Auto News 5

Nissan North America has announced the first in a series of short films which show elements of its next big pick-up. The 2016 Titan will be revealed at the NAIAS in mid-January.

Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover has been named "most trustworthy OEM" in a survey of automotive suppliers conducted by IHS Automotive.

Indonesia is an ASEAN market with plenty of growth potential. However, Tony Pugliese notes that it has hit some bumps in the road as fuel prices have soared.

Pirelli Tyre and the Minister of Investment of the Arab Republic of Egypt have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the object of which is the evaluation of the possible expansion of the Alexandria Tyre (Atco), which is over 90% controlled by Pirelli and produces radial truck tyres in Alexandria, Egypt.

Japan's transportation ministry said a Takata airbag ruptured in a model not covered by existing recalls, suggesting automakers may have to expand safety campaigns to replace the devices linked to five deaths.

Mazda Motor is recalling model year 2014 and 2015 Mazda6 sedans in the US as the tyre pressure monitoring system might fail to alert drivers to low tyre pressure, Reuters reported.

European sales of cheap Chinese tires are growing fast, but in China suppliers such as Michelin are winning customers who don't trust homegrown tire makers.

Opinion 26 Nov, 2014

The influence of Driver Power is clear to see, as SEAT plans to turn around its dealers as a result

Ford has started production of the new Ford Mondeo Hybrid - the first hybrid electric car built and sold by Ford in Europe.

Magna International and Haartz Corp. teamed up to supply the new Opel Cascada's folding softtop roof. Haartz supplies an acoustically enhanced three-ply composite that offers enhanced sound deadening and insulation.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has sold 200,000 electric vehicles since launching the Leaf some four years ago and is claiming a 58% share of the global EV market.

News 26 Nov, 2014

Skoda lets new Fabia owners add a touch of personality by adding their own images to the dashboard

News 26 Nov, 2014

New tests only give five stars to cars with latest safety kit

Mercedes has released details on its new CLA Shooting Brake, the latest model to join the automaker's fast-growing, hot-selling compact lineup. Mercedes says that compacts accounted for nearly a third of its global through October.

Visteon, which counts on Europe for about a third of its sales, has confirmed that it's in discussions with a private equity firm to sell its stake in South Korean joint venture Halla Visteon Climate Control.

Land Rover plans to complain to Chinese officials about a close copy of its Evoque SUV that debuted at the Guangzhou auto show last week.

U.S. regulators have told Fiat Chrysler to speed up its recall of airbags with faulty inflators. The NHTSA said the company should begin its recall of cars with Takata airbags Dec. 1, almost three weeks earlier than the company planned.

ZF will not follow rivals in pushing for 10-speed transmissions. The German supplier will stop at nine-speed transmissions, CEO Stefan Sommer says.

Automakers and suppliers were hit hard in the third quarter while car retailers continued to make gains, according to the Automotive News Europe/PwC shareholder value report.

From GMM

FIA president Jean Todt insists he does not have unlimited powers to force change within the seemingly crisis-struck world of formula one.

Two backmarkers collapsed in 2014 and three other outfits are furious about the concentration of power and income in the paddock.

Efforts to cut costs this year notably failed, and fingers of blame have been pointed in the direction of the sport's ultra low-profile Todt, who many are now contrasting with his dictatorial predecessor Max Mosley.

"What can I do?" Todt is quoted as saying by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, after a meeting of the controversial Strategy Group in Geneva on Tuesday.

"We have certain decision-making processes that we cannot just change. That's democracy."

One thing the former Ferrari boss is promising to address is the huge cost of buying a turbo V6 engine from one of F1's three suppliers.

"I am going to fight about the price of the engines for the small teams," he said. "I will do the best but I cannot guarantee the result."

But Todt is much less confident about his plan to re-propose mandatory budget caps, revealing that last time around "even Lotus" argued against it.

He also expressed some sympathy for the plight of Renault and Ferrari, who want more freedom within the rules to catch up with dominant Mercedes.

Jean Todt agreed: "It only makes sense to freeze development if the individual engines are approximately level. On the other hand, we cannot now punish Mercedes because they did a good job."

As for Red Bull's proposal to modify the engine formula perhaps by standardising ERS and adding a twin-turbo, Todt said that is "nonsense".

"We do the sport no favours with these sorts of discussions," he insisted.

Meanwhile, Italy's Autosprint said the Strategy Group on Tuesday ruled to scrap plans for standing re-starts after safety car periods next year, while Todt played down the likelihood of three-car teams to boost fading grid numbers.

"If there are only nine teams next year," he said, "then there will be 18 cars at the start. We have seen periods in MotoGP when only 16 bikes were at the start."