Auto News 5

Edward Herrmann, a prolific character actor on the stage and screen, classic car collector and the popular voice of Dodge advertising through most of the 1990s and for Hyundai in 2006, died Wednesday. He was 71.

Ford filed two applications to register 'Ecobeast' as a trademark, according to the database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Ford is recalling all Lincoln MKCs built through September to resolve one or two issues that can cause the engine to shut off while driving.

Forecasters say U.S. new-vehicle sales likely jumped 10 percent in December, bringing the total for 2014 to 16.5 million, beating even the most optimistic projections from early in the year.

Advances in computer design and safety testing have helped improve the feasibility of custom coachbuilding specialized in creating one-off cars for wealthy buyers, helping collectors achieve what had been a distant dream.

Hyundai plans to launch its first EV in 2016.

An explosion at an auto-parts factory in southern China's Guangdong province killed 17 people and injured 20 others, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

From GMM

The collapsing F1 backmarker Marussia still owes a whopping $1 million to its former driver Timo Glock.

The debt was discovered by the F1 business and Formula Money journalist Christian Sylt in the team's administration documents.

It shows that German driver Glock, who raced for Marussia and its former guise Virgin between 2010 and 2012, is one of the dozens of parties owed the most by the team.

Timo Glock, Marussia, Singapore 2012. (Photo: WRi2)

Only Ferrari, McLaren, Pirelli and the hospitality company Freeman's - owed a combined total of $37 million - are owed more.

All together, Marussia owes almost $50 million to creditors, but administrator Geoff Rowley told the Telegraph that they "will suffer a significant shortfall" even though the team's assets are being auctioned.

After leaving Marussia and F1 at the end of 2012, Glock became a works BMW driver in the German touring car series DTM.

From GMM

Honda has finally declared its position on the controversial 'engine freeze' in F1.

As Mercedes utterly dominated the first season of the radical new turbo V6 era this year, rivals Ferrari and Renault-powered Red Bull made clear their desire to ease the tight limits on in-season engine development.

Joining the three engine makers in F1 next year is Honda, who will provide works power to the famous British team McLaren.

Until now, McLaren's position on the freeze has been less clear, but team boss Eric Boullier has now declared that he believes engine development should be freer.

And Honda's F1 chief Yasuhisa Arai is quoted by Speed Week: "Engineers and fans have one thing in common, which is their desire for competition.

"This is only possible if parts can be developed," he added.

McLaren-Honda prototype. (Photo: WRi2)

From GMM

Romain Grosjean says this year was even more difficult than the 2012 season, when he was branded F1's 'first lap nutcase' and had to serve a race ban.

The French driver, who will stay at Lotus next year for a fourth consecutive campaign, scored a mere handful of points in 2014 as the Enstone team struggled with a poor and underpowered car.

Grosjean told RMC Sport: "This was the most difficult year of my career psychologically."

That is despite the 28-year-old having to engage the help of a psychologist after 2012, when he almost lost his seat due to a season of erratic driving and mistakes.

"In 2012," he explained, "it was clearly about me and some stupid things I did. But this year I did a very good performance but it was not visible because of the car.

"This was also the first year that I was the team leader, so I was trying to understand and point everyone in the right direction and it took a lot of energy," said Grosjean.

Romain Grosjean, Lotus. (Photo: WRi2)

Towards the end of the season, Grosjean declared that he could escape from his Lotus contract and switch to a top team, but he instead re-signed for Lotus.

"In sports," he explained, "it is always easier to support someone who is successful than someone who is in a difficult moment.

"But I think the numbers, compared to my teammate (Pastor Maldonado), speak for me. When you're not on the podium, it is easy for people to ask questions, but we live in a sport that is hugely dependent on the car," Grosjean said.

He is therefore hoping Lotus can produce a better one for 2015.

"It's always difficult to know before winter testing," he said. "This year, we thought we had a very good car because the aerodynamic numbers were excellent. By the third lap on the track, we knew it was not a good car.

