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News 19 Dec, 2014

Hyundai's new Display Audio system with Carplay and Android Auto integrated will appear in new models by 2016

BASF's Coatings division says it is the sole supplier of automotive coatings for the new plant of the Chinese automaker, Chery in Jacarei, Brazil, which started operations in August, 2014.

In what the partners say is "a ground-breaking collaboration", Volvo Cars, protective gravity sports gear manufacturer POC and Ericsson will present an innovative safety technology connecting drivers and cyclists for the first time ever at the International CES in Las Vegas (6-9 January 2015).

China's Geely Automobile Holdings saw its Hong Kong listed shares drop by over 20% this week after it told regulators that net earnings for the year are expected to decline by 50% due to the economic crisis in Russia.

Nissan and French partner Renault have stopped taking orders for some cars in Russia and could raise prices on others if the ruble's plunge continues, alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn said.

From GMM

Michael Schumacher's son is taking his next steps in the wake of his fabled father.

Racing under the protective pseudonym of 'Mick Junior', 15-year-old Schumacher has had a successful formative karting career to date.

But Osterreich newspaper reports that in the last days, he has made his single seater debut with a day of 'secret testing' in a Formula 4 car at Valencia.

"Mick is certainly talented," team boss Peter Mucke said, "but you cannot say absolutely that a good kart driver will be fast in a formula one car."

He added: "It is no good only having a great name as a driver, you have to be fast. After a day of testing, no assessment of Mick is possible yet."

Osterreich suggested that this week's F4 test was actually a prelude to a possible single seater debut for Mick jr in 2016, following another season of karting.

Manager Sabine Kehm said: "I don't want to say anything."

Mick Junior. (Photo: CIK/KSP)

From WRC

Before the rally, Mikko Hirvonen announced that Rally GB would be his final appearance in the WRC, and he was retiring after a 13 year career that had netted him 15 wins and 68 podiums.

Hirvonen said he wanted to bow out from the top, and so it proved in Wales where he enjoyed an epic podium battle that entertained the crowds throughout all three days. 

He began Sunday's final leg in second place, just 3.4sec ahead of a hard-charging Kris Meeke. But his desire to end his career with a podium left him unsure whether to attack to retain the place, or throttle back to guarantee third.



"I didn't know what to do," he said. "I really wanted to fight for second place but I also wanted to finish on the podium as well. It was a bit tricky in the morning, especially after service when we said our goodbyes to all the guys in the team. I didn't feel too emotional but I couldn't concentrate and get my head around what I was supposed to do. I didn't have the best rhythm and feeling for the first stages but finally it all went okay."

"There couldn't really have been a better end than to have a fight like that in my last rally. That's the best thing about the sport, when you face all the difficult conditions and fight over seconds with other drivers. I'm so happy how my weekend went," he added.

Below it the Hirvonen's finale:

From GMM

Mercedes has confirmed the departure of new world champion Lewis Hamilton's performance engineer Jock Clear.

"We thank Jock for his work and wish him well and all the best for the future," international media quote a spokesperson as saying.

The confirmation follows reports in the German press this week that Briton Clear, who engineered Jacques Villeneuve's title in 1997 and worked alongside Michael Schumacher until 2012, is heading to Ferrari.

Team Mercedes congratulate Jock Clear after a 1-2 finish this season. (Photo: WRi2)

"After leaving Mercedes, Clear cannot now work in formula one for a year," the German newspaper Bild claims.

It is expected, however, that Ferrari will want Clear to begin work shortly as the fabled Maranello marque completes its sweeping personnel shakeup.

The Italian team will therefore have to reach an agreement with Mercedes so that Clear can move into a role that reportedly will be similar to the one vacated by the newly-ousted Pat Fry.

Mercedes man Clear would, then, work in 2015 alongside another new Ferrari recruit Sebastian Vettel, who hails from Red Bull.

Vettel's old team boss Christian Horner said this week: "We're going to see Sebastian in red which is going to be a bit different and weird for the first few races.

"I think we're set for a fantastic season. Fernando Alonso in McLaren ... again. I think it's going to be a season of change," he predicted.

From GMM

Pedro de la Rosa has refused to comment on whether he will be following his countryman and friend out of Ferrari.

It is rumoured that, with Esteban Gutierrez and his Mexican backers arriving at Maranello to be 2015 reserve, Spaniard de la Rosa might return to McLaren to complement Fernando Alonso's new Honda-powered era.

Pedro de la Rosa, 43 and a former long-time McLaren test driver, would also be yet another high-profile Ferrari departure as the beleaguered Maranello marque sweeps its old era clean.

Fernando Alonso and Pedro de la Rosa, McLaren, 2007. (Photo: WRi2)

He said at a Santander sponsor event this week: "I'm sorry, but I cannot talk about it.

"I don't know what I'm doing yet," Pedro de la Rosa is quoted by Speed Week.

"I am used to nibbling on my Christmas nougat without knowing what I am doing the next year," he smiled.

When asked what his preference would be for 2015, Pedro de la Rosa said tellingly: "I like to work with the best -- with champions.

"Do not forget that Sebastian Vettel is also a world champion," he noted.

