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 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.'

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Formula1.com

Williams' technical director Pat Symonds says the British team success across the first half of the 2014 Formula 1 season will not prove short-lived.

Frank and Claire Williams' team has scored three podiums so far this season - all through Finland's Valtteri Bottas and currently lied fourth on the constructors' standings.

That renaissance led some in the paddock to say that Williams' form was track-dependent.

The vastly experienced Symonds believes the team have a genuine claim to being the third best on this year's grid, and expects success to continue over the final eight races.

“There is an element of it - always has been, always will be,” Symonds told Formula1.com when asked about McLaren's Eric Boullier's view that track layout was a major factor in Williams' results.

Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW36-Mercedes. (Photo: WRi2)

“Our objective is to design a car that works equally well on all 19 circuits, but none of us achieve that, not even Mercedes.

“But I do think that is a bit of wishful thinking from Eric [Boullier] as well. Don't get me wrong, I do recognise the differences for us at places like Austria, but I still believe we have the third quickest car, and if we use it and develop it properly we will be third quickest at most circuits,” Symonds continued.

“It is very close this year - no one will say anything other than Mercedes AMG is the best car, in my opinion Red Bull Racing is second, and then you have Ferrari, Sahara Force India, Williams and McLaren. That is quite a tight bunch, (but) arguably we have the third-best car at the moment,” he explained.

Symonds warned, however, that Williams' fortunes would not just hang on the FW36's underlying pace, but also the team's efficiency and ability to avoid mistakes.

“I don't believe up until Austria that we performed or achieved what we should have, for all sorts of reasons,” Symonds said.

“What makes it difficult this year is that 43 points are taken by Mercedes AMG at pretty much every weekend, which means the rest of us are fighting for a lot less.

“The difference between finishing third and sixth overall might be quite small. If we are the third-best team, we ought to finish third in the championship - but in 2005 [when Symonds was executive director of engineering at Renault] we won the championship with Fernando Alonso despite McLaren having the better car. We were a better team and we won by our racing,” Symonds declared.

From press release

The 10th annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals weekend at Ohsweken Speedway is coming up in less than two months, and preparations are well underway for the track's signature event.

The 2014 Canadian Sprint Car Nationals weekend will kick off with a Test & Tune session on Thursday, September 11, while racing will commence Friday, September 12 with the "Night Before the Nationals" presented by Burger Barn, and finish with the 10th annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals presented by Arrow Express on Saturday, September 13.

This year's "Night Before the Nationals" again includes Twin 15 lap features for the 360 Sprint Cars, plus the Ohsweken Shootout, Dave McLeod Memorial "Mr. Sprint Car Challenge" 1-on-1 match races, and the HRW Automotive Mini Stock division.

Each Twin 15 winner will be guaranteed a starting spot in the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals A-Feature. The Ohsweken Shootout features drivers qualified drivers from the Empire Super Sprints, Patriot Sprint Tour, and Southern Ontario Sprints challenge events held at Ohsweken in 2014, and the Corr/Pak Merchandising 360 Sprint Car feature on August 29, plus the top drivers from Sprints on Dirt and the National Racing Alliance.

The 10th annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals will include group time trials for the 360 Sprint Cars, plus 6 heat races, 3 B-Feature races, a dash race for heat race winners to determine the top 6 starting positions in the A-Feature, the 15 lap "Little Feature", and the 35 lap A-Feature which will pay the winner $12,000 from the lucrative purse.

While the format remains largely the same as in recent years, one small change has been made, as starting positions 7-18 in the A-Feature will now be lined up by passing points. The Affordable Towing & Recovery Thunder Stocks will be the support division for the 360 Sprint Cars on Saturday, September 13.

Jaguar Land Rover will unveil three performance models during this year's Pebble Beach Automotive weekend (August 14-17, 2014), kicking things off on Thursday at the famous Concours d'Elegance.

The first one is a 550-horsepower Range Rover Sport SVR (global debut), which last week became the world's fastest SUV by completing the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife in 8 minutes and 14 seconds. SVR, by the way, is a new designation which will be worn by all future Jaguar Land Rover high-performance models.

Next up is the U.S. production version of the Jaguar F-TYPE Project 7, an all-aluminum, fully road-legal two-seater roadster with bespoke carbon-fibre aerodynamic aids. It also features a sleek fairing inspired by the D-type (2014 marks the 60th anniversary of the iconic Jag). Similar to the Range Rover Sport SVR, Project 7 was created by Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations division.

Finally, Jaguar will unveil the prototype of the new Lightweight E-type — of which six customer cars will be built (18 were initially planned) and sold at about £500,000 ($920,000) apiece.

Land Rover will also feature its full product lineup including the long-wheelbase Range Rover, the Range Rover Evoque Autobiography, and the “Great Divide” past and present 1990 and 2014 edition vehicles.

Source: Jaguar Land Rover

A 31-year-old Latvian driver named Marina Usaceva has been sentenced to six years in prison after ramming her Jaguar X-Type into Sukhdeep Singh Johal's Peugeot 206, causing the death of the 27-year-old biomedical science graduate.

Usaceva was texting on two separate phones while driving at 110 km/h before the fatal crash. Witnesses argue she was driving even faster than that when she violently hit the brakes to avoid getting caught by a speed camera. She wound up rear-ending the Peugeot and causing a 3-car pileup.

A police examination found Usaceva had used a Sony phone to send and receive text messages right before the accident occurred.

Judge Sean Enright called texting while driving a “plague on society,” and took away Usaceva's driving licence for eight years in addition to giving her six years in jail.

The woman had previously been caught twice using her phone behind the wheel.

Darwin must be rolling over in his grave...

Source : independent.co.uk