams.

“2012 saw Williams make encouraging progress on and off the track.

The win [at the Spanish Grand Prix] was a particular highlight and we continue to develop strong sponsorship partnerships and engineering relationships.”

Photo: Williams F1 Team

Alex Burns, the team's chief executive officer, was equally as encouraged as Sir Frank and claimed that £9.4mn had not been included in the accounts; had they been, then the group would have posted a profit.

“Strong turnover in the year of £127.0 million reflects our revenue from Formula One and our ability to earn commercial returns from diversification,” said Burns. “During the year the Group made an overall loss before taxation of £5.0 million.

“[A] revenue of £9.4 million, received under the Bilateral Agreement with Formula One World Championship Limited, the sport's commercial rights holder,” he continued, “has not been included in these results because of the technical interpretation of today's accounting standards.”

Despite the team's optimism, Williams has yet to score a point in 2013.