Author: autoevolution

The Trofeo Abarth 500 GB, the UK one-make racing series of Fiat’s performance brand, was previewed during a British Superbikes Championship display earlier this week, receiving great interest from the British public.

The series, scheduled to debut over the Easter weekend (3 and 5 April) was included in a media collaboration with the British Superbikes championship at Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire. The event is part of a bigger project, which will see the 500 Asetto Corse race cars being showcas… (read more)

Renault and Robert Kubica have started off their Australian adventure this year in top form, as the Polish driver finished the first practice session of the Melbourne event with the best time of the field. The Renault driver was actually the only one on Friday morning to drop below one minute and 27 seconds on the track at Albert Park, while followed Mercedes GP’s Nico Rosberg almost 2 tenths of a second behind.

The drivers started off easy on Friday morning, as it was only after the mid port… (read more)

The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS which will pace the Indianapolis 500 race on May 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be driven by Robin Roberts, anchor of the Good Morning America (GMA) program on ABC.

The announcement was made by three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, during the GMA show on March 25. As was to be expected, the Indianapolis 500 will be broadcasted live by ABC.

"I am thrilled beyond words to be the Pace Car driver for this year’s Indianapolis 500,&… (read more)

Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup chief driving instructor, Jan Heylen, will be making his debut in the Firestone Indy Lights Series this weekend. Heylen, who recently signed a deal Team Racing, will be driving the No. 17 machine.

The driver successfully completed tests last month in an Indy Lights Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park, where he recorded the fifth quickest lap.

"Team E Racing is thrilled to have a veteran driver like Jan Heylen in the car this weekend at the St. Petersburg Gran… (read more)

German carmaker BMW had just announced US pricing for the 2011 BMW 535i and 550i Sedans. The 2011 BMW 5 Series made its North American debut at the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) and will arrive at nationwide dealerships on June 19, 2010.

According to the carmaker, base prices for the German sedans are lower than their 2010 predecessors – $1,650 in the case of the 535i and $900 lower for the 550i.

Getting straight to the point, the new 535i model will start at $50,475, while the… (read more)

Hummer is now ready to cross any obstacle that stands in its way. Unfortunately, we are not talking about the brand itself, we’re just referring to the Hummer H2 Bomber, GeigerCars’s latest creation.

The SUV uses four Mattracks 88M1-A1 rubber tracks that measures 150 cm in length and 40 cm in width. These offer the vehicle an unbelievable level of grip, regardless of the terrain.

The H2 ‘s V8 engine, which produced 329 hp at 5,200 rpm and 365 lb-ft at 4,000 rpm of torque when it left… (read more)

Last year, Ford increased its market share in the U.S., the first full year achievement of this kind for the manufacturer since 1995. The company continued to follow this trend, as Ford has now gained market share for 16 of the previous 17 months. One of the reasons for this improvement is the fact that the brand has registered an increasing level of customers who are trading in vehicles from the competition.

The rate of customers who traded in competitive brands vehicles for Ford cars saw an… (read more)

Ducati’s British division recently announced it has launched a new £99 per month Personal Contract Plan finance promotion for both the Monster 696 and the new Hypermotard 796. The Monster 696 naked bike benefits from service intervals of 7,500 miles and service costs from as little as £100, and now together with a Personal Contract Plan offer from just £99 per month 12.6% APR Typical.

A 696 with ABS model has also been introduced this year, becoming the only model in the company’s current li… (read more)

BMW Forschung und Technik (Research and Technology) presents a new hybrid vehicle that features an UTC Power fuel cell system.

The vehicle, a BMW 1 series, was introduced today at the 25th anniversary of the BMW Forschung und Technik in Munich, Germany. The German carmaker has established a partnership with UTC Power in 1999, a project through which the two companies have been developing emission-free, freeze-capable fuel cell systems.

"We have highly valued our relationship with BMW … (read more)

Toyota’s British division announced today it has managed to fix two thirds of the total vehicles affected in just six weeks, while customers have declared themselves satisfied with the recall procedure. As we previously reported, a survey commissioned by Toyota on 600 owners showed that 96 percent of them were satisfied with their experience of the recall process.

