Germany
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German independent vehicle manufacturer Karmann shut its doors for the last time late last month as the company heads into bankruptcy but the move may not be final according to latest reports. Karmann has reportedly inked a $14 million deal with Volkswagen to help with the development and supply of the automaker’s future electric vehicles. The information was first reported by Germany’s Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung, which claims that Karmann will use the funds to form a restructured company with 1,600 employees. Neither Karmann nor VW has confirmed the reports but given...
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Germany's Mileworks joins electric car race with new E-Rod roadster
It seems these days that a new electric sports car concept is announced almost every month but it's not often that we get to see the actual concept in the metal, so to speak, or in the case of the new E-Rod, in the carbon-fiber composite. The E-Rod electric roadster is the latest creation of German...
Alex Kaufmann -
Beijing Auto offers $923 million for Opel, but race could already be over
Three companies have submitted bids for Opel so far, but another, China's Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC), has now joined the fray with an offer of more than $923 million. However, Opel front-runner Magna International's consortium partner Sberbank believes the bidding war is already...
Alex Kaufmann -
Britto-Bentley combines traditional luxury with modern pop-art
For his exhibition "Come to my World" in Berlin, famous artist Romero Britto chose a Bentley Continental GT as a canvas for his latest work. For those who don’t know, Britto is a Brazilian neo-pop artist that specializes in cheerful and vivid signature motifs and is now based in Miami...
Kenneth Hall -
Germany says no to Porsche's request for aid
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, the company that owns Porsche AG and has sought a controlling interest in Volkswagen AG, will not be on the list of government loans in Germany this year according to the latest reports. Porsche is already actively seeking help from outside sources, however. Porsche...
Nelson Ireson -
Nurburgring grandstand named after Sebastian Vettel
After winning at Monza last year, Sebastian Vettel's former school changed its name to honour the young German. Now, the 21-year-old's arrival at his home grand prix at the Nurburgring next month as a three time race winner, most recently in dominant style at Silverstone, will reveal a similar...
Alex Kaufmann -
Modified Mercedes Benz vehicles are far from uncommon, and the methods applied are likewise becoming rote: big, flashy wheels, aggressive bodykits and, of course, more power. Lorinser sticks with this tried and true formula and ends up with something not too dissimilar to the original specifications of the cars it modifies, not to mention several orders of magnitude more tasteful than many alternative brands. The tuner’s latest efforts center on the Mercedes C-Class platform, in particular the high-performance C63 AMG. Lorinser plans to compete in this weekend’s Tuner Grand Prix...
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President Obama signs in Cash-for-Guzzlers bill
The Cash-for-Guzzlers bill is just one of the incentives the government is trying to implement to bring the U.S. auto industry back to its pre-recession levels. Recently, the Cash-for-Guzzlers scheme garnered approval of both House and Senate negotiation teams, and now it has passed into law with...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Karmann shuts its doors as last convertible rolls off the line
Last year a spate of bankruptcy threats and possible acquisitions or closures hit the coachbuilding industry, but today Karmann, perhaps most famous for the Karmann Ghia conversion, is closing its doors. Bankruptcy is the next step, and it's not clear if the firm will come out the other side. The...
Ralph Hanson -
Lamborghini Super Trofeo hits the street in Germany
As expensive and rare as Lamborghini cars are, they aren't an entirely exceptional sight on the road. But it's a rare occasion indeed to see a whole grid of fully race-prepped Gallardo LP560-4-derived Super Trofeo racers on the street - and that's exactly what's coming this weekend to Norisring...
Kenneth Hall -
Mercedes updates the G-Class for 30th birthday
Adding value to a successful design that's been essentially unchanged for 30 years might seem like an unecessary fix, but Mercedes has seen fit to add a few interior updates to its G-Class for its 30th year on the road. The updates include a new set of 'ergonomically optimized' front seats which...
Ralph Hanson -
BMW hands out flyers to employees telling them to buy its cars
BMW may be topping the luxury sales charts here in the U.S. but over in Germany things aren’t so peachy and the automaker is resorting to some drastic actions to help boost its sales. At a number of its German factory parking lots, the automaker has attached more than 7,000 cards requesting...
