The Middle East is an enormously vital market for McLaren, and not just because its oil barons have the cash to buy as many MP4-12C supercars as they and every member of their family could possibly want. While the team has only won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix once and has yet to do the same at the Bahrain Grand Prix – the only two in the region (discounting Turkey), the company is part owned by Saudi businessman Mansour Ojjeh, and another part by the royal family of Bahrain.
Little wonder, then, that the upstart McLaren Automotive is setting up no fewer than six dealerships in the Middle East, the first of which has just opened its doors. To mark the occasion, McLaren took its new MP4-12C to the dunes of Abu Dhabi and around the Yas Island Marina Circuit and brought a camera crew – armed with a RED video camera and Canon’s new 1DX – along for the ride. The resulting high-resolution images and footage are worth a glance, so check ‘em out in the gallery below, the that and the press release below them both.
You can now add diamonds to the growing list of ostentatious and extravagant finishes being applied to cars these days. Longtime tuner Gemballa has announced a new automotive finish that literally uses diamonds to create its million-dollar sparkle.
The German-based company claims its new diamond finish is the first of its kind to ever use the actual gem rather than other reflective ingredients like metal pigments, glass fragments or crystals. The trick was grinding the diamonds down to a size small enough that they could be applied like paint, which Gemballa says also helps increase the refractive qualities of its shine.
There’s no mention of price or other specifics like how many precious stones are sacrificed per gallon of twinkle juice, but you can imagine as well as we can what kind of premium it will command. With any luck, .
We feel there’s no shame in admitting we would have more than a little hesitation about jumping into rush-hour traffic in China, but that’s exactly what one three-year-old boy did. A grandmother in China had a scare after she turned around to find her grandson missing. The toddler had managed to hop on his toy motorcycle and head for the horizon. Unfortunately, his path took him directly into the middle of a busy intersection during rush-hour traffic.
Despite buses and cars hurling past in every direction, the child seemed unphased, and the drivers on the road managed to keep away long enough for a police officer to spirit the child to safety. No one was harmed in the incident. Check out the for yourself.
and Tata has reportedly stepped away from a tieup in the Indian market that saw Fiats being built in India, using engines shared with Tata and Maruti models, and being sold through Tata dealers. Neither company commented, but according to analysts, the issue was that in addition to Tata was simply too busy with its other endeavors, especially , to attend to the Fiat deal. Sales of the joint-venture vehicles have declined by more than 20 percent year-on-year.
The Fiat-Tata union isn’t binding, and talk has now centered around Fiat snuggling up with . Suzuki has a huge position in Asia, Suzuki-Maruti being India’s largest carmaker and the Japanese firm having sold more than half its cars in the Asia region, excluding Japan, over the year that ended March 31. Fiat, on the other hand, only sold three percent of its wares in Asia in 2011.
There is debate about how beneficial a Fiat-Suzuki tieup would be. Suzuki’s position is facing pressures, but some observers say the Japanese firm has all the strengths and, at most, would benefit from “a timely supply of engines,” but possibly confuse customers by adding Fiat to its distribution channel. Others think that it would be a good union, with Fiat providing “a sound name” and a technology exchange.
Such a venture would rely on Suzuki extricating itself from its with , an adventure that has probably soured Suzuki on the phrase “technology exchange” for a bit. Among the problematic issues, Suzuki has accused VW of breach-of-contract by not sharing VW technology and that were Suzuki’s reason for the deal. Suzuki and Fiat presently collaborate on the Fiat Sedici/, and when Suzuki instead of VW, the German company accused the Japanese automaker of breach-of-contract. Both over the matter; last we heard, Suzuki , while of the partnership. A VW victory would nix the kind of Suzuki deal with Fiat being speculated now.
According to , ingenuity can be defined as “skill or cleverness in devising or combining” or “cleverness or aptness of design or contrivance.” We’d say that’s an apt description of a Frenchman named Emile who reportedly found himself stranded in the deserts of Northwest Africa after breaking a frame rail and a suspension swingarm underneath his Citroën 2CV.
What to do? Why, disassemble the broken hulk and build yourself a motorcycle from its pile of parts, of course! As the story goes, Emile was able to use the inventive machine to escape the desert, though not before convincing the local authorities that he wasn’t an insurgent and paying a fine for importing a non-conforming vehicle…
Since Emile was the only soul in the area, nobody has been able to confirm the veracity of the events that led to the little French runabout’s conversion into a makeshift motorcycle. That said, judging by the images you can see (apparently from the March 2003 issue of 2CV Magazine), this Citroën-bred two-wheeler does indeed exist, and it was definitely fashioned from parts scavenged from an old 2CV.
Emile, wherever you are, we take our hats off to your real-life MacGuyver skills, sir.
Moody’s upgraded Ford’s credit rating to investment grade today, the final step for the company to be able to reclaim its Blue Oval. had offered its globally recognized trademark as part of a 2006 loan package. According to the Detroit Free Press, the collateralized logo and the rest of Fod’s assets and intellectual property would not return to the automaker until it achieved an investment-grade credit rating with at least two of the three major agencies. Last month, Ford’s credit was .
At the time the loan was issued, the move was viewed as bold and risky, as Ford literally bet the farm that it could pay back the $23.5 billion. But as it turned out, the automaker’s head start on restructuring allowed it to weather the financial crisis and resultant industry downturn in 2008 without declaring bankruptcy and needing government intervention like its cross-town rivals.
The upgrade from Moody’s is said to potentially help Ford by lowering its borrowing costs, and certainly having its assets back should allow everyone in Dearborn to sleep peacefully tonight.
Anyone considering a German-built car might want to buy it now. It could be a long summer.
Europe’s largest industrial union, IG Metall, is taking a tough stance against some job rules German carmakers want to enforce, potentially creating the possibility of a strike, according to .
“Talks are resuming, but so far five rounds of negotiations have produced little movement and a round of warning strikes earlier this month at several companies, including , and Daimler, suggest that the powerful union is gearing up for a confrontation,” the Bureau reported earlier this week.
The union wants a 6.5-percent pay raise for its workers and a limit in how many temporary workers the carmakers can use. Around the world, carmakers use temporary workers as way to increase production without increasing union membership and save money.
The union was offered a 3-percent pay raise, but that offer was rejected. Currently, German auto workers are some of the highest paid in the automotive world. And while parts of Europe remain in economic turmoil, Germany has shown signs of slow growth, which might be one reason some government officials are backing IG Metall.
All of this doesn’t bode well for General Motors’ German-based Opel. GM was hoping to get some concessions from the unions representing its workers as part of its restructuring. But if other carmakers are paying more for its workers, it’s unlikely the troubled Opel would be able to squeeze much of its people.
We’ve noticed that 2013 has been updated with dollar values for each of its four models, however, we’re not so sure the pricing is that black-and-white. has also updated the disclaimer at the bottom of the page, to read, “Prices and features are for survey purposes only and are subject to change and features may become unavailable at the time of vehicle introduction.” In other words, don’t get too fixated on the numbers, as they’re not locked down yet. And by playing with the configurator, you’re likely serving as a FoMoCo lab rat – after all, this is the company that never met a focus group it didn’t like.
It’s worth noting that Ford has not issued an official press release on pricing yet. But for now, it seems like the base Fusion S will start at $22,495, though we’re not sure whether that includes destination or not. Stepping up to the SE at $24,490 will upgrade the steel wheels to alloys, add heated, lighted mirrors with turn signal indicators, and get you body color rocker panels. Inside, the SE has a power driver’s seat and a better stereo, and backseat passengers get an armrest and their own HVAC ducts. The SE also allows you to order other stuff, including navigation and start/stop, or opt for a different engine than the base-spec 2.5-liter four-cylinder with automatic transmission.
The 1.6-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder is available with a manual or automatic on the SE for $25,290, while the start/stop-equipped version (automatic only) is $25,585. The 2.0-liter EcoBoost with automatic is $26,745 when ordered in SE trim. Ford lists a number of different packages and options, but they seem to be offered on a sliding scale, such that the packages are more expensive on the lower-priced models. For instance, the Luxury Package with leather and heated seats, among other equipment, is $1,505 on the 1.6-liter EcoBoost but only $1,050 on the 2.0-liter EcoBoost.
