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Nissan said net income rose 37 percent to $1.1 billion in the April-June quarter as deliveries rose in the United States and China, its two biggest markets.

Nissan said net income rose 37 percent to $1.1 billion in the April-June quarter as deliveries rose in the U.S. and China. The company narrowed its loss in Europe.

South Korea's Hyundai Mobis plans to spend EUR95m on a new car lighting factory in Ostrava in the Czech Republic.

Global automakers have long been reluctant to sell cheaper vehicles in China as they seek to protect their healthy profit margins. But now foreign automakers are moving into China's entry-level segment in a quest for market share.

The IT industry has made much of the benefits of a Cloud infrastructure, offering better security and less complex networks in the workplace. Infotainment specialist Harman with subsidiary Aha claims its use in the car could be equally effective. It is now offering OEMs and service providers a chance to use the Cloud beyond downloading apps, navigation updates or music. Understanding what features are being used by the end customer, finding software bugs, removing unused features, reducing recalls or targeting specific customers with updates and advertising are just some of the ideas that Harman claims it can offer with its new Aha Cloud Platform Analytics and Updates Service. just-auto spoke to Siegfried Schuler, Director Centre of Competence Aha, about the service and find out what OEMs are most interested in.

Toyota, Honda and Nissan -- and their upscale offshoots -- are out to change the "reliable but unexciting" impression with several high-performance halo cars.

Ford Motor Co. is threatening legal action if Ram keeps claiming that its pickups offer "best-in-class" towing. Ram's response? In so many words, it's telling Ford to go pound sand.

While General Motors' second-quarter profits were hammered by the costs of its massive recall, across town Ford Motor Co. reported a robust profit bolstered by a record second quarter in North America.

General Motors treated isolated reports of flimsy ignitions in its mid-sized, full-sized and luxury cars more urgently than similar but far more voluminous complaints about the less profitable Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion, documents GM submitted...

Ford CEO Mark Fields, in his first major personnel move since taking over, announced Kumar Galhotra's appointment last week among several changes in Ford's product development organization.

Asbury Automotive Group Inc. aims to double its acquisition pace during the next 18 months.

Porsche is dropping -- at least for now -- its base-model Cayenne, which had started at $50,595.

Three weeks into Sonic Automotive Inc.'s customer experience initiative, customers at the pilot store aren't yet getting the promised iPad-enabled transaction with a single salesperson.

When Lucy Clark Dougherty was named General Motors' top lawyer for North America in 2011, she was considered the likely candidate to succeed General Counsel Michael Millikin.

The Audette Racing Team contested this weekend's Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) doubleheader, presented on the Shannonville track near Belleville, Ontario. Rémy Audette made good use of the fifth event of the season by earning his fifth win of the season and therefore claiming victory in half of the races held this year !

Winner of Saturday's race and second on Sunday, Rémy Audette had to call upon all of his motorsport experience in order to ensure his success this weekend.  In addition, the Quebec driver contested the two races in the Dimensions Doors / Novatech Acura RSX that is normally earmarked for his brother Mathieu, who was not taking part in this event, as was decided earlier in the season. Rémy explains the situation : "we installed a new engine in my Civic Si but it wasn't as broken in as it should've been.  Knowing that I'm competing for the championship title, the Audette Racing Team didn't want to take any risks so it was decided that I'd use the Acura.  As of Saturday's race, we knew we had made the right decision !".

Qualifying in pole position for the first of the two races, Rémy Audette had a perfect start and managed to keep the lead for the entire duration of the race to win his fifth event of nine starts in the 2014 season. "It was one heck of a race ! I had Roger Ledoux's Subaru behind me from the first lap until the last lap.  He was faster in certain sections but I held him off and managed to not give him enough space to pass me. It really was a great win and it always tastes just a little better when you have to battle from the start right until the end !" confides Rémy Audette.

