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The Financial Times' legendary Lex column, a daily investment discourse famed for its irreverence and oh-so-British drollery, can be tough on us Yanks.

Michael Fastman is buying kiosks for BMW of Silver Spring, in Silver Spring, Md., where he is general manager, and BMW of Catonsville, in Baltimore, where he is in charge of operations.

Mobius hopes to succeed where many other domestic automakers have failed by designing, building and selling a product in Africa, which provides raw materials for the world's factories but struggles to create its own manufacturing base.

Dealerships can face litigation if they don't know the rules about how to deal with customers who require service dogs. The issue is complicated by people who claim, incorrectly, that their pets are service dogs.

Lexus' advertising is increasingly taking on the personality of its newest models: racier, more daring and with a hint of fun. Lexus is applying that strategy across several channels.

Takata, the world's second-largest supplier of airbag inflators and a company once considered too big to fail, is rapidly losing control of the recall crisis.

Led by British entrepreneur Joel Jackson, Mobius Motors aims to overcome the perception that Africa cannot produce a quality vehicle on its own. Mobius has launched an 8,552 euro car to meet the needs of rural Africans.

From Ferrari

This week's Finali Mondiali, held for the first time outside Europe, in Abu Dhabi, ended with a day of exciting racing and a demonstration featuring everything that's best about the world of Ferrari. The first thrills of the day came courtesy of the two Ferrari Challenge races to allocate the three world titles in Coppa Shell, Pirelli Pro and Pirelli Am. These went to Massimiliano Bianchi, Max Blancardi and Ricardo Perez respectively.

Then, as the sun was setting, over 200 Ferraris from different eras swarmed onto the track, parading around in the very best demonstration of what Ferrari stands for: design, technology and innovation. The marvelous cars which cruised round slowly, driven by their owners, were a big hit with the crowd packing the grandstands and provided the perfect introduction to the grand finale, the Ferrari show.

Photo: Ferrari

Getting it all underway were the two AF Corse team GT cars, driven by World Endurance Champions Gimmi Bruni and Toni Vilander, joined on track by team mates Davide Rigon and James Calado. The 458s also put a dummy pit stop with driver change, just as happens for real in the Endurance races, such as the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Then it was the turn of the XX Programme cars, namely the FXX and the 599 XX, which were joined for the first time by the FXX K, which with the head of the test drivers Raffaele De Simone at the wheel, mesmerised the crowd who, up to that point, had only seen it parked in the paddock.

Bringing the Finali Mondiali to a close was the demonstration featuring the Scuderia drivers Kimi Raikkonen and the test driver Marc Gene, who each at the wheel of an F60, put on a great show, featuring simulated starts, wheel to wheel duels and pit stops, the day ending in a cloud of burn-out smoke produced by both drivers. Finally, Managing Directo Amedeo Felisa and Vice President spoke to thank the crowd, the drivers and all the owners, inviting them to return for next next year's event.

Just back from Qatar, where he attended the FIA's prize-giving ceremony Friday, Sébastien Loeb finished seventh in the first race of the 2014-2015 Trophée Andros, Saturday in Val-Thorens.

Behind the wheel of a Citroën DS3 he had never driven before, the nine-time WRC champion had qualified sixth earlier in the day.

"When I line up for a race, I like to finish well," Loeb is quoted saying by France's Dauphiné.

"But you have to remember that I was driving the car for the first against guys who have been doing this for year.

Sébastien Loeb, Citroën DS3 Saintéloc Racing (Photo: B.Bade)

"The goal is to get better and enjoy myself. Hopefully it will go well tomorrow (Sunday)."

Race 1 winner Jean-Philippe Dayraut was nonetheless impressed by Loeb's: "We are lucky in France to have him. He doesn't have anything to prove, but he comes here to fight against specialists.

"Not many guys, in F1 or other categories, have this kind of courage."

BMW has launched its car-sharing service in London, barely six months after Daimler said it was quitting the city with its service. A strong culture of private car ownership and parking problems make London difficult for car-sharing schemes.

Given that GMC's entire product lineup is shared with Chevrolet, it begs the question: Will GMC get a version of the new Chevy Trax small crossover?

Shiloh Industries plans to open an auto parts plant in Tennessee this month to continue its expansion of North American aluminum-casting capacity.

BMW has launched its car-sharing service in London, barely six months after Daimler said it was quitting the city with its service. A strong culture of private car ownership and parking problems make London difficult for car-sharing schemes.

From press release

Around six men broke into the Red Bull Racing factory in Milton Keynes, very early Saturday morning, and drove away with over 60 trophies belonging to the race team.

The burglars gained access to the building by simply crashing through the front entrance with a silver 4x4. They then drove away with a second vehicle, a dark coloured, black or dark blue Mercedes estate car.

No Red Bull personnel was harmed during the theft.

"Beyond the aggressive nature of this break-in, we are perplexed why anyone would take these trophies," commented Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

"The value to the team is of course extraordinarily high due to the sheer hard work and effort that went into winning each and every one. But their intrinsic value is low; they would be of little benefit to those outside of the team and, in addition to that, many of the trophies on display were replicas. 

"The actions of these men mean it's likely that we will have to make our site less accessible in the future, which will be unfair on the hundreds of fans that travel to visit our factory each year to see our trophies and our Formula One car."

Lewis Hamilton reflected on his recent win in the 2014 F1 world championship at the FIA's prize-giving gala, Friday in Qatar.

The fact that both of his world titles where won in the very last race was brought up during the ceremony's press conference, and Hamilton revealed that he has no problem fighting for his wins.

