Author: autoevolution

In a weird and impossible way to understand, Toyota Prius sales are continuously increasing in certain markets around the world, in spite of all reports presenting dramatic crashes caused by the vehicle’s stuck accelerator pedal. Today’s example comes from the United Kingdom, a country in which the Prius posted a new sales record last month.

Now, don’t get too excited because a new record actually means that Toyota sold a total of 538 units in February. We’re not going to comment on these res… (read more)

Following Toyota Manufacturing UK’s annual salary review process between company representatives and employee representatives, the company announced a number of changes set to take place this year.

Not only that it has decided to freeze salary levels in 2010, but the company employees from Burnaston, Derbyshire and Deeside, North Wales will return to full time working starting April 1, 2010.

In 2009, the plant’s staff worked under a cost-cutting scheme, receiving less money for a compulso… (read more)

Although hoping to secure a major sponsor for the 2010 Formula One championship – that gets off from as early as this weekend – Peter Sauber will bring his team to Bahrain without an official backer. While some teams have recently announced new title sponsors for the 2010 season, Sauber F1 Team is yet to find a company willing to pour some money into their account for at least one year.

Consequently, the well-designed Sauber C29 cars – as showed in one of our recent reports – will show up on … (read more)

Despite the downfall of the auto industry, the Audi Group managed to finish the 2009 fiscal year with a positive operating profit and only a slight decrease of vehicle deliveries.

The operating profit of €1.6 billion shows that we are among the best in the industry, even under difficult conditions. Our policy of consistently improving our productivity and investing massively in the typical Audi values of design, sportiness, quality and efficiency over the past few years is now paying div… (read more)

Plans for a right-hand drive version of the Camaro have been put on hold due to a change of priorities within GM, Bob Lutz, GM’s vice chairman, said in an interview with journalists at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show. Basically, the US-based manufacturer intends to focus more on hybrids and electric vehicles and less on alternative version of existing models that would be only addressed to a limited number of buyers.

In other words, countries such as Japan, UK and Australia won’t get the Camaro. At… (read more)

Although some have hoped that, with the investment of Jean Todt as new president of the International Automobile Federation, France will finally have a shot of getting their Formula One Grand Prix back, the recent reports from the country points to the exact opposite direction. It seems nobody in France – we mean the people who actually have the power to do something about it – actually wants F1 to return to the country.

Nicolas Deschaux, the president of the country’s motor racing sanctionin… (read more)

While the new generation of the BMW 5 series, the F10, is already playing with the customers’ senses, the M version of the saloon is still training for the German Powerwars.

We present you a new set of spyshots that shows the car’s winter testing session in Scandinavia. The M5 has dropped the plastic camouflage but is now dressed in psychedelic clothes. Its front fascia still seems to be far from the production form, judging by the air intakes’design. The test car doesn’t feature too many M v… (read more)

While Toyota strives to repair all faulty models and get rid of the stuck accelerator pedal glitch that seriously damaged its image, reports from all around the world with accidents caused by this particular problem keep coming. The most recent example comes from New York, where a woman driving a Prius smashed a stone wall after the accelerator pedal got stuck.

A report by the Detroit Free Press citing Harrison police chief Anthony Marraccini informs that the 56-year-old hasn’t suffered serio… (read more)

Organizers of this year’s EMXGP zero-emission races announced the date and venue has changed, being set to take place in Barcelona and postponed to October. The Spanish capital city will host EMXGP 2010 on October 16-17, 2010. The event was to be initially held on June 4-6, 2010 in Paris.

The switch has been made to allow teams to have more development and practice time before the competition kicks-off.

EMXGP will be complemented with a Zero Carbon Transport Conference hosted in Barcelona … (read more)

While constantly praised by Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone for his maturity, racing talent and great image within the fans worldwide – and the compliments could continue – Sebastian Vettel is still conducting his F1 business on his own. Meaning he has no manager to look out for him.

