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News 29 Apr, 2014

First images of the all-new Vauxhall Astra, set to arrive in 2015 with a whole new look

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche is poised to have his contract extended beyond 2016 as current product momentum and improving profits work in his favor, senior company sources said.

Eberspaecher is to create 545 new jobs in a US$122m investment in Michigan that will see the exhaust system supplier purchase land in the State to expand its facilities.

Pictures See all 6 pictures 10 Apr, 2014

News 10 Apr, 2014

Brits rate Italian drivers and road network as the most dangerous, according to new study

General Motors is racking up fines of US $7,000 a day for missing a 3 April deadline to provide information about its recall of 2.6m cars for defective ignition switches, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

Porsche sold more than 38,500 vehicles worldwide in the first three months of this year, up from 37,009 in the first quarter of 2013.

Welcome back to the Race Organizer Review series, in which I plunge new cars into the weird and demanding world of a traveling race official with

Nearly every Ford Mustang -- from the very first cars through the Fox platform era and right up to

Dodge is set to unveil a refreshed Charger and

Bentley is using the Beijing motor show to reveal the Bentley Hybrid Concept.

Audi has released sketches of a new TT-inspired crossover concept that will debut in Beijing later this month and may preview the upcoming Q4.

General Motors chief Mary Barra has been asked to endorse legislation to keep unrepaired, recalled rental cars off the road.

Toyota's latest global recall includes Toyota Kirloskar Motor's Innova in India.

Jaguar is counting on the new XE sedan and a forthcoming crossover to help boost Jaguar Land Rover's global vehicle sales to 750,000 by the end of the decade, up from an all-time high of 425,000 last year.

After Toyota and GM were criticized for dragging their feet before calling back defective models in recent years, automakers are accelerating safety actions.

After Toyota and GM were criticized for delaying recalls of defective models in recent years, automakers are accelerating safety actions. Recalls recently climbed to records in Japan and China.

Land Rover says it plans to better distinguish its SUV offerings by creating three distinct model lines.

From Formula1.com

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier says Mercedes AMG are catchable, despite the German team's dominant start to the 2014 season.

Mercedes AMG has taken three pole positions and three wins in the three races so far this year, but though it enjoyed a substantial pace advantage over the rest of the field in Bahrain, Boullier says it's not too late for McLaren to bridge such a deficit.

Asked during a McLaren-Mercedes teleconference if it was realistic to think that the gap could be closed to Mercedes, Boullier answered: “To be honest, I think it is. It's true that the gap is huge now, but a one-second gap is catchable. I know a lot of areas we can work on and improve, so I think they can definitely be caught.

Eric Boullier with Jenson Button, McLaren (Photo: McLaren)

“We are aggressively developing now to make sure we can catch up with them (Mercedes AMG)," he added. "We don't know if we will have caught them by the European races, but we'll definitely try to close the gap as much as possible.”

McLaren suffered a double retirement in Bahrain with both Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen both suffering clutch problems - a situation Boullier described as “a one-off”.

The former Lotus man also supported Jenson Button's post-race assertion that after Mercedes, McLaren are the next fastest team.

“I believe that if you look at the performance graph from Jenson (in Bahrain), we had the potential to finish in front of the Force Indias,” Boullier said.

“I agree with Jenson that we could be the second-fastest team - the best of the rest - but it is very, very tight with everybody.”

Mercedes AMG boss Paddy Lowe said that there is no need to change or modify the current Formula 1 technical regulations.

Lowe replied to the complaints made by the directors of at least two F1 teams (that are no longer winning races) who claim that the rules should be changed.

One of them publicly said that the current fuel restriction rules have turned racers into “taxi drivers”.

Lowe understands why some people would want to see the rules modified, but he adds it would be completely unrealistic.

Some team owners said that the cars would need to use 110kg of fuel instead of 100.

“Has anyone realised you couldn't fit 110 kilograms into the current cars?” Lowe told Sky Sports F1.

Other directors suggested that the races should be shortened.

“Can you imagine selling that concept to the public? It would be like saying 'we've decided people aren't fit enough these days and marathons are only going to be 40 kilometres, not 42'. The messaging around that cannot be contemplated,” Lowe explained.

Lowe added: “In Bahrain the guys (Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg) were racing from beginning to end, and it was a completely normal level of fuel saving."

Lowe declared he would even like to see the F1 rules become more severe.

"Formula 1 is about developing technology, setting stretched targets," he added.

"The nature of F1 is to push technology to the limit and beyond. Maybe next year it should be down to 95 kilograms for a Grand Prix."