Adapted from GMM

The F1 Supremo is targeting a revival of the South African grand prix.

"We're in the middle of trying to do something in South Africa," he said at Sochi, where he received a government honour.

"We used to have a race there and it would be nice to get back there again, to that part of the world," he told the Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

As for America, however, Bernie Ecclestone said there is already one US grand prix and "I'm not too sure" he wants to add another.

Alain Prost (Williams) winner of the last South-African Grand Prix in 1993. (Photo: WRi2)

From GMM

F1 is now speeding towards yet another new set of engine regulations.

On Thursday at a Geneva meeting of the Strategy Group, Bernie Ecclestone proposed to scrap the current turbo V6 rules.

Michael Schmidt, of the respected German trade magazine Auto Motor und Sport, said that although his proposal did not produce a "definitive result", the sport is now headed towards an all-new set of regulations for 2016.

"The engines are to be louder, more powerful and cheaper," said Michael Schmidt on Friday.

"The goal is 1000 horse power and a cost of 10 million euros per team. An expert group must deliver results (on the proposal) by the end of January," he added.

It is now too late, however, to make significant changes to the 2015 rules, which will be almost identical to the turbo V6 formula that saw Mercedes cruise dominantly to the title this year.

V6 turbo hybrid engine. (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)

Geneva, however, did produce one or two rule tweaks for 2015.

Recently, when Korea was surprisingly added to the 2015 schedule, it was said Ecclestone had done it as a mere trick to give every driver an extra engine to use throughout next season.

But on Thursday, that loophole was closed and - regardless of whether 20 or 21 races are ultimately held next year - each driver will be limited to just 4 engines for the 2015 season as originally intended.

Schmdit said the tweak was made because the extra engine would have cost already struggling teams up to an extra 800,000 euros.

The new Sauber driver will race with No. 12 in Formula 1.

Reserve driver for Williams in 2014, Felipe Nasr was No. 40 during the Friday practice sessions.

His full race number is now 12.

Felipe Nasr published on Twitter: "This will be my number from now. Thanks for Marcelo and the IMX staff who created the logo! #nasr #12 #f1".

Logo: Felipe Nasr/Facebook

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone and a German bank are still locked in a legal fight.

Earlier this year, the F1 supremo controversially ended a criminal trial in Munich by paying $100 million.

At the same time, amid the same Gerhard Gribkowsky corruption affair, Ecclestone made an offer of $25 million to the aggrieved bank and former F1 shareholder BayernLB.

The offer was turned down, because earlier, the Munich state bank was seeking some $400 million.

The financial news agency Bloomberg now reports that BayernLB has filed a new lawsuit in Munich against Ecclestone seeking a whopping $423 miillion plus interest.

The report also claims Briton Ecclestone is returning fire with his own lawsuit against BayernLB, filed in London, and yet another filed by his trust Bambino.

From press release

Ferrari announces that, as from next season, Jean-Eric Vergne will join the Scuderia in the role of test driver to work on car development in the simulator.


The rest of the driver line-up consists of the race pairing of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, along with test and third driver Esteban Gutiérrez, while Marc Genè and Davide Rigon are confirmed in the role of test drivers.

Pedro de la Rosa leaves the Scuderia at the end of this year. Everyone in the team thanks him for the work he has done over the past two years.


“On behalf of the entire team, I welcome Jean-Eric, who I'm sure will make an important contribution to our development work in the simulator,” commented Scuderia Ferrari Director General and Team Principal, Maurizio Arrivabene.

“He will fit in to a programme aimed at improving important areas, invigorating and strengthening an already strong and capable group of professionals.”


“I feel very honored to be joining the Ferrari family and becoming a part of the most prestigious team in the history of Formula One,” commented Jean-Eric Vergne. “The objective is a unanimous one and that is to help the Scuderia get back to the top step of the podium. Having had two years working in the simulator for a top F1 team and three years racing with Toro Rosso, my experience will add to the great efforts that are currently being made in order to get the team back to its winning ways. I look forward to fulfilling my dream in becoming a member of the Ferrari Formula One team and having the Tifosi behind me every step of the way.”

Ally Financial said the Treasury will sell its remaining $1.25 billion stake in the auto lender, resolving one the largest bailouts from the financial crisis six years ago.

The Treasury disposed of its remaining $1.28 billion stake in auto lender Ally Financial, resolving the last big bailout from an emergency government program to halt the 2008 financial crisis. Ally said the government ultimately gained $2.

Cadillac plans to introduce a rearview mirror embedded with high-resolution streaming video that gives the driver more expansive rearward vision, unobstructed by headrests, passengers and the car's roof or rear pillars.

U.S. drivers are paying less than $2.50 a gallon at the gasoline pump for the first time in more than five years, giving a lift to year-end car sales.

GM customers won a key ally in their quest for $10 billion in compensation: the automaker's bankrupt predecessor, which said switch defects were illegally hidden from consumers during the company's 2009 bailout.

Honda opened a $35 million heritage and training center in Marysville, Ohio, the city where the company became the first Japanese automaker to build a car -- the Accord -- in the U.S., 32 years ago.