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  • Chrysler plans two-week global shut-down

    Worries over Chrysler's existence beyond the next handful of years have gone from whispers to open conversation in recent months, and the decision to shutter its entire operation for two weeks at mid-year will no doubt spur even more speculation. Chrysler is couching the shut-down as a way to increase productivity and efficiency, but it is the first time Chrysler has used the tactic on a global scale, and that speaks of desperation. The news of the global halt follows last week's announcement of the closure of the company's Pacifica design studio. Cost-cutting measures and productivity...

  • Bentley earns record profit
    Bentley earns record profit

    Mainstream carmakers may be worried about a downturn in the market but the ultra-luxury marques have nothing to fear if current sales levels are anything to go by. Bentley, for example, has posted record sales of 10,014 vehicles for 2007 and this in turn has led to new operating profit record of...

  • BMW using face recognition to personalize cars
    BMW using face recognition to personalize cars

    In the pursuit of improved safety, a number of carmakers are developing face recognition systems that scan a driver’s face and determine whether he or she is about to fall asleep behind the wheel. BMW is also looking at the technology but sees face recognition as a way to identify the person...

  • Exxon Mobil helping to develop electric cars
    Exxon Mobil helping to develop electric cars

    As odd as it sounds, the world’s largest oil refiner Exxon Mobil is helping to develop new battery technology for a range of new petrol-electric hybrids and all-electric vehicles. Using a component it developed for mobile phone batteries, Exxon Mobil is now working on improving batteries for...

  • Avis offering Chevrolet Corvette rental
    Avis offering Chevrolet Corvette rental

    Avis has joined its main rival Hertz by offering to rent one of the world’s most loved sports cars, the Chevrolet Corvette. However, before you start searching for Avis’ phone number the rental company is only offering the car in Arizona, California, Florida and Las Vegas. Driving the...

  • Audi posts record profit, shifts to more efficient models
    Audi posts record profit, shifts to more efficient models

    While the recent currency crisis and rise in raw material prices have seen some carmakers become less profitable, Audi has managed to maintain strong growth and earned itself a record profit of $4.48 billion for the last financial year. In fact, since 1995 Audi has consistently posted consecutive...

  • LUMMA Design CLR X530 BMW X5

    The diesel version of the X5 isn’t the obvious choice for a tuner like Germany’s Lumma, who is more likely to modify a big-cube petrol engine, but its latest car is in fact based on the more mundane diesel six. Lumma's previous works include modified versions of the M5 and M6, in the form of the CLR 500 RS and 600 S models, and now engineers have focused their skills on squeezing the most out of BMW's brilliant 3.0L twin-turbo diesel. Lumma has lifted output of the diesel engine to 330hp and 660Nm of torque, up from 286hp and 580Nm in the stock version. The slight bump in output...

  • GTM planning new 40th anniversary 40TR roadster
    GTM planning new 40th anniversary 40TR roadster

    GTM’s 40TR roadster was only launched last year but the ultra-light racer has already undergone a major overhaul and is set to appear in revised form at this year’s Autosport show in the UK. The upgrade was done to create a special anniversary model to celebrate 40 years of GTM Cars and...

  • Report: Diesel fumes stress your brain
    Report: Diesel fumes stress your brain

    Diesel fueled cars are already associated with the negative image of heavy trucks clogging the air with their dark and sooty exhaust plumes, and a new study only goes further to damage it's reputation. Dutch scientists have found that breathing diesel exhaust fumes can trigger a response in the...

  • SUB G1 three-wheel roadster
    SUB G1 three-wheel roadster

    This odd-looking roadster is the new G1 three-wheeler from Southern California’s Sub Vehicles, a small start-up consisting of three individuals with a passion for high speed driving at low cost. The new G1 is the first vehicle to be spawned from the new company but it’s based on an...

  • Nissan prepping electric concept for N.Y. Auto Show
    Nissan prepping electric concept for N.Y. Auto Show

    Nissan may have fallen behind its closest rivals in the race to launch a hybrid car but it won’t be making the same mistake with its new generation of all-electric vehicles. The carmaker plans to introduce its first all-electric car in 2010 for fleet customers in both Japan and the U.S., and...

  • Pininfarina joins European Automotive Hall of Fame
    Sergio Pininfarina joins European Automotive Hall of Fame

    Last week’s Geneva Motor Show saw Italian engineer and design legend Sergio Pininfarina inducted into the European Automotive Hall of Fame for his contribution to the auto industry. Pininfarina has been the acting chairman of the Carrozzeria Pininfarina design studio since his father...

