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Entry-level version of the Suzuki Alto has become the UK's cheapest new car, starting from just £5,995

Mazda is ramping up production of its CX-5 crossover SUV and doubling output of the SkyActive engines launched with it.

New range-topping version of the Kia Sportage gets more power and lots of kit

Open-top version of the McLaren MP4-12C supercar is set to take on the Ferrari 458 Spider, with a 0-62mph time of 3.1 seconds

Open-top version of the McLaren MP4-12C supercar is set to take on the Ferrari 458 Spider, with a 0-62mph time of 3.1 seconds

Kia Motors and its Chinese subsidiary, Dongfeng Yueda Kia, have broken ground for a third car assembly plant in the Yancheng Economic Development Zone in Jiangsu Province.

Luxury electric vehicle (EV) maker Fisker Automotive has appointed Jim Yost as chief financial officer.

Federal-Mogul is to purchase the Beru spark plug business from BorgWarner. The purchase, subject to regulatory requirements, includes factories at Chazelles sur Lyon, France, and Neuhaus, Germany, which will add about US$80m in annual sales and increase the supplier's yearly spark plug production capacity to over 350m a year.

Chrysler and new parent Fiat were the domestic and import honored marques of the 46th-annual Palo Alto (Calif.

Car design legend Sergio Pininfarina has died, aged 85

Sergio Pininfarina, who ran the famous Italian automotive design company of the same name for 40 years, has died after a long illness.

After Carroll Shelby on May 10th, the automotive world lost another legend in designer Sergio Pininfarina. The man responsible for many of Ferrari's most successful and iconic nameplates passed away early Tuesday morning at his home in Turin. He was 85.

Born on September 8th, 1926, Pininfarina took over his father's sports car design firm in 1961. He penned dozens of models for various automakers including Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Peugeot. However, his greatest and most significant work was for Ferrari, starting with the 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter Cabriolet.

Pininfarina went on to create the mythic Ferrari Testarossa, Daytona, 250 GT Coupé and others. Overall, his résumé includes no fewer than 1,000 car designs of which 250 became a reality. All of them combined for more than 30 million units sold worldwide.

Sergio Pininfarina, Luca di Montezemolo (Photo: Ferrari)

Available this fall, the all-new 2013 Ford Fusion will come in four attractively priced trim levels.

Photo: Ford

Trim	Base MSRP	Features
S	$22,499	MyFord SYNC, 8 airbags, 16'' wheels, 2.5L i-VCT engine
SE	$24,499	MyFord with 4'' display, Sirius satellite radio, choice of engine: 2.5L i-VCT, 1.6L EcoBoost or 2.0L EcoBoost
Titanium	$33,999	SYNC and MyFord Touch with 4.2'' display, 2.0L EcoBoost engine, all-wheel drive, rearview camera, heated sport seats with 3-position memory
SE hybride	$29,999	2.0L gas-electric hybrid, CVT, exclusive 17'' wheels, Sirius satellite radio, exclusive EcoCloth seats

Two times world champion Sebastian Vettel remains surprised by the level of competitiveness this year.

The Red Bull driver was really impressive at Valencia before his retirement, due to an alternator failure. Fernando Alonso clinched the victory and took the benefit of Lewis Hamilton's retirement in the ultimate lap.

The Ferrari driver leads the standings but the world championship is wide open, with seven different winners in eight races.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB8. (Photo: WRi2)

Sebastian Vettel is aware of this competition and says to the BBC during an interview: "The ones that stand out are probably Fernando (Alonso), he's one of the most complete drivers. Lewis (Hamilton) is very, very quick. There are plenty of others. At the moment we have a lot of drivers performing at a similar level - it is very competitive. Michael (Schumacher) is still in the game. I don't think he has lost it."

"At the moment we have a lot of drivers performing at a similar level - it is very competitive," he added. "It is a long list at the moment. We have had a lot of different winners this season and all of those drivers are very competitive and very fast."

Asked if drivers should be judged only by the number of titles they won, Sebastian Vettel replied: "Yes and no. The success is a big part of it. If you look at great names from the past, drivers like Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart... they all won a lot of titles. But there are other names that stay in your head and stay around because they had something extra. They were special. All F1 drivers are very quick, but those guys had something extra, something maybe the people loved, he was very entertaining, it was very special to watch him driving the car. There are plenty of other characters who maybe didn't win the title but are still people's heroes and rightly so."

