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France wants to gradually phase out the use of diesel fuel for passenger cars and will put in place a system to identify the most polluting vehicles, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said.

France wants to gradually phase out the use of diesel fuel for passenger cars and will put in place a system to identify the most polluting vehicles, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said.

Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche are among carmakers embracing plug-in hybrids as 'the best of both worlds' as they eliminate the range anxiety that has hindered the purchase of full-electric cars and help carmakers cut CO2 emissions.

Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche are among carmakers embracing plug-in hybrids as 'the best of both worlds' as they eliminate the range anxiety that has hindered the purchase of full-electric cars and help carmakers cut CO2 emissions.

Automotive News Europe needs your help to identify the Rising Stars in the European automotive industry. The award honors executives with a pan-European profile who have driven change, fostered innovation and made courageous decisions.

With two full months of sales data behind it, Acura says the new TLX midsize sedan is beginning to fulfill its promise of reviving the luxury brand, whose U.S. sales and image have sagged in recent years.

Under pressure to help automakers hit higher fuel economy targets, tire companies are championing new technologies. Those technologies are taking many different forms.

Toyota Motor Corp. will step closer to autonomous vehicles when it begins rolling out a range of advanced active safety systems across its mass-market lineup in early 2015.

Surprising and treating customers to extras is part of a program Mini USA started in July to boost its image as a premium brand.

This year's buy-sell market is on track to be the most active since 2004, in both number of deals and total dollars, two newly released reports say.

Officially, Ford's two fiercest truck competitors had little to say about the fuel economy ratings for the new aluminum-body F-150 that underwhelmed some pundits. But behind the scenes, rivals' wheels are in motion.

It has taken four years, but GM Financial is finally offering a full range of products to General Motors dealers, prompting the captive lender's CEO to predict a "tremendous amount of growth" in 2015. says CEO Dan Berce.

Despite engineering delays, Mazda still plans to launch a diesel engine in its Mazda6 midsize sedan, the company's top North American executive said.

The auto industry is putting improved tires onto cars these days, but consumers aren't so sure they like the results.

Taking care of legacy employees is critical for closing the acquisition of a dealership, buy-sell advisers say.

Cheap gasoline, Jeep's rise and surging demand for pricey SUVs have some Hummer dealers and loyalists thinking about what might have been, and have rekindled talk about a new Wrangler fighter from GM.

Shigehisa Takada, the third-generation head of Takata, shows little sense of the crisis engulfing the Japanese airbag maker at the center of one of the auto industry's biggest safety recalls, say people who have met him recently.

Some U.S. lawmakers want competing airbag suppliers to help Takata produce enough inflators to repair millions of recalled vehicles. But Autoliv America, one of those rivals, warns that such a rescue would take time -- and money.

The latest issue of the Automotive News Europe monthly e-magazine is ready for you to view. This month's edition looks at why megaplatforms are a must-have for any automaker with global ambitions.

From GMM

Mercedes would like to go head-to-head in F1 with Germany's other two premium carmaker brands.

That is the claim of Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, after Mercedes-Benz in 2014 finally succeeded in winning the drivers' and constructors' championships with a dominant display.

Zetsche told Germany's Sport Bild: "We share - and I'm talking about the premium business - about 80 per cent of the world market share with Audi and BMW.

"Of course," he added, "we greatly admire Red Bull and Ferrari and the other teams, nevertheless other manufacturer teams would be very much welcomed by us."

Mercedes AMG, World champion 2014. (Photo: WRi2)

Mercedes bought and renamed the title-winning Brawn GP team - formerly Honda - after 2009 and initially targeted success with the F1 legend Michael Schumacher.

Dieter Zetsche admitted: "We never imagined that success would be so difficult and take so long to achieve."

But he said that Mercedes is now fully committed to F1.

"If we do something, we do it properly," said Zetsche. "Therefore, we have at no time asked the fundamental question, and nor do we have plans to change anything on that commitment now."

He admitted that the new electric open wheeler series Formula E is "worth considering" from Mercedes' point of view, but he ruled out Le Mans.

"A whole year working for 24 hours, we do not consider to be a good cost-benefit ratio," said Zetsche.

He also played down all the current talk about F1 being in crisis.

"It is absurd to say formula one is dead," said the 61-year-old. "I cannot think of a more exciting season. All the criticism was led largely by those who were not successful," Dieter Zetsche added.

And he also blamed people like Bernie Ecclestone for talking F1 down in 2014.

"Most definitely we have not sufficiently exploited the potential of formula one, because the official channels of communication have not been used in a professional way," said Zetsche.

"We are more committed than ever in contributing to professionalise the sport in this regard. Better engaging younger fans is a central question," he added.