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Maruti Suzuki India has named Kenichi Ayukawa managing director and CEO from 1 April.

PSA Peugeot Citroen must be casting some fairly envious eyes from its exclusive eyrie on the Avenue de la Grande Armee, just down from the Arc de Triomphe and across the City of Light to Boulogne-Billancourt and Renault's HQ.

Porsche is aiming to match last year's profit in 2013, the company said on Friday. In 2012 Porsche posted an operating profit of 2.44 billion euros ($3.17 billion). Porsche said net debt dropped to 1.87 billion euros at the end of December from 2.

Deutsche Bank put on sale a block of about 5.8 million Volkswagen AG preferred shares for as much as 929 million euros ($1.21 billion) in an accelerated bookbuilding.

6,197 units in the same month of last year, according to data released by the Vietnam Automotive Manufacturers Association.

Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn believes that electric vehicles can help the broader auto industry as the numbers of cars produced globally continues to rise.

GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky isn't happy with the lukewarm reception the Opel Ampera plug-in hybrid has received in Europe.

VW Group remains open to making further acquisitions, though the German group has its work cut out integrating its 12 brands, CEO Martin Winterkorn said.

The debut of the Volkswagen XL1, touted by VW as the world's most fuel-efficient production car, marks VW's entry into the plug-in hybrid market.

Susan Docherty, head of Chevrolet and Cadillac in Europe, is girding for an industry sales slide of 6 percent this year atop last year's 8 percent drop. But there's a bright side: She has seen this play before.

PSA is planning to produce its compact, mid-sized and SUV models on a common platform that also is likely to underpin models made by alliance partner GM.

VW Group and BMW Group predicted a "difficult" 2013 as the European auto market contracts, vehicle prices in the region drop and growth in China slows.

PSA sold its stake in French bank BNP Paribas for about 177 million euros ($229 million) to boost financing as part of a restructuring at Europe's second-largest carmaker.

New Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann says he can revive the beleaguered European brand and stem its persistent losses -- with plenty of help from parent company General Motors.

GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky isn't happy with the lukewarm reception the Opel Ampera plug-in hybrid has received in Europe.

From Caterham

Spanish racer Sergio Canamsas has today finalised a deal to contest the 2013 GP2 Championship with Caterham Racing.

In addition to his GP2 role, Canamsas will be Caterham F1 Team's 2013 development driver and his duties will include F1 simulator work at Leafield Technical Centre, as well as straight-line aero testing for the F1 team.

Sergio Canamasas. (Photo: GP2 Series)

The 24-year-old drove for the team at both pre-season tests in Spain and performed consistently throughout. He will drive the No. 14 Caterham Racing car in 2013 and partners GP2 rookie and Caterham F1 Team reserve driver Ma Qing Hua in the number 15 car.

This year sees Canamsas enter his first full season in GP2, having competed in ten races last year with the Venezuela Lazarus team. Sergio is familiar with the GP2 car and race setup, therefore the team has high expectations for him.

Canamsas' resume boasts seasons in World Series by Renault, European F3 and Spanish F3 and in 2013 he hopes to consolidate his experience and be a front runner in GP2.

Dear Formula 1 fans, here are the photos of all F1 cars as they ran Friday the first two free practice sessions in Melbourne, Australia.

We chose to show you side shots of the 11 cars to help you compare the various components, such as the front wings, noses, air boxes, sidepods and rear wings.

Red Bull RB9 Renault (Photo: WRI2)

Ferrari F138 (Photo: WRI2)

McLaren MP4-28 Mercedes (Photo: WRI2)

Lotus E21 Renault (Photo: WRI2)

Mercedes AMG W04(Photo: WRI2)

Sauber C32 Ferrari (Photo: WRI2)

Sahara Force India VJM06 Mercedes (Photo: WRI2)

Williams FW35 Renault (Photo: WRI2)

Toro Rosso STR8 Ferrari (Photo: WRI2)

Caterham CT03 Renault (Photo: WRI2)

Marussia MR02 Cosworth (Photo: WRI2)

Denny Hamlin, who was fined by NASCAR officials for a statement they deemed to be an action detrimental to the sport (under Section 12-1) said that he would not appeal the fine.

