Keeping your staff happy is key to running a successful company. One of the main ways to do that is to pay them, which is an area in which is experiencing a bit of trouble. Specifically, Saab cannot pay white-collar employees because committed funds have not yet been fully recovered by investors. The automaker’s suppliers are looking to get paid as well, but there’s just no money to do so at the moment.
According to Bloomberg and Sweden’s The Local, Saab suppliers are seeking help from a collections agency. In total, 104 debts have been registered with the group teaming up to try and pry some money back from Saab. Meanwhile, the automaker is looking to secure a new loan to replace the current $346.6 million lent out by the European Investment Bank. Once in place, Saab would be ready to have Russian entrepreneur Vladimir Antonov step in and secure a 29.5 percent owner’s share of the company.
Will Mr. Antonov serve as a saving grace for the Swedish automaker? We don’t know, but we’re certain the company needs all the help it can get at this point.
The has become something of an odd fit within the lineup. It slots above the but below the and utilizes front-wheel-drive architecture. Think of it as a sort of competitor, a larger, comfortable cruiser for more traditional buyers. Nevertheless, Hyundai is committed to offering the Azera here in the United States, and the automaker has just confirmed that next-generation 2012 model will debut at the later this year.
It’s probably safe to assume that the 2012 Azera will take a shape very similar to the sedan seen here. The Grandeur has design elements of both the Sonata and Genesis, keeping in line with the automaker’s “fluidic styling” language. As for powertrains, Hyundai hasn’t said a peep, but our best guess is that the automaker’s 333-hp 3.8-liter V6 will be found underhood, or perhaps a variant of its 274-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four. We’ll have the full details later this year.
We’ve never heard a demon clear its throat, but we’re pretty sure that the engineers at have. How else could they create a menacing machine that produces the noises emanating from the ?
Road & Track snagged the keys to an example of the devilish new 510-horsepower superstar, and, fortunately for us, they brought along a camera. The following clip doesn’t show smokey powerslides, meaty burnouts or high-speed passes. In fact, the C63 AMG isn’t even moving. The Black Series coupe merely sits still and belches forth an evil tone that incites visions of what’s in store once you move the shift lever into drive.
for the clip.
C63 AMG Black Series sounds like the heart of darkness
The compact pickup market in the U.S. has been languishing for more than a decade, but that doesn’t mean that a fuel-efficient truck with a small footprint doesn’t have a place in the States. has been watching the market closely and thinks that it could make a case for bringing a pint-sized pickup to North America.
When asked what could be coming down the pipeline in the next few years, a senior exec at Suzuki told Autoblog that the automaker could import a compact truck to the U.S. based on the next generation Suzuki Jimny. The Jimny – also known as the Samurai in the States – has continued to chug along outside of North America, and with the next iteration due to arrive in three years’ time, Suzuki could bring the body-on-frame SUV to the U.S. with a truck bed.
But the problem with compact pickups is cost. The might make a compelling case for itself, but when it’s only a few grand less than a larger, more practical full-sizer, buyers tend to go big and go home with an .
So to bring a pickup to the States, Suzuki would have to not only have get the pricing right, but nail both fuel economy and equipment – all while turning a profit in the process. Let’s hope that if they pull the trigger, they decide to have some fun with it and make it look like the shown above. After all, the -based pickup has been on the market since 2009, and it hasn’t exactly made a splash.
The moment of truth is upon McLaren this weekend. After rolling out its MP4-12C road car to positive reviews, the racing team turned automaker is turning itself back into a racing team with the new McLaren GT division and its MP4-12C GT3 – the first GT racer from the Woking, UK outfit since the celebrated F1 GTR.
After launching the new GT3, McLaren went back to the drawing board and came out with a series of updates based on their preliminary testing, and along the way, took 20 orders from a variety of independent racing teams for next year. That’s all well and good, but what really matters is whether or not the car can perform. And we’re about to find out this weekend when a trio of MP4-12C GT3s debut at the 24 Hours of Spa at the famous race track in Belgium.
Truth be told, this isn’t the first time the MP4-12C GT3 – try saving that three times fast – has driven at Spa, having joined the British GT Championship there earlier this month. The solitary entry placed 12th in the first race and a solid 4th in the second, but those results apparently didn’t count towards anything, as it was an exposition entry.
