Author: autoevolution

The Australian arm of BMW recently announced that Motorline BMW and Jeff Tracy BMW won the car maker’s Dealer of the Year Award for 2009. This decoration is regarded as the pinnacle of BMW awards amongst its dealership network, handed after a thorough assessment of the dealer’s exemplary customer service, professionalism and all-round performance. While potentially boring news for some of our readers, these constructor-awarded prizes represent very important guidelines for consumers in their sea… (read more)

The Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) announced that Ford Motor Company will host this year’s North American Conference at the Ford Conference and Events Center, in Dearborn, Michigan. The event will take place from June 21 to 23, 2010 and will have nationally-known conference speakers from industries discuss best practice methods and future business strategies.

This year’s conference theme will be "Unlocking Your Operations’ Potential," with the organizers looki… (read more)

The 2009 BMW Golf Cup International season will hold its final stage in South Africa from 1st to 6th of March 2010. This competition sponsored and organized by BMW is divided in four tiers and addresses amateur golf players. There are two men’s classes, one ladies class and the team competition.

The World Final, as the organizers call it, will be held at the Fancourt golf resort in George, South Africa, where 99 players from 34 countries are expected to show their skills in one the world’s la… (read more)

Renault has tweaked the Twingo here and there and is now presenting the 2010 updated Twingo model range.

Customers who want a Twingo can now choose between six civilian equipment levels, and two Renault Sport versions. The Acces is the line-up’s entry level. This is followed by the Authentique, the Expression, the Rip Curl. In the upper level of the Twingo range we find the GT and the Initiale versions. For thrill seekers, Renault’s sport arm offers the R.S. and Gordini R.S. versions, powered… (read more)

The European Social Fund (ESF) announced today it has approved 18 million kronor ($2.5 million) to be used by Industrikompetens i vast, a competence center specializing in industrial jobs and involving Volvo Cars, AB Volvo and several suppliers, for the training of automotive employees.

According to Volvo, the money will benefit about 3,000 people and will cover five areas: efficient production systems, electrics and electronics, diversity and equal opportunities, new technical developments, … (read more)

The Mercedes Benz World museum in the UK has opened an environmental friendly exhibition, offering visitors a time travel to the automotive green future.

The Mercedes Benz World, located in Weybridge, Surrey, hosts the BlueEFFICIENCY display presenting Mercedes’ range of eco technologies.

One of the exhibition’s stars will be the B-Class F-Cell vehicle, showcasing the company’s hydrogen powered fuel cell technology. A bespoke cutaway example of the car will be present, offering visitors th… (read more)

The car sharing experiment now being conducted by German carmaker Daimler in Austin, Texas, entered a new phase today, as it announced the selection of LiveStrong, Lance Armstrong’s cancer fighting foundation, as a beta partner. Under the agreement between the two sides, LiveStrong employees will be able to register and get access to any of car2go’s 200 smart fortwos.

LiveStrong employees are excited to be part of car2go’s efforts to drastically change transportation in Austin, Mona Patel, Li… (read more)

Techart has developed an extensive tuning program for the Porsche Panamera, the Concept One, due to be unveiled at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show.

The car features a compete body kit that manages to maintain a discreet appearance, without any exaggerated details. At the front of the car we find a redesigned bumper featuring elegantly integrated large air intakes and a bonnet that features bespoke air intakes. In addition to this the German tuner has created a front lighting package for the exq… (read more)

Will somebody stop him? But then again, can anyone actually do it? We’re talking about reigning MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi, who barely topped the 4th testing session of the off-season – out of an overall 4 – ahead of most likely 2010 championship rival Casey Stoner.

The Italian scored the best time of 2:00.271 after the Friday meeting on the Sepang International Circuit, having improved his yesterday lap time on the same venue by approximately 8 tenths of a second. Unlike yesterday howev… (read more)

Earlier today, American manufacturer Ford proudly announced the order book for the 2011 Mustang had registered no less than 11,000 entries. The big success of the new Mustang now begins to leave its mark in the real life.

Ford just announced it will spend $155 million and add 60 jobs at its Cleveland operations, where the V6 engine for the 2011 Mustang is being built, to cope with the increased demand.