On the SE Hybrid, which starts at $27,995 and is equipped with a non-EcoBoost 2.0-liter four-cylinder and a CVT, the same Luxury Package is listed at $2,000. Apparently if you’re saving all that money on gas, you can afford to pay double the guy with the most powerful engine.
At the top of the Fusion price list, of course, rests the Titanium, which offers a lot of the optional stuff standard for $30,995. It’s also the only way to get all-wheel drive, which will set you back $32,995. Note that the Titanium is exclusively powered by the 2.0-liter EcoBoost and is not available with a manual, so you won’t be configuring your Fusion as a dual-use weekend rally car.
But then again, Ford will likely change this all tomorrow.
The day has finally arrived. cars have returned to the Forza Motorsport series on XBox 360 with the of the Porsche Expansion Pack for Forza Motorsport 4. Pony up 1600 Microsoft Points ($19.99 in real world money) and you’ll get 30 new cars, 20 new events, 10 new achievements and a Porsche-only Rivals Mode. Developer Turn 10 says that seven of the cars ( for a full list) are all-new to the Forza series, which brings the game’s fourth installment – including all of the vehicles released via downloadable content – to a grand total of 625 cars.
We know what you’re thinking. Twenty bones is a lot to drop on a single chunk of downloadable content when you’ve already paid $60 for the game itself and another $30 for the Season Pass, the latter of which has already filled your virtual garage with dozens and dozens of extra cars to drive. That’s all true, and no one would blame you for passing on this Porsche DLC, especially considering that Porsches were included with the price of the game in Forza 1, 2 and 3.
Consider this: 959, 962, 911 Sport Classic, GT2 RS … Those are just four of the thirty cars from Stuttgart that you’ll be passing up the opportunity to drive (digitally) if you say no to the Porsche Expansion Pack. So now that you’re armed with all of the info, you can make the decision that’s right for you while we go download our decision.
to check out the official gameplay trailer that shows all 30 vehicles in action, as well as the full list of all 30 vehicles included in the Porsche Expansion Pack.
The good old boys at Motor Trend got their hands on not only a , but a Ford Police Interceptor and a Dodge Charger Police Pursuit, as well. Like any good, upstanding group of hooligans, the crew set to playing cops and robbers in the shadow of Detroit’s vacant factories. With the big 662-horsepower, supercharged V8 Mustang left with no long spans of asphalt to stretch its legs, the two pursuit vehicles have a clear advantage. Watching the three go at each other is a decent way to blow five minutes of your work day.
Of course, this reminds me of a pearl of wisdom served up by my grandfather on the subject of evading the long arm of the law. He always said, “You can out run one, you might even out run two, but you’ll never outrun that radio.” Amen.
In the latest release of its BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, market researchers Milward Brown have given the highest ranking of any carmaker, according to Automotive News. – last year’s winner – finished second, followed by , and , according to the report.
BMW had last finished atop the rankings in 2010, according to the report, with Toyota taking the crown from 2006-2009. The highest-ranked American brand was at seventh, trailing sixth-place . The top ten was filled out by , and . Toyota’s drop was attributed to its production interruptions due to the natural disasters that affected all of the Japanese automakers last year, according to AN.
BMW’s win among auto manufacturers was only enough to place it 23rd in the overall brand ranking, with an estimated brand value of $24.6 billion. Apple, the overall winner, according to the report, had a $182.9 billion valuation, ahead of IBM ($116 billion) and Google ($107.9 billion). Toyota’s valuation was $21.8 billion, with Mercedes-Benz and Honda far behind at $16.1 billion and $12.7 billion respectively. No other carmaker had a valuation over $10 billion.
The is officially on its way to dealerships. Outlets in California, New Jersey, and New York – 67 in all – are going to be the first to receive the electron-fueled Focus, with about six cars each winding up on lots. To help dealers build more excitement for what’s likely to be a slow-starting sales story, the dealers will hold one of the Focus EVs as a demonstrator.
Even if fewer than 5,000 Focus Electric models find buyers this year, Alan Mulally won’t be disappointed. While Ford ultimately expects electrics and hybrid vehicles to account for up to 25 percent of its sales volume by 2020, the company is moving deliberately. Rather than develop and tool an entirely new platform, Ford’s move to modify the Focus for electric propulsion is said to allow some semblance of a profit margin, but it’s going to take time for consumers to warm to the idea of a $40,000 Focus, even if a third of that price is the battery, and Ford appears to be keeping this in mind.
