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Volkswagen said group global sales rose to more than 9.7 million vehicles in 2013, with the record deliveries fueled by demand for Audi and Porsche models and surging sales in China.

Volkswagen said group global sales rose to more than 9.7 million vehicles in 2013, with the record deliveries fueled by demand for Audi and Porsche models and surging sales in China.

Volkswagen said group global sales rose to more than 9.7 million vehicles in 2013, with the record deliveries fueled by demand for Audi and Porsche models and surging sales in China.

With just under three weeks until kickoff, Super Bowl XLVIII is shaping up to be a New York-worthy traffic jam of big-budget auto ads.

Tesla Motors, on a roll this past year with its highly praised Model S electric vehicle, faces its hardest challenge is yet to come: achieving CEO Elon Musk's bold goal of increasing the company's estimated 2013 volume of 20,000 units to 250,000 in...

Even though he retired eight years ago, NASCAR Hall of Famer and 1989 NASCAR champion, Rusty Wallace, showed that he was still competitive at an open test at Daytona International Speedway.

On Friday, driving the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, the 57-year old Wallace averaged 192.102 mph in qualifying setup on his final run of the day - good enough for fourth on the overall chart at the time. Very good for the former Penske driver who had been out of a car for those eight years.

“I really wanted to get back in the car and get a good feel for this Gen-6 car here at Daytona,” Wallace said with a toothy grin. “Not only did they let me run a couple of times, they ran me for most of the day. The car is fantastic - it was real smooth and nice, and the crew was kind. I hope I helped them a little bit, you know, with a lot of feedback.”

Brad Keselowski, Rusty Wallace (Photo: C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Current Penske driver, Brad Keselowski, the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion was also pleased.

“It means a lot to me,” he said. “Rusty is probably the reason why Miller Lite and Penske stayed together and got to the point to where I'd have this opportunity. I'd like to think I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for guys like Rusty and, specifically, what he did for the No. 2 team.

“That is up to him. He did a great job today. If Rusty wants to drive my car he can drive it any time. Just don't take my paycheck,” joked Keselowski.

As Stéphane Peterhansel (MINI) takes win in sixth stage of the Dakar rally, it's his team mate Juan Roma who remains in first position overall before Saturday's break.

At the end of the stage, between the cities of Tucuman and Salta, in north of Argentina, it was a 1-2-3 for MINI as Peterhansel was quickest ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah and Orlando Terranova.

Juan Roma, who takes sixth position of the stage behind Giniel de Villiers' Toyota Hilux and Carlos Sainz's buggy SMG, retains the lead, 30'30'' ahead of Terranova and 33'23'' ahead of Peterhansel. Sainz and Robby Gordon (Hummer) get one hour penalty for having missed a waypoint in the 5th stage.

Today's stage was unfortunately overshadowed by the death of amateur motorcycle rider, Belgian Eric Palante (50), whose body was found near his bike Friday morning on the sector of the stage of thursday . The exact circumstances of his death are not yet known.

Eric Palante (Photo: palante-dakar.be)

The race resumes Sunday after the rest day on Saturday. The competitors will be separated into two groups for two days, motorcycles entering Bolivia while cars remain in Argentina, all competitors will meet again in Calama, on the Chilean side of the Andes, on Monday.

Citroën Racing was hard at work this past week, testing the C-Elysée ahead of its World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) debut this year.

All three drivers of the French team attended the venue at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit.

José-María López started the test on Friday, with Sébastien Loeb taking over on Sunday. The nine time WRC champion drove until his countryman Yvan Muller replaced him for the last day on Tuesday.

Citroën also invited Abu Dhabi Racing chairman Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi to participate. The WRC regular drove the C-Elysée on Monday evening.

Loeb is now headed to another test venue in Argentina. He will drive a car from a local touring car series around the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.

Citroën C-Elysée, Abu Dhabi (Photo: WTCC)

From press release

Formula 1 fans attending the Autosport International Show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham today were among the first to hear Marussia's announcement regarding Max Chilton.

The 22-year-old will race alongside Jules Bianchi once again, completing the Banbury based team's 2014 race driver line-up.

Max Chilton, Marussia MR02 (Photo: WRi2)

Chilton was present as Team President & Sporting Director Graeme Lowdon announced the news that the British driver, who made his F1 debut in 2013, will be racing for Marussia again in 2014.

"I would like to thank the Marussia F1 Team for their continued faith and support. They are a great bunch of people who are extremely hard-working and ambitious and I can't wait to embark on our 2014 season challenge together," said Chilton.

From GMM

F1's governing body on Friday revealed the race numbers drivers on the 2014 grid have picked for the rest of their grand prix careers.

World champion Sebastian Vettel will carry the coveted number 1 for the fourth consecutive season, but he has selected 5 - made famous by Nigel Mansell's 'red 5' - for the remainder of his time in formula one.

Many of the race numbers had already been divulged by drivers through their social media pages or via the media, but curiously Lotus' Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado has plumped for 13 -- considered unlucky by many and not seen in F1 for years.

