The recession has put automakers in a difficult position, as banks refused to finance new-car sales. So the car manufacturers were forced to find a solution to the problem on their own if they wanted to continue selling cars. That’s how auto financier Nissan Financial Services Australia Pty Ltd (NFSA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nissan Motor Company Australia Pty Ltd, was born.
This proved to be a very successful business, as NFSA today announced that it has raised over $160M of medium term… (read more)
Only a couple of days after the International Automobile Federation (FIA) reopened its selection process for the 2011 Formula One entry list, Spanish organization Epsilon Euskadi publicly expressed its willingness to give it another shot at becoming part of the series.
Skoda was named the UK’s Most Improved Fleet Manufacturer, while the company’s Superb model received the Best Upper-Medium award during the recently-held 2010 edition of the Fleet News Awards.
The first race of the SUPER GT, the "SUZUKA GT 300km RACE" which took place at Suzuka Circuit on Sunday, was won by Joao Paolo de Oliveira in his Advan Kondo GT-R. After qualifying 10th, the racing driver managed to get into the first place by the middle of the race. This is the second consecutive year that the team wins the opening round.
And they keep on coming… Just like vultures circling over a dead (or almost) body, all those remotely connected with Japanese carmaker Toyota seem to rally against the manufacturer in its darkest hour. And that, believe it or not, includes Toyota’s own shareholders.
Although not exactly a rookie in the world of Formula One – he did get to race for defunct team Toyota in the last two rounds of the 2009 season – Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi will race an F1 car at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit for the first time in career. According to a BMW Sauber media preview of the Aussie GP, Kobayashi’s learning of the track happened via a Toyota simulator.
The team at Solar Roadways have finally completed their first prototype in February and decided to unveil the revolutionary energy-generating road surface earlier this month. The unveiling came so late after the completion phase due to lack of funding, Solar Roadways say. The team used polycarbonate in place of the glass for the current prototype.
After in the end of December Thomas Built Buses, the school bus manufacturer for Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA), announced the ordering of 59 Saf-T-Liner HDX school buses with SCR technology, the busmaker announced today a more consistent contract, regarding 288 Saf-T-Liner EF school buses with SCR technology to be delivered to Durham School Services.
During the past weekend, Lewis Hamilton was quite downbeat on his team’s chances of catching up with Red Bull Racing in terms of car’s downforce. As he told the media in an interview, he believes the RB6 currently employs double the level of downforce as compared to his McLaren MP4-25, suggesting that the two cars practically run in different leagues during this early stage of the season.
After an absence of 20 years, the Volkswagen Golf is returning to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. Shaun Hollamby from AmDMillitekRacing has announced that he will race a VW Golf. Its first run will be at Brands Hatch. The last time a Golf raced in the BTCC was 1989, the final year the series ran based on a ‘multi-class’ format.
German manufacturer Volkswagen recently announced it is expanding its fixed-price service plan in the UK, which now is becoming available on every model in the range until December 21, 2010. According to the new offer, all retail customers purchasing a new Volkswagen passenger car model, from Fox to Phaeton, can choose to pay a one-off payment of £250 which will cover servicing for the next three years or 30,000 miles (whichever comes first). 
Car manufacturers in the UK are making efforts to maintain their sales level after the country’s scrappage scheme has reached its end. Last week, we reported that Vauxhall introduced a new entry level version for all the models in its range, offering hefty discounts. Now, Mazda UK announces that it has prepared a complex customer financial advantage offer, which includes a range of savings and a special financing scheme.
The frenzy stirred by the unveiling of the smallest Audi in the carmaker’s stables may be somewhat tampered by the prices for which the car will retail, at least in the UK. The local division of Audi released the pricing for the car, adding to the increasing number of voices claiming the price levels are too steep for what the A1 has to offer. 
Trying to jump start your car has just became easier, as Michelin launched its new Smart Jumper Cable. With these new cables, the driver will be able to avoid sparking or shorting which can result in serious injury or damage to a vehicle’s electrical system. The Smart Jumper Cables provide built-in surge protection and automatic polarity adjustment from either positive or negative connections.
Of course, we didn’t need a survey to tell us who is the most famous Formula One driver nowadays, especially since the man himself made a huge comeback into the sport this year. But the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) wanted to make it crystal clear, so they’ve launched a survey on this particular topic earlier this year (early February).
As today’s vehicles become more and more computerized, it was only a matter of time before someone somewhere thought to test their skills in hacking and try to virus one or two vehicles. But to do so with over 100 cars, that’s a bit of a masterpiece. 
The opening round of the American Le Mans Series, the 12 Hours of Sebring, ended successfully for the Aston Martin Racing team. Despite the fact it finished third overall, the Aston Martin 007 car was the fastest petrol car to cross the finish line at the famous race circuit.
What do the Focus ST, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) have in common? The answer to this question comes from Montune racing, a part of the Performance Engineering division of Revolve Technologies, which announced that it has developed an LPG-powered engine for the 2010 BTCC.
Although both Daniel Ricciardo and Brendon Hartley were both confirmed reserve drivers for Red Bull earlier this year, it has emerged that only the former will take on that particular responsibility for the Red Bull Racing outfit. The news was confirmed by the team’s racing advisor Helmut Marko, who made it very clear that the Australian driver will not swap places with Hartley on a race to race basis, but will remain the team’s reserve driver for the entire 2010 campaign.
An exciting news for fans of one of the most iconic cars of all times surfaced over the weekend in the British media. According to Autocar, unidentified sources say the November auto show in Los Angeles will see the introduction of the second generation Volkswagen New Beetle, boasting nip’n’tucks to everything, starting with the body and ending with the powertrain.