Author: autoevolution

Bruno Junqueira will finally return to IndyCar racing this season, and what better place to do that than the famous Indy 500 race at the Brickyard. The Brazilian driver was today confirmed for the race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by Fazzt team, as a secondary drive to full-time racer Alex Tagliani.

The Canadian driver is actually the one who orchestrated this entire move, as he wanted to show his appreciation towards his former teammate for leaving his racing spot last year to allow hi… (read more)

Automotive manufacturers are looking for possibilities to reduce costs as the global financial crisis continues to threaten their economic situation. One of the oldest global cost cutting tricks in the book is switching from the use of developed countries labor force to relying on nations which are ready to offer their services for a significantly reduced amount of money, as they are willing to complete the development pathway.

This is exactly what Honda Motor Company plans to do, by planing… (read more)

First introduced at the 2010 NAIAS event in January, the three new models in Jeep’s vehicle lineup are also on display at the 2010 NYIAS these days: the Liberty Renegade, Wrangler Islander and Wrangler Mountain editions.

Positioned between Liberty’s Sport and Limited models, the new Jeep Liberty Renegade is finished in a Salsa Red Pearl Coat exterior, with painted Mineral Gray Keystone 16-inch wheels and fitted with all-terrain P235/70R16 outline white letter (OWL). The dark neutral metallic … (read more)

Two races into the 2010 Formula One championship and Vitantonio Liuzzi is the only driver to score points for Force India Mercedes. Although starting from outside the Top 10 in both the Bahrain and Australian races, the Italian racer managed to cross the finish line inside the points in each of those races, confirming the team’s confidence in him.

Being confirmed for a full-season campaign with Force India after a part-time schedule last year, the Italian impressed everyone by outpacing his h… (read more)

Whereas yesterday American electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla announced it has delivered the first Roadster to Spain, the same carmaker says today it managed to accomplish a similar feat, this time in Ireland.

The first Irish people to enjoy the buzzing sound of the Roadster are Peter Harte and Celine McInerney, the first sports car the couple ever had. To go even greener than the electric blue car already is, the two will charge it with wind energy from their utility company.

We have tw… (read more)

Kimi Raikkonen did not have his share of success in the World Rally Championship, but then again he only contested for Citroen Junior Team in 2 WRC events so far. While yet to make the scoreboard this season, the Finn proceeded to making a better acquaintance with his Citroen C4 WRC prior to Rally Jordan, via a 2-day test in Southern France.

Heading to Jordan for this weekend’s rally, Raikkonen felt more comfortable getting to know his car better ahead of another venue that is completely unkn… (read more)

Suzuki had just debuted the 2011 Kizashi Sport, scheduled to go on sale in the US this August, at this year’s New York International Auto Show (NYIAS). Pricing for the Sport variant of the Kizashi, which will be offered exclusively on Kizashi GTS and SLS trim levels, will be announced closer to the market launch.

The car is based on the recently introduced 2010 Kizashi, only featuring a more muscular front fascia (with chrome accents) and lower grille, body side sill extensions, lower body si… (read more)

As the international automotive markets change their ways and automotive giants face economic difficulties, smaller carmakers that are owned by the big players become nothing more than poker chips, being sold to companies which have no connection with them – from a marketing standpoint.

This is the case with Jaguar and Land Rover, which Ford sold to Tata Motors in 2008. The two carmakers from Jaguar Land Rover have drifted away from the British icon image they had in the past, whether they … (read more)

Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali revealed on Tuesday, via a statement on Ferrari’s official site, that he is personally satisfied with the results scored by his drivers in the Australian Grand Prix, even if, on Sunday morning, we might have expected a slightly better one.

We are happy with the Melbourne result. Considering what happened in the race, we can be pleased with finishing third and fourth, partly because our closest rivals either failed to score, or at least did not pick up many points,… (read more)

Japanese carmaker Nissan unveiled yesterday at the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) its newest sport crossover, the Juke. Without revealing the price (expected to be under $20,000) and only hinting to a fall 2010 availability on the US market, Nissan is hopeful the Juke will leave its mark on US soil.