According to official figures released by the manufacturer, there have been about 119,000 vehicles that received the adjustment to… (read more)

After the new brand was established by Chrysler’s CEO Sergio Marchionne at the beginning of October, it’s now time for the newcomer to make its mark on the public and become visible. Chrysler announced today the debut of the marketing and advertising campaign for the brand, with the Ram brand to appear in TV, print, online and social media environments, as well as events and partnerships.

The Ram Truck Brand customer has been clearly identified and this campaign marks the beginning of how we… (read more)

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) agreed to keep the new parc ferme process they’ve implemented in the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix for the rest of the season. Consequently, the teams will be allowed to keep their cars inside their own garage between the qualifying session and the Sunday race.

Under the parc ferme rules of last season, all teams were obliged to send their cars to a single location provided by the FIA, as no modifications to it was allowed between qualifying a… (read more)

American manufacturer Ford announced this week the end of the Falcon Wagon line in Australia, retiring the model after half of century of service. The news is not surprising for the local market, which is now gearing up to receive the replacement of the Falcon Wagon, the Mondeo wagon.

After a lot of detailed review and focus group discussions with our customers we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time to retire the Falcon wagon, Ford Australia president Marin Burela was quoted as saying by… (read more)

As Volvo is waiting to be officially transferred under Geely’s arm, the company is gearing up for the new market opportunities that will come in the future. For example, the carmaker’s UK arm wants to expand its dealer network to 110 locations by the end of the current year.

Today, two new UK dealers have been appointed, as part of this plan: Poole-based Snows Motors Group and North City from Chigwell have now become Volvo official retailers.

The new Poole dealer will change its name into … (read more)

Following the partnership between Kia and the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association), as well as the sponsorship agreement between the carmaker and Michelle Wie, Kia announced it will be using the inaugural Kia Classic gold tournament to celebrate its success on the US market.

Kia will take advantage of the event to showcase new designs, like the Soul urban crossover, the Forte compact sedan and Sorento CUV, at the La Costa Resort and Spa Golf Course in Southern California.

You don’t … (read more)

Following Sebastian Vettel’s engine problems during the Bahrain Grand Prix, Ron Dennis had a personal and quite unique theory on what had happened to the German’s RB6 in the last 16 laps of the season opening race. According to the former McLaren Mercedes boss, it seems the Renault-powered Red Bull car suddenly ran into a fuel-efficient mode, which is the reason why it lost valuable seconds per lap time.

Of course, the official argumentation from Red Bull states otherwise, insisting that it w… (read more)

German manufacturer BMW recently announced it is planning to showcase the Alpina B7 Biturbo Allrad at the upcoming New York Auto Show (NYIAS) next week. New to the Alpina model is an all-wheel drive system (xDrive), destined to offer more traction and active safety in any driving situation.

The Allrad will be available in short and long wheelbases and with three driving modes, namely Comfort / Normal, Sport, and Sport+. Regardless of the selected driving mode, the system reportedly recognizes… (read more)

In an attempt to further strengthen the impact that future technologies will have on the automotive industry, the UK Government announced a comprehensive plan to support ultra-low carbon technologies.

Building on the positive impact the scrappage incentive of 2009 had on both the environment and the ailing automotive industry, the government has approved the doubling of the annual investment allowance for small businesses. A great step, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) b… (read more)

Former Grand Prix driver David Coulthard made the best of his first official outing with Mercedes in the DTM, as he emerged as the best placed Merc driver in the timing reports of the Valencia test. The Scottish racer was only 0.059 seconds slower than Phoenix Audi’s Alexandre Premat, who stopped the clock at 1:28.666.

Earlier today, we had informed you that DC was quite optimistic about a potential deal with the German manufacturer for the 2010 season of the DTM. According to the 39-year old… (read more)

Volkswagen’s customization division has announced the introduction of multiple exquisite options for the 2011 Touareg SUV.

The Volkswagen Exclusive division has included the Touareg in its offer, so the vehicle gets new two-tone leather finishes and other special features. The car’s interior can use a two-tone Nappa leather scheme, that uses Titan Black or Dark Burgundy in combination with Titan Black. But the new feature doesn’t only bring an aesthetic advantage, as it uses the new cool te… (read more)