Auto News 5

Volkswagen says it will press for the establishment of a works council at its Chattanooga site following the employees' surprise decision to vote against having UAW representation at the Tennessee plant.

BMW is building a second production hall at a carbon-fiber factory jointly run with SGL Carbon to respond to growing demand for its i-subbrand models.

While the usual story is that yet another racetrack has been eaten up by urban sprawl, here's a different twist: Auto Club Dragway on the grounds of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana will reopen on Feb.

-- Mazda Europe designer Peter Birthwhistle talks about

News 27 Feb, 2014

New 12C-based McLaren 650S is a second quicker than the McLaren F1 to 200 km/h

An industry analyst has penned an open letter to PSA/Peugeot-Citroen urging the automaker to scrap its planned capital tie-up with China's Dongfeng Motor and raise capital in other ways.

The race is on. BMW has announced plans to offer optional laser headlights on its new i8 plug-in hybrid supercar, while Audi has promised to get the technology to market even faster.

Ron Rossi has always looked for efficiencies in his workplace.

Dealerships are getting clever in the war on "showrooming," the retail phenomenon in which shoppers visit stores to get product and pricing information, then whip out smartphones to shop for a better deal elsewhere.

Hyundai may add a third vehicle to its luxury-car lineup and is considering building a compact crossover.

General Motors is counting on reducing supply and logistics costs as the next phase in their bid to match competitors in profitability.

These are some of the steps two dealerships have taken since settling charges with the Federal Trade Commission alleging deceptive advertising.

From Ford's lighter aluminum F-150 to General Motors' stylish smaller pickups to Ram's light-duty diesel engine, the industry's dominant truckmakers have all shown their hands.

Chrysler Group's Windsor minivan plant is poised to grab a share of funds that Canada's federal government has pledged to keep auto plants operating there.

General Motors' dramatic about-face on its standard purchasing contract last week was more than a gritty admission by GM's purchasing chief that she was wrong.

As billions of dollars in profits pile up for the Detroit 3, so does resentment within the UAW toward the two-tier wage system that has helped produce those profits.

Thousands of collision repair technicians, insurance estimators, Ford field staffers and others will go to school in one of the biggest industry training programs ever.

From GMM

Martin Brundle has scolded former F1 rival Jacques Villeneuve, after the 1997 world champion attacked the sport's new V6 era.

As his new foray in the world rallycross series was launched last week, 42-year-old French Canadian Villeneuve slammed not only F1's new 'greener' guise, he also denounced the drivers of 2014 as "mediocre".

"(It) angers me when former F1 drivers stick a boot into F1 for publicity," Brundle, now a highly-respected commentator for British television, wrote on Twitter, without referring to Villeneuve by name.

"They had privileged chances, success, cash. Give something positive back," he added.

Photo: WRi2

From press release

Fresh to market Lotus 49B is to go under the hammer at the Bonhams Festival of Speed auction on June 27.

One of the most renowned of legendary Lotus head Colin Chapman's landmark Formula 1 car designs, the Lotus 49 as introduced in 1967 not only launched the racing world's most successful Grand Prix power unit - the Cosworth-Ford DFV V8 - into racing history, it also became one of the longest-lived of Grand Prix car designs - serving Team Lotus into 1970, and being campaigned by such superstar World Champions as Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt and Emerson Fittipaldi.

Graham Hill, Lotus 49B Ford, Silverstone (Photo: Bonhams)

Chassis number ‘49-R8' was part of Gold Leaf Team Lotus's motor racing armoury, and is the last Lotus to be sold from the collection of the much respected and sorely missed British-born Formula One Lotus collector and racer, the late John Dawson-Damer.

Never before offered at auction, ‘49-R8' was built in October 1968 and is one of a handful remaining of just 12 Lotus 49s produced.

Its Colin Chapman concept, detailed by his gifted designer Maurice Phillippe, perfected a stressed-skin monocoque forward fuselage which terminated immediately behind the driver's cockpit, to which the brand-new Cosworth-Ford DFV V8 engine was then bolted as the rear chassis member, carrying the ZF or Hewland gearbox and rear suspension.

The Lotus 49 instantly set new Formula 1 performance standards, and won its debut race, the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix, driven by Jim Clark.

In 1968 Graham Hill won his second Formula 1 World Championship title in the developed Type 49 and 49B cars and, when brand new, chassis ‘R8' - now to be offered by Bonhams - became the new World Champion's mount for the Tasman Championship races in New Zealand and Australia in January-February 1969.

From GMM

Post-race celebratory 'donuts' have been legalised by F1's governing body.

Sebastian Vettel was given an official reprimand by the FIA after crossing the line in India to become world champion for the fourth time last season.

"Are you serious?" Lewis Hamilton said when told of Vettel's penalty. "That's crazy!"

Sebastian Vettel, 2013 world champion with Red Bull, in India. (Photo: WRi2)

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner agreed that race stewards "need to be empowered to give a little more leniency in extraordinary circumstances".

That is exactly what has happened.

As confirmed in the latest draft of the 2014 sporting regulations, race winners will from now on be exempt from having to drive straight to parc ferme.

Now, they are allowed to "perform an act of celebration" after crossing the finish line, provided the act is "performed safely" and "does not delay the podium ceremony".