Auto News 5

Volkswagen Canada unveiled its BlueMotionTechnologies brand at this year's Vancouver International Auto Show (VIAS) as part of its ongoing sustainability efforts, and confirmed that Hybrid power train technology would be offered in Canada under this new umbrella brand in the future. Full story...

Miami, Florida - The massive shape of the Honda Element bothers you? The angular looks of the Scion xB repulse you? The fancy personality of the Kia Soul lights a fire inside you? Whether you like them or not, these boxes on wheels have managed to get everyone talking. In fact, their strikingly bold, contemporarily boxy styling has put the last nail in the coffin of retro vehicles. That's right: PT Cruisers and HHRs are yesterday's news! Full story...

Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has been invited to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Wednesday, 29 April, 2009. Full story...

Michael Schumacher's manager Willi Weber admits it is "possible" the former seven-time world champion will finally part ways with Ferrari at the end of 2009. Full story...

Canadian NASCAR driver Patrick Carpentier will take part in the Nationwide NAPA 200 race in Montreal this coming August according to sources well informed. This would be the first race that Carpentier takes part in since he left Gillett-Everham last year. Full story...

IRVINE, Calif., April 6/ -- Fisker Automotive, Inc., a leading producer of advanced green technology automobiles, announced today it has entered into definitive agreements to receive an additional $85 million in venture capital funding for the development and manufacturing of its Karma plug-in hybrid automobiles. The financing is expected to be completed this month and will be the fourth and largest investment round since the company's inception in August 2007. Full story...

According to certain sources, the Brawn GP-Mercedes cars may have raced the Australian Grand Prix, opening round of the 2009 Formula 1 season, with a car fitted with illegal exhausts. Full story...

Although Dale Earnhardt Jr led once for six laps and used tire strategy to run in the top 10 in the latter stages of Sunday's Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, once again mistakes were made that ultimately cost the Chevrolet No 88 driver once again a top finish. Full story...

General Motors Corp. and Segway today demonstrated a new type of vehicle that could change the way we move around in cities. Full story...

Seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty has decided to enter one car in the next edition of the Indianapolis 500 in the IndyCar series. Full story...

Japanese car manufacturer Honda is "frustrated" to have abandoned formula one on the eve of almost guaranteed success, new team owner Ross Brawn insists. Full story...

Stuttgart. Everything remained very quiet when today's Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG established VW-Porsche-Vertriebsgesellschaft mbh, the VW-Porsche Sales Company, together with Volkswagenwerk AG, as it was called at the time, in April 1969. Holding stock capital of DM 5 million, the new company launched the strategy of success for two sports cars still carefully held back from the public pending their final presentation: the VW-Porsche 914 and 914/6. Full story...

Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada (MMSCAN) announced, today, its new zero-emission electric car i MiEV could hit the streets of Canada as early as November 2009. Full story...

For more than a decade, auto shows held in Korea came and went unheralded, undervalued and unappreciated, being snubbed by foreign manufacturers (and even domestic manufacturers) who chose the likes of Tokyo - and more recently Beijing and Shanghai - to display their latest vehicles. Hyundai and Kia, the two largest car companies in Korea, usually accepted its tour of duty by unveiling showcars every two years, more out of obligation than anything else. But with a slew of concepts such as the Hyundai Blue-Will, Kia VG and Renault Samsung eMX making their debuts in Seoul this year, there are positive signs that attitudes are starting to change.

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General Motors will be overtaken by Volkswagen AG this year and fall to the world's third-largest automaker by production volume, market research company R.L. Polk Germany said today. Full story...

General Motors will be overtaken by Volkswagen AG this year and fall to the world's third-largest automaker by production volume, market research company R.L. Polk Germany said today. Full story...

General Motors' request for $10.3 billion in loans under a U.S. Department of Energy program is now contingent on the automaker's 60-day restructuring review, a top GM executive said. Full story...

General Motors' request for $10.3 billion in loans under a U.S. Department of Energy program is now contingent on the automaker's 60-day restructuring review, a top GM executive said. Full story...

General Motors' request for $10.3 billion in loans under a U.S. Department of Energy program is being considered in tandem with the automaker's 60-day restructuring review, a top GM executive said today. Full story...

BorgWarner Inc. wants to raise at least $275 million in a convertible debt offering to shore up its balance sheet, the supplier said today. Full story...