This time, however, McLaren GT will be back with three cars and ten drivers out to prove what the new car can do. One car will feature McLaren’s own factory test driver Chris Goodwin, another with Andrew Kirkaldy, head of the CRS racing team that formed the outfit together with McLaren, and a third with VonRyan Racing, one of the factory’s first customers. We’ll be keeping an eye out to see how they do. Follow the jump for the full press blast and scope out the high-res image gallery for a closer look at the machinery.
Last year, we , and quite frankly, it frightened us. As Jonny Lieberman said at the time, “we simply weren’t prepared for the fury of the V700.”
Of course, adding a little under 150 horsepower to the CTS-V is just getting started for Hennessey. The Texas tuner has just released a preview of its upcoming Twin-Turbo CTS-V Coupe model packing no less than 1,000 horsepower. The heart of the car is a 427 cubic-inch LS V8 featuring upgraded internals like forged low compression pistons, forged steel connecting rods, forged steel crank and ARP main studs and head bolts. A set of dual ball bearing turbochargers packs atmosphere into the combustion chambers, assisted by high-flow cylinder heads. Additional upgrades include items like 15-inch carbon ceramic brakes, a fortified transmission, lowered suspension and Hennessey’s CarbonAero widebody kit. As a bonus, buyers will also receive a one day track experience with retired General Motors test driver supreme John Heinricy.
Hennessey plans to build just 12 of the V1000 Twin-Turbos, and pricing has not yet been released. You can view the full list of V1000 features and upgrades after the jump.
As we continue to pull the daily sheets from our Word of the Day calendar and accountants are busy counting the days of their fiscal calendars, the pencil pushers at and can rest easy for a moment because they just finished compiling the numbers for the second quarter.
Ford earned a net income of $2.4 billion in Q2, which is actually $201 million less than it had raked in by this time last year. The net income was affected by a reduction in staff, various dealership actions, pension settlements in Belgium and the move to . The automaker enters the rest of the year with $32.2 billion in liquid assets, which will come in handy as Ford looks to expand its market share around the globe.
Chrysler as gone in a different direction than Ford for the second quarter of 2011. Compared to Q2 last year, the automaker is up 30 percent with net income of $13.7 billion. Chrysler’s numbers should continue to grow as it releases new or redesigned models, and has owed to the United States and Canadian governments.
Ready to take a deeper dive into the quarterly earnings for both automakers? Click past the jump for the full financial reports.
As much as we hate to admit it, there’s a reason ER staffs call motorcyclists “organ donors.” Bikers and knee-draggers have a lot more to watch out for out on the open road… and a lot more at stake if they don’t. That often comes down to cars, trucks, pedestrians and even roadside obstacles. But once in a while, that imminent danger is another motorcyclist.
In the video , a rider who goes (in apparent tribute to the robot in Short Circuit) by the handle Johnny5 was riding his GSX-R sport bike on The Snake – a notoriously curvy stretch of road near Los Angeles. Johnny5 was doing alright until an oncoming rider low-sided it and skidded straight into him.
Fortunately, Johnny5 was reportedly alright after the crash, but his bike was a total write-off. for the cringe-worthy footage.
Northern California is an odd place – and that’s just the cars. For every -driving eco-yuppie, you’ll find a diehard Datsun 510 enthusiast. And you can’t toss a bushel of puntarelle without hitting a grease-powered in the East Bay. But here’s a better case in point: A few weeks back, I was driving an arrest-me-red and it barely turned a head. One week later, there was a parked in my driveway and I couldn’t stop fielding questions.
Like I said, odd.
So when I snagged the keys to a , I wasn’t sure how it would be received by the mismatched masses of the Bay Area. Less than 10 miles later, I lost count of the number of thumbs-up and double-takes I got while crossing the San Mateo Bridge. Surprising? Not really.
After all, this is the coast that seared the original into the national consciousness and took to budget compacts years before Detroit had a clue. But while we’ve driven the 500 in all its guises, one question remained: Could you really live with something this damned cute?
says big things are in store for the redesigned , and the vehicle is nearly ready to show its face to the world. The mid-sized sedan isn’t quite ready yet, however, and our spy photographers have captured the camo-wearing four-doors making their way around the desert.
We’ve been promised a more dynamic looking Camry the next time out, and the angles cut around the nose look sharper than recent generations. Still, it’s just speculation at this point, because that camouflage is doing a pretty good job of hiding what lies beneath. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait too much longer to see the updated sedan, as it’s slated to hit dealer lots this fall.
