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News 20 Dec, 2012

VW has confirmed that the flagship Golf R Cabrio will go on sale in 2013

Fiat SpA's chief executive Sergio Marchionne has announced a EUR1bn (US$1.3bn) investment for the firm's Melfi plant. Fiat and Jeep SUVs will be made at the factory in southern Italy from 2014 but there is no mention of any replacement for the Fiat Punto which is currently built there.

Effective 19 December, Vauxhall Ampera buyers will benefit from a 30-day satisfaction guarantee, meaning that you can buy it, try it, and if it does not suit, simply return it within 30 days, no questions asked.

Fiat will invest more than 1 billion euros to build compact SUVs for the Fiat and Jeep brands in Italy. The move is key to Fiat's bid to boost capacity usage and end losses in Europe.

The last Citroën C6 has rolled off the line after seven years of production at PSA's Rennes-la-Jannais factory in north-west France.

BMW's Mini brand is growing sales in Central America.

Deep Dive: Audi’s 2017 R20 Supercar Plans Revealed

Beyond the R8, an ultimate halo car.

Bugatti has the Veyron. Bentley recently unveiled the Continental GT3. Lamborghini is laying the finishing touches on the Aventador Superveloce. Porsche will soon release the 918 Spyder. And what does Audi have? It was supposed to have the R8 e-tron, but that car is either half-dead or barely alive, depending on your source. An ailing halo car is not what the new R&D chief Wolfgang Dürheimer expected when he recently moved over from Bentley. Instead, the ex-BMW and Porsche top manager is pushing for a new, even more ambitious sports car project known as R20.

Photo Gallery: Deep Dive: Audi’s 2017 R20 Supercar Plans Revealed - Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: Deep Dive: Audi’s 2017 R20 Supercar Plans Revealed - Automobile Magazine

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ASSOCIATE EDITOR JAKE LINGEMAN: Saying you're underwhelmed with a Porsche is like saying you're underwhelmed with a diamond ring. Sure, it's awesome and very expensive.

General Motors and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen scrapped plans for a joint mid-size car program, narrowing the scope for vehicle sharing within their alliance while adding engine cooperation.

General Motors and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen scrapped plans for a joint mid-size car program, narrowing the scope for vehicle sharing within their alliance while adding engine cooperation.

Here are the cars that you, our loyal (and casual, and accidental) readers, searched for most at autoweek.com during 2012. Some of the results are a bit surprising.

The Canadian Auto Workers' union (CAW) has reacted angrily to General Motors' announcement that it will end production of the Chevrolet Camaro at the Oshawa plant in Ontario. GM says the successor model will be built in Michigan.

General Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroen have announced revisions to their global alliance. The plan to co-develop European D segment vehicles is cancelled, while there will be new models in the B and C segments, new engines and possible co-operation in Latin America.

Tesla Motors said only higher end versions of its battery-powered Model S sedan will initially be sold in Europe as it races to turn a profit.

Thirteen mid-sized cars have earned high marks on the insurance industry's newest frontal-crash test, but a pair of Toyota models tested fared worse than the rest.

Led by Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team enjoyed a relatively good season; but the Mercedes-powered MP4-27 car proved to be quite unreliable as the season progressed.

Drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button (two former World Champions), scored seven wins and a total of 378 points to give McLaren third place in the Constructor's championship.

The British team based in Woking had a rollercoaster form during the first half of the season, despite winning the opening round in Australia. Jenson Button, in particular, appreared to be struggling to get the best from the Pirelli tires.

Photo: McLaren F1

Mid-season updates put MP4-27 back on pace; however, despite victories for Hamilton and Button, reliability problems derailed a title bid. Hamilton retired five times this season, and Button had two DNFs.

Lewis Hamilton
4th in the Driver's Championship with 190 points
Best place in qualifications: 1st (7 poles)
Best race result: 1st (4 wins)
Retired 5 times

Jenson Button
5th in the Driver's Championship with 188 points
Best place in qualifications: 1st (one pole, in Belgium)
Best race result: 1st (3 wins)
Retired twice

The overall performance of the McLaren was pretty inconsistent in the first part of the season, while the drivers and engineers struggled to understand the curious degradation of the tires. Contrary to many other F1 cars, such as the Lotus E20, the McLaren was quick in qualifying trim, but suffered a bit under race conditions.

