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Ford is demonstrating the capabilities of its redesigned, aluminum-bodied 2015 F-150 pickup to dealership sales personnel and consumers.

Ford is demonstrating the capabilities of its redesigned, aluminum-bodied 2015 F-150 pickup to dealership sales personnel and consumers.

The executives chosen as 2014 Automotive News Europe Eurostars rose above the rest by pushing their companies to new heights. Klaus Zehender, Daimler head of procurement and supplier quality, is this year's winner for Purchasing Executive.

Japanese suppliers are struggling to adjust to a new business reality that threatens to undermine the country's keiretsu system of tightknit cooperation between carmakers and their favorite-son suppliers.

Consumers in the United States are willingly paying more than ever for new vehicles, enticed by low interest rates, cheap leases and ubiquitous six-year loans that keep monthly payments affordable while the total price tag rises by thousands of...

The UAW this summer vowed again to end the practice of paying workers in the same plant different wages for the same work.

Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of Tesla Motors Inc., will be a featured speaker at the Automotive News World Congress in January.

Interiors have never been one of the Ford Mustang's selling points over the years. That's about to change with the airplane-inspired cockpits in the 2015 models that will go on sale next month.

New Cadillac boss Johan de Nysschen's philosophy of creating some scarcity for a product that often has been the focus of discount sales will come as a blow to some U.S. dealers.

Lotus, which is laying off about one quarter of its global staff, will skip the 2015 model year of its only street-legal car sold in the United States, the Evora two-seater.

The National Automobile Dealers Association has rapped Nissan's knuckles for "actions by some Nissan representatives" to boost scores in a survey of dealer attitudes toward automakers.

Mercedes-Benz will follow the rollout of its GLA compact crossover by bumping up the next-generation GLK -- its first entry-level crossover -- to a larger size and a higher price.

If spoofs are the sincerest form of flattery, Lincoln's new MKC ad campaign featuring actor Matthew McConaughey in a series of moody spots is already a smash hit.

From GMM

The fate of three formula one teams continues to hang in the balance.

The health of the sport's most financially struggling outfits has been under an intense spotlight since it emerged the richest teams might be asked to plug gaps on the 2015 grid by running three-car operations.

Arguably the most endangered team is Caterham, whose founder Tony Fernandes suddenly pulled the plug this year, almost leading to a total collapse before July's British grand prix.

The green-coloured team is now owned by a mysterious consortium of Swiss-based Dubai investors, amid continuing rumours of serious financial problems.

But Manfredi Ravetto, the new boss, insists Caterham has money to spend.

"We are currently testing our 2015 car in Cologne, at Toyota's wind tunnel," he told F1's official website. "Obviously you cannot run your car in Cologne just because of our extremely nice attitude!

"And if we do this (pay Toyota) it means that we are fully committed to being here next year," he added.

Photo: Caterham F1 Team

Another obviously embattled team is Caterham's fellow backmarker Marussia, but sporting boss Graeme Lowdon insists the team can also afford to keep racing.

"You don't want to give the wrong impression by glibly saying 'yes, we're fine' because it's always a challenge operating businesses in this environment," he told Sporting Life.

"(But) we have an obligation to trade correctly, and if you don't reasonably believe you can do that, you have to stop," Lowdon added.

"If we didn't think we could be here, then we wouldn't be here."

Jules Bianchi, Marussia. (Photo: WRi2)

And the third current team clearly battling merely for survival is Sauber, the 21-year-old Swiss outfit whose fortunes began to fade some years ago when owner BMW pulled out.

Founder Peter Sauber and co-owner Monisha Kaltenborn are putting a brave face on the situation, but a man also with knowledge of the situation paints a more uncertain picture.

One of the men central to the oft-reported 'Russian rescue deal' is Oleg Sirotkin, whose son Sergey Sirotkin was initially believed to be a shoo-in for a race seat.

Now, the young Sirotkin's prospects are not so clear.

"In my opinion it is 50-50," Oleg Sirotkin told the Russian website f1news.ru.

"There have been a lot of problems, one of which is the unstable situation of the teams. There is no certainty they will even be at the start next season.

"For example," he revealed, "we are working closely with Sauber, but they seem to have a problem."

Sergey Sirotkin, Sauber. (Photo: WRi2)

For its blending of all things classy, powerful, and fast the Jaguar F-Type is leaving test-drivers, owners, and auto writers around the globe absolutely smitten.

Then, there's the exhaust note, which is bonkers. The F-Type's V8 engine sounds like automatic gunfire blended with fireworks. The V6 is a smoother, more exotic sound, though equally as saliva-inducing for anyone who likes driving and has ears.

If there's one company that gets, like really gets, performance-car exhaust notes it's gotta be Jaguar. So, I looked up Dr. Garry Dunne, JLR's Senior Technical Specialist of Vehicle NVH and Sound Quality, for a closer look at what goes into making the F-Type output such an amazing symphony of combustion.



JP: How important is the exhaust noise of a car like the F-Type? Do owners ask for or demand a car that's totally gnarly sounding or is this something inherent of all Jaguar models?

GD: Central to the Jaguar Sound Quality DNA is the delivery of a duality -- both an exhilarating and an effortless driving experience. The cars purr at idle. They have an effortless and refined cruising character, with an underlying promise of performance. This promise is delivered through a powerful and purposeful Sound Quality character that builds to a rewarding, crisp crescendo under performance driving.

We often use the catchphrase, "effortless transition from a powerful growl to and edgy snarl" to capture the essence of the Jaguar Powertrain Sound quality. This applies to all Jaguar models.

JP: Is there a regulatory sound limit on how loud a car's exhaust can be? Does it vary between countries? Was much bribing required to be able to exceed that limit with the F-Type?

GD: Jaguar is very proud of the exhaust sound and driving experience that we created on the F-Type. This was developed to meet all of the stringent compliance regulations required by an OEM.

The pass-by-noise level is a well-established compliance regulation that all new cars must meet. There are minor variations between EU/ROW and US regulations, but they essentially require similar noise control limits. The F-Type has been designed to meet the most stringent of all the global regulations. The F-Type does not have different exhaust tunes for different markets -- it is a global car. All JLR products comply with all regulatory sound limits.

JP: How much control do engineers have over the way the car sounds? Is a target sound set and achieved or is the sound just a by-product of other things?

GD: The delivery of the exhaust sound quality on the F-Type is far from being a by-product of other things. We spend considerable amounts of time and engineering resources in the development and tuning of the vehicle hardware to deliver our desired sound.

The initial exhaust system development work was carried out using a combination of expertise and computer aided engineering (CAE), and simulation techniques. Based upon years of experience, the Jaguar team developed a concept for the exhaust system that we knew would deliver the required sound quality character outlined above.

Ultimately, however, the Sound Quality can only be signed off by driving the real car. Therefore the final stage in the acoustic development of the F-Type was a series of iterative tuning loops of the exhaust and intake system hardware on prototype vehicles. Over 50 different exhaust systems with both significant and minor changes were evaluated before the final specification delivering the acoustic performance was signed-off.

JP: So, Jaguar pays someone, with actual money, to listen to prototype models and fine-tune the exhaust sound of cars like the F-Type?

GD: Yes, a whole team of us -- and as there is a lot to do, there will always be a job available.

JP: Can the exhaust noise be manipulated? Is it just the style of muffler? The intake system? The exhaust manifold? What, physically, gives the F-Type its signature noise?

GD: Very much so. All of the items that you mention have a part to play in the tuning of the sound-quality character. Clearly, some items such as the engine configuration (V6 or V8, crank design, etc.) are givens and we need to work around these basic "ingredients." Other items such as manifold design configuration (i.e., equal length, log-type, etc.) also need to be reconciled with other attributes, such as emissions. Thereafter, the intake and exhaust system layout and internals have a major part to play in adding the "spice" to the sound-quality character.

There is a significant amount of acoustic tuning that can be done on these commodities, similar to playing tunes on woodwind or brass instruments to deliver the desired "note." Items include bank-to-bank mixing, tuned resonators, expansion volumes, and perforation patterns.

JP: What causes that delightful pitter-patter drum-beat from the tailpipes when you lift the throttle at higher RPMs?

GD: This is delivered through a combination of the exhaust internal tuning, and fueling calibration.

From GMM

Sahara Force India is the latest F1 team turning to Toyota's state-of-the-art wind tunnel in Cologne.

It emerged in Singapore recently that Caterham is developing its 2015 car in the Cologne tunnel.

Previously, Ferrari relied heavily on the Toyota facilities amid its troubles with its own tunnel at Maranello.

"We haven't used the one in Cologne for really quite some time," said technical boss James Allison recently.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport also reports that, with McLaren leasing wind tunnel time to Marussia, the Woking based team also uses the Toyota facility.

Toyota wind tunnel facilities. (Photo: TMG)

And Sahara Force India is now beginning to turn to Toyota.

