Author: autoevolution

SEAT, the Spanish brand of the Volkswagen Group, plans to become an important player on the U.K. vehicle fleet market. To implement this plan, the company has inaugurated a national dedicated Fleet Business Center in the country.

The project will serve as an extension for the company’s UK Fleet and Business sales team and dealer network and will be focused on offering a complete customer service system -it will handle both new and existing SEAT customers.

The center will provide phone and … (read more)

The Vantage GT4 race car registered an unexpected success since its launch as the Vantage N24 three years ago. British carmaker Aston Martin therefore announced it has launched a four-section programme to offer enhanced support and incentives for European race teams and owners this year.

One of the sections is a new six round competition, the Aston Martin British GT4 Challenge, an official one-make series that comprises five rounds of 90 to 150 minutes on circuits from UK and Belgium.

In G… (read more)

If some of you were thinking that Vitaly Petrov paid a huge amount of money in order to make his Formula One debut with Renault F1 team – believed to be somewhere in the vicinity of EUR15 million – wait to hear how Karun Chandhok’s sponsors decided to manage their money through a single race in 2010.

If we are to trust the latest reports in The Times – and the publication tends to know their stuff before writing it down and making it public – the Indian racer competed on a $5M sponsorship fee… (read more)

As the race to prepare the way for the next generation automobile heats up, not all taking part are looking into developing new vehicles. Although, so far, only a few manufacturers have engaged in endeavors in the soon-to-be-born recharging industry, those in Japan plan to become the point of reference for the future global standards in terms of EV recharging.

Currently, as we told you yesterday, a coalition of Japanese automakers, led by Nissan, Toyota and Tokyo Electric Power, is on the ve… (read more)

Some people are so competitive that they like to brake their own record just for the fun of it. This kind of philosophy is apparently used by the Novitec Rosso tuner, who has released a new complete tuning program for the Ferrari California.

The fresh kit brings the supercar’s 4.3 liter V8 powerplant to 606 HP (at 7,900 rpm) and 603 Nm of torque (at 5,500 rpm), surpassing the modification pack released by the tuner at the end of last year, which squeezed 500 HP out of the engine.

The new f… (read more)

Following months of troubling news regarding Toyota vehicles and millions of cars recalled over safety concerns, the Japanese carmaker has lost the number one spot in Kelley Blue Book’s (KBB) brand loyalty ranking to South Korean Hyundai.

According to KBB, Hyundai is up from the third place in the last quarter of 2009, registering the highest increase in loyalty in February 2010: 10.4 percent more owners looking for new brands would pick a Hyundai.

"2009 marked an unprecedented year… (read more)

Virgin Racing’s Sir Richard Branson was rather optimistic after the first grand prix of the 2010 Formula One season, despite the fact that neither of his two drivers managed to cross the finish line in Bahrain. While confident that time will resolve the reliability issues his team is facing in the series, Branson seems to aim much higher in the Great Circus that initially believed.

According to Branson, the example his team is guiding upon when it comes to F1 performance is not Ferrari, McLar… (read more)

The factory-tuned segment of the automotive industry just got a bit hotter today, after German carmaker Volkswagen announced the R used on some of its high-performance models will no longer be just a badge, but the sign of a brand new company: Volkswagen R GmbH.

As you might imagine, the main task of the new entity will be to build "sporty exclusive models from Volkswagen in the future." To do that, Volkswagen has passed "responsibilities and competencies for development, impl… (read more)

With everybody going nuts about the lack of show in Formula One – after only one race in the 2010 series – the championship’s executive Bernie Ecclestone insisted that no one should panic in the wake of the new-formula racing. Obviously, the refueling ban did not make the first race of the new season more exciting, but Ecclestone insisted that everybody should wait for a few more races in order to issue warning signs about it.

As far as the 79-year old Brit is concerned, what happened in Bahr… (read more)

The projected closure of the New United Motor Manufacturing (NUMMI) plant in California entered its final stretch this week, after the carmaker which still operates it, Toyota, and the UAW representing the workers have reached a tentative agreement.

The agreement, whose details have not been made public, is subject to a ratification vote by UAW workers at the plant, likely to be cast in the following weeks.

