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Robert Bosch GmbH gained full control over key automotive technology, positioning the world's biggest parts supplier as an unexpected beneficiary of ZF Friedrichshafen AG's leap into the No. 2 position.

Robert Bosch is an unexpected beneficiary of ZF's plans to purchase TRW. Bosch is poised to take full control of a steering joint venture it co-founded with ZF that makes systems that are key to creating driverless cars.

News 16 Sep, 2014

Citroen's DS has teamed up with French fashion house Ines de La Fressange Paris for two new DS3 concepts

Pictures See all 9 pictures 16 Sep, 2014

Opel is demonstrating its OnStar connected vehicle service at this year's 'eCall Days Germany' (16-18 September), the biggest international conference in Germany covering the European emergency call system for vehicles.

General Motors European Opel arm is shaking up operations in Russia to combat difficult market conditions which are "facing serious turbulence".

Toyota has paused plans for a new assembly plant in Mexico after company president Akio Toyoda called for a review of the North American market.

News 16 Sep, 2014

Future Skoda models will be more stylish and design-focused than ever before by relying on traditional techniques

News 16 Sep, 2014

New Bentley Mulsanne Speed to debut at Paris, with 530bhp and a 190mph top speed

Pictures See all 9 pictures 16 Sep, 2014

After reaching agreement to purchase TRW, 2015 is shaping up to be the most momentous year in ZF's long history. Colin Whitbread considers the implications of the latest developments.

General Motors has so far agreed a compensation payout to families of 19 people killed in its cars in crashes related to faulty ignition switches.

VW Group's lead in China's compact sedan market this year has helped boost German automaker' share of the overall car market to 24 percent in July from 21 percent at the end of 2013.

News 16 Sep, 2014

The Ford C-MAX and Grand C-MAX are next in line for Focus updates - set to go on sale early 2015

Opel will reorganize its Russian operations in response to difficult market conditions amid the crisis over Ukraine, the General Motors subsidiary said Tuesday.

Opel will reorganize its Russian operations in response to difficult market conditions amid the crisis over Ukraine, the General Motors subsidiary said Tuesday.

Billed as the 3,000-mile test drive, the five-part video series starts on the factory floor in Montgomery, AL, and goes west to Orange County, CA.

The executives chosen as 2014 Automotive News Europe Eurostars rose above the rest by pushing their companies to new heights. Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralf Speth is this year's winner for Brand CEO.

Adapted from GMM

Andrea Caldarelli has counted himself out of the running to race for Caterham in the near future.

As the cockpit reshuffling continues in the wake of Kamui Kobayashi's missed race at Spa, it is known that the team's new leadership wants Roberto Merhi to drive the car under Singapore's lights this weekend.

But although the Spaniard drove on Friday morning at Monza recently, he still did not collect enough kilometres to automatically qualify for his F1 super license.

We reported last week that Japanese Kobayashi could return to the wheel of his car yet again in Singapore.

But other reports in Japan suggested a driver called Andrea Caldarelli could be another candidate, especially for the subsequent race at Suzuka.

The 24-year-old Italian was in the news recently when he was called up to race in the premier Japanese open-wheel series Super Formula when Andre Lotterer got his Caterham opportunity at Spa.

It is rumoured Caldarelli, who has tested F1 cars for Toyota and Ferrari, has the backing of Caterham's newly installed boss Manfredi Ravetto, and strong ties within Japan.

But he has now ruled out a Suzuka debut, insisting it clashes with his duties in the Japanese Super GT series.

"I can categorically exclude it," Caldarelli is quoted by Speed Week, "because on the same weekend is the GT race in Thailand and this is an absolute priority for me."

The TOM's Lexus, Super GT Series. (Photo: Andrea Caldarelli)

Indeed, driving a TOM's Lexus, Caldarelli is running second in that high-profile Japanese series, and Thailand is the penultimate round.

Andrea Caldarelli explains on his personal website : "In the last few days there have been lots of rumours regarding a possible debut in the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Japan with Caterham. The confirmation of the upcoming race in Thailand excludes this possibility as the Super GT is my first and prioritary program, especially now that we are fighting for the championship. That said, Formula 1 is a dream for every driver, and I don't exclude future collaborations as previously happened with Toyota and Ferrari."

Meanwhile, ahead of Singapore, the well-sponsored Caterham regular Marcus Ericsson insists he can give no insight into the identity of his forthcoming teammates.

"To be honest, when you're in the car and preparing for race weekends you're so focused on that you don't really think about it," he told Reuters.

"It's not been something that has influenced me but obviously now we have the new owners that have come in and they've been pushing really hard to continue developing the car, so that's been very positive," Ericsson added.

From wrc.com

Citroen Racing boss Yves Matton has criticised the penalty applied to Kris Meeke for cutting a corner at Rally Australia and believes that without it the Briton would have been able to finish on the podium.

Meeke completed Saturday's stages in fourth, locked in a back and forth battle with Volkswagen's Andreas Mikkelsen who was just 1.5sec ahead.

But the fight ended that night, when stewards hit Meeke with a 1min 01sec penalty, dropping him to fifth, for driving over a grass area on the repeated Valla stage (SS10).

At Rally Poland in June Mikkelsen was reprimanded by stewards for a similar corner cut, but his penalty was a 5,000 Euro fine and the threat of exclusion if he repeated the offence.

Yves Matton said: “I have no comment on Kris's penalty, other than to say that on similar facts the [stewards'] decisions are not consistent. But it's like that. There is nothing more we can do. I just hope if it happens again we have some more consistency with the decisions.”

Meeke regained fourth on Sunday's opening test but was unable to close the gap to Mikkelsen. Without the penalty, Matton believes it was a fight Meeke would have won.

“I don't know if Andreas would have made the same tire choice on Sunday morning if he was still fighting, that will stay as a question mark, but for sure Kris was able to secure third place.

“If you take the penalty away, and you look at the times he was doing, I think it was possible for Kris to finish something like 30 or 35 seconds from the victory. And with the experience he has, for sure it was a great performance.”