General Motors is rolling out an initiative to forge deeper strategic partnerships with suppliers, promising a better business relationship to speed innovations to market.
I don't know why I should be surprised, but the comments from France's Confederation Generale du Travail (CGT) union this week, were, well, breathtaking.
General Motors knew of a problem with ignition switches in some of its vehicles for 10 years before it finally recalled the cars, according to a document released this week.
General Motors is expanding the recall of some 2003-2007 model year vehicles to correct a condition with the ignition switch that may allow the key to unintentionally move or switch to the 'accessory' or 'off' position, turning off the engine and most of the electrical components on the vehicle, including airbags.
Ford's head of advanced randd in Europe doubts Carlos Ghosn's prediction that Renault-Nissan -- or any automaker -- will have self-driving cars on the road by 2020.
Hyundai will target eastern and southern Europe with the new Genesis sedan as the automaker seeks to boost its brand image by making a foray into the premium market.
-- Out of all the viral social media trends that 24-hour news agencies love to fret over, easily the best is #burnoutnomination -- where you do a burnout and tag an unwitting victim, whereupon they have to perform it in 24 hours or face copious...
Mini previewed its upcoming new Clubman with a lightly veiled concept of the larger, reconfigured five-seater. It makes its public premiere at next week's Geneva motor show.
Toyota is giving design unprecedented clout in a management shuffle that puts the company's global design chief, Tokuo Fukuichi, in charge of Lexus division and on the board.
Toyota is giving design unprecedented clout in a management shuffle that puts the company's global design chief, Tokuo Fukuichi, in charge of the Lexus division and on the board.
Ernst and Young was accused by the United States of failing to comply with an Internal Revenue Service request for documents in an investigation of the tax liability of Georg Schaeffler, chairman of the German supplier of the same name
Five workers from Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant in the U.S. have petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for a chance to challenge the UAW's efforts to overturn the results of this month's union election there.
McLaren-Mercedes Formula 1 team plans to build a total of only four MP4-29 chassis this season.
McLaren MP4-29 (Photo: McLaren)
That might sound quite paltry for a sport that's rightly considered the pinnacle of automotive engineering, but, in fact, it's a reflection of the lean, efficient way in which modern F1 operates.
Back in the 1990s, McLaren was running three distinct teams - one race team, and two operationally independent test teams - you needed the chassis to back them up.
By the early 2000s, it wasn't unusual for a top outfit to have a test team stationed down at Barcelona testing tires, and another at Paul Ricard trying the Monaco aero package - all while the race team's trucks trundled back from a weekend in Imola.
In those days, it wasn't unusual for a team to knock out eight or nine tubs per year. McLaren built an incredible 11 MP4-6 chassis in 1991.
Such profligate production came to a halt in 2009, when all teams voted to abandon in-season testing, instead jointly agreeing to a series of tests before the season kicked off.
Since 2010, McLaren has produced just four chassis every year. Let's look at the four MP4-29 chassis scheduled for this season.
Chassis No. 01 has so far done the majority of 2014's legwork; it was the car placed under the spotlight at the car launch on January 24, and it's the chassis that did the Jerez test in early February. It's since been returned to McLaren Technology Centre, re-built, modded and painted and freighted to Bahrain, where it was the spare at last week's test, and will be pressed into service again later this week.
Chassis No. 03 was the running car for the first Bahrain test, and will also undertake testing duties this week - it then hurries back to MTC, gets dressed (ie: it gets a new paintjob) and is rushed out to Melbourne, where it's the last of three cars to arrive for the Australian Grand Prix.
As such, it's the car that will sit in the back of the garage in stripped-down tub-form - only being pressed into service if the team damages one of the two fully built-up race cars.
Chassis No. 01, the star of Jerez, also goes back to MTC for a wash and a scrub, but it and its sibling, chassis No. 04, fly to Melbourne five days earlier than the spare chassis, becoming the two race cars that are currently slated to contest Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain and China.
Chassis No. 02 is not due to take to the track until the post-Bahrain Grand Prix test in early April.
Former Indy car and Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve will compete in the 98th Running of the Indianapolis 500 in a car prepared by Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, his first participation in "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" since winning the event in 1995.
Villeneuve's entry in the 2014 Indianapolis 500 marks the 20th anniversary of his first start in 1994, in which the French-Canadian driver finished second and claimed Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors. Villeneuve, 42, won the race and the CART season championship the following year.
Jacques Villeneuve ((Photo: René Fagnan)
Albatec Racing has released Jacques Villeneuve from his contract to contest the UK round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, after it emerged the Canadian has been approached to contest the prestigious Indy 500, which clashes with the Lydden Hill round on Sunday 25 May.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, led by team principal Sam Schmidt and businessman Ric Peterson, is entering its third year of competition in the IndyCar Series. In its first season as a one-car operation with Simon Pagenaud in 2012, the team quickly made its mark as Pagenaud claimed the Rookie of the Year title and placed fifth in the series championship.
Following Peterson's addition to ownership in 2013, the team expanded to two cars, again capturing Rookie of the Year honors with 2012 Firestone Indy Lights champion Tristan Vautier and gathering two wins and third place in the series championship with Pagenaud.
"We're very pleased to have a driver of the caliber of Jacques in our lineup in May," Schmidt said.
"He's a former winner in the event and brings tremendous experience from his success in the world's top racing series. The trust Jacques is putting in Schmidt Peterson Motorsports also validates the progress all of our team members have made in creating an organization capable of competing with anyone."
"Having grown up in Canada, the name Villeneuve is synonymous with winning,” said Ric Peterson.
“I was even there in person when he won the Indy 500 in 1995, and Jacques being the only Canadian to win that huge event, it gave me a huge sense of national pride. It is an honor to have the opportunity to be involved in bringing Jacques back to the '500,' and we look forward to a fantastic result."
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