Auto News 5

A European research project called AdaptIVe (Automated Driving Applications & Technologies for Intelligent Vehicles) has been launched at the MobileLifeCampus in Wolfsburg, Germany. The project has been formed from a consortium of 29 partners and aims to achieve "breakthrough advances" that will lead to more efficient and safe automated driving.

Peugeot will unveil a sports car concept at the Beijing auto show. The concept is a further development of the Onyx supercar prototype unveiled at the 2012 Paris show.

News 4 Feb, 2014

New Honda Civic Tourer ad celebrates spacious interior of new estate car

Magna International Inc., through its Magna Exteriors operating unit, and Chongquing Guangneng Rongneng Trim Co., Ltd., have announced the formation of a 50/50 joint-venture partnership for the assembly of front-end modules (FEMs).

News 5 Feb, 2014

Rolls-Royce reveals sketch of a new Waterspeed Collection Phantom Drophead edition, limited to only 35 models

New-car sales in Germany rose 7 percent in January as Europe's biggest market joined France, Italy and Spain in reporting higher year-on-year registrations.

French minority shareholders' group ADAM has written to PSA to criticize the terms of a planned capital hike that will see Dongfeng and the French state take big stakes in the carmaker.

-- It's the 50th anniversary of Excalibur, the company with fine craftsmen who keep the neoclassical motoring dream alive, or in some vaguely zombielike semblance thereof.

Last week, we ran a story detailing Volkswagen's first foray into America.

News 4 Feb, 2014

Next-generation Ferrari California to be unveiled on February 12, with possible turbocharged engine

Toyota reported a fivefold increase in net income for the October-December quarter as huge foreign exchange windfalls powered profits higher.

Toyota reported a fivefold increase in net income for the October-December quarter as huge foreign exchange windfalls powered profits higher. Net income increased to $4.99 billion in the company's fiscal third quarter ended D ec. 31 from $949.

The drop in U.S. light-vehicle sales in January has left dealers with higher-than-normal piles of unsold vehicles just as factories are cranking up production.

BMW plans to strengthen internal synergies between its BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands as it aims to make permanent its nine-year reign as the world's No. 1 premium automaker.

The first numbers are in and Hyundai is leading the pack in the post-Super Bowl viral video brawl.

Mercedes, the top-selling luxury-auto brand in the U.S. in 2013, started out the year ahead of No. 2 BMW with record January sales.

From GMM

US media companies Liberty and Discovery have moved to buy a major stake in formula one from CVC, according to reports.

The New York Post said the bid is headed by John Malone, but Reuters and the Telegraph said the talks about a 49 per cent sale are only at an early stage.

Writing in the Telegraph, journalists Katherine Rushton and Christian Sylt said the bid is in direct competition with News Corp's Rupert Murdoch, who in 2011 was reported to be interested in buying the sport.

CVC would not comment, but F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone said he was not specifically aware of the Malone bid.

"You've got all these people that buy and sell companies, like people that buy and sell anything," he said. "They always think that somebody who wants to sell is in trouble. They think they (CVC) are in trouble."

From GMM

Romain Grosjean is not so sure Fernando Alonso will have an easy time alongside new Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen in 2014.

The Frenchman's comments follow those of Alonso's last teammate Felipe Massa this week, as the Brazilian tipped Alonso to be faster this year because he "combines talent with brains".

Romain Grosjean, however, may also be well placed to comment, given that he too has been paired in F1 with both Alonso (2009) and more recently with Raikkonen at Lotus.

"Good luck to them!" he grinned to Brazil's Totalrace.

"They are two very strong personalities. It will be interesting," said Romain Grosjean. "Kimi is very much like Fernando in several respects. Both like to be number one, so we'll see what happens. If there is something I could learn from Kimi and Fernando it is that they never quit. Whenever they get into the car, they get 100 per cent from it, whether it is a good car, bad car, if it's dry, wet."

Eric Boullier and Romain Grosjean, Lotus. (Photo: WRi2)

Meanwhile, the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat reports that Grosjean, 27, will no longer work with his manager Eric Boullier, after the former Lotus boss moved to McLaren.

The Lotus-linked management stable Gravity is now headed by Gerard Lopez, but correspondent Heikki Kulta cited sources in claiming Boullier's long-term successor will be appointed before the forthcoming Bahrain test.

On February 12th, Ferrari will host the world debut of what is currently known as the ''149M Project.'' The rumour mill is spinning quite a bit about this model, which may turn out to be a modified version of the California, codenamed ''F149.''

According to Supercar Team and World Car Fans, the Ferrari 149M Project could get the Maserati Quattroporte's 3.8L twin-turbo V8 engine that produces 552 horsepower.

Look for more details next Wednesday, as well as on March 4th when the 2014 Geneva Auto Show kicks off.

Sources: supercarteam.com, worldcarfans.com

Kia Canada is recalling 1,852 Sportage crossovers from the 2014 model year because the certification label does not contain correct tire pressure information. Depending on tire size, the label may indicate 1-2 psi below the correct tire pressures.

Consequently, Kia dealers will install a partial label overlay to block out the error. In addition, a sticker with the correct tire pressures will be affixed to tire pressure information in the Owner's manual.

Source: Transport Canada

Photo: Kia