Auto News 5

Over 40 new partners including several automakers such as Audi, Hyundai, Ford, Bentley, Acura, Nissan, Subaru, Volvo, and FIAT-Chrysler have joined the Open Automotive Alliance in order to make Android Auto available to drivers starting late this year.

Photomontage: Auto123.com

Android Auto is fully controlled by voice, so drivers can keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the steering wheel at all times. Information will appear on the screen only when necessary, so using the various apps will prove safer.

Speaking of which, the most frequently used apps (navigation, music, communication) will be displayed in the middle of the screen to further prevent distractions.

Volvo, in particular, will also include Apple CarPlay interoperability in all new models based on its new Scalable Product Architecture. This will make it possible for Volvo owners to connect the most widely used smartphone platforms directly to their car's touchscreen.

It remains to be seen, however, if other automakers will follow suit to avoid disappointing a number of car drivers.

The specific models that will integrate Android Auto will be announced at a later date. In the meantime, you can check out the full list of automakers and partners in the Open Automotive Alliance.

Bromont, QC -- I love the connection between horsepower and actual horse power. I've experienced it before when I attended the Kentucky Rolex Event early last year. This time it was a little closer to home, and on a bit of a different scale, but the atmosphere was the same as was the experience.

Hosted at what was the site of the 1976 Olympic games equestrian events, the Bromont CCI is a prestigious affair that invites future Olympic hopefuls (meaning the best of the best in the horsey world) to compete in a three-day event. It tests both rider and steed in a mélange of skills that include: dressage, cross-country, and finally show jumping.

Photo: Lesley Wimbush

Some of the world's top riders were present in Bromont, and the location and grounds were nothing to shake a crop at. As I toured the stables where teams and their faithful, all-around-athlete, horses were kept I managed to ask a few how they felt about the location. From South America to sunny Californian shores, everyone was duly impressed with the grounds and said the Bromont CCI was top-notch (and this on the last day of the five-day total stay).

It wasn't just the grounds and facilities that intrigued the riders and crowds, but also one of the sponsors who were dutifully (and accessibly) on-site the entire time: Land Rover.

With a storied history in equestrian sports, Land Rover is a proud sponsor in a multitude of horse events from supporting the British Eventing Team straight down to the newly added Bromont CCI. Equestrian eventing is a true test for both horse and rider, and requires all-around skill and precision, something Land Rover and Jaguar also believe in very highly when it comes to their brand.

So, how were they present at the Bromont CCI? Well, besides displaying their tenacious little Evoque around the cross-country course, as well as a few dead sexy Jaguar F-Type Coupes, they also opened their car doors to the adoring public. All you had to do was walk up to the Land Rover tent sign up on an iPad, and off you'd go behind the wheel of a brand new F-Type Coupe or on a rather impressive and telling off-road course behind the wheel of a Range Rover Sport.

You see, equestrian eventing and anything horse-related really can be seen as something quite snobbish. Take it from someone who knows. And for a brand like Land Rover -- one that also caries that stiff-upper-lip, holier-than-thou stereotype -- participating in an event such as this one, but opening their doors to the general public in that way offers them a whole slew of new followers and potential buyers. Their cars aren't just on display and locked. You can touch them; you can hear them and you can drive them. It also helps Land Rover maintain already loyal customers who use an LR4 to trailer the horses, but are looking for a cute little weekend roadster and want to try out the F-Type.

Some marriages are meant to be, and the union between Land Rover and the equestrian world is one I've not seen the likes of in ages. Like Elizabeth and Andrew, Posh and Beckham, Laurel and Hardy, LR and horses just mesh; and this latest coupling in Bromont is just the beginning of another beautiful, long-term relationship.

From FIA Formula E

Venturi announced that Nick Heidfeld and Stephane Sarrazin will join the team for the first season of the FIA Formula E Championship.