"We already know that the Mercedes engine is more advanced, efficient and easier to use than the Renault, so that will help us to have a better car too. I hope very much to drink champagne on the podium again next year, but 2015 will be a good year anyway as my second child will arrive in mid-May," Romain Grosjean revealed.

From GMM

Another German-language F1 broadcaster is rethinking its commitment to the sport.

Earlier this month, Germany's RTL blamed F1's "incomprehensible rules" and "counterproductive external representations" for a significant ratings decline this year.

And now, the Austrian broadcaster ORF is also rethinking its formula one commitment, according to the Austrian news agency APA.

"My position on this is clear. I think what makes more sense than the formula one expenditure is to develop Austrian creativity and therefore fund more films and series," said Richard Grasl, ORF's finance director.

"The formula one ratings are not bad," he explained, "but they have declined in the German realm. We will examine each case very closely."

ORF's contract with F1 runs until 2016. It is rumoured the Red Bull-owned Austrian broadcaster Servus TV could be a potential alternative.

From GMM

Franz Tost has hit back at claims today's F1 cars are too easy to drive.

In 2015, the Toro Rosso chief will be working with the sport's controversial new driver Max Verstappen, who at 17 is easily the youngest rookie in the sport's history.

1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has denounced the young Dutchman as a "child", and his impending grand prix debut an "insult".

"It seems that anyone can drive an F1 car (now), while in my father's day the drivers were considered heroes at the wheel of almost impossible monsters," he told Italy's Omnicorse.

A former Toro Rosso driver, Jaime Alguersuari, agrees, saying that the latest generation of F1 car has made the sport "accessible to anyone".

"When I came in, it was inaccessible. Even a test was gruelling and you would have to adapt your driving over many months," he told Marca sports newspaper.

"Those who came in were special. Now, F1 is a big (Renault) World Series, with harder tyres and heavier cars with less downforce and speed," added Alguersuari, who is now a driver in the new Formula E series.

Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso-Renault. (Photo: WRi2)

But Verstappen's team boss, Franz Tost, does not agree with the sorts of opinions espoused by Villeneuve and Alguersuari.

"Technically speaking, F1 is more complicated than ever," he told verstappen.nl.

"The drivers need to adjust the brake balance before every corner and the engine settings on all the straights as well as use the battery for the energy recovery system and set up the power unit for overtaking manoeuvres. Basically the drivers need to do much more in the cockpit whereas driving the cars is just as challenging as before," Tost insisted.

He also hit back at claims Verstappen, who doesn't even qualify for a road car license in his native Holland, is too young and inexperienced for F1.

"For someone like Max, the racing track has been his school," said Austrian Tost.

"It's pretty much where he grew up so he already has loads of racing experience. Also, he's part of a computer generation that is used to pushing many buttons and changing settings on the steering wheel all the time," he added.

Several parked vehicles at an Acura dealership on Chicago's north side were damaged Tuesday when the wall of an adjacent Morton Salt building collapsed, spilling hundreds of pounds of salt.

China's government sacked two senior officials and will prosecute 18 others following an explosion in August at a car parts factory that killed 146, the country's worst industrial accident this year, state media reported.

China will extend subsidies for new energy "green" vehicles to 2020, according to draft rules published on Tuesday, extending the current incentive plan, which expires at the end of 2015.

Volkswagen Group of America is recalling 25,007 Jetta models from the 2015 model year to fix a software glitch that can affect the operation of the low-beam headlights.

Hyundai will build two factories in China, its first new manufacturing plants since 2012 as the South Korean automaker bets on growth in the world's biggest car market even as the economy slows.

As many as 10 percent of dealers for one of Toyota's China ventures are poised to drop out of the network because they can't make money on the cars they're told to sell, a dealer's group warned.

What's the best way to describe a car's newest technology without sounding cliché? By comparing it to a super baby that derives his power from a robotic suit, of course.

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas -- once known for cutting-edge phones and video games -- now has a new main attraction: cars and light trucks.