A week ago, Toyota announced it will provide NUMMI workers with $250 million in f… (read more)

Lexus is currently preparing two LFA supercars to compete in the Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race in May, this time lining up as a prime challenger in standard production car guise. Development versions of the LFA were previously raced in two outings in the event.

The team at Gazoo Racing involved in the preparation of the two cars for the upcoming competition expects much from the supercars, estimating that thanks to its advanced, lightweight composite construction and 552bhp mid-mounted … (read more)

Although everybody admitted that Red Bull Racing is currently the team to beat in Formula One, the Austrian outfit failed to convert their pole position in the Bahrain Grand Prix into a race win due to engine problems. Although Sebastian Vettel’s car was initially diagnosed with a failed exhaust, a media statement from the team late on Sunday confirmed the issue that triggered his in-race problem was engine related.

To be more precise, a spark plug failed in the second part of the race and le… (read more)

Imitating the appearance of a dangerous creature is a common survival technique in the animal kingdom – the automotive tuning world also uses this technique, allowing certain vehicles to become much more menacing than their producers intended them to be.

One example would be the ENCO Audi Q5: the tuning house has gifted the SUV with a body kit that resembles the one installed on the Q7 V12 TDI – the 500HP, 1,000 Nm monster.

At the front of the Q5, the German tuner has fitted a bespoke bum… (read more)

The sports car industry heated up these days, after the announcement of Ginetta’s acquisition of British builder Farbio Sports Cars. As a result of the deal, all Farbio product will be rebadged Ginetta.

Together with all Farbio’s assets, Ginetta got its hands on the Farbio GTS line, comprising the GTS350 and GTS400. The GTS400, called by the Sunday Times one of the best cars this country has ever produced, develops 410 bhp, being at the same time lighter than the Ford Fiesta. From now on, th… (read more)

Following the first race of the new season, one cannot argue that Grupo Santander made a bad call joining Ferrari in Formula One. While keeping their commitments with McLaren Mercedes, the Spanish banking group signed a multi-year deal with the Scuderia in the late stages of the 2009 season, which was shortly followed by the signing of Fernando Alonso for the upcoming 3 years.

Being that Spain is a great market for Formula One racing – with Alonso being 2-time world champion and all – Santand… (read more)

Although he hasn’t spoke too openly against former FIA president Max Mosley in recent years, former grand prix driver and current BBC commentator David Coulthard seems to have had enough with the Brit’s legacy in Formula One. Writing in his regular column in the Telegraph, the Scot did not hold back from pointing the finger at Mosley for all the wrong things that currently happen in F1.

Following the immense criticism from the majority of the media – as well as some drivers and teams – becaus… (read more)

After earlier this February a group called Ledorga, the organizers of a annual meeting for gay vintage car enthusiasts, announced it has selected the Fiat 500C as the Gay Car of the Year, Fiat decided to add a little more fuel to the fire by expanding the Fiat 500 Pink edition to cover the convertible as well.

Dubbed 500C Pink, the limited edition (one of the only few to be launched for the 500 line this year) is intended "mainly (for) people wishing to stand out from the crowd". (?… (read more)

Nissan’s British division announced it has added a diesel engine version to the Murano crossover SUV line-up, shortly after the introduction the fourth member of its Crossover line-up, the Juke, and soon after the introduction of the revised Qashqai. The latest addition to the Murano range is powered by a 2.5 dCi four cylinder engine capable of developing 190 PS and 450 Nm of torque.

According to Nissan, the engine is equipped with a diesel particle filter (DPF), helping Murano achieve EURO5 … (read more)

Alan Taub, General Motors’s vice president of global research and development has been elected vice chair for the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology.

The Institute is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, created with the aim of promoting progress through science, technology and innovation – these values are spread throughout the industry, stimulating competitiveness.

NIST plays a key role in advancing technologies a… (read more)

Michael Schumacher’s return to Formula One seems to have sparkled a fight between nations, with the media in Italy and Germany picking on each other only a few days after the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Following Fernando Alonso’s winning debut with the Scuderia, the Italian media went right ahead to praising the officials at Maranello for bringing a true champion to represent the Prancing Horse in Formula One. They haven’t settled with only that however, as some news headlines joked … (read more)