The duo will represent Venturi when they line-up on the grid at the start of the world's first fully-electric racing series in Beijing on September 13 2014. Neither Heidfeld nor Sarrazin are strangers to the international racing scene, having both competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula 1, WRC and Le Mans.

Stephane Sarrazin and Nick Heidfeld. (Photo: Venturi Formula E Team)

Nick Heidfeld said: “It's new, and new means exciting. It feels really special to be part of a starting project that is going to bring a lot to the future of racing and the automobile. I remember when I was young and starting in karting, sustainable development was not in people's mind. When you've been involved in driving and motorsport at a high level for such a long time, you step into a car and automatically start to compare to what you've experienced before. I will try to bring some ideas of what I've seen and experienced to help the team perform at the highest level. The team will work as one to find solutions: that's what I like, to move forward. Working on a car is really interesting and very satisfying when you achieve winning results.”

Stephane Sarrazin added: “Being a part of this new championship is amazing. I am excited and motivated to sit in a totally new car with pioneering technology and to undertake a new discipline. In addition, street circuits promise a lot of close competition and fights between good drivers. You have to perform to make people dream. It's a great way to raise awareness of electric vehicles. I have three years' of experience in hybrid vehicle competition, which introduces the concept of being efficient in saving energy and the FIA Formula E Championship takes this to another level. This is something very important and I want to build on my experience. I am proud to race for Venturi, a renowned pioneer in electric vehicles. This is the future.”

Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E, said: “I'm delighted to welcome Nick and Stephane to the FIA Formula E Championship. Both have shown in the past that they are very talented drivers in various forms of motorsport and they will be a great addition to both Venturi and the Formula E grid.”

To date, 10 of the 20 drivers have been conformed with Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi driving for Audi Sport Abt, Sam Bird and Jaime Alguersuari at Virgin Racing, Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok at Mahindra Racing, Franck Montagny at Andretti Autosport and Jarno Trulli at new team TrulliGP.

Dealers can still sell units that don't have the defective part. The stop-sale order for those faulty Cruzes will remain in effect until further notice.Chevrolet Cruze sedans in the U.S. and Canada have been put on halt because of a potential defect in airbags made by beleaguered airbag supplier Takata -- the same company that forced Honda, Nissan, and Mazda to announce massive recalls over the past few days.

Photo: General Motors

"Certain vehicles may be equipped with a suspect driver's airbag inflator module that may have been assembled with an incorrect part," GM spokesmen Jim Cain said in a statement. "We are working diligently with the supplier of the defective part to identify specific vehicles affected and expect to resume deliveries by the end of this week once those vehicles are identified."

A total of 33,000 Cruzes may be affected.

Dealers can still sell units that don't have the defective part. The stop-sale order for those faulty Cruzes will remain in effect until further notice.

So far this year, General Motors has recalled more than 20 million vehicles and agreed to pay a record fine of $35 million for failing to notify regulators in a timely manner about an ignition switch defect.


_{Source: USA Today}

From GMM

Even amid the denials, the story suggesting Red Bull is considering designing its own formula one engine will not go away.

All year - ever since it became clear the reigning world champions would struggle to win the first title of the all-new turbo V6 era - Red Bull has been pointing a steady finger of blame at its 'power unit' supplier, Renault.

In the past weeks and days, the speculation has reached fever pitch.

The rumours were pushed along in Austria last weekend by Dr Helmut Marko, who appeared to confirm reports Red Bull is thinking about making its own bespoke engine.

"The world champions desperately need what it otherwise promises: energy," German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung, referring to the fact Red Bull is an energy drink company, said after the team's poor performance at its home grand prix last weekend.

However, with the 'Red Bull engine' reports soaring, team boss Christian Horner and team owner Dietrich Mateschitz issued clear denials -- along the lines that 'Red Bull does not want to become an engine manufacturer'.

But perhaps there is more to it than that.

Renault - also supplying Lotus, Toro Rosso and Caterham - revealed recently that some of its F1 customers are not paying their engine bills on time.