Photo: McLaren F1

The McLaren may have been competitive, but poor luck meant that Hamilton had to wait until Canada to score his maiden win of the season. He followed it up with victories in Hungary, Italy and the USA.

Then, Hamilton retired at the start of the race in Belgium, retired while leading in Singapore, retired again while leading in Abu Dhabi, and was eliminated from the race in Brazil after a collision with Nico Hulkenberg. Hamilton has decided to move on to Mercedes AMG for the 2013 season.

Jenson Button's campaign started brilliantly with a win in Melbourne, then headed downhill as tire and set-up woes made serious points a rarity before a mid-season recovery began to stop the disaster.

Button captured second place in Germany, and followed that up with a brilliant win in Belgium and another victory at the season finale in Brazil. Despite the reliability problems, Button was able to score points in 14 of 20 races.

General Motors announced that the Chevrolet Camaro will move from Oshawa, Ontario, to Lansing Grand River, Michigan, when the current model reaches the end of its cycle.

The decision is based on a comprehensive business case, GM says. Lower capital investment was a key factor, along with improved production efficiencies.

Right now, the Camaro is the only rear-wheel drive (RWD) vehicle built in Oshawa. The next-generation model will join other RWD cars at Lansing Grand River including the Cadillac CTS and ATS.

Camaro production will continue in Oshawa for a few short years alongside the Buick Regal. Also, GM recently invested $185 million to support the launch of two new products on the flex line: the all-new Cadillac XTS and the future Chevrolet Impala. The latter even prompted the automaker to announce the addition of a third shift.

Moreover, the consolidated line at the Oshawa plant will keep producing the current-generation Chevrolet Impala and Equinox until June 2014.

Photo: Sébastien D'Amour

Canadian race car driver and former Formula 1 driver, Jacques Villeneuve will return to the Andros Trophy ice racing series this weekend as he will contest the third round of the 2012/2013 season in Alpe d'Huez, France.

During the past two winters, the 1997 F1 World Champion was a works driver for Skoda and finished twice on the podium. But following last season's controversy (when he collided with Alain Prost at the start of the last race) and Skoda's withdrawal from the series, Villeneuve decided not to return.

However, he has changed his mind and will contest Round 3 held this weekend at Alpe d'Huez, driving a Citroen DS3 for team SPEEDAVENTURE.com.

Citroen DS3. (Photo: Andros Trophy)

Auto123.com a called Jacques Villeneuve in Europe to discuss the matter.

“Team boss Christian Petit called me two days ago about doing this race,” Villeneuve told us.

“Since I was already in Europe, I gladly accepted his proposal. It is the same car, the same team and the same engineer I had two years ago. And I had a lot of fun that year. Last season, there were too much politics and contoversy. This weekend, I'll be driving my old car, without pressure, just for fun,” Villeneuve continued.

“I drove for nine hours in a snow storm to do a brief test in the car at Serre-Chevalier. Now, we're heading for Alpe d'Huez. I'll do this race, but if I have the titme to do the rest of the season aftyer Christmas, I'll be glad to do it,” Villeneuve concluded.

Brace yourselves, it's here: The end of the world is knocking at our doors -- or is it already too late?

Either way, we hope you've prepared for the worst. Should it not be too late, have a go at the following list of vehicles that we think will be very useful if and when the Mayan calendar's predictions come to pass.

The vehicles listed below are in no particular order of preference. Just make sure you have one when all hell breaks loose. 

10. Bowler EXR S

Photo: Bowler

Continue reading Wheels for the Apocalypse

On certain 2004-2006 Nissan Titan King Cab pickup trucks, wires routed through the rear doors and into the body may break due to over bending when the door is opened and closed. These wires control the seatbelt pretensioners, front passenger seatbelt tension sensor and rear audio speakers.

If the wires for the seatbelt pretensioner and speaker break and make contact, a pretensioner may deploy, compromising the use of the seatbelt.

Likewise, if the wires for the seatbelt tension sensor break, the passenger side front airbag won't deploy as designed in a frontal crash.

Owners of vehicles with malfunctioning front outer seatbelt(s), malfunctioning rear audio speakers, or where the Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) indicator light is on are therefore advised to bring their vehicle to a dealer for inspection and a possible rear door wiring harness replacement.

Source: Transports Canada

Photo: Nissan