Auto News 5

GKN plc and the Go-Ahead Group have agreed a deal to supply a flywheel-based system to London buses that it is claimed will improve fuel efficiency by around 20%.

Faurecia raised its 2014 earnings forecast after first-half profit jumped 21 percent on strong demand in Asia and higher market share in its home region.

Faurecia raised its 2014 earnings forecast after first-half profit jumped 21 percent on strong demand in Asia and higher market share in its home region.

The Japanese government is preparing to offer generous incentives for buyers of hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles to help Japanese manufacturers such as Toyota and Honda take the lead in bringing hydrogen vehicles market.

Renault has posted a 25% increase in half-year Group operating profit to EUR729m (US$980m), but warns of a "sharp slowdown" in emerging markets.

Magna International has announced the expansion of its interiors manufacturing facility in Trnava, Slovakia, to accommodate recently awarded additional automotive interiors business.

Reports that VW may buy Fiat-Chrysler sound improbable, but the idea has appeal. It would allow VW to overcome its weakness in North America and offer Fiat Chrysler a safe haven.

Reports that VW may buy Fiat-Chrysler sound improbable, but the idea certainly has its appeal for both automakers. It would allow VW to overcome its weakness in North America in a single stroke and offer Fiat Chrysler a safe haven if its strong U.S.

European luxury car brands have cut new car and aftersales prices in China as a result of the government's investigation into anti-competitive activity, launched earlier this year.

News 29 Jul, 2014

Kia has teased the upcoming third-generation Sorento with a set of design sketches

News 29 Jul, 2014

Drive to lower air pollution would see diesels and older petrol cars penalised in urban areas by 2020

Honda's quarterly operating profit rose 7 percent to $1.94 billion as lower sales in the United States were offset by costs cuts and the company's stronger focus on Asian markets.

Honda's quarterly operating profit rose 7 percent to $1.94 billion as lower sales in the United States were offset by costs cuts and the company's stronger focus on Asian markets.

Renault reported a 25 percent jump in first-half operating profit thanks to cost-cutting even as currency headwinds and mounting inventories hurt sales and cash flow.

Daimler has reached a labor agreement that will allow it to sell some Mercedes dealerships in Germany as part of a wider plan to overhaul its sales network in the market.

Skoda has given its Fabia subcompact a more dynamic, sharper and sportier design. The latest-generation Fabia will debut at the Paris auto show in October.

For General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Renault-Nissan and other carmakers, Russia is an emerging market with huge strategic significance. But the risks are there too, and like Russia itself, they are enormous.

Honda's promotion for its summer sales clearance offered the only new video on our viral video list this week, but three videos from Toyota, Jaguar and Ford broke back into the top 10.

Sky Sports F1 reports Tuesday morning that despite reassuring news, Ferrari's engineering director Pat Fry has paid the price for the Scuderia's frustrating first half of the 2014 season.

The Ferrari F14 T is a handful to drive and is said to be fitted with an overweight and underpowered V6 turbo hybrid engine.

Earlier in the season, Marco Mattiacci replaced team director Stefano Domenicali while engine chief Luca Marmorini is also understood to have left Ferrari earlier this month.

According to Sky sources, Pat Fry has been sacked during a recent behind close doors altercation.

Contacted by Sky Sports Online on Monday evening, a Ferrari spokesman denied reports Fry had been sacked.

On its Twitter feed, Ferrari sent this message Tuesday: “For those who ask about Pat Fry: just rumors, rumors, rumors...”

More to come later...

Pat Fry, Ferrari. (Photo: WRi2)

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone says F1 will abandon its highly controversial plan for standing re-starts after safety car periods from 2015.

In Hungary, reportedly alarmed with the sport's dwindling spectator and television appeal, the F1 supremo met with team bosses.

But Ecclestone denied it was resolved that Flavio Briatore was the key to a more popular future for the sport.

"We do not need Flavio. We can do it ourselves," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

The publication said there are rumours a popularity taskforce will instead be headed by Christian Horner, Toto Wolff, Luca di Montezemolo and Vijay Mallya.

Ecclestone said the priority is some "fine tuning" rather than radical moves, as he said the "incredible race" in Hungary showed that F1 is not fundamentally broken.

"There just shouldn't be the stupid and unnecessary rules that we've put in over the years," said the 83-year-old.

"I want a world championship of drivers, not engineers.

"We have already told the stewards that they should not punish every little thing. I want drivers who race each other rather than constantly ask what they can and cannot do," said Bernie Ecclestone.

The biggest news on Tuesday is that one rule already printed in black and white in the 2015 regulations looks set to be axed.

"There will be no standing starts after safety cars," announced the diminutive Briton. "What we saw in Budapest was good enough."

Starting grid at Hockenheim. (Photo: WRi2)