Alex Kaufmann -
The saga surrounding General Motors’ European subsidiary Opel continues to unfold as the struggling automaker ponders the bids that are on offer. Now, anonymous sources close to Canada’s Magna International have revealed that if the auto parts giant wins the bid it will be executing a whole new business plan for Opel, rather than simply restructuring it. The new business model would depart from simply using the Opel brand to develop new vehicles and sell them under the same brand. Instead, Magna is supposedly considering using Opel's infrastructure to build vehicles for non-GM...
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Wiesmann offers European driving getaway package
Niche German automaker Wiesmann is best known for its classically designed sports cars that tend to cost an arm and a leg, but now the company is expanding into the holiday and travel business. Wiesmann has revealed that it will be offering its well-to-do clientele further avenues to spend their...
Alex Kaufmann -
BMW designing cars to stop automatically during medical emergency
A surprisingly common problem that often goes largely unreported is the situation where a driver loses control of their vehicle after suffering a serious health-related problem when behind the wheel. To overcome this problem, BMW is working on a new system that will be able to safely bring a car to...
Alex Kaufmann -
Report: Magna considers using Opel to build cars for other brands
Bidding for General Motors’ Opel division has intensified recently, with the German government revealing late last week that only two parties remain in the bidding war – Fiat and Magna International (together with Russia’s GAZ Group). While it’s been speculated that Fiat is...
Jeremy Weber -
Flying cash stops traffic in Germany
In a new case of a driver having more dollars than sense, or in this instance more Euros, a 23-year old man in Germany managed to shutdown a highway when an envelope full of cash he was carrying sprayed all over the road. The man was out testing an Audi A3 Cabrio and carelessly left the envelope of...
Alex Kaufmann -
BMW's Reithofer wary of tighter relationship with Daimler
Fiat is trying to tie together Chrysler and GM via Opel, so perhaps the idea of a BMW-Daimler tie-up isn't the strangest corporate pairing in the works, but it is potentially one of the most contentious. Lastweek Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said he'd like to see a partnership of equals between the...
Ralph Hanson -
The new Mercedes Benz E-Class Coupe may be a month away from its U.S. release but the first of the stylish two-doors was delivered to a customer in Germany today. The ceremony, conducted at Mercedes' E-Class plant in Bremen, saw Siegfried Möller taking the keys of his new car, an E500 Coupe finished in palladium silver. Plant manager Peter Schabert was, as expected, gushing about the quality of the car and expressed that he was "extremely pleased to be personally handing the key to the first owner today. The E-Class Coupe is an exciting vehicle – I am sure that its new owner will enjoy...
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BMW reveals U.S. pricing for X5 M and X6 M performance SUVs
We bet there are still thousands of BMW M fans out there reeling from the fact that the performance division is launching its first ever SUV model, and a turbocharged one at that. Those fans better get used to it fast as BMW has just revealed pricing for the new X5 M and X6 M SUVs, which will start...
James Martinez -
Irmscher launches new 7 Turbo based on legendary Lotus design
German outfit Irmscher has just unveiled its latest rival to the Caterham and Ariel Atom set - the new 7 Turbo. The roadster is constructed in the same vein as the Lotus Super Seven, and its focus on lightweight performance means that it should be a formidable track machine, especially in its most...
Alex Kaufmann -
BMW and Daimler looking to form purchasing alliance in U.S. and China
The saga between BMW and Daimler forming a strategic alliance dates back more than two years. To this day, nothing major has materialized except a deal over procurement and purchasing of common components, but there was hope that a resolution would be found after the surfacing of reports that the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Melkus launching brand rebirth with RS2000 this November
Development of the first new Melkus sports car since 1986 is almost complete with initial plans for a November 2009 relaunch of the brand still on track. The first final design models of the car have been created, and are expected to be shown publicly at the Frankfurt Motor Show before going on...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Quandt Family nixes BMW and Daimler 7% share swapping deal
The saga between BMW and Daimler forming a strategic alliance dates back more than two years. To this day, nothing major has materialized except a deal over procurement and purchasing of common components, but there was hope that a resolution would be found following the surface of reports that the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran