Auto News 5

Pictures See all 9 pictures 27 Jun, 2014

We're back for day two of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and live coverage starts at 2:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time right here on Autoweek.

Porsche expects China deliveries to rise more than 10 percent this year despite a slight drop in May, according to a newspaper report. Last year, the carmaker's sales rose 20 percent in the market.

As heralded earlier this month, Nissan Motor's luxury car unit Infiniti has begun engine assembly at its new Decherd powertrain plant, a collaboration between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler.

A report by the Nikkei claiming Mitsubishi will supply its Attrage sedan to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles for sale in certain markets as a Chrysler have been denounced as "speculation" by MMC.

General Motors President Dan Ammann says that GM is performing to plan and that its European operations are on target to achieve profitability by "mid-decade".

News 26 Jun, 2014

Most trusted garages in the UK announced by Motor Codes, with a winner set to be announced from the 20-strong shortlist next month

How well did you follow the news this week? Take our weekly quiz.

Renault is narrowing its European sales gap with rivals in its bid to rise to No. 2 from No. 4 by 2017. To get there it will need to pass third-ranked Opel/Vauxhall and current No. 2 Ford.

Nearly 30 years after joining Nissan, Trevor Mann travels the globe as Nissan's chief performance officer, visiting every business region, from India to Canada, to help local sales and manufacturing executives stay on track with objectives.

Nissan expects to double sales of the X-Trail in its European markets after giving the latest generation of the mid-sized SUV a less rugged design and a front-wheel-drive option.

From GMM

Just before closing down his high-profile Twitter account on Friday, Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes hinted he is pulling out of F1.

The AirAsia chief has been conspicuously absent from the paddock in 2014, having warned that Caterham was being given one final season to shine.

Eight races in, the green-coloured team is still yet to score a single point after nearly four and a half years on the grid, and rumours of a sale to Arab investors are beginning to swirl.

The Times correspondent Kevin Eason on Friday said it is "an open secret in F1 that Fernandes wants out".

At the very same time, there is speculation team boss Cyril Abiteboul could soon return to Renault to lead the struggling French engine supplier's restructuring.

And as Malaysian entrepreneur Fernandes shocked his followers by suddenly quitting Twitter on Friday, he hinted it wasn't the only one of his projects on its last legs.

"F1 hasn't worked, but love Caterham Cars", he tweeted before departing.

Caterham CT05-Renault. (Photo: WRi2)

To celebrate a milestone 15 million fans on Facebook, Ferrari is taking you out on the track at Fiorano with GoogleGlass and the LaFerrari.

Take a seat next to Raffaele De Simone, chief test driver at Ferrari, and enjoy this hot lap where speed and sound effects combine for memorable times.

The highway safety division of Northern Ireland's Department of Environment has recently posted a shocking video to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding.

Kelley Blue Book has just published its Top 10 coolest cars under US$18,000 of 2014. Unsurprisingly, the all-new 2014 Mazda3 came out on top based on two criteria: fun-to-drive and fun-to-own.

"Low-priced new cars are getting cooler with each passing year and the mass-appeal, bread-and-butter small cars are becoming increasingly stylish and tech-savvy," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com.

"On the strength of a well-received redesign for 2014, the Mazda3, which could be called king of the Coolest Cars Under $18,000, reclaims its spot at the top of our annual list. Stylish and fun from day one, the Mazda3's engineering innovation that results in great benefits like high fuel efficiency and fun-to-drive make it cooler than ever."

KBB's top 10 coolest cars under US$18,000 of 2014:

1. Mazda3
2. Hyundai Veloster
3. Kia Soul
4. Honda Civic Coupe
5. Volkswagen Jetta
6. Fiat 500
7. Dodge Dart
8. Ford Fiesta
9. Chevrolet Sonic
10. Nissan Versa Note

Doug Park, GM's Vice President of Global Product Programs and former chief engineer of the Chevrolet Cobalt, found out about 10 years ago that an ignition switch defect in certain vehicles could prevent the airbags from deploying in a crash, according to internal documents released by the U.S. Congress on Thursday.

In an email sent on June 27th, 2005, another chief engineer for the Cobalt, Ray DeGiorgio, said he had talked to Parks about the faulty ignition switch.

"Here is an update of our review w/Doug at Milford," DeGiorgio told another GM employee in the email titled "UPDATE: GMX001 Ignition Cylinder Changes - Unintentional Turning Off Engine."

Earlier this year, GM recalled 2.6 million Cobalts, Saturn IONs and Skys, as well as Pontiac Solstices and G5s manufactured from 2003-2011 — nearly a decade after said defect had been discovered and resulted in at least 13 deaths and 54 accidents.

