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Lexus UK is offering new multimedia entertainment systems for the entry level CT200h hatchback - DVD and iPad systems for rear seat passengers.

News 12 Jun, 2014

VW announces new flagship Amarok Ultimate that could reach UK showroom in limited-numbers early next year

Kia's Gwangju facility in Korea has started volume production of its new all-electric Soul EV for export sales. It is the company's first electric vehicle to be marketed by the company outside Korea.

Rolls-Royce has code-named its first SUV "Cullinan" after the world's largest diamond and will begin sales of the vehicle at the end of 2018, a German magazine said.

For Father's Day, get your old man something he'll truly remember. Put him behind the wheel of a dragster. Throw him the keys to a Ferrari. Heck, he can even smash into a car with a Crown Vic or crush another with a 60-ton tank.

-- The DeLorean of The Smoking Tire's Matt Farah recently caught on fire. (It must have been Wiegert's revenge.) A wiring harness was the culprit.

In the last several weeks, I've driven a Porsche 918 and a LaFerrari.

On an average day, admission to the Petersen Museum is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students. Children under 3 are free while children 3-12 are $5, in case you're still wondering.

PSA Peugeot Citroën will spend EUR300m (US$405m) between now and 2020 to turn its main Mulhouse factory in eastern France into a flexible, single line production facility.

The subcompact segment's eight-year reign as Europe's largest car class is likely to end because of rising demand for small SUVs. Subcompact sales are forecast to fall to 2.64 million this year from 2.72 million in 2013.

Infiniti will begin production of a new Mercedes-designed 2.0-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine in the United States this month, to power a version of the Q50 sedan for European markets.

Tesla will build a factory in Europe once sales of its cars reach 160,000 a year in the region, CEO Elon Musk said. The electric-car maker also plans to open a European randd center "next year or the year after," Musk said.

Tesla will build a factory in Europe once sales of its electric cars reach 160,000 a year in the region, CEO Elon Musk said.

After discovering an error with the fuel consumption ratings on certain vehicles through its internal testing, Ford has notified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and made the necessary corrections.

Six different vehicles are affected including 2013 and 2014 hybrid and plug-in hybrid models, as well as most 2014 Fiestas.

“Ford is absolutely committed to delivering top fuel economy and accurate information,” said Alan Mulally, Ford president and CEO. “We apologize to our customers and will provide goodwill payments to affected owners. We also are taking steps to improve our processes and prevent issues like this from happening again.”

Ford reviewed its entire lineup to determine the vehicles that required further testing and revised the fuel consumption ratings for the affected vehicles. No other label adjustments are planned.

Formula1.com has met with American entrepreneur Gene Haas in Montreal. Haas is the founder, president, and sole stockholder of Haas Automation, and founder of the planned Haas Formula 1 team.

Despite being mostly known in the NASCAR business, Haas is also a long-time F1 fan.

“I knew about F1 racing back in the seventies - when I was a mechanic at a Formula 5000 team the year before F1 went to Long Beach”, Haas said.

Haas was asked why he decided to come into F1 while the sport is alien to most US fans?

“I don't think that it is that alien. F1 has been working in the American mind-set for decades. I would even go so far as saying that Americans like F1 racing,” he said.

Haas then explained he intends to use his F1 team as a promotional and marketing platform to promote his company.

“We've used NASCAR to help sell our Haas Automation products in America - we sell CNC machine tools - and racing in NASCAR has been very good at that. So the idea was to join F1 and take our brand and raise awareness of it - by taking it to the premier brand of motorsport. F1 is a premium brand in the rest of the world and associating ourselves with that will help sell our products throughout the world. We already sell a lot of machine tools in England,” Haas explained.

Gene Haas shakes hand with Ferrari boss, Marco Mattiacci, with Gunther Steiner watching. (Photo: René Fagnan)

Formula 1 teams are generally pretty large organizations. Where will Haas Formula settle?

“I think when you have 600-plus people nobody really knows what everybody is doing. I think in racing you need a small group of core people who know what they are doing - in that way you get a lot more accomplished than with a huge organisation. That's how we raced in the US and that's our goal in F1. Our plan is not to make every single part for F1 ourselves. As far as money is concerned, we can do F1 with or without sponsors,” he continued.

“The biggest part is the power train, and that's the majority of the back of the car, so if we can wrap up a deal with Ferrari - in fact right now there are only three engine manufacturers - that would almost mean half the car! So we will have to be responsible to build the front half of it,” Haas explained.

Haas also confirmed that former IndyCar racer Danica Patrick appears on his short list of potential drivers.

“She surely fits the bill. She is a woman in a man's sport - that would attract a lot of attention. She weighs about 50 kilos - which these day sounds fantastic - so indeed she's got a lot of attributes that would be good to have,” Gene Haas declared.

The team plans to start racing in 2016. What's the timeline from now on?

“We work backwards: we know that the car has to be ready in December 2015. I can imagine the car actually being built sometime in July next year. Dallara will probably be a subcontractor [for the chassis]. Nothing has been decided yet so I don't want to read anywhere that Dallara would be anything other than maybe a supplier of parts,” Haas ended.

Since the start of the 2014 season, Formula 1 fans have been complaining about a number of things including the muffled sound of the new V6 engines, slower speeds in corners, ugly-looking noses that resemble an anteater, and so on.

Did F1 bigwigs really have to impose such radical changes? What next? Auto123.com met with Laurent Mekies, chief engineer at Scuderia Toro Rosso, to find some answers to these burning questions.