There are a few key ways for an illegal immigrant to get deported. Anything to do with making or selling drugs is the number one way to get kicked out of the country, with 45,003 cases in the last fiscal year alone. That’s up nearly one third from 2008, but drug offenses may not be number one for long thanks to a surge in drunken driving-related deportations.
According to the Associated Press, drunk driving-related deportations have nearly tripled from 10,851 cases in 2008 to 28,635 in the fiscal year ending September, 2010. Another 13,028 illegal aliens were deported for other serious traffic violations – three times the 4,527 offenders deported in 2008. The spike in drunken driving deportations is a part of a larger influx of illegals being deported for various reasons. In total, 393,000 non-U.S. citizens were shown the door, with half of those deported for criminal offenses.
The message here? Drinking and driving is always a bad move, but for illegals getting behind the wheel after excessive drinking, getting busted can mean a whole lot more than a few hefty fines.
With the set to launch in , now’s the perfect time to dive into the interim results from the cars’ trials in London. Here are some details straight from :
Average journey distance has been 7.3 miles, with 59 percent of all journeys covering between 3.1 and 12.4 miles
Average speed has been 17.7 miles per hour, with 69 percent of journeys at speeds less than 18.6 mph
Initial fuel consumption data indicates performance is 27 percent better than an equivalent diesel
Average recharging time is 72 minutes
Where drivers have access to a domestic charge point, more frequent recharging occurs
Twenty-two percent of drivers have even been able to drive further than the official 12.5-mile range in EV mode.
Electric-powered driving so far has accounted for one third of all miles driven in the PHEV demonstration.
Working in partnership with EDF Energy, Toyota leased 20 third-generation Prius plug-ins to London-based businesses and organizations to monitor vehicle performance and recharging patterns. Details of journey times, speeds, distances, fuel usage and recharging habits have been logged and analyzed to compile useable data. The three-year trial kicked off last summer, meaning that these interim results are from less than one year of real-world use.
Over the course of fourteen years in Formula 1, David Coulthard drove for only a handful of teams: Williams, McLaren and Red Bull. Championship-frontrunning teams all, but arguably no single manufacturer has been as influential on his life and career as .
Coulthard was reportedly driven home from the hospital upon his birth in his father’s Merc. Years later, the German automaker would power him to a dozen grand prix wins at McLaren. And now that he’s retired from F1, Coulthard is driving an in the DTM series.
Of course, that’s not all he’s been up to since leaving F1 behind, reporting on camera for the BBC’s grand prix coverage team and acting as an adviser of sorts to the Red Bull team he helped form back in 2004. And now he can add one more, as reports indicate he’s been brought on as something of a brand ambassador for AMG in the UK, bringing it all back to the Silver Star automaker and joining fellow DTM driver Bernd Schneider.
In his new capacity, DC is expected to help out at public relations events for Mercedes-AMG, but he’s also tipped to get more deeply involved in setting up the suspensions on the company’s line of notoriously sturdy vehicles, helping to adjust them for UK roads in particular. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if AMG muscle cars benefited from DC and his thirteen grand prix victories’ worth of experience here in the colonies, either. for the official press release.
is urging its dealers to ratchet up a new online buying system, according to Automotive News. The program borrows elements from the Amazon retail experience to allow car buyers to configure their vehicle as they see fit, find it at local dealership, secure financing and make the buy at a no-haggle price. Scion even wants the cars to be able to be delivered to the consumer’s home, though that doesn’t mean that physical dealerships are going anywhere any time soon. The report says that Scion won’t force its dealers to operate exclusively online. Right now, the projects is merely in its concept phase.
According to Jack Hollis, Scion vice president, the idea sprung from the fact that consumers already shop and purchase everything from homes to boats online. The VP says that cars are simply the next logical step, especially given the brand’s “Gen Y” demographic. That’s despite the fact that most studies indicate that the large majority of car shoppers aren’t into electronically interacting with dealers. Automotive News reports that 65-70 percent of car shoppers never contact the dealer they purchase from before walking through the doors.
If you were surprised when started producing SUVs and four-door sedans, wait until you get a look at these. Following recent bicycles created by (or for) the likes of , , and , Zuffenhausen’s merchandizing division PorscheDesign has just added a pair of new bikes to its Driver’s Selection range.
