Industry

The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione - what a breath of fresh air, an example of what Alfa could do if it wanted to. Wait - why doesn’t it want to? Why limit the production of the 8C and build as many wallowy, underpowered (albeit quite sexy) Breras as possible? Well, the man responsible for those...

Volkswagen has made it no secret that it wants to challenge Toyota for the number one carmaker spot, going so far as to set a 2018 target date as the year when its manufacturing numbers will surpass those of Toyota. The CEO with the vision, Martin Winterkorn, has now claimed he wants to stay at VW...

A rise in the fuel economy standard to 35mpg for cars and trucks by 2020 (40% higher than current levels) has today been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives as part of a wide-ranging energy bill. Some believe the higher CAFE standards will add several thousand dollars to the price of...

Now that all negotiations between Mercedes-Benz and Fiat are off, there’s rumors the premium carmaker is in talks with the owners of Aston Martin. Although previous talks surrounded the possibility of platform sharing and the co-development of new powertrains, these latest talks are said to...

The final bidders vying for the Jaguar and Land Rover labels, India’s Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), plus private equity firm One Equity Partners, have reportedly put forward their final bids for the British marques. The bids are expected to be in the range of $1.5-$2 billion...

Torque vectoring systems, devices that transfer drive between individual wheels for improved traction, largely remain the stuff of premium AWD models and high-performance sports cars but that may change soon thanks to OEM suppliers like ZF and GKN. The two companies are now working on new rear-axle...

Officials from Spyker have confirmed that a letter of intent between the carmaker and Dutch investment firm ACI has been signed for the eventual sale of a stake in the company. Spyker also confirmed that it’s in talks with several other potential investors and that no final decision had been...

Kia is reportedly in talks with German car manufacturer Karmann over a deal for a new production contract, rumored to be for a new convertible. The Osnabrück-based company has worked closely with Kia in the past, having manufactured the Kia Sportage SUV during the mid 1990s and more recently...

Mercedes-Benz and BMW are expected to make an announcement before the end of the year about a new partnership in regards to the development of four-cylinder engines for the next-generation B-Class (codenamed C412) and Mini. The information comes from an inside source, who revealed to Automotive...

Turbocharging is quickly becoming the must-have technology for carmakers looking for proven methods of boosting the performance of an engine without bumping up displacement. Most diesel passenger cars come equipped with a blower, and the number of turbocharged petrol models is growing at a rapid...

As more and more car makers are beginning to realize, India is one of the biggest emerging markets for automobiles. Vijay Mallya’s Force India Formula 1 team is getting ready to start its first season in the world’s premier motorsport series. Porsche is considering moving some of its...

The flagship model of the remade Dodge Challenger, the new high-performance SRT8, will be priced from $37,995 when it goes on pre-order from December 3 onwards. The first batch of cars will be a limited edition run, each with a numbered dash plaque, and will be available in black, silver or HEMI...

Volkswagen will be going on a huge spending spree in coming years to help reach its target of ten million vehicle sales by 2018. Already we’ve reported about the carmaker’s strategy to reduce its vehicle architectures to four main platforms, and now we have news of a €9.5 billion...

The automotive industry has come a long way since Francois Isaac de Rivaz designed the first internal combustion engine in 1806. Already advances such as power steering, ABS brakes and stability control are standard options on most cars sold today, but what next? We take a look at the next set of...

Last week the ongoing talks between Volkswagen and Proton came to an end, leaving the door open for GM to step in and pick up where it left off. GM, as well as PSA Peugeot-Citroen, was initially in talks with Proton but VW quickly emerged as the most likely company to form an alliance with the...

Bertone has been in financial doldrums ever since a deal between it and Fiat to build several new Lancia models went sour back in April. The Italian coachbuilder is yet to secure any major projects since then and is relying on government handouts to pay its staff but this is expected to dry up...

Officials at Fiat and Daimler have been in negotiations since the middle of the year over a possible deal to co-develop several new models for their respective Alfa Romeo and Mercedes-Benz brands. Now it seems the talks may have come to an end with neither parties interested in a further...

As Porsche ramps up for a takeover of Volkswagen Group, engineers at both companies are analyzing and discussing new areas of cooperation between the two firms with most of the focus centered on the use of new super-light technology. Porsche developing the technology for its upcoming Panamera and...

With the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover drawing to a close two of the remaining three bidders have come under fire recently because of fears they could be mismatched with the British luxury labels. The two companies are India's Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), manufacturers of econo-cars...

As 2007 draws to a close more and more reports claiming Tata Motors is the likely buyer of Jaguar and Land Rover are starting to emerge, the latest claiming Ford is about to name the Indian carmaker before the end of the year. Ford’s concern with the process is that the brands are sold to a...