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News 4 Dec, 2012

Dacia boss says he wants to expand the line-up with a two-seater sports car

News 4 Dec, 2012

The rugged Sandero Stepway is now available to order, priced from £7,995

Pictures 4 Dec, 2012

Renault insists UK consumers will not question the Romanian and North African origin of its new Dacia brands ahead of their imminent British launch in January and May next year.

Honda and Nissan joined Toyota in reporting narrower drops in China sales in November as Japanese automakers begin recovering from the fallout of the territorial dispute between the two nations.

Less than 100 days into his new job, Wolfgang Durheimer strides purposefully into the meeting room, carrying a bulging briefcase, his face wreathed in a smile, greeting each of us with a firm handshake and friendly "hello".

EXECUTIVE EDITOR BOB GRITZINGER: A back-to-back drive of this automatic 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 versus the

Interiors supplier IAC Group has named former Lear executive Joergen Moschini as its finance boss for Europe.

German car sales could fall to the second-lowest level in more than two decades next year, industry association VDA said, as demand is hurt by the euro zone debt crisis.

Ford's said its upmarket brand, from the newly renamed 'The Lincoln Motor Company' wants "once again be a major competitor in the premium automotive marketplace", starting with the new MKZ midsize luxury sedan.

Ford plans to increase annual output at its plant in the eastern Spanish city of Almussafes, near Valencia, by 80% to 300,000 units.

The first shipment of 350 Indian built right hand drive Dacia Dusters is on its way to the UK and Ireland.

Robert Bosch broke ground last week on its second diesel fuel injector plant in China. The 1.6 billion yuan ($257 million) facility in Qingdao in east China's Shandong province will start production in 2018.

I am a technological wizard.

As residents in the storm-battered north eastern US begin rebuilding and repairing, one of the crucial needs has been to replace personal vehicles and dealer inventory. The process is just beginning, but the results are impressive.

Renault, which is losing sales faster than any other major European carmaker, is pinning a turnaround in part on the revival of a sports car brand that's been dormant for almost two decades.

Daimler declined to comment on a media report that it may build Mercedes cars for the North American market alongside Nissan's Infiniti brand in Mexico.

New car sales in Italy plunged 20.1 percent in November. This year is shaping up to be even worse than 2011, when Italian car sales fell 10.8 percent to 1.4 million cars, dropping for the fourth year in a row.

BMW's sales in the United States rose 45 percent in November, further chipping away at Mercedes-Benz' lead in luxury-auto deliveries this year.

German driver, Sebastian Vettel, is just 25 years old and he's already won the Formula 1 World Championship three times in succession. Let's review some of the most important moments of his career.

Sebastien Vettel in Formula BMW in 2004. (Photo: WRI2)

Sebastian Vettel began racing the karts series in 1995 at the age of 8. Having shown early talent, he was accepted into the Red Bull Junior Team at age 11 in 1998.

He then won the ADAC Formula BMW title in 2004. In 2005, he graduated to the Formula 3 Euroseries where Vettel ranked second in the in 2006.

Formula BMW, 2004. (Photo: WRI2)

The young German competed in the World Series by Renault in 2007, and took his first win at the Nürburgring. Vettel was leading the championship when he was called up to Formula 1 to be the reserve driver of the BMW Sauber team.

He contested his first Grand Prix in Indianapolis at the wheel of a BMW Sauber F1.07 in 8th place. For the Hungarian Grand Prix, he drove for Toro Rosso.

Vettel collected his maiden F1 win at Monza during the very wet 2008 Italian GP. The following year, he raced for Red Bull Racing, and captured the world title in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Formula 3 Euroseries in 2006. (Photo: WRI2)

Contesting his first Grand Prix in Indianapolis in 2007. (Photo: WRI2)

Scoring his maiden Formula 1 win in Monza with Toro Rosso. (Photo: WRI2)

As a teammate to Michael Schumacher at the Race of Champions. (Photo: WRI2)

Winning his third World Championship in Brazil, 2012. (Photo: WRI2)