Auto News 5

Volvo is evaluating a battery electric-powered version of its entry-level C30 model but said its main focus in on plug-in hybrids. Full story...

Consumer and industrial electronics maker Sanyo Electric is moving into the integrated vehicle navigation business in Europe and North America, having agreed on cooperation with portable navigator maker TomTom. Full story...

Scania on Thursday said (17 September) the global truck sales downturn had stabilised and it was preparing for an upturn while continuing to reduce costs. Full story...

Daimler on Thursday named Joachim Schmidt (61) to head Mercedes-Benz Cars sales and marketing. Full story...

Japan's Toyo Tyre & Rubber plans to build a tyre plant in South-east Asia and has short-listed Thailand and Vietnam as likely investment locations, according to Thai press reports citing Pornchai Kruayatidee, managing director of the company's Thai distributor Khow Inter Business. Full story...

New Astra gets more equipment and a starting price tag of £15,675.

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Saab's new saloon debuts in Frankfurt with bold new styling and an all-turbo engine line up

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Private equity investor Wilbur Ross today told an industry conference at the IAA that he believes there are big opportunities ahead in supplier sector restructuring and that he sees long-term profitability as a result of further consolidation and the removal of overcapacity. Full story...

Petrolhead and sports car enthusiast Ikuo Maeda wants to inject a fourth element into Mazda's design philosophy. Full story...

It's an exciting time to be a car engineer or designer. Probably not such a good time to be in sales or marketing. Full story...

Though Europe's top five new car markets all posted growth in a month traditionally slow due to continental summer holidays, this cannot be regarded as market recovery, JATO Dynamics analysts said in their monthly review. Full story...

The 63rd annual IAA heralded the introduction of a slew of environmentally-aware new vehicles from European automakers. The vast exhibition halls in Frankfurt played host to the avant-garde BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept, four new electric car concepts from Renault, a 2.5m-long futuristic concept from Peugeot, Citroen's Revolte showcar and the L1 tandem vehicle concept form Volkswagen. But that's not all. Frankfurt debuts also included the Ferrari 458 Italia, two new performance-oriented Coupe and Roadster concepts (which we will see emerge in production form in the near future), and the Mercedes SLS AMG, proving that the performance car segment is still alive and well.

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PALM SPRINGS, Calif.,- Mazda North American Operations' president and CEO, Jim O'Sullivan, confirmed today during a meeting of the company's top dealers that the MAZDA2 subcompact, or B-Car classification, car will be sold in the U.S. beginning in late 2010. It was previously announced that the car also will be sold in Canada, beginning at about the same time. Full story...

Fiat Automobiles has again shown its commitment to a cleaner environment following the announcement that its average CO2 emissions figure on cars sold in Europe during the first half of 2009 has dropped to 129.1 g/km. Full story...

The physics that apply to the 3500-lbs stockcar traveling at 200 miles per hour are tremendously complex. The shape of a NASCAR race machine must comply with the rules set in place and that dictates the overall performance of the car. Full story...

It would be very easy to dismiss this car as just an upmarket Prius, but that would be doing a disservice to both the Prius and this Lexus. The best way to define the differences between the two cars is the philosophy that goes into making them. Toyota uses the Prius as the vehicle to introduce leading-edge hybrid technology. Lexus uses hybrid technology to create a better luxury car. Full story...

Graphs generated by the data acquisition system located inside Nelson Piquet's Renault R28 last year during the Grand Prix of Singapore demonstrate how the young Brazilian spun his car on purpose. Full story...

Renault SA chief executive Carlos Ghosn was reluctant to comment this week about the 'crash-gate' scandal whilst at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Full story...

Former Formula 1 driver Hans-Joachim Stuck on Thursday said the crash-gate affair had left him "speechless" and called for an unprecedented draconian penalty. Full story...

Nissan's powertrain assembly plant in Decherd, Tenn., today produced the first engine that will be exported to Japan for assembly in the next-generation Infiniti QX56 luxury full-size sport utility vehicle. This marks the first time a Nissan plant in the United States has exported an engine to Japan. Full story...