Viknesh Vijayenthiran, Editor
Articles
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Following from last week’s rushed announcement for an extension of the existing employee discount program to friends and extended family of employees, General Motors has released a new memo to... -
Update: Japanese firms developing carbon-fiber for mass productionCarbon-fiber is seen by many in the auto industry as one of the most effective ways of reducing vehicle weight and improving fuel economy and emissions levels, but the relative expense of the material means that it’s still reserved for only a handful of high-end production cars. BMW has...
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Report: GM to cut 15% of salary staff in North AmericaGeneral Motors is expected to announce heavy second-quarter losses tomorrow along with a new round of job cuts planned for North America. This time the cuts will effect salary workers, with latest reports indicating that up to 5,000 jobs, or about 15% of GM’s North American white-collar work...
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U.S. Senate Democrats support $6 billion industry loan packageFollowing the call by Michigan members of congress for the government to support a multi-billion dollar aid package for the auto industry, Senate Democrats have approved a $6 billion package to secure low-interest loans for the Detroit Three. The package will be financed by Congress for $900...
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Facelifted 911 Turbo, GT3 and GT2 to receive direct-injection techPorsche will add direct-fuel-injection technology to its high-performance Turbo and GT3 and GT2 variants of the 911 Coupe as part of the mid-cycle update planned for the cars over the next 12 months. Porsche first applied direct injection technology to the 4.8L V8 Cayenne SUV but has since...
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Rivalry emerges between Mercedes-Benz and McLaren over next-generation supercarsMercedes-Benz has confirmed that its partnership with British sports car manufacturer McLaren will come to an end when the current agreement to build the SLR supercar expires next year. As the two carmakers head their separate ways and announce plans for separate, and this time competing, supercar...
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Chase Auto Finance announced today that it will no longer offer leases for Chrysler vehicles, following a similar announcement made on Friday by Chrysler Financial to stop its own leases on August 1.... -
Electricity generated from exhaust promises 10% efficiency gainThe rising cost of oil is making expensive fuel-saving technologies more and more viable as prices continue to go upwards at the pumps. Researchers at the Ohio State University and at Caltech in California have developed a method of increasing fuel efficiency by 10% using a special material that...
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Update: Audi A4 and Q5 being considered for U.S. productionUpdated: Audi CEO Rupert Stadler hinted back in March that U.S. production could be a possibility for the premium brand at Volkswagen's new plant, which was confirmed this month to be constructed in Tennessee. Latest reports are now indicating that executives are seriously considering building the...
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Report: V10 Audi R8 expected to set new 'Ring recordThe Audi R8 has managed to impress the press for some time now, but a new V10-engined R8 is set to blaze the much coveted Nurburgring production car record according to new details sourced from engineers currently working on the car. The new model is expected to be powered by a 535hp (400kW) V10...
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Toyota lowers 2008 global sales targetUpdated: Toyota announced today that it was lowering its global vehicle sales outlook for the year to 9.5 million vehicles, down from the 9.85 million units predicted at the start of the year. The lower figure is still higher than the 9.37 million vehicles Toyota sold last year and represents a...
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Porsche introduces 2009 facelifted 911 Targa rangeFollowing the release of the updated 911 Carrera and Carrera 4 models comes new details of the 2009 Porsche 911 Targa 4 and Targa 4S models. The distinctive feature of the 911 Targa, as before, is the 1.54-square-metre sliding glass roof and tailgate. When opened completely, the roof slides within...
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A group of performance car nuts who also happen to be some of the richest people in North America are backing a new private race track located 90 miles northwest of Manhattan, New York. Among the... -
GM to cut powertrain development time and costs with new Detroit labGeneral Motors has opened an advanced engine testing facility in Detroit, Michigan, which the carmaker claims will allow it to speed up powertrain development times and save more than $200 million per year. According to GM, the new facility is the largest of its kind in the world and it will...
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GM Rules Out New Opel FlagshipGeneral Motors Company [NYSE:GM] global product chief Bob Lutz has ruled out developing a new flagship model for the Opel brand, claiming that there’s little chance a model positioned above the new Insignia sedan would be able to compete with Germany’s well-established premium brands...
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Loremo updates design for 100MPG LSGermany’s Loremo unveiled the most recent prototype of its super-efficient LS Concept car at last year’s Frankfurt Auto Show, but as with most prototype engineers are continuing to tweak the design ahead of the release of the production model expected sometime early next decade. The...
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Mercedes-Benz S-Class Carlsson Aigner CK65 RS 'Blanchimont'Carlsson has kitted up the Mercedes-Benz S-Class with its latest CK65 tuning package, a race-proven kit that combines a host of performance modifications with high-end luxury appointments. The new kit is dubbed the ‘Blanchimont’ – named after a corner at the Spa Francorchamps race...
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Video: Audi Q7 versus Fiat 500 crash testGerman auto club and prominent European crash tester ADAC has pitted a large SUV against a minicar with harrowing results. The test consisted of an overlapping frontal crash test at 56km/h between an Audi Q7 and a Fiat 500. The result was worrying, for the passengers in the Fiat 500 at least...
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Tata Motors and Fiat are already tied up over a number of projects including manufacturing low cost engines and the sharing of engineering teams, but the partnership could soon expand even further... -
Chrysler to cut 1,000 jobs by SeptemberChrysler has confirmed that it will shed up to 1,000 salaried jobs by the end of September in an effort to reduce costs and streamline its business. Chrysler now joins fellow Detroit carmakers General Motors and Ford, both of which have also announced similar cuts to their salary staff. Employees...
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Mini to raise prices in U.S., considering 50MPG dieselBMW's wildly successful Mini Cooper will experience a fall in sales in coming months, despite demand for the iconic car being higher than ever. Due to the heavy demand, dealerships across the U.S. are experiencing short supplies of current stock and with rising fuel prices pushing more and more...
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Saab looking to downsize next-generation modelsSaab is one of a handful of carmakers looking to buck the trend of building bigger and heavier cars with each new model generation, the carmaker confirming at this week’s London Motor Show that future models will be more compact. Starting with the upcoming 9-1, due to arrive in 2012...
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BMW Z4 production coming to end next month?The low value of the U.S. dollar against the Euro has forced BMW to change its production plans for the next-generation Z4 sports car. At the moment the Z4 is built alongside the X5 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, but the new model, due late next year, will be built in Germany, most likely at...
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Update: Ford Fiesta EcoNetic unveiled in LondonUpdated: Ford's focus on fuel efficiency hops into the front seat with the debut of the new Fiesta EcoNetic at this week's London Motor Show. The little hatch has an optimized diesel engine that turns out a fuel efficiency rating that places it at the very top of the UK's list of five-seaters...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran