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Bonhams is gearing up for its single-marque sale at the

While gasoline-powered cars still rule the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, as demonstrated last year by Sebastian Loeb's absurd 8:13.

An Alfa Romeo 4C is all fine and grand, you might say, but it's not to your style -- less

In hindsight, I didn't have to drive to Big Sur, Calif.and#8212;but it was a nice weekend, after all.

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Cut-price car brand Dacia was a sales sensation in the UK last year. We headed to Romania to find out the secrets behind its success

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Handbuilt Bentley Mulsanne super saloon to get power upgrade and chassis tweaks to celebrate GT3’s racing success

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Special DS3 Noire is the third limited-run Citroen developed in collaboration with Benefit Cosmetics, starting from £14,995

Intel, Qualcomm and NVIDIA -- pioneers in the production of chips for computers and phones -- are finding it harder to make inroads into the auto industry.

Volkswagen Group of America named Stefan Schueller quality chief for VW and Audi in the United States. He replaces Marc Trahan, who is retiring after 35 years with the company, as VW group mounts an aggressive localization push.

GM is recalling another 8.4 million cars globally from the 1997 to 2014 model years, including some that are linked to seven crashes, eight injuries and three deaths.

Buttons and dials may become obsolete to control your car's radio, heater and navigation system. That's because those functions can now be managed with the wave of the hand.

Among the new entries in our weekly roundup of viral videos, Chevy's tie-up with the Transformers movie franchise claimed the most viewers, while Kia's gift to poor, young soccer players likely pulled at more heartstrings.

Volkswagen Group of America named German national Stefan Schueller quality chief for VW and Audi in the United States. He replaces Marc Trahan, who is retiring as VW group mounts an aggressive localization push.

From GMM

Ever since team founder and main backer Tony Fernandes departed Twitter with the message "F1 hasn't worked", Caterham has been officially silent.

The back-of-the-grid team did say Indonesian driver Rio Haryanto will drive the green car in the post-Silverstone test, but otherwise the lack of noise from Caterham has been filled up with speculation.

"I will be 100 per cent ready to work to the plan the team set and help them develop as best I can," Haryanto, who also drives for Caterham's GP2 team, said.

But now, team sources are spilling the beans behind the scenes.

Multiple reports have the details about Fernandes' falling out of love with F1 amid spiralling costs and the lack of results.

Caterham CT05-Renault. (Photo: WRi2)

Veteran Swiss journalist Roger Benoit says he has heard that Fernandes, the Malaysian entrepreneur best known for the low-cost airline Airasia, will front Caterham's staff at the factory in Leafield on Tuesday.

There, Benoit wrote in the Blick newspaper, staff will be told that Caterham has been "sold to a consortium of Arab businessmen in Switzerland".

He said Fernandes, now enamoured with his newly premiership-qualified football club Queens Park Rangers, is particularly dismayed that F1 consistently failed to implement the budget cap he was promised from the start in 2010.

Team sources also claim that Caterham will make the news public before the British grand prix, adding that team boss Cyril Abiteboul will return to his former F1 employer, French engine supplier Renault.

From GMM

Monza is on a three-race countdown to the F1 exit, Bernie Ecclestone warned on Tuesday.

Italy's Autodromo Nazionale is one of the last remaining iconic venues on the calendar, but F1 chief executive Ecclestone says he will say "bye-bye" to Monza after 2016.

"Audiences are lower in Italy than anywhere," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Bernie Ecclestone confirmed that Monza's contract does not expire until after the 2016 race, but the future is "Not good".

"I don't think we'll do another contract," he said. "The old one was a disaster for us from a commercial point of view. After 2016, bye-bye."

Ecclestone's statement might be interpreted as an opening door for Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who makes no secret he would like a grand prix at Mugello.

Asked if they have already discussed the matter, Bernie Ecclestone insisted: "No, I have not received any proposal."

The "Parabolica" curve in Monza.

From GMM

Nico Rosberg has put himself on pole position to beat his high-profile teammate to the 2014 world championship.

