Auto News 5

As carmakers increasingly look to China to boost sales volumes, so the Beijing show, or Auto China as it's officially known, continues to expand. This year's event took place from 20-29 April, and was the 12th time the show has been held.

This year's Geneva Motor Show took place in the Palexpo Exhibition Center. The event ran from 6-16 March and marked the 84th time that the event has been held.

Detroit's COBO Center again played host to the North American International Auto Show, celebrating its twenty-fifth year. It was held from 13-26 of January.

The Los Angeles Auto Show has often surprised and delighted, thanks to its proximity to Southern California's myriad advanced design studios. The 2013 edition could be considered a setback, as it was timed to overlap with the Tokyo show down to the day. However, that doesn't mean that there weren't interesting or relevant cars to see.

Vänersborg District Court has allowed National Electric Vehicle Sweden's (NEVS) reorganization to continue until 29 November.

Bentley has posted nine-month global deliveries up 19%, to 7,786 cars, up from 6,516 cars in the same period in 2013.

Iran Khodro has announced its intention to double daily vehicle output at its Iskandariya assembly plant in central Iraq.

Daimler and industrial gases maker Linde have pledged to build 20 hydrogen fuelling stations in Germany in coming years to boost support networks for eco-friendly cars.

As CEO Sergio Marchionne prepares to help ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday to mark the debut of Fiat Chrysler shares, he is racing to create a lineup of cars that will lure buyers into showrooms worldwide.

Strong demand for the Cayenne SUV may help China overtake the United States as Porsche's largest single market as soon as this year. Sales in China last month rose to 4,344, outpacing the U.S. by 737 vehicles.

Strong demand for the Cayenne SUV may help China overtake the United States as Porsche's largest single market as soon as this year. Sales in China last month rose to 4,344, outpacing the U.S. by 737 vehicles.

News 9 Oct, 2014

Renault has added a fully-loaded Signature trim level to its Captur crossover, priced from £17,495

Tesla CEO Elon Musk today will unveil new technology that helps keep drivers from drifting off the road and what analysts predict will be an all-wheel-drive variant of its Model S.

The new European Commission that takes office next month will make several decisions affecting automakers, including potentially tougher post-2020 CO2 emissions targets, its industry and enterprise director, Carlo Pettinelli, said.

Mitsubishi will add plug-in hybrid versions of its next ASX compact crossover and Pajero SUV, CEO Osamu Masuko said.

As Sergio Marchionne prepares to help ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday to mark the debut of Fiat Chrysler shares, he is racing to create a lineup of cars that will lure buyers into showrooms worldwide.

The entry list for the maiden Russian Grand Prix shows that Marussia Formula 1 Team may finally run two cars this weekend.

The list issued Thursday by the FIA shows Marussia to run cars for Max Chilton and American Alexander Rossi.

Rossi is listed as driving car No. 42 (while Jules Bianchi was driving car No. 17).

However, Autosport claims that Marussia will decide on Friday morning if it will race with two cars at Russian GP, despite nominating Rossi.

Alexander Rossi and the members of the Marussia team in Soshi. (Photo: WRI2)

The list also shows that two reserve drivers will be running in free practice 1 Friday morning.

Sauber will run car No. 37 for rookie Russian Sergey Sirotkin, and Caterham will run Spaniard Roberto Merhi in the No. 45 car.

Lotus F1 Team and Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains announced Thursday a long-term supply agreement.

The agreement will see Lotus F1 Team utilizing the Mercedes-Benz V6 turbo hybrid Power Unit from the start of the 2015 season until the end of the current Power Unit generation.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) based in Brixworth, Great Britain will supply Lotus F1 Team with Mercedes-Benz Power Units.

The Power Unit will use Fluid Technology Solutions developed by Petronas, the technology partner of Mercedes-Benz.

This most likely marks the end of the long-time partnership between Lotus and Total.

Lotus F1 Team will continue to design and manufacture its own transmission at its Enstone base where work is already underway on the team's 2015 challenger, the E23 Hybrid.

Photo: Mercedes-Benz

The idea of closing the cockpits of the Formula 1 cars resurfaced following the horrible crash of Jules Bianchi in Japan.

Separate to the circumstances of Bianchi's crash, however, is a discussion about arguably the last remaining true vulnerability when it comes to Formula 1 cars -- the drivers' exposed heads.

After Felipe Massa's 2009 crash, and again in 2012 when Maria de Villota crashed during a Marussia test, F1 and the FIA looked deeply into the possibility of enclosing the cockpits with a forward roll-cage or canopy.

However, Germany's Bild newspaper reports this week that Red Bull Racing and Mercedes AMG were the most opposed to the idea, with Red Bull boss Christian Horner saying the proposed solutions were "shockingly ugly".

The issue was then sidelined completely when Bernie Ecclestone argued that closed cockpits were contrary to the basic idea of F1, Bild claims.

Four days after Bianchi's nasty crash, the idea reappears.

“I think it is something that we have to look at,” Williams Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams told Sky Sports News HQ.

“If it can improve safety then of course it has to be on the agenda as a conversation to have.

“But closed cockpits are not easy technically for us to integrate into a Formula 1 car and of course they would change the very nature of what a Formula 1 car looks like. We have to look at all the options available to us, whether that is a closed cockpit or not, but I think those conversations need to go on behind the scenes.”

UPDATE
Mercedes AMG's Paddy Lowe on Thursday said he doubts a covered cockpit or a forward rollbar would have helped Bianchi last Sunday at Suzuka.

"If the rollbar was torn off (in Bianchi's crash)," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, "then having more debris around the head could have been even more dangerous."