So far, GM has fired 15 employees, mostly engineers and company attorneys, while five others are facing disciplinary actions. A number of investigations are still underway, too.

An internal GM investigation exonerated the leadership in early June, concluding that management was only made aware of the mechanical problem in December 2013.


_{Source: AFP}

Mitsubishi will build 500,000 compact sedans annually for FIAT-Chrysler at one of its plants in Thailand, all of which are destined for Asian markets, the Japanese newspaper Nikkei reports.

Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2015, although an official announcement will be made early next week. The deal will allow FIAT-Chrysler to expand its product portfolio and regain some lost ground in Asia.

Mitsubishi and Chrysler once teamed up in the mid-'80s, but the former neglected to make critical recalls in the early 2000s, which led to a major scandal and put an abrupt end to the relationship.

Things have changed since then, and Mitsubishi has been able to secure partnerships with a number of automakers including Renault, PSA, and Nissan.


_{Source: Libération.fr}

According to GTSpirit.com, a British dealer has leaked official details and pictures of the new 2014 Audi RS 6 Avant Plus. They were available long enough to take screenshots.

Photo: Audi

Using an upgraded version of the 4.0L twin-turbo V8 engine that bumps output from 560 to 600 horsepower, this model will be lighter and more agile, too.

More good news: Whereas the old 2004 RS 6 Plus was limited to just 999 units around the world, the new 2014 Audi RS 6 Avant Plus will be a full production model.

Of course, market availability, on-sale dates, and prices have yet to be announced. Count on Audi to issue an official press release shortly... but don't expect to see the car in Canada.

From GMM

F1's last chance to slash costs for struggling teams has now passed.

The FIA's World Motor Sport Council met in Munich on Thursday, less than a mere handful of days before the end-of-June deadline for rule changes to be made for 2015 without the near-impossible need for unanimity.

With the budget cap proposal already dead in the water, many struggling teams had hoped meaningful cost reductions would be agreed before the final deadline.

But the new and powerful 'Strategy Group' - dominated by the most competitive and richest teams - has ceded only a handful of minor measures.

They were rubber-stamped by the FIA on Thursday.

Engine use has been reduced by one 'power unit' per driver to just four in 2015, wind tunnel usage per week has been reduced for 2015 from 80 to 65 hours, the Bahrain winter test has been banned and the personnel 'curfew' at races has been lengthened.

Moreover, the use of computational fluid dynamics has been further restricted, teams will no longer be able to use more than one wind tunnel for testing, and two of the four in-season tests have been scrapped.

Many agree that the changes amount to 'tinkering', rather than a substantial move to ensure the survival of struggling teams.

Roger Benoit, the veteran correspondent for Swiss newspaper Blick, wondered: "Is this the end for Marussia, Caterham or Sauber?"

Grille de départ. (Photo: WRi2)

Indeed, with both Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone acknowledging the prospect of losing teams, it is known that detailed talks about three-car teams have already taken place.

"At the moment we have eleven teams and hopefully they stay in formula one," said Toto Wolff, boss of the dominant Mercedes team.

"But the last 50 years has shown that some teams come, some teams go. If it falls below a critical level, having a third car could be a way of filling up the grid."

Franz Tost, boss of Red Bull's second team Toro Rosso, also admitted "the risk is there" that the F1 grid of 2015 will not feature all 22 cars of today.

But as of today, the rules do not allow three-car teams, and the June 30 deadline for non-unanimous rule changes for 2015 will imminently pass.

"No," Tost insisted. "If it was needed, I would not be surprised to see third cars in 2015," he is quoted by Italy's Omnicorse.

Meanwhile, at its Munich meeting on Thursday, the FIA also banned the ugly 'anteater'-style noses for 2015, and rubber stamped the use of titanium skid blocks so that they are "lighter" and "better contained".

Titanium skid blocks were tested in practice in Austria last weekend, with the aim of spicing up the show with 80s-style sparks.

Reports from Australia indicate that Hyundai is working on a new system that uses GPS data to identify speed cameras and automatically slow the vehicle down to the legal speed limit.

Photo: Hyundai

A company spokesman, Guido Schenken, told journalists that the car ''will beep 800 metres before a camera and show the legal speed, and it will beep at you if your speed is over that."

Of course, we're talking about stationary cameras, here. Drivers would still have to beware of patrol officers along the highway.

This innovative system that prevents speeding tickets will reportedly be featured on the new Hyundai Genesis along with active cruise control and emergency braking technology.


_{Source: Drive.com.au}