The latest discoveries showed by Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone suggests that there may be more to Sauber’s C29 challenger than meets the eye. Although they don’t benefit from tons of aerodynamic developments as compared to the leading pack of teams – Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes – the thing that seems to make the car a competitive one is its ability to preserve the condition of its tires.
According to Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone’s director of motorsport tire developmen… (read more)
UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) announced that last year set a record for the biggest average new car CO2 emissions reductions.
If there are any pre-war classics fans out there, then you are probably already aware that a historical car brand has been recently revived (again) at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show. We say "again" because the Hispano-Suiza brand had been previously brought back from the dead in the early 2000s. More specifically, the Spanish Hispano-Suiza HS21 GTS concept was being unveiled at the 2002 Geneva Auto Show, but without having even a 1% chance of ever making it into production. Which naturally,… (
The BMW Group has just announced that in February it managed to deliver to its customers a total of 91,758 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce automobiles, representing an increase of 14% as compared to the previous year when it sold 80,474 units. Year to the end of February, BMW sold 173,911 units – 15.3% more than the previous year (150,893).
As you might remember, a while ago we presented to you a very intriguing video released by ABC news showing how a Toyota vehicle which experiences unintended acceleration behaves. The video shows David Gilbert, an automotive technology professor at the Southern Illinois University and ABC’s Brian Ross testing what happens when a Toyota gets a mind of its own.
The major players of the global automotive market are making efforts to expand their businesses in China in order to make the most out the boom registered by the country’s automotive market.
During today’s Annual Press Conference, Audi revealed it has managed to pass the financial crisis well and that it is going to give an extra reward for employee performance. Audi will also be paying a total of 97 million euros to employees this year, on top of the special bonus, that will be paid in July.
Unichip Europe has developed a new dynamic plug and play U-connect piggy back upgrade for the all wheel drive Subaru Impreza equipped with the 150 HP 2.0 boxer diesel unit. The product is available on the UK market.
Although authorities across the globe have always tried to reduce the number of drivers who get behind the wheel even if they’re drunk, here is another initiative that could prove to be more efficient as compared to the aforementioned campaigns. South Australian officials are now planning to allow the police to suspend the driving license for life for all drivers who are caught behind the wheel under alcohol or drug influence.
Michael Schumacher revealed that, while not expecting any race wins in the early stages of the 2010 Formula One championship, the level of performance of his team’s W01 model is likely to surpass his rivals’ expectations in Bahrain. Previewing this weekend’s race on his official website, the 41-year old racer admitted that Mercedes GP kept some of its developments out of the media’s reach during the February testing season.
Although admitting he is certainly not a favorite for the 2010 world title – and that doesn’t bother him too much these days – Australian racer Mark Webber is convinced Michael Schumacher will find it very hard to return to his winning ways inside the championship. Coming to the series after 3 years of vacationing, the German is unlikely to piggyback on the success of his previous F1 stint, argued the 33-year old Aussie.
A few weeks ago, the technical director of Lotus F1 Team, Mike Gascoyne, insisted that his aims for the upcoming season is to become the best of the newly entrant teams of F1 and, by mid-season, start seeing some points on the scoreboard from one of its two drivers, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen.
Here’s a piece of information that took us by surprise (at first both eyebrows of our collective face were raised but now only one of them is): UK, Spain, Switzerland and Austria are the top warm hatch demanding markets in Europe.
It has been speculated a while ago that the European launch of new Toyota models, like the Auris Hybrid, might be postponed, in order to give the automaker some time to address its acceleration and braking related problems.
Leaving the company’s global problems aside – we’re here talking about the huge recall Toyota is trying to deal with, the Japanese manufacturer is preparing the debut of the so-called Rukus in Australia. According to local officials cited by themotorreport.com.au, the official launch is due to happen in the first half of this year.
Daimler today sold all of its 5.34% of the ordinary shares of Indian automotive company Tata Motors to various groups of investors through the capital market, the company stated. The carmaker will receive a cash inflow of 300 million euros following this sale, which will also bring approximately 265 million euro to Daimler’s EBIT, to be accounted for in the first quarter of 2010.
Felipe Massa’s injury last year nearly got Michael Schumacher back into Formula One, as the 7-time world champion had already agreed to replace the Brazilian driver in the Ferrari F60 cockpit for the final 7 races of the season. However, the neck pain he felt at the time prevented him from making an F1 return, and the situation couldn’t have come at a better time for the German, argued Massa.
As car manufacturers struggle to sell more units in the United States, their marketing departments have to think of different ways to attract customers. The latest idea gimmick is Chrysler Group LLC’s special California Minivan Pledge.
Expansion in Europe has become the primary objective for most Chinese carmakers out there and their debut on the old continent is only a matter of time. The same applies to BYD, the company which among others, wants to become the world’s number one carmaker by 2025.
The Chinese passenger car market grew by 55.3 percent in February (compared to the sales volume registered in the same month of 2009), managing a total of 942,900 units, as the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reports via Gasgoo.