Also curiously, the FIA marked Lotus' entire place on the 2014 entry list as "subject to confirmation", just days after the Enstone based team said it will be sitting out the opening test of the pre-season late this month.

McLaren's Jenson Button will carry number 22, resembling "two little ducks", as he did in 2009 when he won the title with Brawn GP.

"Quack quack!" he told his 1.6 million Twitter followers.

Nico Hulkenberg has secured F1's iconic number 27, while Adrian Sutil will carry 99 on his car and helmet.

Like Lotus, Marussia's place on the 2014 is "subject to confirmation", as is Max Chilton's race number.

Complete entry list*
1. Sebastian Vettel (Infiniti Red Bull Racing)**
3. Daniel Ricciardo (Infiniti Red Bull Racing)
44. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes GP Petronas)
6. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP Petronas)
14. Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari)
7. Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari)
8. Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1 Team)
13. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus F1 Team)
22. Jenson Button (McLaren Mercedes)
20. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren Mercedes)
27. Nico Hulkenberg (Sahara Force India)
11. Sergio Perez (Sahara Force India)
99. Adrian Sutil (Sauber F1 Team)
21. Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber F1 Team)
25. Jean-Eric Vergne (Scuderia Toro Rosso)
26. Daniil Kvyat (Scuderia Toro Rosso)
19. Felipe Massa (Williams F1 Team)
77. Valtteri Bottas (Williams F1 Team)
17. Jules Bianchi (Marussia F1 Team)
TBA. Max Chilton (Marussia F1 Team)

*Having not confirmed any driver, Caterham is not on the list.
**Vettel's No. 1 is associated with his championship win of last year. For the duration of his F1 career, he chose No. 5.

Stadler Motorsport's Rolf and Mark Ineichen, Marcel Matter, Adrian Amstutz and Christian Engelhart (Porsche 997 GT3 R) covered 3,250.17 kilometres over the 2014 24 Hours of Dubai to win this year's race.

"For us, the event started off with some troubles in practice, but the race was perfect. The car ran like clockwork, there isn't even a single scratch on it, commented Ineichen.

"We are really proud of this success."

Photo: Darren and Connor Rycroft/anysportphotos.com

With the 2014 win, Porsche becomes the manufacturer with the most victories in the history of the event, although it had not won since 2010.

Münnich Motorsport's René Münnich, Rob Huff and Marc Basseng placed second in their Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, ahead of Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon's Khaled Al Qubaisi, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Abdulaziz Turki Al Faisal, Hubert Haupt and Adam Christodoulou, in another SLS.

Canadian Paul Dalla Lana and his Schubert teammates placed the top 10, driving a BMW Z4.

The all-women Dutch Racing Divas earned their second consecutive class win in the A3T category, with the Schubert Motorsport-run No. 90 BMW 320D.

Race results - 2014 24 Hours of Dubai
1 - Ineichen-Ineichen-Matter-Amstutz-Engelhart (Porsche 997) - Stadler - 603 giri
2 - Munnich-Basseng-Huff (Mercedes SLS) - Munnich - 600
3 - Al Qubaisi-Bleekemolen-Al Faisal-Haupt-Christodolou (Mercedes SLS) - 597
4 - Mattschull-Seefried—Ehret-Kaffer (Ferrari 458) - GT Corse - 593
5 - Nathan-Werkman-Abresch-Van't Hoff-Kogay (Corvette C6R) - V8Racing - 592
6 - Wankenhorst-Oeverhaus-Schmid-Richter-Hurtgen (BMW Z4) - Walkenhorst - 591
7 - Grogor-Al Mudhaf-Jawa-Fatien (Ferrari 458) - Dragon - 586
8 - Webb-Tutumlu-Stoviceck-Mori-Mul (Lamborghini Gallardo) - Leipert 586
9 - Barreiros-Dhillon-Maris-Scott-Ilya (Ferrari 458) - Spirit Of Race - 584
10 - Dalla Lana-Auberlen-Cameron-Werner-Hurtgen (BMW Z4) - Schubert - 583
(...)

With automakers' demand for aluminum growing explosively as they seek to improve fuel efficiency, aluminum providers are selling out their automotive capacity almost as fast as they can build new plants, raising the question of whether some car...

News 11 Jan, 2014

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Fisker Automotive's assets will be sold at auction after a judge limited the amount of debt that lender Hybrid Tech Holdings can trade for the company.

GM is recalling 303,000 of its redesigned 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks in the United States to fix a software glitch that could lead to engine compartment fires.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's Financial Services has raised its rating of Chrysler Group one notch to BB- to match that of its corporate parent, Fiat.

A federal bankruptcy judge rejected a planned sale of Fisker Automotive to a Hong Kong tycoon, opening the way for China's largest auto parts company to buy the defunct maker of the Karma plug-in hybrid sports car.

In the wake of a crackdown by the Federal Trade Commission on deceptive dealership advertising, the National Automobile Dealers Association sent an e-mail to its board late Thursday, urging dealers to review their advertising closely and warning...

A Chinese automotive glass manufacturer today agreed to buy a large portion of the former General Motors SUV plant in Moraine, Ohio, and said it plans to create about 800 jobs within five years.

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