Ford is absolutely committed to delivering class-leading fuel efficiency with every ne… (read more)

Just as the global recession isn’t a crisis for everyone, some failed deals actually bring success to certain parties: After Tengzhong’s failure to complete the Hummer acquisition, announced yesterday, today brings a positive news…for the Hummer dealers in China.

According to People’s Daily, Shanghai Hummer retailers have reacted quickly to the Hummer-Tengzhong cancellation news, deciding to raise the prices of the remaining Hummer models on their stock. A Hummer H3X produced last year now… (read more)

Karun Chandhok is one step away from becoming India’s first Formula One driver in the last 5 years, after the new team principal of Campos Grand Prix, Colin Kolles, confirmed the two parties are inches away from inking a deal for the 2010 season.

The GP2 racer has been in the rumor mill for one of the vacant spots in F1 for over a month now, but every time a media report would suggest he will sign a deal with a certain team, he came before the journalists to deny it. However, Kolles now made… (read more)

Mexican driver Esteban Gutierrez will be offered the opportunity to train and closely observe the Formula One action throughout the 2010 season from the Sauber F1’s garage. Having already completed a rookie test with the team in December 2009, the 2008 Formula BMW Europe champion will be watched over by the Swiss outfit for the season to come.

Nowadays you can only give young drivers a very limited amount of help in gaining a foothold in Formula 1. With the limited number of testing opportuni… (read more)

Carefully slotted in between the already released 5 Series sedan and the upcoming unveiling of the 5 Series Touring at the AMI show in Leipzig, the BMW 5 Series ActiveHybrid was presented today by the German carmaker, confirming the rumors which began in the automotive world in August last year.

The hybrid 5 Series concept features a TwinPower Turbo straight-six gasoline engine, combined with an eight-speed automatic transmission and an electric drive. Unlike all the ActiveHybrids we saw un… (read more)

Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) announced the appointment of a new CEO, in the person of Masahiko Takahashi, who served as the company’s Vice President of Corporate Strategy until today.

The executive replaces Robert McEniry, who decided to leave Mitsubishi, after heading the company for over four years. McEniry will step down on March 31. Takahashi joined Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) 27 years ago, holding multiple executive positions in various countries. His former respon… (read more)

Renault announced that the company will have a new Executive Vice President, in the person of Laurence Dors.

Dors will join Renault starting from March 1 2010 and will enter a special training period. After becoming familiar with Renault’s doctrine, she will be appointed Executive Vice President on July 1 2010. At the same time, she will become a part of the Renault Executive Committee.

Dors will replace Bernand Rey in the CEO office. The latter will remain in the Renault team, taking othe… (read more)

Lexus will attend the 2010 Geneva Motor Show next week to display the company’s new CT 200h, a model that will go on sale in early 2011. However, Toyota’s luxury brand today presented the car before the public unveiling at the show, along with the full list of specifications.

The first premium compact model to be sold under the Lexus brand will be powered by the Lexus Hybrid Drive system, a combination of a 1.8-liter VVT-i petrol engine and an electric unit. There are four driving modes avail… (read more)

Italian driver Davide Valsecchi clinched the GP2 Asia Series title a couple of hours ago, when powering to the win in the feature race of the Bahrain meeting this weekend. Having lost the pole position by only 0.003 seconds to Jules Bianchi on Thursday, the iSport racer managed to keep his calm and cross the finish line in first place earlier today, securing enough points from rival and teammate Oliver Turvey in order to become new GP2 Asia champion.

Pole-sitter Jules Bianchi had a poor start… (read more)

The Motorsport division of Volkswagen announced today the winner of the 2010 Karting Qualifier and the man who will get a $45,000 scholarship towards the 2010 Jetta TDI Cup season: Arie Ouimet of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Ouimet is one of thirty karting finalists to move on to the final driver selection event of the 2010 season. He won the final selection in Las Vegas, where 40 drivers competed for the 25 positions of the 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup driver field. Following three days of tes… (read more)

The 2010 season of Formula One racing will see a new safety car in the series, as the gullwing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG will replace the SL 63 AMG, formerly used by the championship in back-to-back seasons (2008 and 2009). In addition to that news, it was also confirmed that the Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG Estate will continue to be the series’ official medical car for the 2010 season.

Together with the entire AMG Team, I am very proud that the new SLS AMG is the official F1 safety car. I’m sure all … (read more)