The Ferrari 458 Italia Spider and Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder will now have to ward off the hot new McLaren MP4-12C Spider, a convertible variant of the MP4-12C coupe. Priced at £195,500 (approx. $311,100), the car is available to order through 38 retailers in 22 countries worldwide starting today.

The MP4-12C Spider has a power retractable hardtop that opens or closes in only 17 seconds at speeds of up to 30 km/h. The rear window can be lowered separately when the top is up or act as a wind deflector when the top is down.

As for performance, the McLaren MP4-12C Spider sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in a mere 3.1 seconds and completes the quarter mile in 10.8 seconds at a speed of 216 km/h. The 625-horsepower twin-turbo V8 engine also allows a top velocity of 329 km/h.

Photo: McLaren

Photo: McLaren

We first reported about the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500's new Launch Control system in a May 16th article, and now comes a video that shows exactly how drivers can enjoy maximum acceleration without any wheel spin!

From GMM

Marussia test driver Maria de Villota is reportedly fighting for her life after crashing on Tuesday morning.

The female driver was straight-line aerodynamic testing the single seater raced in formula one by Timo Glock and Charles Pic at the Duxford (UK) airfield.

A statement issued by the team said the incident occurred at the end of 32-year-old de Villota's first installation run, involving "an impact with the team's support truck".

"Maria has been transferred to hospital. Once her medical condition has been assessed a further statement will be issued," the statement added.

Citing an ambulance spokesman, the BBC reported de Villota, the daughter of former F1 driver Emilio de Villota, has sustained "life threatening injuries".

A reporter said the car "suddenly accelerated" into the back of the truck.

"From where I was standing it looked like the helmet took the brunt of the impact," said BBC Cambridgeshire presenter Chris Mann.

A police spokesman said it appears "the driver has suffered a serious injury".

Maria de Villota at Valencia. (Photo: Marussia F1 Team)

UPDATE:

Maria de Villota suffered "severe" head and face injuries in her Marussia testing crash on Tuesday

Chris Mann from BBC said Maria de Villota was apparently unconscious for 10 or 15 minutes, and photos show the truck loading board at the Marussia cockpit, at visor-level.

Sky Sports F1 was on site with a small filming crew. "We were all asked to leave about 20 minutes after the accident had happened -- she was still in the car," said assistant producer Helen Brown.

Emergency medical charity Magpas said they treated de Villota for "severe facial and head injuries" before she was transported to hospital.

The statement said de Villota was given pain relief and was put into an ambulance in a stable condition, according to CNN.

As you've read on this site, professional stunt driver Terry Grant attempted to set a Guinness record for the fastest time in reverse with a Nissan LEAF during the Goodwood Festival of Speed. He did it on Sunday with a time of 1:37.02 minute at an average speed of 88.5 km/h. That's 26 seconds faster than his Friday time!

This is the same guy who set a world record at last year's festival by driving a Nissan Juke up the 1.86-kilometre hill course... on two wheels.



"I had a great car at my disposal - with direct drive from the electric motor to its wheels, the Nissan LEAF can, in theory, go as fast backwards as it can forwards,'' Grant said afterwards. ''There were times I wasn't sure I was coming or going. However, thanks to the LEAF's low centre of gravity - the batteries are an integral part of the car's floor - the car is extremely stable, no matter which direction it's travelling.''

MONTREAL, Quebec - For the 2013 model year, Hyundai will be serving up not one but three distinct Elantras. The smash-hit sedan will soon be accompanied by a two-door coupe and the GT, a new five-door hatchback that will rival the likes of the Mazda3 Sport, the Ford Focus, the Subaru Impreza, the Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback, the Volkswagen Golf and the Kia Forte5.


It will also replace the Elantra Touring wagon, which has done very well in Canada. That's good or bad news, depending on whose opinion you ask.

The Elantra GT isn't a new idea; in fact, Hyundai did offer a five-door Elantra from 2002 to 2006. This time, the car is based on the European i30 model; it rides on a slightly different platform as the 2013 Elantra Coupe and Sedan, but nonetheless fits in nicely with the others.

