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Highlights from the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Plastic Omnium says it will open a new EUR50m (US$63m) international research and development centre in Compiègne, France, for its Inergy Automotive Systems division, in the summer of 2014.

Road death toll rises for the first time in almost a decade, with a total of 1,901 people killed on UK roads in 2011

Nissan says it will commence building the all-new Sentra at its Canton plant in Mississippi from Q4. The car will also be made at Aguascalientes in Mexico, where North America's current model is manufactured.

The flow of trade between Europe and South Korea in the 11 months since the free trade agreement (FTA) came into force is unbalanced, according to ACEA, the European car makers' association.

There are as many ways to receive the Sacrament of the Open Road as there are roadside tourist traps. Some choose to make meticulous road-trip plans revolving around specific destinations.

Our images show bolder look for the new Citroen C4 Picasso MPV, which shares its platform, engines and nose with the C4 hatch

Here's a brief run-down of reports available in our research store that caught our eye over the past week or so...

Shanghai Automotive Industries Corporation USA (SAIC USA) has unveiled its new North American Operations Centre in Birmingham. The new centre is an SAIC hub for purchasing, international logistics and design engineering.

June auto sales in the US continued at a healthy pace for an estimated Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 13.9m light vehicles, according to Edmunds.com.

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen is targeting China's luxury buyers as it strives to win a bigger share of the world's largest auto market and expects sales there to reach 15 percent of its global total by 2015.

BMW and Toyota today said they will develop a sports car together and cooperate in fuel-cell technology, powertrain electrification and lightweight technologies.

Renault said it plans to cut 300 jobs at its Flins plant near Paris over the next two years.

BMW and Toyota today said they will develop a sports car together and cooperate in fuel cell technology, powertrain electrification and lightweight technologies.

Nissan dealer Greg Smith, a real estate developer who was permitted to build a store in downtown Seattle that was hip to visit but bore little similarity to the automaker's retail design guidelines, is closing his store after less than two years.

Mattias Ekstrom (Audi) set the best lap time during the first free practice session on Friday at the Norisring.

The Swede's Audi A5 ranked first ahead of the Mercedes C-Coupe driven by Ralf Schumacher and Bruno Spengler's BMW M3.

Mattias Ekström, Audi A5. (Photo: DTM)

Spengler, who is one of the men to beat at the Norisring, is already amongst the quickest drivers. A three-time race winner on this circuit, he never missed a podium finish since 2006.

Several incidents occurred during this first free practice session, including Miguel Molina's accident, who hit the concrete wall in his Audi at the exit of the chicane, which forced the session to be red flagged for several minutes.

Bruno Spengler, BMW M3. (Photo: DTM)

Edoardo Mortara (Audi) who won the last round held at Spielberg, Austria was also in trouble. First, he damaged his car at the exit of the first corner. After his car got repaired during the red flag period following Molina's accident, Mortara damaged it a second time.

During a press conference at BMW's Munich headquarters, BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer and Toyota President Akio Toyoda announced an initial agreement to expand their long-term strategic collaboration.

The two automakers will jointly develop a new fuel cell system as well as an architecture and components for a future sports vehicle. They will also team up on powertrain electrification along with research and development on lightweight technologies.

Furthermore, Reithofer and Toyoda confirmed that BMW will supply 1.6L and 2.0L diesel engines to Toyota Motor Europe starting in 2014.

As for a possible collaboration with General Motors, a BMW spokesman told the media that the early talks have been suspended indefinitely.

Source: Challenges

Michael Andretti might be seeking to join his IndyCar rivals, Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske in NASCAR.

According to an article on SI.com Andretti has been in talks with Dodge and likely other manufacturers.

"We were looking at NASCAR real close last year, too, but it fell apart," Andretti said. "We were looking at it just as hard last year as this year and the year before."

While NASCAR remains the pre-eminent racing series in the United States Andretti is obviously interested in the commercial opportunities. But a deal to start a team with Dodge as a manufacturer would be an uphill climb.

At the moment Dodge is basically a two-car team fielded by Penske Racing which has decades of experience in the sport. Brad Keselowski has two wins, in 16 races and stands 10th in the points. But teammate, AJ Allmendinger, an IndyCar (ChampCar) émigré himself is 23rd with only one top five finish.

When you consider both the Ganassi and Penske organizations, which dominate the IndyCar series, neither has one a Sprint Cup championship. The biggest claim to fame is that each have one Daytona 500 victory.

When Toyota was a start-up manufacturer at the Sprint Cup level it took years before its first success and even now only Michael Waltrip Racing of the startups is still in business. It was only the switch from Chevrolet to Toyota by Joe Gibbs Racing which brought regular success with name drivers like Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

NASCAR, the sanctioning body, would probably love to have another team in a series where a team is almost guaranteed a starting spot week-in week out. Usually 45 teams show up for 43 spots with the 35 in owner points guaranteed to start.

Personnel won't be too big a problem as many teams have shut their doors due to the financial crises and other factors.

On the other hand teams like Roush Fenway Racing have struggled with sponsorship to the extent that Matt Kenseth (who recently announced leaving RFR) was sponsored by Roush himself.

As for free agent drivers there's the volatile Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman who is in a contract year with Stewart Haas Racing. Coincidentally, they were teammates at Penske Racing until Newman left to drive for Stewart.

While it's likely that Andretti has some pretty good backing a move to Dodge would represent a huge challenge. That still leaves the door open to Chevrolet, Ford or Toyota.

car2go Canada, a division of Daimler North America Corporation, will officially launch a new carsharing service in Toronto on Saturday, June 30th. Some 250 car2go edition smart fortwo vehicles will become available for people to use and share collaboratively.

"car2go will redefine personal transportation in the City of Toronto with a service that is unmatched in innovation and flexibility," said Nicholas Cole, president and CEO of car2go Canada. "Anytime, anywhere, car2go members in Toronto will have unlimited access to a car through our state-of-the-art carsharing technology.''

Subscribers will receive a membership card that will give them access to any of the available car2go vehicles in Toronto without having to commit to a return time or location.

Members pay only for the minutes they use the car, with discounted rates for hourly and daily use. They can find the nearest available vehicle through a free smartphone app, with no reservation necessary. Parking, fuel, maintenance and insurance are all included at no additional cost, and there are no annual or monthly fees beyond the one-time $35 membership fee.

Toronto hopes to use the car2go carsharing model alongside existing public transportation, rideshare and bikeshare alternatives to further enhance its status as one of the world's most livable cities.

Photo: smart

The small Spanish Formula 1 team HRT hopes that the British Grand Prix at Silverstone next week will prove that the recent improvements to the Cosworth-powered F112 will allow their drivers to perofmr well on the fast British circuit.

Spanish driver Dani Clos will step into the F112 for the second time this season to take part in the first practice session on Friday.

Clos will take over Narain Karthikeyan's car and accompany Pedro de la Rosa for the first 90 minutes of practice at the British Grand Prix. Pirelli have elected their soft and hard tires for this race.

Dani Clos, HRT. (Photo: daniclos.com)

"I'm very happy to step into the F112 once again in Silverstone, a place where I've got good memories since I've made the podium every time I've been in GP2,” Clos said in a press release of the team.

“After Barcelona I've really been looking forward to this new opportunity. The work we're carrying out with the team is positive and I think that I can make a good contribution. I will be able to run in better conditions than in Barcelona because the car was new back then and I had to carry out various aero tests. Now I've got a new opportunity, not to prove anything but to work with the team and evolve as much as we can,” he added.