"Our wind tunnel was originally built for 30 per cent models," said technical boss Andy Green, "so we don't have enough room around the 50 per cent model."

From next year, a new cost cutting measure is that each team can only use one wind tunnel per season, so Sahara Force India has nominated Cologne.

The report said Toyota charges about EUR 100,000 a week for the privilege.

From GMM

Carlos Sainz jr hopes a timely show of dominance can put him back in the spotlight after a challenging couple of months.

The Spaniard put up an impressive double-victory in the Formula Renault 3.5 category in France at the weekend, moving tantalisingly close to securing the title.

But last month Sainz, 20, was overlooked for a F1 debut with Toro Rosso for 2015, despite being the obvious cream of Red Bull's driver development programme.

Sweeping into the Toro Rosso seat instead was the 16-year-old Max Verstappen, who is now being fast-tracked to F1 stardom by Red Bull and compared to the legendary Ayrton Senna by Dr Helmut Marko.

So, when speaking to Spain's El Confidencial, Sainz jr paused for a long time when he was asked if the Paul Ricard round of the 'World Series' was the most important race of his entire career.

"Probably," he finally admitted.

Carlos Sainz Jr at Paul Ricard. (Photo: WRi2)

And asked if his display of dominance was a little message to Red Bull in the wake of the controversial Verstappen decision, Sainz revealed: "Yes, I do have that feeling a bit. It was important to show all those who doubted you that you're still the same. That you are able to overcome a difficult situation."

"After Budapest," said Sainz, referring to the previous Formula Renault 3.5 round, "there were difficult days where it was hard to be positive. Emotionally, it (the Verstappen decision) was not easy to accept. It was not an easy summer."

In the wake of the Verstappen decision, Sainz and his well-known namesake and father sat down recently with Marko and all sides declared afterwards that the future is still on track.

Asked if his dominance in Paul Ricard changes the situation yet again, Sainz jr insisted: "I don't know what it means for Red Bull, but for me, for my personal motivation, I feel good.

"If I win (the title) in Jerez I will be the first Red Bull driver to do it, the youngest in history, and it will be the record for wins in a season. If I do it I will have enormous confidence in myself for the future."

There might even be space on F1's 2015 grid for Sainz.

He has had talks with Caterham, there is talk of three-car entries for 2015, and Sebastian Vettel could trigger a Red Bull-Toro Rosso reshuffle if the reigning world champion moves to Ferrari to replace Fernando Alonso.

According to El Confidencial, Sainz giggled at the suggestion.

"I cannot have my future that relies on others, I have to rely on myself and keep doing what I did in Paul Ricard -- win races and keep showing what I am worth," he said.

From GMM

Ferrari has lost a legal battle with a disgruntled F1 engineer.

For 2012, Briton Steve Clark joined the fabled Maranello team from Mercedes, where he was a highly respected senior technical advisor.

It was reported at the time that Clark's new role would be in charge of Ferrari's race engineers.

But Italy's specialist Autosprint and La Gazzetta dello Sport separately report that Clark was subsequently 'demoted' to a role in Ferrari's non-F1 projects, including working on the Italian olympic team's bobsled design.

Clark reportedly sued the team in the local Modena courts, arguing that the demotion to a role outside of F1 caused "serious harm to his career".

The judge reportedly agreed, declaring that his 'demotion' was contrary to his contract.

The reports say Ferrari has been ordered to reinstate Clark in his contracted F1 role or an equivalent, which could result in a departure settlement for the 48-year-old Briton.

From GMM

Max Verstappen is clearing every hurdle as his fast-track to formula one leads to this weekend's Japanese grand prix.

The Dutchman's ultimate seventeenth birthday present this week will be the Friday morning practice session at Suzuka, ahead of his full race debut in 2015.

Never before has a driver been so fast-tracked to F1 glory, as Red Bull spared no expense recently with a test so that Verstappen qualifies for his mandatory F1 license.

"Now it's in the hands of the FIA whether he gets it in time (before Friday)," team boss Franz Tost said.

Max Verstappen. (Photo: ToroRosso.com)

And Verstappen has now confirmed that another necessity was a full health screening in Helsinki.

"I was totally medically screened with scans and tests," he told his official website. "The medical team was satisfied with my health and fitness."

Max Verstappen has also been hard at work in the Red Bull simulator at Milton Keynes.

"You drive all day, from morning to evening," he said. "The last one I practiced was Suzuka to prepare for the scheduled Friday practice."