Hyundai Canada is confident that the GT will be a popular choice, and will account for about 25% of total Elantra sales. And this new five-door should serve the Canadian buyer very well.

Slightly smaller than the sedan
The 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT rides on a shorter wheelbase than the sedan; it is also shorter overall, with a slightly higher roofline. The basic shape is pretty similar to the sedan and coupe, with its prominent crease that flows over the front fender and rises along the car's flanks, cleverly trying to conceal the door handles.

The front grille treatment, the fog lamp design and the taillights aren't quite the same, but the family resemblance is undeniable. The base GL is shod with 16” wheels with covers, the mid-grade GLS gets 16” alloys and the top-shelf SE benefits from attractive 17-inchers with chromed inserts. GLS and SE trims also get a power panoramic sunroof, which brightens up the cabin, especially for rear-seat occupants.

Speaking of the cabin, the GT is more or less as spacious as in the sedan, although a 5-foot-11 rear passenger's noggin was scraping the headliner during our drive, compliments of the sunroof mechanism that eats up a little headroom. The dashboard has a less adventurous design than the sedan and coupe's, yet still retains an ergonomic layout.

The cargo hold looks small because of the sloping rear window, but you actually get 651 litres of space; fold down the rear seatback, and volume grows to 1,444 litres. That places the Elantra GT among the best cargo-carrying compact five-doors, such as the Impreza and the Lancer Sportback.

The dashboard has a less adventurous design than the sedan and coupe's, yet still retains an ergonomic layout. (Photo: Michel Deslauriers)

The drive
The five-door Elantra is equipped with a 1.8L inline-4 that develops 148 hp and 131 lb-ft of torque, available with a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic with manual mode. The engine provides more than enough power for the daily commute, although it might not be quite as cheery with the whole family and their gear on board. And at full-throttle, it is somewhat noisier then expected, just like in other Elantras; not a big deal.

Like the sedan and the coupe, you get hydraulic power steering, four-wheel disc brakes with antilock as well as a MacPherson strut front and torsion beam rear suspension setup. The GT gets slightly different components than the others, however, and on a personal note, this is the Elantra I prefer driving; the steering is a tad more communicative, and the car's ride is well dampened.

The five-door Elantra is equipped with a 1.8L inline-4 that develops 148 hp and 131 lb-ft of torque. (Photo: Michel Deslauriers)

Mind you, the Mazda3 Sport and the Lancer Sportback offer a more engaging driving experience, although the five-door Elantra is far from boring.

It's also the only one in the family to get a driver-selectable steering mode; using a button on the steering wheel, you can choose between Normal, Comfort and Sport settings. After cycling through them several times on city streets and country roads, I can't truly say I felt any difference. We'll try it again when we get an Elantra GT for a one-week road test, but I suspect a lot of owners will fiddle around with it for about 10 minutes before leaving it in one mode or another.

Lots of features
The base GL costs $19,149 and includes A/C, a 6-speaker stereo with USB port and wheel-mounted controls, power windows, heated front seats, a telescopic steering column, seven airbags and keyless entry, while the $21,349 GLS gets a power driver's seat and interior trim upgrades. Both versions can be equipped with the automatic transmission for an extra $1,200. The $24,349, leather-lined SE is only available with the automatic, while the navigation package adds $2,000 to the final tally.

We're sad to see the roomy Elantra Touring go, as it was the only sub-$20K station wagon on the Canadian market. With loads of standard features at a very competitive price, though, the 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT has the ammo to battle its foes in the popular five-door compact car market. If you asked me to choose an Elantra, this is the one I'd take.

The Elantra GT is arriving in dealerships now.

From GMM

Fernando Alonso has revealed he might consider team ownership after his formula one driving career is over.

When asked by one of his 800,000 Twitter and Facebook followers if the Ferrari driver can imagine following fellow champions like Alain Prost and Jackie Stewart onto the pitwall, 30-year-old Alonso answered: "Maybe."

"Why not? It would be a nice adventure!" the Spaniard, who won his titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006 and is the 2012 championship leader, elaborated.

Fernando Alonso admitted he is also interested in F1 circuit designer Hermann Tilke's job.

"If Bernie would allow it," he explained, "I would like to design a real race track, like the kart circuit I designed at Oviedo which is due to open soon."

Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) leading Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) in Montreal. (Photo: WRi2)