On Sunday, Rémy was starting the race from the second spot on the grid.  By the first turn, he had dropped to fourth but he quickly took back two spots before finding himself fighting with Ledoux for the lead. "This time, the roles were reversed.  I was putting pressure on him but he didn't let up nor did he commit any mistakes. At one point, I thought I could pass him but it would've meant braking really late and risking a collision, which I didn't want to do. Our battle was intense but it has always been respectful" indicated the Audette Racing driver.

Rémy Audette therefore leaves Shannonville with a victory and a second place, which is much more than just satisfying to him : "it's a great weekend.  The gap to Ledoux in the championship standings remains unchanged because we each had the same two finishing positions over the weekend. I'm still confident for the remainder of the season, though. Those races will take place on tracks where I'm super comfortable and have had success before," concluded Rémy.

The following CTCC outing for the Audette Racing Team wlll be in less than two weeks on Aug 7th to 10th, as part of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. Mathieu Audette will be back at the wheel of the Acura RSX, while Rémy gets back in his Dimensions Doors / Novatech Honda Civic Si. which will be tested prior to the race.

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Head over to our sister site, Auto-Venus.com, to read my full review and find out why you should buy a new Passat!

Photo: Philippe Champoux

From GMM

Christian Horner is barracking for Lotus to switch to customer Mercedes power for the 2015 season.

The Enstone team is having a dismal season of performance and reliability with Renault power, but the likely move to Mercedes is more complex than that.

Reigning quadruple world champions Red Bull have also struggled with Renault's turbo V6 'power unit' in 2014, but the Horner-led team has reacted by putting enormous pressure on its French partner.

There has been a management change right at the top, with Cyril Abiteboul returning to Renault from Caterham to set up a new structure for 2015 and beyond.

A key to that might be seen as Red Bull 'getting rid of' Lotus.

Dr Helmut Marko said recently that it was a big mistake for Renault to have tried to treat Red Bull and Lotus fairly in accommodating both teams' needs in 2014.

He said preparing "a different version" of the Renault V6 for Lotus "tied up too many resources at Renault and distracted from the development".

Lotus and Renault partnership might end this season. (Photo: WRi2)

Lotus' engine change has not yet been confirmed, but it is clearly part of Red Bull's plan.

"I think we have some good things in the pipeline," team boss Horner said in Hungary. "We are working very closely with Renault (after) their recent management change.

"We have a very good working relationship with Renault," he told F1's official website, "and I think Cyril is doing a great job.

"We are getting much more involved -- something similar to working like a proper works team."

For that to happen, Red Bull will be Renault's clear focus in 2015, with only Red Bull-associated teams to get a customer engine -- Toro Rosso, and Caterham, who use a Red Bull-supplied gearbox.

"The whole focus will then be on Red Bull Racing," Christian Horner confirmed, "and then a customer engine supplied to Toro Rosso. Of course that makes a difference. It would be positive for us and it makes sense to Renault as well."

From GMM

Mercedes has moved to put the intensifying battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg behind closed doors.

"Corporate answer," boss Toto Wolff smiled late on Sunday, when the extent of the potential controversy triggered by the Hungarian grand prix became clear.

In the race, after technical failures blighted his last two qualifying outings as he chases down teammate and enemy Rosberg's points lead, Briton Hamilton was asked repeatedly to let the sister silver car past.

Predictably, team chairman Niki Lauda dismissed as "bullsh*t" any conspiracy theory about Mercedes wanting its German driver to prevail in 2014 over a Briton.

Indeed, the much more sensible reasoning for Sunday's team order was that Mercedes had devised on the fly a new race-winning strategy for pole-sitter Rosberg, after the timing of the safety car period left him trailing Hamilton, who started the race from pitlane.

Even Wolff had to admit that, had Hamilton obeyed the order, "Nico could have won the race. It is a difficult situation now."

The team finds itself on a delicate line between letting its drivers fight freely for the drivers' title, and handling situations like Sunday, where two non-Mercedes cars eventually crossed the chequered flag first and second.

Hamilton's defiance probably cost Mercedes victory in Hungary, but it did help him narrow the points gap to Rosberg with eight races now to run.

