Auto News 5

Doug Speck, Volvo's top U.S. executive, has been named acting senior vice president for marketing, sales and customer service at Volvo Car Corp. in Gothenburg, Sweden, effective June 1.

Former Ford executive Tony Lewis has joined Infiniti as regional sales director for northen Europe. He will assume responsibility for driving sales of the Infiniti line-up in several key European markets.

Valeo shareholder Pardus Capital Management has called on the French car parts maker to overhaul its strategy again to boost its valuation, warning it to be cautious on acquisitions for now.

Saab Automobile AB plans a global public relations blitz to introduce its new Chinese partners and its likely new investor, Valdimir Antonov from Russia. The plan will include Saab Chairman Victor Muller and will target major media and auto shows.

Mr. Jean-Luc Desjardins, owner of the Desjardins Ford Ste-Foy dealership, today inaugurated the new point of sale located at 3330, avenue Watt, in the Ste-Foy area of Quebec City. The purchase and renovation of the 25,000-ft2 building, which began in September 2010, required an investment of $5.5 million and has created 50 jobs. Many guests and dignitaries were present for the occasion, including Mr. David Mondragon, President of Ford Canada.

Every part of an automobile serves a purpose. Engineers and designers aren't sitting around for months -- years even -- at a time discussing the ins and outs of a vehicular design if those ins and outs are only going to be a useless accessory in the end. Of course, some bits and pieces are more important than others; take the steering wheel versus the trunk cover on an SUV, for example. However, as a whole, the pieces that make up a car are all largely important to the vehicle and integral to driving it.

The new McLaren MP4-12C GT3 will make its race debut on May 22nd at Navarra in the second round of the Blancpain Endurance Series.

When satellite radio started to appear in our cars, two big players, Sirius and XM, fought to corner their share of the new market, then later decided to join forces. This induced several changes that made navigation and searching for channels pretty complicated. Hair Nation, for instance, was accessible on Sirius 23 or XM 44.

The pressure to get back into the winner's circle has now resulted in another pit crew change. This time at it is on Michael Truex, Jr.'s car at Michael Waltrip Racing.

It'll be a cold black day in post-apocalyptic frozen-over Hell when someone will convince me that this car does not have one of the most appealing shapes in automotive-dome.

Unless you're a total dork or nothing short of uncool, you like the MINI brand. The MINI brands wants to be liked and they knew that for that to continue, they needed to broaden their appeal. They have.

If you could sum up the new Ram ''Long-Hauler'' Concept in just one word, it would be ''titanic''. Built to suit the needs of anyone who tows multiple or heavy trailers, drives long distances or small business owners looking for a workhorse, this truck truly is one of a kind.

Little by little, stiff gas prices and stricter regulations around the world are changing the way vehicles are developed. Cadillac, known for its gas-guzzling products for years, is now toying with the idea of aligning itself with Audi and Mercedes-Benz by offering four-cylinder mills.

Sam Schmidt Motorsports and Dragon Racing have announced that Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung will have a chance to drive and earn a spot on the starting grid for the upcoming Indianapolis 500.

Stefano Domenicali, the boss of the Scuderia Ferrari is calling for a "discussion" in Formula 1 about the disproportionate influence of aerodynamics.

The pressure to get back into the winner's circle has now resulted in another pit crew change. This time at it is on Michael Truex, Jr. car at Michael Waltrip Racing.

Brennan Poole fought back from one lap down in the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 at Salem Speedway to take his first ever victory in the ARCA Racing Series.

When Volkswagen opened the doors of its electronic research lab to the media last week, our friends over at CNET got a glimpse of the German automaker's most recent innovations. Of all the gadgets they admired, the 2012 A7's navigation system using Google Street View really got their attention.

No city in the United States has more taxis than New York, where they represent the transportation method of choice.

We sometimes say that a bad driver got their drivers' license from a box of Cracker Jacks. We are obviously referring to the fact that there is always a fun prize at the bottom of the box.