Auto News 5

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has set himself a tough task to take the sporty Alfa Romeo brand global with more expensive models and triple its sales volume by 2016 -- after years of losses.

With European volume OEMs and European offshoots of multi-nationals struggling en masse to achieve some sort of balance between capacity, demand, labour relations and costs, it would be fair to assume that Tier 1 suppliers are going through the same agonies.

February new vehicle registrations in New Zealand of 7,946 were up 10.6% (761 units) on February 2012 (7,185). Commercial vehicle registrations of 2,148 units were up a noteworthy 38.4% (596 units) on February 2012 and the highest monthly February sales since 1982. Passenger car registrations of 5,798 were up 163 units (2.9%) on February 2012.

Severe weather and government shenanigans couldn't keep Americans from visiting dealer lots last month. February light vehicle sales were up 3.7%, surpassing 1.19m and producing a SAAR of 15.38m units. This is the fourth consecutive month the SAAR has been above 15m.

Eight Southern states, organized by a Michigan research group, are forming a coalition to encourage overseas automakers and suppliers to locate randd centers in the Southeast.

Some luxury brands are giving AutoNation the OK to put the AutoNation brand name on their dealerships.

New Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann is standing behind Opel's restructuring. Neumann, who took over his new post on Friday, has seen the Drive 2022 plan and wants to implement it without major changes, sources close to Opel said.

The European auto industry is in for a rough ride over the next few years. What are the solutions? Which companies will emerge as winners? The 16th Automotive News Europe Congress will explore answers to those questions on June 12 in Paris.

The Mercedes-Benz A class suffered a surprisingly decisive defeat in the 2013 European Car of the Year contest won easily by the Volkswagen Golf.

A new SRT Viper and an upcoming Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Alfa Romeo 4C and Acura NSX. If consumers didn't know better, they might think that all is well in the sports car business. It's not.

General Motors is spending tens of millions of dollars to buff up its dealership network in metro New York, where its sales badly lag rivals.

Tim Mahoney, Chevrolet's new global marketing chief, knows something about putting spark into struggling brands and giving focus to confused marketing. He comes to General Motors after a two-year stint at high-flying Volkswagen of America.

Google is poised to expand its online car-shopping service to dealers throughout California and enter more states, sources say. By expanding the pilot, Google is signaling its intention to be a more significant force in online auto shopping.

Chrysler Group said it was going for a "polarizing design" with the 2014 Jeep Cherokee. Mission accomplished, judging from the torrent of comments that streamed into the Twitter feed of Ralph Gilles, Chrysler's head of design.

As Mercedes-Benz's U.S. marketers brainstormed in 2009 about how to attract youthful buyers with a compact sedan then being developed, it quickly became clear what they needed most -- an un-Mercedes-like sticker price.

Some luxury brands are giving AutoNation the OK to put the AutoNation brand name on their dealerships.

Renault and PSA will use the Geneva auto show as the launching pad for models that are forecast to go to the top of Europe's fast-growing small SUV segment.

New Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann is standing behind Opel's restructuring. Neumann has seen the Drive 2022 plan and wants to implement it without major changes, sources close to Opel said. Opel was the major contributor to parent General Motors' $1.

The new issue of the Automotive News Europe monthly e-magazine is ready for you to view.

From GMM

As the sun set on the final day of pre-season testing late on Sunday, the words on everyone's lips were Mercedes and Red Bull.

"Everyone is saying that this Mercedes is fast. Consistently fast," said respected Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt.

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko added: "(It is fast) at least on one lap. But at least we do have to take them really seriously."

McLaren sporting director Sam Michael agrees: "Hamilton and Rosberg have been quick in all circumstances."

On the other hand, there are now questions being asked about the pace of world champions Red Bull's new RB9, after a difficult last weekend of testing in Barcelona.

New haircut aside, Sebastian Vettel did not look entirely cool.

"It has been extremely difficult to assess some changes and find the right direction with the car, simply because the tyres have not been good enough," he is quoted by Brazil's O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

Teammate Mark Webber added: "We need another couple of weeks of testing, but we don't have it."

German Vettel continued: "The new parts are not working exactly the way we had hoped."

Photo: WRi2

Some paddock insiders suspect Red Bull, now less than a fortnight before Melbourne, is bluffing.

"They have hidden their game the whole time," thinks Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Nico Rosberg added: "I am convinced some of our opponents have been bluffing."

But even Red Bull team owner Dietrich Mateschitz sounds concerned: "I think the tyres are making everyone a bit worried," said the billionaire.

Right-hand man Marko added: "Not everything has gone to plan, but now is the time to analyse the data."

Speed Week's technical expert Gary Anderson said: "I still think the best car is the Red Bull, but the Mercedes has left a great impression, and I also see Lotus at the front, even though they have had problems with reliability.

"About McLaren, I'm not so sure," he added.

What about Ferrari? As his test duties ended, Fernando Alonso said the F138 is "200 times" better than last year's red car.

Team test driver Marc Gene told Marca newspaper: "There are several teams that can win races. I know Fernando is happy with the car. I did a filming day and it has more grip. We are where we imagined, but we do not know about the others."

After recovering from apparent food poisoning, Kimi Raikkonen closed his winter by saying he doesn't expect the 2013 pecking-order to be much different to last year's.

Asked if he could have matched Rosberg's winter-best Barcelona time, he smiled to the Finnish broadcaster MTV3: "It would have been close."

Agreed McLaren's sporting director Sam Michael: "From the laptimes we've seen, the season is going to be incredibly close."