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-- Indy is full of tradition, and ABC is full of Indy. Having covered the Indy 500 for the past half-century, ABC is as "back home again" as

Jaguar Land Rover's strong fourth-quarter performance helped the automaker achieve a record full-year profit, providing a bright spot for owner Tata Motors.

Ford says it will launch 'adaptive steering' in 2015, claiming that the new generation of steering technology - developed with Takata - will improve the driving experience.

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Dieter Zetsche foresees Mercedes models benefiting quicker than ever from the automaker's participation in Formula One.

Editor's note: An earlier headline and lead sentence on this story gave inaccurate information about Smart's finances. The brand has been profitable since 2010 and has remained profitable.

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche believes the all-new Smart ForFour minicar will be commercially successful and should help the money-losing brand make its first profit.

Automotive News Europe honors the winners of the 2014 Rising Stars awards. Every day through June 3 a pair of the 14 winners will be featured. The Rising Star for Manufacturing is PSA's Patrice Bony.

Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche believes the all-new Smart ForFour minicar will be commercially successful and should help the money-losing brand make its first profit.

The latest issue of the Automotive News Europe monthly e-magazine goes live on Monday, June 2. This month's edition examines Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn's plan to challenge Toyota, VW and GM.

Automotive News Europe salutes the winners of the 2014 Rising Stars awards. Every day through June 3 two of the 14 winners will be featured. The Rising Star for IT is Jaguar Land Rover's Mike Bell.

Dieter Zetsche foresees Mercedes models benefiting quicker than ever from the automaker's participation in Formula One.

Chrysler Group continues to tweak the software that operates the complex nine-speed automatic transmissions it will use to power all of its front-wheel-drive-based vehicles, including the Jeep Cherokee.

An NHRA Top Fuel dragster accelerates faster than any other ground vehicle on Earth. Watch this video to understand why!

A Top Fuel dragster is a 2,000-pound vehicle that is powered by a V8 engine that produces 8,000 horsepower and burns 17 gallons of nitromethane during its run.

It is capable to reach 300 miles/hour in less time that a conventional road car takes to reach 30 m/h!

A Top Fuel dragster covers the quarter mile from standstill in less than four seconds!

On this episode of 'How'd They Do That', Australian David Grubnic, driver of a Top Fuel dragster to Team Kalitta, explains the various mechanical components of the beast.

Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman at Daimler, has admitted that discussions were held about Mercedes' involvement in Formula 1 when the team was not doing so well not long ago.

Let's go back in time.

In 2009, Mercedes was the engine supplier of Brawn Grand Prix when it decided to purchase 75.1% of the company in October and to rename the team Mercedes Grand Prix.

Between 2010 and the end of last year, the German team managed just four race wins and had to endure more than two years without success until Nico Rosberg took the chequered flag at the 2012 Chinese GP.

Present in the paddock in Monaco, Dr. Zetsche admitted that senior management at Daimler had to sit down and weigh the cost of racing - estimated at around 270$ million (197 millions euros) last year - against the team performance.

Motorhome Mercedes. (Photo: WRi2)

"There has to be an intelligent business decision and of course the motivation is marketing," Zetsche told the medias in Monaco.

"Still, you have to justify your spending and see that you get results. And for that reason we had to have discussions. That took place. There was not one person in the boardroom who was against racing, others who were in favour. But we had to discuss all aspects and make the right decision in the interests of our company shareholders. That's where we came to the conclusion we're not a company for the short-term; what we do, we do for the long run,” Zetsche added.

The new turbo hybrid engine regulation suits Mercedes perfectly, and the German car manufacturer is now committed to F1 until at least 2020.

"With the objective to save fuel, be efficient and have very high performance, that's exactly what we have to do with our production cars and we use exactly the same technical components," Zetsche said.

Following the launch of the GLA Kart for the new Mario Kart 8 video game, Mercedes-Benz further expanded its partnership with Nintendo by using everyone's favourite plumber to present the actual GLA.

Ford yesterday announced the upcoming launch of a new advanced steering technology that will help make vehicles easier to manoeuvre at low speeds and in tight spaces.

Adaptive Steering changes the ratio between the driver's actions at the steering wheel -- the number of turns -- and how much the front wheels turn.

The technology will be available on select models beginning next year, although Ford did not specify which ones.

Mercedes-Benz has teamed up with Nintendo to create the GLA Kart, a new free-to-download vehicle for the Japanese version of the Mario Kart 8 video game.

In the U.S., despite the game hitting stores today, the GLA Kart will be available at a later date. Nintendo will soon provide more specific details.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

The Gilles Villeneuve circuit, home of the Canadian Grand Prix, is a very demanding race track. Reliability of the turbo hybrid Power Units will be crucial.

Mercedes was a bit worried after Williams' driver Valtteri Bottas stopped on track on lap 55 following an issue related to the Power Unit.

“We now head to Canada, which is another unusual circuit but in the opposite vein to Monte Carlo. Endurance will also be an important factor given the high demands placed on the components, so this race will provide a comprehensive test of the Mercedes-Benz Hybrid package,” said Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical) at Mercedes AMG.

Problems fixed
“There were some concerns after Monaco following a retirement for Valtteri Bottas, but the Mercedes team at Brixworth have been working extremely hard to understand that problem and ensure that it is contained across every engine. We are confident that this will be the case,” Lowe added.

“We will be bringing a number of updates to the car, both on the power unit and aerodynamic side, so it should be an interesting weekend,” the British engineer concluded.

On Thursday, Ford announced a recall on 1.39 million SUVs and sedans in North America, including 1.18 million in the U.S., due to a potential power steering failure. Affected models include the 2011-2013 Ford Explorer, as well as the 2008-2011 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner.

A number of accidents involving injuries have been reported to U.S. regulators.

In addition, approximately 200,000 Ford Taurus sedans from 2010-2014 are being recalled to fix a corrosion issue.

Finally, 82,576 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln Zephyr sedans from 2006-2011 have floor mats that may interfere with the operation of the gas pedal.

The number of affected units in Canada has yet to be specified.

Source: reuters.com