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France's economic redevelopment minister, Arnaud Montebourg, is describing the involvement of Paris in the potential PSA Peugeot Citroen capital increase as an act of "industrial patriotism."

News 21 Jan, 2014

In its latest report, Shell has predicted the death of the petrol-powered car will be in 2070

Nissan Motor has launched the "all-new" Teana in Japan where it reaches showrooms on 5 February.

PSA Peugeot Citroen has confirmed long-held speculation it is seeking a capital increase of EUR3bn (US$4.1bn) with the possible involvement of partner, Dongfeng and potentially the French State.

Germany's auto industry has been rocked by revelations that the country's ADAC car club falsified the results of its annual "Yellow Angel" car award.

As I gather bits and pieces for

Among the hottest motorcycle segments right now, and#8220;naked bikesand#8221; combine sport-bike performance with stripped-down design.

Citroën has launched its new Grand C4 Picasso seven-seat MPV in the UK. The new vehicle sits on PSA's new EMP2 platform and Citroën claims it weighs up to 110kg less than its predecessor.

For January's management briefing, we review developments and prospects for vehicle demand in the major regions of the world. Dave Leggett considers the state of the global economy and world vehicle market.

Russia plans to support its struggling auto industry with subsidies of up to 271 billion rubles ($8 billion) in the three years to 2016.

Land Rover says the Range Rover SDV6 Hybrid offers the performance of a model powered by a V-8 diesel engine, but with fuel consumption 14 percent below that of the automaker's standard V-6 diesel.

Volvo chief Hakan Samuelsson says cars built in China could soon be exported to the United States. The CEO says he doesn't expect consumers there to react negatively to the notion of China-built Volvos.

PSA's planned recapitalization that would see Dongfeng and the French government join the Peugeot family as equal shareholders may create more problems than it solves for the struggling automaker.

Three new entries in our top 10 list of the most viral automotive videos are for vehicles launched last week at the Detroit auto show.

From GMM

Michael Schumacher's family has issued a statement but no new information about the health of the seven-time World Champion.

Last week, his manager Sabine Kehm said the great 45-year-old German remained in an artificial coma in a "stable" condition, and for the first time did not use the word "critical".

And the latest message from the former Ferrari and Mercedes driver's family, including his wife, children, father and brother Ralf, said they are "deeply touched" by messages of support from around the world.

"That gives us strength," the statement reads. "We all know he is a fighter and will not give up!"

One of the messages of support in the past days has come from Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who said he is hoping "to hear some good news as soon as possible".

A neurosurgeon at France's university of Bordeaux, Jean-Marc Orgogozo, told Le Point newspaper: "Every day, every week you are in a coma, the chance that the situation will improve diminishes."

Schumacher fell whilst skiing in the French Alps a few days before Christmas, striking his helmeted head on a rock and lapsing into coma with brain injuries.

From press release

Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM) announced its 2014 driver lineup for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE).

Drivers Brandon Jones and Ben Rhodes, who each drove part time for TSM last season, will return full time with the organization, joined by newcomers Kaz Grala, Calgary's Cameron Hayley and Scott Heckert.

In its debut season in the NKNPSE, TSM captured six wins and three poles overall en route to taking the championship with Dylan Kwasniewski behind the wheel.

A talented young racer from Calgary, Alberta, Cameron Hayley made his karting debut at the age of seven.

Competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (NKNPSW) since 2011, Hayley was the youngest driver to compete in the series and finished second in his debut. Hayley was the NASCAR K&N Pro Series winner at the inaugural UNOH Battle At The Beach at Daytona International Speedway and finished the 2013 season with one win, six poles and a second-place finish in the NKNPSW Driver Point Standings.

The 17-year-old is a member of the NASCAR Next program, a select group chosen by the sanctioning body that spotlights NASCAR's rising stars.

"I am very pleased to announce our 2014 NASCAR K&N Series East lineup," said team co-owner Harry Scott Jr. "We take great pride in our K&N program, and I believe we've shown what an effective platform it is for up-and-coming drivers in the success we had last year and the fact that we've already seen some of our drivers' potential to advance to the next level. The drivers in our stable have shown a lot of promise and I'm hoping that we can follow up last year's championship with another great season."

The Chevrolet-backed Turner team has created alliances with General Motors' powerhouse team Hendrick Motorsports, which provides engine support for both its NNS and NCWTS programs, and Earnhardt Technology Group for drive train and suspension technology assistance.

The K&N season kicks off with the New Smyrna 150 at New Smyrna Speedway on Sunday, February 16.

From press release

The Sauber F1 Team is pleased to announce Giedo Van der Garde as its test and reserve driver for 2014.

The 27-year-old Dutchman will be driving during some Friday sessions and several tests in the 2014 season.



Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: 
"We are happy to have Giedo van der Garde on board. He has four years experience in GP2 and he drove one year in Formula 1. Many times Giedo has shown his talent as a race driver. Giedo has the right attitude to take the next step forward."



Sauber F1 Team. (Photo: WRi2)

Giedo van der Garde: "I consider this an important step in my career. It is my goal to help the team with the development of the new car. But, of course, I am a racing driver, and I want to show the team and everybody else what I am capable of and that I deserve a race seat with the Sauber F1 Team in 2015."