Ever since he was signed by BMW a few years back, the 22-year old German did not benefit from the advice of a more experienced person to handle his contractual situations or renegotiate his salary. He did i… (read more)

According to the Silverstone official website, the work on the Grand Prix Circuit is almost complete. The investment which is supposed to have been quite impressive covers a new track layout and improved spectator facilities. The constructors managed to keep things on schedule, so work should be finished according to the initial plan, at the end of March.

Richard Phillips, Managing Director of Silverstone Circuits Limited, said, Work on the circuit and venue is on schedule. The team has been … (read more)

While McLaren Mercedes’ managing director Jonathan Neale is supporting the new teams in Formula One but is still warning the FIA to keep a close watch on their development through the 2010 season, some other team principals feel differently about this particular topic. Ferrari’s stand on it is all too known, so we’re not going to focus on them for the time being.

Instead, it seems Red Bull Racing are also backing the Italian manufacturer in their criticism, although not as violent. Talking ab… (read more)

Ever since General Motors announced its decision to shut down the Antwerp plant, Belgium unions and representatives struggled to find a solution that would save the factory and the 2500+ employees. Opel is currently discussing a new scenario with labor officials, but a final decision is yet to be made.

According to an Autonews report, the scenario involves an outside investor that would get implicated in the business and invest in the plant. This way, Opel would collaborate with the investor … (read more)

After months of waiting, Ford India officially launched the Figo yesterday. The company also announced pricing for the much anticipated new small car, which appears to be much cheaper than expected. Getting straight to the point, pricing for the entry level models starts at Rs. 3,49,900 (approx. $7,695).

The Figo will be offered in four different models, namely LXI, EXI, ZXI and Titanium, each available with different trim levels.  All models also will be available with a Duratorq diesel engi… (read more)

… If 2009 was the year of thundering bankruptcies and an almost total collapse of the American car industry – while the Japanese more or less flourished – 2010 seems to be the exact opposite. General Motors, Ford and even Chrysler – who were technically dead as dead – are rising up from their graves, while Toyota is facing its biggest recalls in history.

There have been so many news related to the braking and accelerating issues concerning Toyotas in the past few months that I’m not going t… (read more)

Toyota’s devastating recall that affected millions of cars sold all over the world scared the hell out of several other automakers which were more or less involved in this serious problem. Some others have already confirmed that their cars are also affected by Toyota’s glitch, including Peugeot and Citroen, while other brands are trying to avoid such an embarrassing and money-losing situation straight from the assembly lines.

This is exactly the case of Mazda, the Japanese manufacturer that r… (read more)

On March 12, Jack Roush will be honored with the highest award from the hot rod world: the Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award. The ceremony will be held at the opening breakfast of the 12th Annual HotRod & Restoration Trade Show at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.

"Being named a recipient of the Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award is obviously a tremendous distinction and something completely unexpected," Roush said. "I remember Robert (Peters… (read more)

Again with the predictions for the 2010 Formula One opener in Bahrain! Although several drivers have agreed that Ferrari has the edge over their rivals in terms of car performance this season, Mercedes GP’s test/reserve driver Nick Heidfeld strongly objected it this week. Only a few days until the official start of the new campaign, there isn’t a doubt in Heidfeld’s mind that Red Bull Racing is the best prepared team of the leading pack.

The Red Bull is clearly the best car. It’s almost frigh… (read more)

The Chinese electric & internal combustion vehicle producer BYD (Build Your Dreams), might include the U.S. in its development plans – the company might build a production site and inaugurate its North American headquarters in Los Angeles County, California, as Gasgoo reports.

BYD’s American factory might cover an area larger than 1 million square feet and, if built, is expected to create hundreds of jobs. The exact location of the carmaker’s headquarters might be revealed in the following mo… (read more)

The global economic crisis struck hard the automotive industry causing a decline in demand, so most carmakers had troubles maintaining a decent level of sales during last year. In Europe and the United States this decline even worsened in the last part of the year. Luxury car manufacturers were among the worst affected.

So is the case with Automobili Lamborghini, whose overall performance was also strongly affected and saw a decline in turnover in 2009.

Deliveries were reduced by 37.7% fro… (read more)