After the initial 350 or so cars are delivered to the pilot stores, the rest of the Ford dealers across the nation will start getting the Focus EV before spring turns into summer.
Think back to childhood for a moment. What did you do when you wanted, say, a new skateboard, but mom and dad were dragging their heels about ponying up for one? That’s right, you built your own, out of bits of scrap plywood and some old wheels discarded by an older sibling. And it sucked.
We see the same situation playing out here. The children at Top Gear are absolutely gaga for the DeltaWing race car, which at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. And even if they are Top Gear, nobody at is going to just give them an experimental race car for futzing around. So they are building their own. Or at least a simulacrum of the DeltaWing, out of what appears to be junk.
Details are scarce, but the Top Gear has on its website tells enough of the story that we’re pretty sure they aren’t going to come anywhere close. Not only does the 1,100-pound curb weight of the revolutionary race car present something of a challenge when you’re basically welding the thing up from scratch, but whatever that ancient engine sitting in the nose of the Top Gear project is, we’re plenty sure it won’t be packing the 300-plus horsepower of Nissan’s turbocharged four.
But just as your pre-pubescent charm and pluckiness eventually prevailed in the skateboard scenario, we’re thinking Top Gear might be on to something with its fanboy-ish DeltaWing replica. After all, mom may have embarrassed you in the skate shop, but she did get you the real thing, didn’t she?
The has launched a formal field inquiry into the by a sedan, Bloomberg reports. The conflagration, which destroyed the Karma, the garage and a few nearby vehicles, took place on May 3 in Sugarland, Texas.
Claude Harris, NHTSA’s director of vehicle safety compliance, said that the investigation is “ongoing,” adding that “no determination has been made at this time.” Until an official cause is isolated, we’re betting there will be a good bit of , finger pointing in all directions…
It’s worth noting that NHTSA has also been actively investigating the safety of battery packs used in the after reports of fires in the wild and after NHTSA’s own crash testing procedures.
A lot of things go down when a high-profile company is in high-profile trouble – unlikely entities can arrive with unexpected sums of money and take the company in unpredicatble directions. Such was the case with DeLorean Motor Car – which is – when the business, headquartered in Detroit and building cars in Ireland, was taken over by the Russian emigrant who founded discount retail stores Big Lots and Odd Lots.
Hemmings Blog has the tale of how Sol Shenk rescued a bankrupt DMC from the banks in 1982 after John Z. DeLorean’s arrest. Shenk already had experience in the specialty car business having bought the bankrupt hulk of Malcolm Bricklin’s car company and taken over the parts distribution business. Shenk set DMC and its inventory up in a Columbus, Ohio building on Dublin Avenue that had housed turn-of-the-century carmakers, hoping to make the most of a brand that still had clout.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. From his corn-belt HQ, Shenk was able to have more cars built in Ireland and sell most of them and the inventory, as well as offering a gold-plated DMC-12 for a Big Lots giveaway. But he couldn’t run the company and sell the cars at a profit, which led to him selling what remained and all the rights to the owners of the new Texas DeLorean Motor Company.
Said the VP of that company of the Columbus address, “When the BlueJackets [hockey team -ed.] came to Columbus, the Dublin Avenue address became much more expensive, and we moved all the inventory to a new facility in our hometown just outside Houston.” Head over to Hemmings to read the whole story.
Can’t wait for to start producing the EXP 9 F? Sold on the idea but not on the execution? Armortech may be able to help you out.
They’ve teamed up with Atelier Valdeig to turn the Q7 into something of a Bentley SUV, only without the Bentley badge. Called the Tresor (from the French word for “treasure”), the custom igets fully restyled, and boasts an interior that has been (or will be, from the look of the cabin renderings) retrofitted to Bentley-like levels of opulence.
The customizers can base their modifications on any version of the Q7, all the way up to the 493-horsepower V12 turbodiesel, and can even stretch the wheelbase or armor it – a particularly sought-after feature in markets where security is a luxury. The full press release is posted below, and you can check out the renderings in the photo gallery for a closer look.