The new Cadillac ELR may be all of the above, however, even after returning the car to its rightful owners, I'm still scratching my head. I'm wondering what the ELR's true reason for being is. I keep asking myself the question that's been on many experts' lips since the ELR launched: Why?

Despite the existential nature of this question, I really enjoyed this luxury-coupe-cum-concept-car from the high-end manufacturer. I simply could never suggest that anyone purchase one unless for long-term storage in the hopes that it will appreciate as a classic.

The 2014 Cadillac ELR is an electric car that has more going against it than for it. For the design alone, this is a true chef d'oeuvre, both inside and out. For the remainder, it's a glorified Volt with extra chrome, leather, wood, and big rubber. For $50,000, I'd send all those looking for something cool and different to Caddy dealerships. For $80k, I would not.


What is a Cadillac ELR?
The ELR is a range-extended styling exercise designed as a poster boy for Cadillac's design and technology know-how. The hi-tech learning curve began with the Chevrolet Volt as it is the ELR's base and donor platform.

As a coupe, its appeal for the rich masses is limited and thus makes the ELR a personal luxury coupe for the discerning buyer expecting stares but not necessarily envy.



2014 Cadillac ELR Price and Specs
The reason for referring to the rich masses stems from the fact that the 2014 Cadillac ELR sports a starting (read: base, entry-level) sticker price of $78,250 or nearly $22k more than a Corvette -- just over $41k more than a Volt...

The ELR is front-wheel driven and features a total of three engines. It is motivated by a Voltec 157 hp (115kW), 295 lb-ft of torque (400 Nm). This one drives the wheels while a 74 hp (55kW) electric engine serves as a generator. The ELR is a range-extended electric vehicle. Said range extender is an 83 horsepower 1.4L ECOTEC I-4.

The 16.5-kWh batteries require up to 18 hours to charge at 120 V. On 240, the time drops to approximately 5 hours. Total maximum range is of just under 550 km. EV range is of under 60 km.

Driving the 2014 Cadillac ELR
The 2014 ELR drives as any Cadillac should. In other words, it is quiet and at ease covering distance at just about any speed. The fact that it is an EV adds to the plush experience.

What is (but shouldn't be) surprising is how well the ELR handles. As a low-slung, wide-tracked and low-centre-of-gravity coupe (thanks to the location of the battery cells), the ELR hugs the road with an impressive amount of ease. Front-end grip and crisp turn-in actually make the Caddy feel far sportier than I initially expected.

The ride quality is well judged where comfort remains a priority, but second on the list of the suspension's achievements is maintaining a flat confidence-inspiring drive.

The ELR's instant electric torque makes for a quick take-off. Although the ELR is, on paper (or screen), more powerful than the Volt with which it shares everything you don't see on the Caddy. However, it doesn't feel any quicker than the Chevy.

I found an enormous amount of pleasure driving the 2014 Cadillac ELR around town. I was unable to plug it in for a full recharge while I was at the helm. In a week's time, I covered over 500 km and averaged 4L/100km. Although remarkably low, there's something wrong about having to consume fuel at all after paying $80k all the while being thankful that the range extender did its job otherwise I would have been stranded...

Inside and Out of the 2014 Cadillac ELR
I've said it before and I'll say it again: The 2014 Cadillac ELR is spectacular to behold. The number of visual elements, an unusually high number, immediately point to the fact that the ELR should be a concept car. Its profile, its funky and larger-than-life head- and taillights, and huge satin-finish grille should typically be found on a car nestled on a turntable in the middle of an auto show floor.

The cabin is equally detailed with no less than five textures on the dashboard alone. Fit and finish are very good, however, some portions of the centre stack have larger gaps than I would expect in an $80k car.

The seats are enormously comfortable and I will be honest and say that I did not attempt to sit in the rear. By the looks of it, an adult could sit back there but not for long. The trunk is also tight and will serve for a weekend's trip worth of luggage.

The ELR is fully loaded with, among many other things, Cadillac CUE, which includes a power-flow monitor. In a few words, it works quite well.

Comparing the 2014 Cadillac ELR
This is where the 2014 Cadillac ELR suffers the most. As I note in the video, the Caddy Coupe is up against cars half its asking price with fewer sacrifices including the donor Chevy Volt that retails for less than $37k.

The new BMW i3 is the killer here, in my opinion. It's nowhere near as racy as the ELR but its got the brand and the technology and design, and it's got a $48,950 asking price with the range extender.