The Porsche Bike S is built around an aluminum frame with an 11-speed toothed belt drive system, while the Porsche Bike RS (short for Rennsport) features a carbon fiber frame and 20-speed Shimano XTR gear system. Both pack 29″ wheels and hydraulic Magura disc brakes, and an individually-numbered anti-theft label fitted under the paint.
In short, perfect for tossing in the back of your Hybrid and heading out to your favorite bike path for a little self-propelled wheeled enjoyment. for the full press release, scope out the high-res images in the gallery and follow this link to the for more.
There have been a lot of tries at making a over the years, but things haven’t really gotten off the ground yet, considering we aren’t all bopping from place to place like George Jetson. Burt Rutan from Scaled Composites has taken a new stab at a workable flying car with the Rutan Designs Model 367 “Bipod.”
It’s a bi-pod airplane with a 31-foot wingspan when you want it to be, and a seven-foot-wide, deliciously odd grocery getter when you don’t. There’s a lot that’s novel about the design, including its -like gasoline generator powering electric motors that makes up its propulsion system.
Rutan also addressed the problem of unifying car and airplane controls by putting each set of controls in a separate pod. On the right, you have a yoke for when you’re airborne. On the left, the controls for travel on terra firma.
The Model 367 cruises at 100 miles per hour, and has an estimated range of 760 miles. Push it, and you can hit 200, but that knocks your range down to just 530 miles. For what it’s worth, Rutan says this will be his last project before his previously announced retirement goes into effect. See the complete press release .
Jim O’Donnell, who has helmed the BMW’s North American operations since 2008, is planning to retire later this year. He will hand over his reins to seasoned executive Ludwig Willisch. O’Donnell has helped raise sales output in his many years in control, and is currently ahead of year-to-date while on pace to pass for the first time since 1997.
Willisch is certainly no stranger to the brand himself, having started his BMW career by running the sales office in Germany. He later added more sales locations under his belt before taking on sales operations for all of Europe and Japan. Now, Ludwig Willisch will take over as CEO of BMW North America on October 1st of 2011.
Our guess would be that Jim O’Donnell will take over his local golf course and the backyard grille as he moves into the comfortable position of well-earned retirement.
The only thing the car crowd loves more than a good heist movie is a good flick about getaway drivers. It’s a simple formula that mixes one troubled soul running from his past to try and live the straight and narrow with a damsel in distress and one last job. It’s what made ’s The Hire series so compelling and the franchise so addicting. Now Ryan Gosling, along with the beautiful Christina Hendricks and Carey Mulligan have teamed up with director Nicholas Winding Refn for their own spin on the Hollywood staple: Drive.
The movie casts Gosling as a wheel-man turned race car driver who opts to help his neighbors settle some old debts. A double-cross ensues and before you know it, there’s a being chased down a freeway backwards by a , Gosling threatening to shove a bullet in some guys head via a carpenter’s hammer and Hendricks looking, well, like only she can look.
We’re sold, even if it means having to watch a ChevroletNova meet its untimely end. for the Drive red-band trailer.
is letting the next-generation out of the house with ever-skimpier garb. Our spy photographers managed to land a handful of photos of the vehicle out and about with nothing but a few decals covering the details. Engineers have worked to obfuscate the headlights, tail lights and front fascia, leaving the rest of the elongated 911 out in the open air for all to see. With the German automaker releasing a detailed of the vehicle and a few production stills of its own, there seems to be little motivation behind covering up the car’s flanks.
While Porsche is still fairly tight-lipped about exactly what the next-generation sports car will bring, we’ve heard that the beast will pack a seven-speed manual transmission for increased fuel economy. Word is that base models will come packing from a 3.4-liter flat-six cylinder engine, too, while offering better fuel economy thanks to tricks like electronic power steering. Stay tuned for more as we get it.
Red Bull must’ve recently invested in slow-motion cameras. First, the company showed us at 1,000 frames per second. Now, that expensive lens has been trained on Andrea Dovizioso.
The rider describes his impression of a perfect lap, while footage of Dovizioso is slowed to a beautiful crawl. At 1,000 frames per second, Dovizioso and his MotoGP bike are quite literally shown at full tilt. The contact patch is tiny, but the action is excellent. for the clip.