That is the view of Lewis Hamilton's countryman Murray Walker, the famous former F1 commentator, ahead of the 29-year-old British driver's home race at Silverstone.

Niki Lauda, a triple world champion and the team chairman at Mercedes, thinks Hamilton's home grand prix comes at "the perfect time", after his three-race losing streak to the on-form Rosberg.

"He has his home race and fans and he needs to make up ground to Nico," the great Austrian told the Mirror.

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG, in Canada. (Photo: WRi2)

But Niki Lauda admits that Hamilton's task is a tough one, given his 29-point points deficit to German Rosberg.

"Unfortunately it is," he said. "No question."

Worse still, after Hamilton suspected in Monaco that Rosberg made a deliberate 'error' to keep pole position, the latest conspiracy theory is that Mercedes' pit crew gave Hamilton deliberately slow service in Austria.

"In the race you cannot get paranoid," Niki Lauda insisted. "I don't need to coach him. I've known him a long time and he's absolutely perfect in his head. He's highly motivated."

But Murray Walker, arguably the most famous voice in F1 history, thinks Hamilton and Rosberg's respective personalities do set them apart as they battle in 2014.

"I don't think it is unfair to say that Hamilton is a lot more emotional about it and that can affect his driving," the 90-year-old told the Daily Mail.

"The more he is beaten by Rosberg, the more it could hypothetically hurt him emotionally, and that brings about more pressure. In a nutshell it is going to be very, very difficult for Hamilton to win the championship because Rosberg is a thinking driver. Hamilton is faster but I don't think he is cleverer than Rosberg," said Walker.

From GMM

Lotus could be set to move on from its disastrous 2014 season.

Fourth in the constructors' championship not only last year but also in 2012, the Enstone-based team has struggled with the newly V6-powered E22.

Engine supplier Renault, whose troubles with its premier partner Red Bull are well known, has taken much of the blame, particularly for many of the reliability problems.

But French driver Romain Grosjean is not pointing the finger.

"It's not just the engine, even if compared to Mercedes we do lack power," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

"The problem is probably more aerodynamic in nature," said Grosjean.

"In the second part of the corner we lose grip suddenly. Anything gained in the fast corners, I am losing two or three times over in the slow ones," he added.

Romain Grosjean, Lotus E22-Renault. (Photo: WRi2)

Even team trackside boss Alan Permane admits the problem.

"Our car does not like stop-and-go (circuits). We need sweeping corners," he confirmed.

That is why the E22 looked much more competitive at Barcelona, and so Lotus is looking forward to the fast corners this weekend at Silverstone.

"Our car is fast," said team owner Gerard Lopez, "but only under certain conditions."

It means Lotus has fallen from the grace of fourth to the depths of eighth in the constructors' standings, four points behind the Red Bull sister team of Toro Rosso.

"At least they have the same (Renault) engine," said German correspondent Michael Schmidt. "But maybe not for much longer. Lotus is said to have had contact with Mercedes."

Mercedes already supplies three teams in addition to its own works outfit, but long-time partner and customer McLaren is moving to works Honda power for 2015.

General Motors announced it will compensate families of those who died in accidents caused by a defective ignition switch that prevented airbag deployment with $1 million apiece.

It's a problem the automaker had been aware of for 10 years, yet waited until this past February to announce a recall, affecting 2.6 million vehicles.

Compensation claims will be processed starting August 1st. Any payment will come in the next 3-6 months.

According to GM attorney Kenneth Feinberg, each surviving spouse and dependent will receive $300,000. Those who suffered direct injuries will get a minimum amount of $20,000 that can go as high as $500,000 depending on the severity of the injuries.

GM also said that a driver's responsibility in a crash won't be taken into account when making the final decision in a compensation claim. There is no cap on the amount of money GM has agreed to spend on victims' payments, Feinberg said.

Victims or their families who've reached a mutual agreement with GM before finding out that their vehicle had a faulty ignition switch could receive extra compensation, too.


_{Source: New York Times}