Following reports which surfaced earlier today, saying a US congressman wants to bring Toyota’s CEO, Akio Toyoda, in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to explain the manufacturer’s recalls, the Japanese CEO apparently postponed his scheduled trip to the US for early March.
According to Kyodo News, Toyoda cancelled his trip to the US on account of the heavy snow fall of recent days. Initially, the trip to the States was scheduled for next week. Coincidentally, the c… (read more)
A new computer game will be used by Internet users to test their driving ability to accomplish the mission (and compete against their friends), the US Army announced today. The game, dubbed Race for Strength makes use of augmented reality, a technology which mates real-world activities with computer-generated graphic situations.
A big part of a car brand’s image is constructed though movie and video game appearances. Aston Martin is James Bond’s cars, just like the BMW Z8. The Transporter drives an Audi while saving the girl and Ferrari has always been a big part of the video game industry. But for some reason – probably money – the Italian automaker was absent from the Need for Speed game for the past seven years.
Not sure how many of you remember the 1990 Scirocco successor built by Volkswagen back in the mid 1990s, but the recent revival of the Scirocco line has made at least one designer remember it. Graphic artist Patrick Moczarsky decided to give VW a head start and propose no less than four possible ways of how the Corrado should look like. 
The Mercedes Benz Fashion Week New York starts today, and the company is using this occasion to introduce a market intelligence report which combines Mercedes-Benz customer survey data on clothing purchase behaviors with key trends which are changing the design industry.
Ilmor announced they have successfully run the first prototype Ilmor – Viper motorcycle engine on the dyno ahead of schedule and are reportedly extremely satisfied with the results. Ilmor has been working on the design and development of the updated Viper Motorcycle 152 cubic inch V-Twin engine since October 2009, when the formal agreement between the two companies was announced.
It didn’t take too long before German manufacturer Volkswagen issued an official response to the claims that it plans to buy into the Campos Grand Prix outfit for the 2011 season of Formula One racing. 
First launched by Land Rover in October 2009, the Official Guinness Premiership iPhone application proved to be one of the most popular sport applications both in the UK and internationally. The app registered over 62,000 downloads so far, with 40,000 in the six weeks after its launch.
A lot of the new production models and concept cars to be unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show will use some kind of green technology meant to reduce fuel consumption and save the planet. As the future seems to be electric, car manufacturers need to get on the EV market, as predictions say electric vehicle sales will be quite important in the next few years.
While the majority of the Formula One teams proposed a gentleman’s agreement regarding the usage of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) for the upcoming season of F1 – something that all the members of the FOTA later agreed on – Williams F1 Team will be one step ahead of them, reaping the benefits of their flywheel-based KERS system.
South Korean manufacturer Kia unveiled today in Chicago the Ray Plug-in Hybrid, a concept based on which the company’s first production hybrid will be based later this year. The Ray ushers the EcoDynamics designation for all future Kia vehicles with significant fuel consumption and emission reductions.
Mazda Motors has had a very successful year on the Chinese market in 2009, with its sales posting a 41 percent year-to-year increase, and the company has set a 22 percent increase target for 2010, as Gasgoo reports.
German motorcycle manufacturer BMW announced the expansion of its US dealer network yesterday, shortly after reporting a financial success for 2009. The eight dealerships to join the BMW Motorrad network were opened within the past five months across the nation.
As we’ve reported to you earlier today, the early action of today’s testing at Jerez de la Frontera was halted at a certain point by the circuit’s officials, because of debris on the track. Although it was initially believed that Red Bull’s Mark Webber experienced some problems with his car and caused the red flag, it was later confirmed that the debris came from Timo Glock’s VR-01.
This year’s Geneva Auto Show might just be one of the most important in history, as the auto industry is recovering from the recession and most automakers will have to bring their A game to get attention. Launching new models is a great way of increasing sales, so Geneva should witness a lot of it next month.
As the economy is recovering, automakers are adjusting to the new demand. January sales are up compared to 2009, so car manufacturers are investing to improve some of their activities.
The vehicle prices on the Chinese market grew 1.3 percent last month, the highest level since late 2005, as government incentives continued to drive the demand on the country’s automotive market, now the biggest in the world, as Bloomberg reports.
While intensively preparing for another campaign in the DTM series, Mattias Ekstrom admitted that plenty of German fans will switch attention to the Formula One racing season for 2010. And that’s because the 7-time winner of the F1 title Michael Schumacher is back, returning to action after 3 years outside the sport.
The revised 2010 XF range got its price tags for the British market, with the entry level model now less than £30,000. The retail pricing of the XF range starts at £29,900 for the 3.0-liter petrol, with the 3.0-liter diesel model available from £34,775 for the 240 PS engine and the £38,475 for the 275 PS 3.0-liter Diesel S. The top of the range XFR is available from £62,055.
Safety is extremely important for people in the market for a new car, so EuroNCAP ratings are very important for car producers – except the Chinese whose cars can barely score one star when judged by European standards.