"JUKE provides an exceptional level of available technology for its segment and a special character all its own," Brian Carolin, senior, vice president, Sales and Marketing for… (read more)

The last port to be revealed for the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race was announced today. Auckland, New Zealand is back on the event’s map for the eighth time. The City of Sails will stage the leg four finish from Sanya in China and the start of leg five, which will take the fleet up to a finish in Itajai, Brazil.

Auckland last hosted the event in 2001-02, and 189 sailors from New Zealand have taken part in the event so far. Mark Christensen, Brad Jackson and Stu Bannatyne are the only sailors to h… (read more)

Nick Heidfeld admitted that it’s quite strange for him not to be involved in the day-to-day action of Formula One weekend in and weekend out in the 2010 season. The German racer, who previously used to drive for BMW Sauber F1 Team in the series until last year, has 167 starts under his belt and has signed a reserve driver deal with Mercedes GP for the current season.

Although recently appointed the new chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), Heidfeld revealed his regrets over n… (read more)

Navigation solutions provider TomTom announced yesterday the availability of the Lifetime Map Updates and Lifetime Traffic Updates, two features which will allow users to get both up-to-date maps, as well as real-time traffic information at no extra cost.

The Lifetime Map Updates downloads every few months the latest maps available. Its implementation was deemed necessary by TomTom as research has shown the road network changes on average 18 percent annually.

"The nation’s roads are … (read more)

The California-based battery and electric car company CODA Automotive announced that it has secured a total of $394 million of committed capital through its joint venture with Lishen Power Battery.

The capital consists of $100 million in committed equity capital and a $294 million line of credit from the Chinese Bank of Tianjin.

"This capital strengthens the strategic position of our joint venture and allows us to meet the rising global demand for automotive-grade lithium-ion batter… (read more)

This week’s Formula One Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit might once again be affected by rain. And we’re not talking some slight drizzle here, but heavy, torrential downpours, as the weather forecast for this weekend is not at all encouraging for the teams.

Although many believed that last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix was a one-off in terms of racing under heavy rain, it now seems such weather conditions are becoming regular. One good decision taken by the organizers as compared … (read more)

As promised yesterday, when the pricing for the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle on the Japanese market was announced, the producer of the first EV for the masses announced the prices for the model in the US. Without taking into consideration the $7,500 federal tax credit, for which the Leaf is eligible, the MSRP of the EV was set at $32,780.

By applying the federal tax credit, a Leaf will be purchased with as little as $25,280, but this is a relative price as well, given the fact that each stat… (read more)

German carmaker BMW had just released the new long-wheelbase (LWB) BMW 5 Series Sedan, developed and built specifically for the Chinese market at BMW’s plant in Shenyang. The sedan features new straight-six power units and a wide range of BMW EfficientDynamics technologies, as well as a complex suspension technology.

The car’s wheelbase is up by 14 centimeters compared to the European version, while a suite of other features enhance the sportiness of the new luxury sedan. Other BMW characteri… (read more)

Reigning world champion Jenson Button is not expecting a repeat of his Australian Grand Prix win in Malaysia, as he reckoned the Sepang International Circuit’s characteristics doesn’t suit the McLaren MP4-25. Additionally, he admitted that his victory in Melbourne also happened thanks to the changing weather conditions last Sunday.

I think we travel to Sepang mindful that the characteristics of the (Sepang) circuit probably won’t suit our car as well as it will suit some of the others, said t… (read more)

The THINK City urban electric vehicle has been brought to New York and is being offered for test drives, as THINK plans to conquer the U.S. market.

The Scandinavian maker of the vehicle has conducted a research which shows that New York is the third most EV-Ready U.S. city and therefore has decided to initiate this new project in order to present the advantages of the vehicle to future customers there.

This action is part of a more complex U.S. market entry plan, which will see THINK init… (read more)

Kuala Lumpur-born test driver Fairuz Fauzy will make his debut in a Formula One car less than 2 days from now, during the Friday practice sessions of the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix. This way, the fans present at the Sepang International Circuit will get to see a Malaysian driver, competing for a Malaysian-backed team in his home country for the first time in F1 history.

The announcement has been made official by the Malaysian team earlier today, but the information had surfaced in the medi… (read more)