We don’t need to tell you why rally racing – though awesome – is incredibly dangerous. As much as we love to watch turbocharged, all-wheel-drive Euro hatches being flung around on dirt, gravel, snow and tarmac, the fact that many of these races go through small towns and wooded trails leaves plenty of room for disaster.
Case in point: This racer went off course during the 2012 Mazowiecki Rally, leaving driver Patrick Osowiecki and navigator Maciej Wrona trapped upside-down in a lake. According to CarScoop, no race officials were near the scene of the accident, but some selfless spectators rushed in to attempt to free Osowiecki and Wrona from their racecar. to watch the action unfold.
On Thursday night’s Autoline After Hours, SRT boss Ralph Gilles sat down with show hosts John McElroy and Peter DeLorenzo, along with Autoblog and AOL Autos staffers to talk all things . Among the interesting tidbits disclosed about the 640-horsepowersupercar are plans for a new dealer certification process designed to encourage the sort of purchasing, service and ownership experience that buyers of six-digit cars have come to expect.
According to Gilles:
“It’s going to be a qualified dealer situation… The ones who do the dealer training in terms of the tech. I want a tech. I want a display car. I want all these things. There’s going to be a list. It’s not going to be impossible, it’s just that someone has to put in the extra effort and say ‘I’m an SRT dealer.
Off the air, Gilles told Autoblog that officials have already approached a number of dealers with a strong record of Viper and SRT sales to discuss how the certification process will work, gaining valuable feedback in the process. A document outlining the new certification program will go out to dealers next month.
Chrysler has yet to announce official pricing and the Viper won’t go on sale until sometime in the fourth quarter of the year, but that hasn’t stopped a queue of customer deposits from piling up. According to Gilles, one particularly strong Viper dealer already has around 90 such deposits in-hand. Considering that Viper sales averaged about 1,600 units in past years, that’s a substantial figure.
In other news, Chrysler officials have been making a big point of talking about the 2013 Viper’s newfound refinements, from reduced NVH to nicer interior materials and improved drivability thanks to the institution of technologies like stability control and traction control. Gilles says that great care has been taken to ensure the model’s core personality still shines through, but given that much of the Viper’s mystique is centered on its raw, leg-burning, hairy-knuckled persona, we couldn’t help but wonder aloud if the new model’s refinements have left room for a stripped-out hardcore version for Viper purists and racers. With raised eyebrows, arms gesturing wildly and stifling a smile, Gilles wryly said: “I love how you think. Next subject!”
To watch the Autoline After Hours episode in its entirety, .
Reigning MotoGP champion Casey Stoner is just 26 years old, but has been riding in the FIM series since 2001 when he joined the 125cc ranks. Five years later, the Australian was in the headlining formula series with Honda, the year after that, in 2007, he won the title astride a Ducati. Last year, Stoner won it again with Honda, and even battling an issue with his arm this year, he’s atop the standings and leading his rivals in practice sessions for this weekend’s French GP at Le Mans.
But Stoner used yesterday’s GP press conference to announce his retirement at the end of this year. The Australian says the sport had gone in a direction that doesn’t interest him and that he simply isn’t enjoying it enough to continue the sacrifices necessary to be competitive at the top level. Speculation is that he wants to spend time with , and perhaps that he plans to series.
Fellow Aussie and MotoGP legen Mick Doohan said just yet that Stoner will actually ride off into farm life. Even so, the fact that the current World Champion is unhappy enough to publicly announce the end of his career is a shock to the MotoGP world. Have a for a video news report on Stoner’s announcement.
Farmer, car dealer, Le Mans winner, sports-car maker, businessman and tuner on May 11. To honor his contribution to the numerous segments of the auto industry he impacted, cable network Velocity will be airing a three-hour, three-part miniseries on Sunday, May 20.
Called “King of the Road: Carroll Shelby,” each hour-long episode will chronicle an era in Shelby’s life: his journey from a Texas farm to the top step at Le Mans and building the ; his partnership with and the ; and the road that car followed into becoming the .
Have a read of the press release , and tune into Velocity at 8 p.m. EST on Sunday for a lesson in the hardest-charging gentleman racer ever.
In the latest release of its BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, market researchers Milward Brown have given the highest ranking of any carmaker, according to Automotive News. – last year’s winner – finished second, followed by , and , according to the report.