"I don't think you ever want to have it easy," he declared.

"You always want to have a fight. Easy championships, I don't know, they're just not as... you want that climax."

Lewis Hamilton was officially crowned world champion, alongside runner-ups Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo (Phot: WRI2)

In fact, his season-long fight with Nico Rosberg kept him motivated.

"Throughout the whole year, just trying to keep your cool, stay focused and all those kinds of things. It was great."

And he vowed to fight just as hard in the future: "For the next one - if there is another one - at least in the championships I'm going into I want to fight as high as possible and try to work on and improve on the things that are not strong enough and could be better."

From press release

Bruno Spengler will be racing at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2015, as part of BMW Motorsport's program for the upcoming racing season.

The Canadian is still part of BMW's line-up in the DTM, in which he will race a BMW M4 DTM full-time, but together with teammate Augusto Farfus, he also will join BMW Team RLL on January 24-25 for the 24 Hours of Daytona.

He is part of an eighth-driver line-up set to share two Z4 GTLM at the famous race. The other drivers are Bill Auberlen, John Edwards, Dirk Werner, Lucas Luhr, Jens Klingmann and Graham Rahal.

Z4 GTLM, BMW Team RLL (Photo: BMW Motorsport)

In the DTM, only American Joey Hand will not return. BMW has not announced his replacement yet. Reigning champion Marco Wittmann, Martin Tomczyk, Maxime Martin, Timo Glock and Antonio Felix da Costa are all coming back, as well as Spengler and Farfus.

And in other series, triple WTCC champion Andy Priaulx will spearhead BMW's European GT program, and brand ambassador Alessandro Zanardi returns behind the wheel of a specially adapted Z4 GT3.

The new WTCC champion José Maria López revealed how touched he was by Sébastien Loeb and Yvan Muller's warm welcomes when he arrived at Citroën.

Indeed, the prospect of entering his first full season in the WTCC, in a new team and with two illustrious teammates such as Loeb and Muller must have been daunting for López. But against all odds, he prevailed.

Actually, he didn't just prevail. He dominated the 2014 season, as everyone knows now.

Between them, Yvan Muller and Sébastien Loeb have 13 world championships. Yet, together, they only score a total of 6 wins, three less than what López managed on his own.

But Friday night, during the FIA's prize-giving gala in Qatar, the Argentinian revealed he was almost intimidated by Loeb and Muller.

Sébastien Loeb and Yvan Muller should look up to José Maria López in 2015 because he's the boss (Photo: WRI2)

"I arrived on the first day of the Valencia test and I saw Sébastien coming," López remembers. "I'm from Cordoba so I lived rally for many years, I used to go two days before the stages with a tent, with my friend, making a barbecue, waiting for the cars to come.

"To be honest in the beginning I wanted to make a picture with him all the time! But at the same time I was saying ‘no I have to keep cool, we are working'. Honestly, even with Yvan it was a little bit the same.

"The good thing is they received me in the team and they put me next to them like I'm one more. I felt like I was in the family already for a long time. That helped me, you know, for starting the season in strong shape.

"So the team was great, Sébastien, Yvan, everybody was very kind with me."

From press release

American motor sport superstar Robby Gordon will compete at the 2014 Race Of Champions, to be held at Bushy Park Barbados on December 13-14. But Gordon's not travelling to Barbados alone: he's bringing his stunning Stadium Super Trucks, which will also feature in the racing action.

One of the most versatile drivers in the world and experienced in everything from sports cars to trucks, Gordon has competed in a range of series including NASCAR, CART, IndyCar, Trans-Am, IMSA and the Dakar Rally.

The American raced for over 20 years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, taking three wins and 39 top-tens. In addition he has had three top-five finishes in the Indianapolis 500.

Gordon has also taken four Baja 500 victories, three Baja 1000 victories and seven SCORE International off-road championships. He has now become a regular stage winner on the brutal Dakar Rally, where he will again be competing early in 2015.

Stadium Super Truck (Photo: ROC)

Gordon will pair up with 2014 World Touring Car Champion José-Maria ‘Pechito' López for Team Americas in the ROC Nations Cup, a duo that is sure to set pulses racing.

At Gordon's first Race Of Champions in 2001 he broke the lap record around the event's long-time home at Gran Canaria, setting a mark that still stands today. He also rolled his car within sight of victory against that year's eventual ROC Champion of Champions Harri Rovanperä.

Gordon said: “It's cool that we'll get to introduce the trucks to everybody as well. It will be a first for some drivers but we'll set up an adjustable ramp for the guys.

“I can change the pitch angle according to what the drivers and the officials like but these things have been known to jump 20 or 30 feet off the ground for the length of a football field so either way it will be exciting.”

The 2014 World Rally Championship (WRC) season is over, but Jari-Matti Latvala surely remembers his difficult week-end in Poland.

It was the end of June. After six rallies, Latvala was still very much in the fight for the title with teammate Sébastien Ogier.

During the longest special stage of the event, the Finn lost almost the whole suspension of his Volkswagen Polo R WRC.


Luckily for him, his crew was able to change the front damper, the complete front axle, including the steering, the front left wheel carrier, the front underbody protection, the wiper motor, the windscreen, the bonnet and the front left mudguard during service.

All in 28 minutes.

Latvala and his co-driver Miiki Anttila rejoined the action and still managed to score a top five result.

Chrysler Group's decision to limit an expansion of an earlier recall of vehicles with possibly defective passenger-side airbag inflators made by Takata has put drivers at risk, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's top official said...