Auto News 5

General Motors may face lawsuits for millions of dollars over its recall of 1.6 million cars, but first lawyers have to find clients if they hope to get a foot in the courthouse door.

New vehicle sales in Malaysia increased by 12.6% to 50,718 units in February, from the 45,046 units sold in the same month of last year, according to data released by the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).

Effective 11 April, Jeffrey Glover, currently project accelerate director at Opel/Vauxhall, will be appointed to the position of CJSC 'GM-AvtoVAZ' managing director.

New vehicle sales in Indonesia increased by 8.2% to 111,765 units in February, compared with 103,278 units a year earlier, according to data released by industry association Gaikindo.

BMW Group forecasts ''significant'' gains in 2014 profit as new models like the 4-series Gran Coupe and i8 plug-in hybrid sports car propel record deliveries.

Mercedes is adding a third shift at its Kecskemet plant in Hungary, which builds the B class and CLA models, to keep up with demand for its compact cars.

Mercedes is adding a third shift at its Kecskemet plant in Hungary, which builds the B class and CLA models, to keep up with demand for its compact cars.

Volkswagen Group is to adjust its European plant-product mix led by changes in commercial vehicle operations and greater production flexibility at its plants due to increased modularisation.

News 19 Mar, 2014

Bentley teases new SUV, set to arrive in 2016 with 6.0-litre W12 engine; plug-in hybrid to follow. Prices well in excess of £140,000

Ford of Europe CEO Stephen Odell is having a very different conversation with his car retailers. 'Now dealers are asking us for cars,' he said. In the past, they had too much product.

Bentley will build all of Volkswagen Group's W12 engines, creating about 100 jobs for its England factory and ending production of the engines in Germany.

-- We imagine that the Secret Service is currently receiving fervent and excruciatingly detailed bids from Avanti,

There are no plans whatsoever to bring a Soul coupe to the market, Kia said when we gave a spokesperson a call.

French rally driver and professional skier Guerlain Chicherit's attempt to beat Tanner Foust's Guinness World Record for the longest car jump ended badly on March 18. Chicherit was attempting to jump a specially prepared

News 19 Mar, 2014

Audi expands the efficient Ultra range with the introduction of the A4, A4 Avant and A5 Coupe to the lineup

BMW is expecting to "achieve a significant rise in sales volume in 2014 which would take us to a new, all-time high of over 2m vehicles", chairman Norbert Reithofer told the annual general meeting in Munich on Wednesday (19 March, 2014).

BMW has made changes to the way it distributes new vehicles in the United States, reducing dealer stock holdings but still allowing same-day delivery to customers that demand it.

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen's board selected ex-Airbus Group CEO Louis Gallois as its next chairman as the carmaker prepares for a capital tie-up with Dongfeng. He will succeed Thierry Peugeot as the first chairman outside the company's founding family.

The IndyCar Series has announced that it will bring safety updates for its DW12 chassis focusing mainly on improved driver protection in side impacts.

This will be made possible through the addition of carbon fibre panels to both the exterior and interior of the cockpit.

This will supplement the Xylon anti-intrusion panels that were introduced over six years ago. This should increase the chassis' side impact integrity by 60 per cent.
Also, a carbon fibre reinforcement ring is being added to increase the structural integrity of the cockpit opening, and the headrests have been modified to reduce the helmet buffeting effect on road and street courses.

Other changes will include a switch from carbon to engineered plastic foam for the panels located outside the drivers' thighs, and the road course rear wheel pods have been strengthened.

The upgrades add around 10 pounds to the rolling weight of the chassis, and will be required for all cars entered in this year's Indianapolis 500.

An IndyCar statement said that power steering is still being considered for the future.

From press release

Three-time NASCAR Canadian Tire Series' champion Scott Steckly is pleased to announce that he has accepted Parachute's invitation to return in 2014 as a judge in the annual IS IT WORTH IT campaign.

"I am very honoured to be asked to judge this contest again in 2014," said Steckly.

"With two young children of my own who are fast approaching driving age, I see the benefits of programs like this to help educate youth on the dangers associated with distracted driving. As a professional driver I know it takes 100% of your focus to drive a vehicle and that the results from anything less than 100% can be dangerous and even tragic."

Teen driver safety is a serious issue among Canadian youth.

Motor vehicle crashes are the number one killer of Canadian youth, seriously injuring 26% of young drivers. This puts teens at a higher risk of being killed in a motor vehicle than any other age group.

Driver safety focuses on issues such as, but not limited to: distracted driving, driving with excessive speed, careless driving, driving under the influence, etc.

The 2014 contest is underway with the deadline for entries on March 31, 2014. Visit isitworthit.ca for details.

The campaign focus is the Canada-wide multimedia competition, offering more than $2,000 in prizes to the best student-created video public service announcements. The PSA and can be in any creative medium youth would like to use (e.g. acting, clay animation, graphics, stop motion photography, etc.)

After a successful 2011-2012 pilot year, the campaign continued for the 2012-2013 school year under the No Regrets peer leadership program and will continue to do so for 2013-14.

This year funding has been generously provided by Devon Energy (devonenergy.com). Is It Worth It? and No Regrets are programs of Parachute.