Auto News 5

The sun shone eventually on the automotive industry at this week's Geneva show but there are still a lot of dark clouds hanging over Europe.

The sun shone eventually on the automotive industry at this week's Geneva show but there are still a lot of dark clouds hanging over Europe.

Chinese automaker Qoros is out to challenge VW, PSA and other Europeans on their home turf, signaling a broader push by the country's car manufacturers to target Western customers.

Volkswagen Group is striking out in a new direction to boost the image and appeal of its Skoda and Seat brands, moving Skoda more upmarket while refocusing Seat on Europe after a failed China export strategy.

News 6 Mar, 2014

Vauxhall says its new 2014 Corsa will set the standard for cabin quality in the supermini sector

-- Twitter friend @dudehugs is a Weird Twitter savant and a curator of

Sure, the new Subaru Impreza WRX and STI are pretty good.

News 6 Mar, 2014

GM pulling Chevrolet out of Europe helps put Vauxhall on course to turn a profit by 2016

News 6 Mar, 2014

Vauxhall's new Zafira and Meriva MPV range will be based on technology developed with PSA Peugeot Citroen

Speaking at the Geneva motor show, a Renault spokesman has told just-auto.com that "whilst the platform is Z.E. ready, no Twingo Z.E. is currently planned".

European sales of hybrid vehicles increased more than 40 percent last year as more people decided to reduce their fuel consumption with the help of the electrically assisted cars.

VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn is bullish about the future of the automaker's T-ROC concept, which shows what the automaker believes would fit between the Tiguan compact SUV and its planned subcompact SUV.

The Renault Twingo will stand out in Europe's crowded minicar segment because of its rear-engine layout and rear-wheel drive.

Apple's new CarPlay system is as simple to use as you would expect from a company that has perfected the art of easy-to-use technology.

Renault will rely heavily on alliance partner Nissan for manufacturing staff in China when it starts producing locally built crossovers with Dongfeng in 2016.

During simultaneous launches in Geneva and Hong Kong, Infiniti revealed the engine that drives the Q50 Eau Rouge concept, which debuted at the NAIAS in Detroit earlier this year. It's a 3.8L twin-turbocharged V6 producing 560 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque.

Eau Rouge, by the way, refers to the world-famous corner at the Formula One track in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.

"A car with such pronounced styling treatments demands the very best in terms of high-performance powertrains, which is why we installed this V6 twin-turbocharged, 7-speed combination as an example of what a potential powertrain for the Q50 Eau Rouge may look and sound like," said Johan de Nysschen, president of Infiniti Motor Company Limited.

What's more, Infiniti will expand the Q50 lineup with a new 2.0L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that develops 211 horsepower. It will come to China in the spring and Europe in the fall before rolling out to other global markets before the end of the year.

Photo: Infiniti

Photo: Infiniti

From Maritime Pro Stock Tour

Gear up for another exciting season on the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour!

The Maritime Pro Stock Tour is excited to announce Parts for Trucks will return to present the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour in 2014.

Parts for Trucks is the largest distributor of heavy duty truck and trailer parts in Atlantic Canada and has outlets in each of the five Maritime markets the Pro Stock Tour visits.

This is the fourth consecutive season Parts for Trucks will serve as title sponsor for Canada's biggest short track based touring series, with 12 races being contested in all three Maritime provinces.

The season will kick off on Saturday, May 24th at Scotia Speedworld, located just outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the Lucas Oil 100.

"We are excited to have Parts for Trucks return as the title sponsor for 2014." Said Pro Stock Tour General Manager, Ken Cunning.

"Parts for Trucks, as any maritime race fan knows, has been involved in stock car racing for years and with the Tour for all of our 14 years. Their staff are keen supporters and are in attendance at all our stops during the summer. It enhances our reputation to have Parts for Trucks as a member of our team."

"Parts for Trucks is looking forward to another season as the title sponsor for the Maritimes' top racing series,” said Rudi Foster, Vice President of Sale for Parts for Trucks.

“We have 15 locations across Atlantic Canada to serve all of your truck and trailer needs including a brand new service shop in Moncton located in the West Moncton Industrial Park just minutes away from Petty International Raceway. Tour fans have been loyal customers of Parts for Trucks and we are pleased to help present another great season of racing for fans across the region.”

From GMM

Romain Grosjean wasn't his always-smiling self during one dramatic moment at the Bahrain tests last week.

There's nothing really new there as drivers, engineers and team directors often lose their cool under pressure. But in this case, the scene was captured on camera.

Footage has emerged of the Frenchman angrily thumping the tool benches in the Lotus garage as he apparently discussed the new Renault-powered E22's obvious problems with an engineer.


Having sat out the first test at Jerez amid recent financial problems, the extent of Lotus' situation with its troubled 2014 car became clear only in Bahrain.

"Of course," Frenchman Grosjean is quoted by Speed Week, "we are still far away from a good performance.

"We need to understand the brake-by-wire system, the new power unit and charging the batteries and in these areas, it doesn't look so good," he admitted.

"But together with Renault, we will work in the next two weeks until Melbourne to improve."

