Auto News 5

Volkswagen faces protests in China after car owners were unsatisfied with its handling of a recall to fix a possible suspension defect. China is VW's No. 1 market, accounting for more than a third of its global unit sales in the first nine months.

Federal-Mogul Powertrain has opened a new systems protection manufacturing facility in Changshu, China, to support domestic customers in the automotive, high-speed rail and aviation sectors.

Lear has posted third quarter sales of US$4.2bn, up 8%, with core operating earnings of US$251m, up 22%.

Honda will introduce a new generation driver assist system with its redesigned Legend before the end of the year, adding a number of new functions including a claimed world-first 'pedestrian collision mitigation steering'.

Companies as old as Ford and as new as Local Motors have embraced 3-D printing, a technology that promises faster development, lower costs and a reduction in mechanical failures.

Edmunds.com's YouTube ad campaign that spoofed price haggling at dealerships lasted just two days.

Automotive News TV's afternoon newscast marks its sixth anniversary this week with a fresh look. A new set and graphics will be part of the redesign of "AutoNews Now." Other changes will allow the show to include more late-breaking news.

Companies as old as Ford and as new as Local Motors have embraced 3-D printing, a technology that promises faster development, lower costs and a reduction in mechanical failures.

Not long ago, the styling of China's domestic brands was a laughingstock. Not anymore. Chinese automakers are hiring experienced foreign designers to mentor their fledgling programs.

A rising supply of used vehicles, particularly late-model cars and trucks coming off lease, already is hitting some companies in their pocket books. That supply -- and the number of companies affected - will continue to grow.

Chrysler Group is about to encourage dealership salespeople to play video games during downtime. The automaker has created four video games to help salespeople learn the fine points of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram vehicles.

It's looking more and more like the next-generation Jeep Wrangler will have an aluminum body, keep its body-on-frame construction and remain built in Toledo, Ohio. That means Chrysler will likely produce more Wranglers for U.S.

Honda's new $800 million plant in Celaya, about 160 miles northwest of Mexico City, has been struggling to meet demand amid problems caused by a green labor force, language barriers and a rail system prone to delays and occasional thefts, according...

Toyota Motor Corp. is rethinking its longtime resistance to three-shift factories as it seeks to build more vehicles amid a self-imposed freeze on building more plants.

Toyota Motor Corp., on a mission to rejuvenate its youth-oriented Scion brand, may replace its boxy xB subcompact with a version of Europe's Toyota Auris, new images suggest.

One dealer's charitable impulse turned into a community fundraising powerhouse under the banner Kindle Community Challenge.

The last time a Detroit automaker resurrected a dead guy for an ad campaign, the result was widely panned.

From GMM

F1 risks sliding into crisis and having to reinvent its very DNA as struggling backmarker teams begin to succumb to collapse.

HRT folded in 2012, and now F1's two other newest teams Caterham and Marussia are in the throes of financial administration.

Organisers of next weekend's US grand prix look set to welcome just 9 teams to an 18-car grid, unprecedented since BAR-Honda was banned for a time almost a decade ago.

"It's a fantastic sport. Bernie (Ecclestone) has done an amazing job but it needs to relook at itself," departed Caterham founder Tony Fernandes said on Twitter at the weekend.

And former HRT driver Narain Karthikeyan added: "F1 just too expensive and completely unsustainable for minnows."

Last appearance of Team HRT in Brazil 2012. (Photo: WRi2)

Max Mosley, the former FIA president who warned of a looming crisis in F1 years ago, quietly pointed a finger at his successor Jean Todt.

"It seems that the chickens have come home to roost," Max Mosley is quoted by The Times.

For now, F1 and its race promoters will have to cope with a diminished grid as big teams are promised at least two months notice before having to field three-car teams.

Dipping below 20 cars is the trigger for the three-car stipulation, giving Ecclestone a buffer so as not risking his contractual promise of at least 16-car grids to the big-paying race promoters.

But with Caterham and Marussia looking set to fall, it now appears possible F1 will lose even more small-sized independent teams, particularly after the sport baulked earlier this year at introducing radical cost-cutting or even a cost cap.

"Formula one is not so great that it cannot fail," Sauber team boss and co-owner Monisha Kaltenborn is alarmingly warning, according to Italy's La Stampa.

It is not only the Swiss team that is worried. Germany's Auto Motor und Sport claims that Sahara Force India needs to make an engine payment to Mercedes by Monday or risk joining Caterham and Marussia in missing the US grand prix.

And Sahara Force India deputy boss Bob Fernley admitted more teams are in danger of collapse.

"We've had three new teams since 2010, and all three have collapsed," he told the Telegraph. "The writing was on the wall from the beginning.

"Only five teams have a say in the running of formula one -- we'll lose more teams if we carry on like this," said Fernley.

If the F1 grid keeps diminishing, three-car entries are inevitable.

Auto Motor und Sport said Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren are lined up by Ecclestone as first in the queue to start supplying third cars.

If any of that trio declines, Mercedes is reportedly the next in line.

Three Red Bull RB10. (Photo: WRi2 - image Auto123.com)

Ferrari and Red Bull have apparently already given Ecclestone the green light, while McLaren for the moment is hesitating, perhaps due to uncertainty about who should pay for the third car -- Ecclestone or the team.

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko told Sport Bild he does not see a problem.

"We have the capacity at Milton Keynes, and it would also solve our luxury problem of having too many good drivers for too few cars," he said.

And Karthikeyan, who only drove for backmarker teams in his F1 career, thinks the slowest cars will not be missed.

"18 cars in Austin," he said, "but sadly no one will miss the absentees once the opening lap is completed without incident. That's the truth."

Administrators are now managing the small Marussia Formula 1 team.

Just days after Caterham's management accepted the same fate, UK insolvency experts FRP Advisory have taken over Manor Grand Prix Racing Limited, which in F1 is known as Marussia.

In a statement, FRP Advisory said Marussia's current owner Andrey Cheglakov is "unable" to continue funding the team.

The statement confirmed that it is financially "not viable" for the team to race in Austin this weekend.

As for the last two Grands Prix of 2014, in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, whether Marussia returns depends "on the outcome of the administration process and any related negotiations with interested parties in what is a very limited window of opportunity", the administrators added.

"No redundancies have been made following the Company's entering into administration and all staff have been paid in full to the end of October. The ongoing staff position will however be dependent on whether the Company can secure new investment in the limited time available.

"We remain highly focused on engaging with interested parties."

The Telegraph has reported that British-Indian steel industry brothers Baljinder Sohi and Sonny Kaushal are lining up as potential buyers. They apparently have made a 70m euros ($88m) offer for the team.