Laurent Mekies, Scuderia Toro Rosso (Photo: WRI2)

Auto123.com: The winter tests were disastrous, with teams struggling to complete back-to-back laps. Why did you run into so much trouble?
Laurent Mekies: Actually, we expected to face even more problems than we did. These technical changes really are a major evolution. Yet, in Melbourne, nearly all cars finished the race. Since then, none had to retire due to battery trouble. However, there were some issues with the power units, as well as handling and braking. Fortunately, there were no real mechanical or electrical breakdowns.

Auto123.com: You still have to take good care of your power units, since each driver only has five for the whole season...
Mekies: Yes, we try our best to limit breakdowns. Cars retiring from a race is just part of the game, you know; otherwise we wouldn't call it “motorsport”. From a technical standpoint, the shift from traditional V8 engines to turbocharged, hybrid V6s is fabulous and the right way to go. This allows the top automakers to compete in F1.

For TV viewers, the different sound and slower speeds are barely noticeable. Historically, F1 has always kept evolving and adjusting. This isn't football (soccer) where the rules stay the same for 50 years.

Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso (Photo: René Fagnan)

Auto123.com: Was the dramatic rule change inevitable?
Mekies: The new rule was conceived with technology in mind, and not to make cars slower like we've seen in the past. We now have more technologically advanced, more environmentally friendly machines that will allow F1 to do what it's supposed to do, which is developing high-tech solutions.

Auto123.com: Right, but fans are complaining that the 2014 cars are slower than last year, maybe even slower than GP2 cars...
Mekies: From a competition standpoint, the change is super interesting. It has led to more passing manoeuvres, because teams have to manage energy throughout the race. And whether you like the new sound or not, for me it's a side issue. Make no mistake, though: Cars aren't slower because of the new power units, but rather because of a significant loss of downforce.

Auto123.com: What's the future for this new turbo hybrid engine?
Mekies: Such a major rule change is designed to last. We know we can always make cars faster from one year to the next. Performance inevitably keeps progressing, and that will happen with the turbo hybrid engines, too. The cars will go faster and faster as the power units become stronger and more efficient. We'll also regain some of the downforce we've lost.

Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso (Photo: René Fagnan)

In an effort to kill the momentum of its closest competitor, the Nissan Micra, Mitsubishi Canada is offering a new $2,500 buyer incentive that will drop the base MSRP of its Mirage subcompact car to $9,998.

The announcement came during the latest Mitsubishi Fuel Economy Challenge, where Michael and Marina Sturrock from Laval, Quebec, averaged a remarkable 4.0L/100km - about 10% better than Natural Resources Canada's EnerGuide rating (4.4L/100km).

“Our customers love the Mirage. The results of the Fuel Economy Challenge and the new $9,998 price point confirms Mirage is the best automotive value in Canada,” noted Stéphane Lessard of Mitsubishi's top-selling Canadian dealership, Rallye Mitsubishi in Gatineau.

The Mitsubishi Mirage comes standard with seven airbags, 14” wheels, front disc brakes and rear drum brakes, a tilt-adjustable steering wheel, a multifunction display, and a 60/40 split-folding rear seat.

Source : Mitsubishi Canada

Photo: Mitsubishi

A number of significant vehicle recalls were announced today, affecting various Ford and Lincoln models.

On 13,200 Ford Taurus sedans (model years 2010-2014) registered and operated in areas where road salt is used on the roadways during winter months for extended time periods (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland-Labrador), corrosion may occur inside the license plate lamp assembly which could result in high electrical current draw, excessive heat, or a fire. Dealers will therefore replace the license plate lamp assembly.

Meanwhile, a safety defect may exist in Ford's aftermarket all-weather floor mats sold as accessories or service replacement parts for 2006-2011 Ford Fusion, Lincoln Zephyr, and Lincoln MKZ vehicles. The floor mats are secured by a single retention device, which could allow the driver's floor mat to move out of position and interfere with the accelerator pedal. In this case, dealers will replace the floor mats with an updated design having two retention devices.

Finally, on 11,923 Ford Explorers from 2011-2013 and 134,568 Explorers from 2008-2011, a fault in the Electric Power Steering (EPS) system could result in an immediate loss of power steering assist without any warning to the driver. This would unexpectedly increase the steering effort force necessary to steer the vehicle at lower speeds, which could increase the risk of a crash.

Dealers will affect repairs as necessary and will reprogram the EPS controller with updated software. In the event that an EPS fault occurs, this updated software would allow for continued EPS function while displaying visual and audible warnings to the driver until the end of the drive cycle.

Source: Transport Canada

There's just no stopping technology: Toyota and Panasonic are working on a new system allowing users to remotely control their home appliances right from their car!

Forget about having your refrigerator prepare you dinner while you're driving back home (although this may become possible at some point in the future). Using cloud computing, you'll be able to adjust the interior temperature of your house, start your washing machine or turn off your TV if you left it on as you rushed to work.

The good news is that this system could become operational by the end of 2014.

Source : cnetfrance.fr

According to a Ducker Worldwide study commissioned by the Aluminum Association, three out of four trucks will have aluminum bodies by 2025.

It all started with the all-new 2015 Ford F-150, which is expected to sell 650,000 units per year. GM and Chrysler have already shown their interest, as well.

2015 Ford F-150 (Photo: Ford)

“The truck business is competitive. They are lemmings, they follow each other,” said Richard Schultz, managing director of Ducker Worldwide.

Stricter fuel economy standards are forcing manufacturers to find ways to make their vehicles lighter, and naturally that includes using aluminum for body panels. The new F-150 is projected to be 10%-15% more fuel-efficient than the previous steel-bodied generation, with an estimated increased production cost of about $750 per truck.

The study also reveals that demand for aluminum sheets for light vehicle body parts will grow from less than 200 million pounds in 2012 to nearly 4 billion pounds by 2025. Companies like Alcoa and Novalis have recently announced plans to increase their production capacity.


_{Source: Automotive News}