Lewis Hamilton ahead of Nico Rosberg in Hungary. (Photo: WRi2)

2008 world champion Hamilton said immediately after getting out of his W05 on Sunday that he thinks his bosses issued the team order "for the right reasons".

But the wheel-to-wheel title battle is something different.

"I was in the same race as him," he said, "so I was very, very shocked that the team would ask me to do that, to be able to better his position. So that was a bit strange."

Hamilton revealed on Sunday that, after his qualifying fire, he had lifted his spirits by sharing a pizza, some chocolate and "a prank" with Niki Lauda.

Lauda said Hamilton was right to ignore the team order.

"I would have done exactly the same," said the great Austrian.

"The team was under enormous stress because the race was a very difficult one, there is no question. The call was unnecessary but it was made."

Even Wolff admits that Mercedes will need to use the three-weekend 'summer break', including a two week factory shutdown, to devise a better strategy for dealing with the intensifying championship battle between the two drivers.

"What we had at the beginning of the season doesn't function anymore," he acknowledged. "Perhaps we need to have a new way. It's getting intense and we need to sit down and discuss how to handle things."

From GMM

Kimi Raikkonen was looking ahead to 2015 rather than seeing Sunday's Hungarian grand prix as the start of an immediate Ferrari revival.

After an uncompetitive first half of 2014, the Finn finished a solid sixth in Hungary -- his best result of the season.

And Raikkonen's teammate Fernando Alonso was in the running for the race win until the dying moments, when he was passed by winner Daniel Ricciardo.

F1 now breaks for three full weekends before hostilities resume in Belgium late next month.

But the Finnish media quoted Raikkonen as saying: "I don't see things changing much in three or four weeks. Next year things will get better.

"I am pleased with today, but on the whole I am very disappointed with the way things have gone. We need to make sure we don't make the same mistakes.

"I trust Ferrari and I know they are working hard, so that's why I am confident about next year. Then we should be able to fight for race wins again," he added.

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari F14 T, Hungary. (Photo: WRi2)

Team boss Marco Mattiacci was also playing down the significance of Hungary, even though he admitted it was a much-needed morale boost for the Maranello camp.

"I think we should be careful to judge what has happened over this weekend," he is quoted by the Spanish daily AS. "We must remember that we still have a huge amount of work to do.

"We know the strong and the weak points of the car and a weekend with a podium is not going to change that. We have to change the car 180 degrees."

Mattiacci, however, has no doubts about at least one component of the current Ferrari package.

"Without doubt, he (Alonso) is the best driver on the grid," he said.

And Sunday's result also cooled the hostility between Ferrari and Mercedes' Niki Lauda, after the great Austrian last week called the red 2014 car "sh*t".

"Ferrari was today better than Mercedes, so everything is calm again," Lauda smiled.

From GMM

Lewis Hamilton is angling for a pay-rise at Mercedes, the major German newspaper Bild-Zeitung reports.

The big 'silly season' rumour in Hungary last weekend was about Hamilton's silver-coloured seat beyond the end of his 2015 contract.

The news followed hot on the heels of Nico Rosberg's extended Mercedes deal, reportedly featuring a big pay-rise making his new three-year contract worth EUR 55 million.

Bild reports that Hamilton and his management are now pushing for a new EUR 90 million deal for 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG. (Photo: WRi2)

The 'contract poker' could explain the true source of the speculation linking Mercedes with Red Bull's world champion Sebastian Vettel, after that was first leaked by Dr Helmut Marko.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner smiled in Hungary that Marko sits down for "breakfast, lunch and dinner" on every day of a grand prix weekend with fellow Austrian Niki Lauda.

Niki Lauda doubles as Mercedes' team chairman.

But Marko told German television Sky on Sunday that he sees nothing wrong with the sorts of rumours that float around F1's best and highly-paid drivers at contract time.

"At this time of the year it's a completely normal process," he said.

He would not comment on whether Mercedes has actually made an approach to Vettel. "You would have to ask him," Marko insisted.