  • Australian PM sealed Grand Prix fate, Ecclestone says

    Australia's new prime minister has personally told Bernie Ecclestone that the country will not be funding a night F1 race. "I've spoken to Kevin Rudd and he's told me it would cost too much to re-stage the race, so I guess that's it. We won't be going to Australia for too much longer," the F1 chief executive is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. Ecclestone, 77, had already been told by the Melbourne race's promoters, the AGPC and the Victorian state government, that they will not be ceding to his pressure to floodlight the Albert Park circuit at their own expense. "The only way the race...

  • Bugatti sells 220 Veyrons
    Bugatti sells 220 Veyrons

    It’s hard to believe that one of the most expensive cars in the world has racked up 220 sales in a little over two years but when you factor in that it’s also the fastest production car ever sold then it becomes a little more fathomable. Bugatti has received 220 confirmed orders for its...

  • Fiat targets U.S. with new V6 turbodiesel
    Fiat targets U.S. with new V6 turbodiesel

    As governments around the world get tougher on emissions levels carmakers are being forced to downsize their engines and implement more fuel saving technologies. Fiat, along with a number of other carmakers, has set itself a target of reducing its emissions by 7% and to do this it’s looking...

  • Rolls Royce coupe already sold out
    Rolls Royce coupe already sold out

    The entire first year production of the new Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe, which equates to more than 200 cars, was already allocated for long before the car made its debut at the recent Geneva Motor Show, boasts CEO Ian Robertson. And a majority of those orders, two-thirds to be in fact, were sold to...

  • 6.1L Project Fireblade design study
    6.1L Project Fireblade design study

    From the same designer that brought us the edgy Ferrari F250 design study comes the new Fireblade GT coupe. Featuring a new front engine rear wheel drive setup, designer Idries Noah used cars like the Corvette Stingray, Gillet Vertigo and Shelby Daytona for inspiration for his latest work. Noah...

  • Tata could buy stake in Ferrari
    Tata could buy stake in Ferrari

    Indian giant Tata is on the verge of finalizing its takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover and now its Chief Ratan Tata has hinted that his next acquisition could be a stake in Ferrari. Tata is already heavily involved with Ferrari’s parent company Fiat, joining the Italian carmaker’s board...

  • Ferrari Art.Engine tower speaker

    Ferrari and David Wiener Ventures license has created the ultimate gift for the Ferrari fan that has everything. Developed by the partnership is a new tower speaker designed and engineered by Ferrari called the Art.Engine. The single contained unit features a number of vertically stacked speakers utilizing lightweight carbon-fiber cones and louvered cooling ducts that resemble the units used on Ferrari’s actual cars. The speaker is designed to play music via WiFi but it can also accept an input from a CD player or iPod. The frequency response ranges from 40Hz to 20kHz with a maximum SPL...

  • Novitec Rosso Ferrari F430 Race
    Novitec Rosso Ferrari F430 Race

    Not content with its previous 656hp twin-supercharged F430, German tuner and Ferrari specialist Novitec Rosso has now upgraded the car to ‘Race’ spec. Power is up by an additional 51hp, giving it an Enzo-beating 707hp and decimating the standard F430 which makes do with just 490hp. At...

  • Volvo's on-board breathalyzer to enter production
    Volvo's on-board breathalyzer to enter production

    First Volvo unveiled a new driver-distraction warning system, now the company is presenting a fully integrated in-car alcolock system called Alcoguard. Scheduled to be introduced as an option for the XC60 to begin with, and then the S80, V70 and XC70 models early next year, the new system will...

  • Carlos Ghosn hints at GT-R based sedan
    Carlos Ghosn hints at GT-R based sedan

    We recently reported that Infiniti may be developing a four-door GT-R to form a new halo model for the brand. Today we got further evidence of such a plan when Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn told reporters at a press presentation at this week’s Geneva Motor Show that "a car like this at Infiniti"...

  • Scion releases Hako Coupe Concept teaser
    Scion releases Hako Coupe Concept teaser

    With the press days for this week’s Geneva Motor Show approaching its end, attention now turns towards the upcoming New York Show falling at the end of this month. Toyota’s youth-oriented brand Scion has now released a teaser of one of its new concept cars planned for the show but...

  • Update: Giugiaro Quaranta official details
    Giugiaro Quaranta debuts at 2008 Geneva auto show

    Italian design firm Italdesign-Giugiaro has released full details and images for its new Quaranta following the reveal of the new concept at this week's 2008 Geneva auto show. The new concept not only celebrates the design house’s 40th anniversary but it also shows that Giugiaro designers are...

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