And the latest rumour is that Lotus, who have struggled even more than Red Bull with the troubled Renault engine, is considering a switch to field-leading Mercedes for 2015.

"Apparently the only thing missing is a bank guarantee," said the German magazine Sport Bild.

There were whispers in the Red Bull Ring paddock last weekend that Renault's F1 facility based at Viry-Chattilon, in the southern suburbs of Paris, is for sale.

So rather than 'become an engine manufacturer', perhaps Red Bull is simply a potential buyer.

"We have no desire to be an engine manufacturer. But we do want to work with a strong partner, be competitive and run at the front," Horner is quoted by Spain's El Confidencial.

Renault F1's factory at Viry-Chatillon, France. (Photo: Renault Sport)

Red Bull, and its second team Toro Rosso, have played an active role - also financially - in solving Renault's deep pre-season crisis this year.

According to Sport Bild, Red Bull does not want to be an engine manufacturer, but it does want to be "independent" as it tracks further success in F1.

Gerhard Berger, famously close to Red Bull and Mateschitz, is quoted as saying: "As a chassis manufacturer, Red Bull gets delivered an engine as it is. Just as an engine manufacturer has to make do when a team builds a bad chassis."

The solution, then, could be simple: Red Bull buys Viry-Chattilon and therefore takes control of an existing F1 engine supplier's personnel, decision-making and budget.

One key personnel change could be Mario Illien, the founder of Mercedes' F1 engine facility in Brixworth, UK.

That could tie in with Red Bull's newly-announced 'Advanced Technologies Centre', to be headed by Adrian Newey.

Marko said: "The contact between Adrian and Mario is still very good."

A good example of the need for Red Bull to think again about its approach to the new 'power unit' era in F1 is McLaren.

The famous British team is struggling this year despite using the field-leading Mercedes engine -- as a mere customer.

But next year, works Honda engines will power the McLaren cars.

"Having a works engine allows you to play with much more channels and possibilities than if you have a customer engine," team boss Eric Boullier told reporters this week.

"If you take the example of Mercedes and Red Bull, we all know Red Bull's chassis is very good and maybe slightly better than the Mercedes one, but the big the difference is the Renault engine, which is not a works engine," he said.

Takata could face a $500 million charge and a net loss this year -- its second in three years -- as a widening recall of airbag inflators begins to kindle worries despite its deep pockets.

John Holt, an Internet pioneer in auto retailing, is retiring from ADP Dealer Services to climb mountains with his daughters.

GM told dealers in the United States and Canada to halt delivery of some 2013-14 Chevrolet Cruze sedans because of a potential problem with an airbag supplied by Takata, hampering sales of the company's top-selling car amid an end-of-the-month sales...

A Detroit man and his beloved 1979 Corvette will be reunited after more than 30 years after General Motors' head of global product development heard the man's story today on the radio.

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As car enthusiasts, we sometimes -- maybe, every once in a while -- exceed the speed limit. Take it from us: If we don't have tickets at our desks right now, we have colleagues who do. That's where our handy friend the

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The 24 Hours of LeMons season is in full swing, which means that I'm traveling the country in

Racing mogul Don Panoz, who sued Nissan last year alleging that the company copied the unusual shape of his DeltaWing race car, is stepping up his campaign with a series of print advertisements aimed at Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn.

Continuing just-auto's series of interviews with tier one manufacturers of cockpits and instrumentation, Matthew Beecham spoke to Faurecia's David Weill about consumer expectations, materials trends, touch screens, HUDs and tomorrow's instrument cluster.

Spontaneous deployment of air bags. Not a nice thought, especially for a young woman in Georgia.

A pair of very dusty Aston Martin DBS coupes from the 1970s have recently hammered for double their respective estimates at the Silverstone Auctions sale in the U.K.

UPDATE: Now with reveal video from Goodwood

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Toyota introduced its