Asked how he will keep his ever-present smile on his face early in 2014, Grosjean answered: "Think of my son."

From GMM

Red Bull is "slaving around the clock" to solve its problems ahead of next weekend's season-opening Australian grand prix.

It is emerging that, amid the reigning world champions' obvious problems with engine partner Renault and the new turbo V6 'power unit', the actual basic design of the Adrian Newey-penned RB10 is sound.

Lewis Hamilton calls the car "stunning", and McLaren's Jenson Button thinks it is also fast.

"I was with (Daniel) Ricciardo for several laps and he couldn't pass me on the straights," said the Briton at the end of pre-season testing in Bahrain.

"He passed me on the outside of turn 11, which is high speed -- I've never seen anything like that before," Jenson Button is quoted by Spain's Marca sports newspaper.

The Red Bull RB10 in Bahrain. (Photo: WRi2)

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko said the team's normal development processes are also working well ahead of the new season.

"Our measurements have shown that the new parts we were bringing worked as desired, making the car better," he is quoted by Germany's Auto Bild.

"The fact that it did not look good on the track was due to the engine software," he revealed.

Helmut Marko said Red Bull and Renault are working hard together in the remaining days until Melbourne.

"We have so much to do," he told Bild newspaper, "especially the guys responsible for the software who will now slave around the clock on 18 hour shifts. But whoever can win together, can also work hard together"

Mercedes is the clear early-season title favourite, but the German squad's Toto Wolff is not writing off Red Bull.

"I am sure they will come back," he is quoted by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. "The only question is when.

"In our view, hopefully as late as possible," Wolff is also quoted by APA news agency.

Those on the outside, however, are less sure Red Bull can recover quickly.

"I think a Mercedes will win the title," former F1 driver Timo Glock told T-online.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone is not unhappy his friend Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull are struggling, telling Bild newspaper the fans need a new winner to make the sport "exciting" again.

He added: "Red Bull are not going to run away just because they don't win everything again."

From press release

After showing encouraging competitiveness and speed, and with ultra-quick adaptation to a brand new race car, Montreal's Alex Tagliani is ready for his next TUDOR United SportsCar Championship assignment.

Driving one of Paul Gentilozzi's RSR entries, "Tag" will take on one of the oldest sports car races in North America, the 62nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, fueled by Fresh from Florida, March 15th.

To prepare for the second event in the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar championship at the extremely challenging course in Sebring Florida, Tagliani will run a full test with the RSR team in the No. 08 Automaxusa.com Oreca FLM 09 at Sebring on March 8.

Alex Tagliani (Photo: Tagliani Autosport)

Despite having never driven the car before arriving at the Series' previous event, the Rolex 24 at Daytona back in January, "Tag" got comfortable immediately and qualified fifth in the Prototype Challenge class. The Canadian set a fast lap time of 1m42:187.

So Tagliani, the 2011 Indianapolis 500 pole winner, is very excited about what they should be able to do at Sebring in the test and the race, based on their speed and numbers at Daytona.

"We have a good car and a team capable of winning every race. We have a pretty full test plan in preparation for the Sebring race. It's great to have the Daytona times as a base, but we feel we still have room for improvement", Tagliani commented.

Sharing the driving duties in the No. 08 RSR Oreca with Alex for the Twelve Hours of Sebring will be 2013 Driver's Championship runner-up and fellow-Canadian Chris Cumming of Vancouver, and Rusty Mitchell of Midland Texas.

The RSR team's sister car, the No. 09 Lino'spresso Oreca FLM09, anchored by fellow former ChampCar driver Bruno Junqueira, was also very quick at Daytona. Tagliani believes with the information and feedback between the two teams, they have a definite chance to win a very tough and physically demanding race.

"Working with my old friend Bruno on the RSR team is a great situation. We know each other so well. We are two very competitive drivers. Since both team cars are identical, we can really gain an advantage when we debrief together and exchange information and ideas. That was huge for me getting comfortable in the RSR car at Daytona since I had no time in the seat before practise. At Sebring, we take all we learned at Daytona into the pre-race test March 8 that should mean even better car preparation and results in the Twelve Hours on the 15th, so I'm very excited about this next run with RSR!", Tagliani offered.

The Twelve Hours of Sebring goes green Saturday March 15th at 10:30 AM eastern, and is checkered 12 Hours later at 10:30 PM. Tagliani says starting in daylight and finishing in the dark makes this race and this race course one of the toughest in the sport!

"More than a few drivers with some of the best teams in sports car racing will tell you the Twelve Hours of Sebring is one of the most gruelling endurances races on any schedule. The 17 corner full track is very bumpy and extremely challenging because you're turning a lot. It's very tough on drivers and equipment. Not only that, it's not as brightly lit as Daytona. You have to be able to navigate at speed with over 60 cars out there in some pretty dark sections relying totally on your headlights! I have experience testing on the shorter "Indy" portion of the Sebring track, and I will be familiar with that section of the circuit. But the addition full-track distance adds almost a full minute to the lap times. It's longer, tougher!",Tagliani added.