Auto News 5

Mazda Motor booked a record operating profit for Q1 with a year-on-year rise of 54% to JPY56.4bn (US$539m).

News 4 Aug, 2014

Reborn Lightweight E-Types, ultimate Range Rover Sport and US-spec F-Type Project 7 all bound for Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

Porsche sales are booming as the carmaker looks set to hit a target of 200,000 annual global sales before a 2018 deadline, but some industry watchers worry that too much emphasis on volume jeopardizes the brand's exclusivity.

The latest issue of the Automotive News Europe monthly e-magazine is ready for you to view. This month's edition looks at the potential risks and rewards facing Porsche as it strives to achieve global sales of 200,000 vehicles a year.

Acura expects its improved, next-generation all-wheel-drive technologies in two upcoming sedans to help make up lost ground from a delayed product launch as the brand chases a full-year U.S. sales increase.

Kia Motors America wants to cut its outsize dependence on third-party shopping sites for online sales leads. Now, 80 percent of the online leads Kia sends to dealerships come from third-party vendors or sources other than its retail Web site.

Ford and GM delete the weight of some heavy parts, such as spare tires and rear bumpers, in calculating the maximum payload of some profitable pickups. The practice is raising questions of confidence.

Fresh off the heels of a joint venture in Barcelona, Spain, Penske Automotive Group Inc. will continue to expand with acquisitions in the United States and elsewhere.

If Lu Guanqiu has his way, his Wanxiang Group will bring the Fisker Karma back to life and establish the Chinese supplier as a high-profile coach-builder in the United States. There are big ifs. But Lu is not accustomed to failure.

Memories of the recession have all but disappeared in the rearview mirror for Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, BMW and most other luxury brands, with their sales rising considerably faster than the rest of the industry this year.

North America may seem like a distant dream for China's automakers, but that's not the case for suppliers. No longer content to export parts from China, a core group of enterprising suppliers is establishing factories in North America.

Silicon Valley is making waves with news about self-driving cars. But the most-advanced vehicles that consumers can actually buy today came out of Mercedes-Benz in Germany.

Denso Corp., the world's No. 2 parts supplier, is developing advanced radar sensors as it seeks to catch Robert Bosch and Continental in the market for parts that prevent accidents.

Saleswoman Laura Madison markets herself and the brand she sells, Toyota, but not her dealership.

The wraparound liftgate on the 2015 Lincoln MKC is unlike those on most crossovers. Because the MKC's liftgate has such a complex, curvy shape, it must make a three-stop odyssey before being attached to the vehicle at Ford Motor Co.'

Porsche sales are booming as the carmaker looks set to hit a target of 200,000 annual global sales before a 2018 deadline, but some industry watchers worry that too much emphasis on volume jeopardizes the brand's exclusivity.

From WTCC

The WTCC Race of Argentina was a sweet dream for both the numerous Argentine fans that flocked to Termas de Rio Hondo and local hero Jose Maria Lopez.

In front of a huge crowd - 50,000 over the two days according to the official figures released by the circuit - the Citroen driver took a double victory, becoming the first driver this year to win both races in the same weekend, and bringing his personal number of successes this season to seven.

The emotional side of Lopez's triumph added something special to a weekend that won't be forgotten by anyone present at Termas in a very hot Sunday.

Lopez's perfect weekend started with the pole position and a lights-to-flag win in Race 1, while Race 2 saw him battling to emerge from the middle of the group and taking the lead seven laps from the end.

With Yvan Muller finishing third twice, Lopez has now extended his lead in the standings to 60 points.

The Argentine round had other and unexpected heroes: the LADA Sport Lukoil team that ended the weekend with its first WTCC podium ever, three other point finishes and having led a WTCC race for the first time since their involvement in the championship.

Rob Huff started from the reverse pole in Race 2, led for eight laps and finished a brilliant second, being beaten only by Lopez. The Russian team duly celebrated the achievement of the much-improved Granta cars.

Now the championship faces a two-month break before resuming at Beijing's Goldenport Park, China, on October 5, for rounds 17 and 18.

From GMM

Timo Glock has admitted he has all but given up on the thought of returning to formula one.

After Toyota withdrew from F1, the talented German raced for Virgin/Marussia for three years until he accepted a plum works BMW seat in the premier touring car series DTM last year.

And Glock, now 32, told the German news agency DPA that he is not thinking about mounting a bid to return to F1.

"It is pretty clear that in the current situation there are just three or four teams who can choose and pay for their drivers," he said.

"The rest look for how much money the driver can bring. In my eyes, that's not the purpose of the sport. That's why at the moment I don't see a future and don't waste thoughts thinking about it," Timo Glock added.

He said he is happy with BMW in the DTM.

"At the moment I'm having a lot of fun so I would be happy if I could continue for a few more years," said Timo Glock.

Timo Glock, BMW. (Photo: DTM)

From GMM

Niki Lauda says F1 should "welcome" the news that Bernie Ecclestone looks to have settled the high-profile corruption case that threatened his role at the top of the sport.

Suddeutsche Zeitung has reported that the 83-year-old Briton has agreed with prosecutors and the Munich court that a $100 million compensation payment will see serious criminal charges - which could have left him in jail - dropped.

"On behalf of formula one, Mercedes and all the other teams, I would only welcome it if Bernie can concentrate on formula one and together with the teams solve the existing problems," the newspaper quoted Lauda as saying.

"If Bernie stops, it would have been a disaster for formula one," the triple world champion and Mercedes team chairman added.

"He has built everything up over three decades and is the only one who knows everything -- the business, the details of the teams. Everything is in his head," said Niki Lauda.

A guilty verdict would have seen Ecclestone, F1's chief executive and long-time 'supremo', almost certainly ousted from his position by CVC chief Donald Mackenzie.

"If all the allegations are gone from the table, then Bernie has done everything right," Niki Lauda insisted.

"Then all the speculation ends. Continuity is very important at the top of formula one for the future," he added.

From GMM

Mere days after officially leaving Ferrari, Luca Marmorini looks set to take another high-profile job in formula one.

The 53-year-old's departure was interpreted as the latest rolling head at Ferrari amid the fabled Italian team's poor start to the new turbo V6 era.

Marmorini, formerly Ferrari's engine and electronics chief, could now take some of his closest colleagues at Maranello with him to another struggling F1 engine supplier, Renault Sport F1.

That is the claim of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, reporting that Marmorini's arrival is part of a restructuring at Renault after also erring with its first turbo V6 prominently supplied to reigning world champions Red Bull.

The newspaper said the news could be announced officially within days.

Luca Marmorini, Ferrari. (Photo: WRi2)

And although the period of summer 'shutdown' is now beginning, there are also prominent developments elsewhere in formula one.

Italy's Autosprint reports that the well-known Toro Rosso engineer Laurent Mekies is on the move.

Reportedly arriving at the Faenza based team, meanwhile, is Jody Eggington, Caterham's technical boss who was among 40 staff controversially axed by new advisor Colin Kolles.