"I am very thankful to Caterham that they gave me a chance to get a taste of Formula 1. I enjoyed a fantastic season with the team and I have learned a lot. The experience gained will surely help me during the rest of my career.”

“For now, I am really very excited to have signed a contract with the Sauber F1 Team. For every driver it is a dream to work for a well established team such as Sauber. In recent years it has shown impressive results. I am really grateful for this opportunity and I will certainly do my upmost to succeed.”

Giedo Van der Garde joins the race drivers Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutiérrez.

With the St. Petersburg's season opener less than two months away, there are still a few seats to be filled amongst many IndyCar teams and everyone is trying to find the right candidate for the upcoming 2014 season.

At the present time, there are jobs available to fill single entries at Barracuda Racing and Panther Racing, and second cars from Dale Coyne Racing, KV Racing, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.


According to what we know, Briton James Jakes will probably be back at Coyne alongside Justin Wilson, who appears set to stay with the team and complete the final year of his contract.

Another Briton, Pippa Mann is also believed to be involved with the team althought her role has not been decided yet.

Photo: IndyCar

Chances are good that Sebastian Saavedra will join his former Dragon Racing teammate Sebastien Bourdais at KV Racing.

As we already said, Rahal Letterman team is evaluating some candidates, amongst them Canadian Alex Tagliani.

Panther will nominate a driver after it holds a driver shootout in the coming weeks.
 

As for Barracuda Racing, team owners Bryan Herta and Steve Newey could be close to naming the driver of the No. 98 Honda. Without giving out names, Herta confirmed he has a driver ready to go once the team's sponsorship portfolio is completed.


From press release

Mercedes-Benz will field two former DTM champions in the new 2014 DTM season.

In addition to 2005 DTM champion, Gary, 2010 DTM champion Paul di Resta will also drive a DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé in the coming season.

The Scot will strengthen the squad of drivers at Mercedes-Benz, as Daimler prepares to mark its 120th anniversary of competition in motor racing this year in fine style.

Di Resta previously competed in the world's most popular international touring car series for the brand with the three-pointed star from 2007 to 2010, securing six wins, six pole positions and seven fastest laps from 42 races.

After clinching the DTM title at the season finale in Shanghai in 2010, Di Resta switched to Formula 1, where he contested 58 grands prix for Sahara Force India Mercedes (2011-2013), scoring 121 championship points.

Paul di Resta. (Photo: Mercedes AMG)

Di Resta and Mercedes-Benz go back a long way - the Scot won the McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future Kart series in 2000. He became a Mercedes-Benz junior four years later, moving up in 2005 to the Formula 3 Euro Series, which he won with the Mercedes-Benz Formula 3 engine in his second season, beating off competition from four-time Formula 1 world championship title holder, Sebastian Vettel.

Di Resta, along with fellow Mercedes-Benz driver Gary Paffett, is one of seven former DTM champions, who have so far confirmed their participation in the 2014 DTM season. During testing in Portimão on Tuesday, Di Resta will take to the wheel of a DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé to begin preparing for the DTM season opener in Hockenheim on the weekend of 3rd-4th May 2014.

Paul Di Resta: “It feels really good to be back in the DTM and to see so many familiar faces again. The DTM is a fantastic racing series with three strong premium brands, a very competitive field and a very evenly matched bunch of drivers. I'm really looking forward to working with the whole Mercedes-Benz DTM team and being part of another championship challenge. Much has changed since my last DTM race in Shanghai in 2010 with new cars, a new set of rules and a third manufacturer, but what has not changed is my enormous appetite for success. Mercedes-Benz has given me a car that I can use to fight for wins and the title. However, I realise that it will not be easy. My competitors already have two years of experience with the new generation of vehicles, but, starting with today's first test, I'll be going flat out in order to be capable of winning at the Hockenheim season opener in early May.”

Caterham Formula 1 Team announced Tuesday a series number of significant milestones in the ongoing growth of the team.

With a raft of new technical changes to F1's rules for 2014, Caterham has decided to work its aerodynamic department differently.

“Among the news we could share were two very significant deals that will definitely pay dividends for us in 2014 and for years to come - the first being our renewed partnership with Dell/Intel, the second being the migration of our wind tunnel program to the Toyota Motorsport (TMG) facility in Cologne, Germany,” said Caterham team principal Cyril Abiteboul.

Abiteboul explained that the new deal with Dell/Intel represents a major upgrade to the team's HPC (High Performance Cluster), the supercomputer that powers all our IT needs. This has dramatically uprated the CFD capability, something which will be particularly important with the rule changes governing wind-tunnel usage in 2014.

Engineers monitoring the Toyota wind tunnel. (Photo: TMG)

“In addition, we are moving our wind tunnel program to TMG in Germany", Abiteboul continued.

“The TMG facility allows us to run at 60% scale, more than the 50% scale we have been using to date, and that has obvious benefits in increasing the accuracy of the data generated in the tunnel. Ally that to our increased partnership with Dell/Intel and it's safe to say our Design Office now has an IT infrastructure and wind tunnel that are on a par with any team in F1,” he explained.