On the other hand he said that he's still refusing to pay the fine.

After the Sprint Cup race in Phoenix Hamlin, who drove his JGR Toyota to third place, said “We learned a lot. I don't want to be the pessimist, but it did not race as good as our generation five cars. This is more like what the generation five was at the beginning. The teams hadn't figured out how to get the aero balance right. Right now, you just run single-file and you cannot get around the guy in front of you.”

NASCAR officials fined Hamlin $25,000 for that statement.

Denny Hamlin, Toyota Camry (Photo: Getty Images/NASCAR)

NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton told journalists at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, on March 7th, "we give them quite a bit of latitude," he said. "You can't slam the racing. You can't slam the product. That's where it crosses the line.”

Denny Hamlin said he wouldn't pay the fine and may have considered appealing it.

Late Thursday afternoon Hamlin tweeted:
“After a lot of thought I have decided not to appeal the fine NASCAR has issued. Dragging myself, my team and NASCAR through the mud for the next 2 weeks would not be good for anyone. I firmly believe I am in the right on this issue and will stand behind my decision not to pay. I understand NASCAR will do what they feel is necessary based on my decision. Thanks to all of my fans and peers who have supported me in this decision. I look forward to putting it to rest.”

NASCAR issued the following statement:
“NASCAR announced today that the $25,000 fine assessed to driver Denny Hamlin on March 7 will be settled per Section 12-3 of the 2013 NASCAR rule book after being informed by Hamlin that he will not appeal the penalty. Hamlin was fined after the sanctioning body determined he had violated Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing). NASCAR considers this matter closed.”

Section 12-3 states "Unpaid fines ... may be collected by NASCAR by deducting amount from ... purse or point fund earnings."

This means that Hamlin's fine will be taken out of future earnings. There will be no further penalty for this matter as set forth in NASCAR's statement.

Audi Sport is displaying great form, ahead of the 2013 12 Hours of Sebring. The German team topped all four practice sessions.

Even the series' reigning champion team, Muscle Milk Pickett Racing, couldn't get anywhere close Audi. The best it managed in its final outing before qualifying was fourth, 2.4 seconds off the pace.

Audi is setting the pace in Sebring (Photo: Audi Sport)

In P2, Greaves Motorsport and Level 5 Motorsports are still trading fastest laps, which makes it very tough to pick out a favourite between the two.

The story in GT belongs to Ferrari - led by returnee team Risi Competizione - and Corvette. Having been quickest in two out of four test sessions, Risi seems to have the edge.

DragonSpeed, CORE Autosport and RSR Racing all featured so far in LMPC, while in GTC, the Alex Job, NGT and Flying Lizards are heading the charts.

Qualifying for the race started at 1:15 pm ET.

From GMM

The future of the so-called 'resource restriction agreement' - a gentleman's pact among teams to control costs - has moved under a dark cloud.

The controversial agreement has been a subject of discussion behind closed motor home doors for some time, with many teams wanting the FIA to get involved to expand and enshrine the arrangement in the actual rules.

But FIA president Jean Todt, who arrived in Melbourne on Friday afternoon, has cast serious doubt not only on the latter possibility, but even on the future of the gentleman's pact.

"I think F1 does cost too much," he acknowledged to the Financial Times.

He added, however, that "A lot of teams prefer to have the privilege of competition rather than reduce costs".

"I hope that a sensible approach from teams will be reducing costs. But it's not something we all have to agree together," said Todt.

"We are the regulator. If they don't want to reduce costs, that's it. It's not our responsibility to do things that teams do not want."

Team Red Bull Racing at work at night. (Photo: WRi2)

Todt sounded happier about the state of the FIA's financial situation, in the context of a new agreement with Bernie Ecclestone, and higher entry fees from the teams.

The agreement "will be good" for the Paris-based federation, the Frenchman said.

But the governing body has not got off to a good start in Australia, after the white shirts bearing the FIA logo for the race stewards to wear got lost in the mail from Place de la Concorde, according to a report in Speed Week.