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If you can look past the comparisons to Renaissance era artists and disregard the self importance you might expect from a company that makes ultra exclusive supercars, this 15 minute video produced by Pagani offers an awesome behind the scenes look at the Huayra. More »

Hurriyet Daily News (press release)

Car production down 14 percent in first two months of 2012 Sunday's Zaman (Photo: AA) Fourteen percent fewer cars rolled off the production line in the first two months of this year compared to the same period a year ago, data from the Automotive Manufacturers' Association (OSD) have shown. The OSD announced the two-month ... Automotive sector off to a rocky start in first 2 monthsHurriyet Daily News (press release) all 19 news articles »

Proactive Investors USA & Canada

China Automotive Systems posts lower Q4 profit, sales Proactive Investors USA & Canada Power steering maker China Automotive Systems (NASDAQ:CAAS) said Friday fourth-quarter profits slipped amid higher export costs and reduced margins, but still managed to top analyst estimates. The car part supplier, through its Sino-joint ventures, ... China Automotive Systems Reports 2011 Fourth Quarter Financial Results and ...PR Newswire (press release) China Automotive Systems Q4 Profit Drops - Quick FactsNASDAQ China Automotive Systems Inc. Earnings: Consecutive Profit Quarter Streak ...Wall St. Cheat Sheet all 16 news articles »

When looking at the back end of the new Ferrari F12 Berlinetta we were struck with the belief that it looked like... well, something. But we couldn't quite place our finger on it. Until our good friend at IEDEI finally put his finger on it. More »

Kevin McCauley (whose great photography you can see here) used to hang out with me and shoot cars. Once we tried to take photos of an XFR doing a burnout in the middle of a road in rural Southeast Texas in the middle of a pitch black night. It didn't work. More »

One of the (very) few problems with flat-screen TVs is the loss of yet another age-old children's myth: that there are small humans inside that enclosure acting out everything onscreen. Yes, it sounds completely ridiculous, but there's something endearing about it, too. More »

Morgan has slapped their name onto the very successful OAK Racing LMP2 Le Mans prototype, and they're headed back to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. How come we're not getting a wood-framed prototype racer, and why did this tie-up happen? More »

Stephen Colbert used to ask liberals if George W. Bush was a "great president" or "the greatest president" as sort of a taunt. A few days ago, Bentley unveiled the Bentley EXP 9 F SUV concept-soon-to-be-production-model. So now, car fans, we ask you: Is the Bentley SUV a great idea or the greatest idea? More »

The car-against-motorcycle racing trope has been around for a while, with now- predictable results: Motorcycles are straight-line monsters, while the stability of four wheels gives the cornering advantage to cars. Leave it to France's Moto-Journal to ponder whether this is still true on snowpack in the middle of winter. More »

Audi released a video tribute today to their five-year-old R8 and capped the clip with a single teaser shot of the car's upcoming facelift. You can't see much, but it looks like the updated R8 gets tweaked headlight clusters similar to the new Audis as part of a revised front clip. More »

This Texan Ariel Atom used to roll with a license plate that said L8RH8R. Now its owner's moved on to something a bit more self-deprecating. The result? Something straight out of Conan O'Brien. More »

This past week marked the 100th anniversary of the famous Oreo cookie, and I'd like to celebrate the humble Oreo's contribution to the automotive world by talking about their most famous role: The vent controls on Volvo 240 dashboards. More »

At the Mercedes-Benz press event "SLS AMG Track Xperience" at the Zhuhai International Circuit in southeast China, one journalist in an SLS braked too early and got thoroughly rear-ended by a C63 AMG. More »

Somewhere in Moscow there is a white Subaru STi weaving and sliding through traffic like a drunk madman. If you're watching this, Subaru driver, we want to tell you that you're a reckless asshole. More »

A few steps below the lobby at the Amangani Lodge in Jackson Hole, one of the finest hotels in the world, several car writers sat around a massive wooden table, eating Caesar salads and Kobe beef burgers, the snow-capped Tetons framed behind us as though Mercedes-Benz had installed them for our pleasure alone. "Goddamn it, I told them not to put tomatoes on my club sandwich!" a large man bellowed. More »

Passengers on an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Chicago were about to take off when an angry flight attended started screaming about the plane crashing. The crew and passengers had to restrain the woman. Welcome to your new flying nightmare. More »

Appreciation of classic cars is an essential part of the auto-entusiast mentality. Unfortunately, some would-be, should-be classics are rapidly becoming impossible to find. This is a tragedy that requires greater awareness: What really great cars are in danger of totally disappearing? More »

The show's most important new car; a sighting of Victor Muller; and a question: if a new Mercedes-Benz has its bonnet held up by a stick, while a new Tata's hood is elevated by gas struts, which is the premium product?

To tackle the first question, for me the next Audi A3 had to be the star of Geneva. The current car first reached European dealers in June 2004 so leaving this model on sale for almost eight years has been a brave but ultimately good decision: it still sells very well indeed. The new one is the standard in its segment and let's not forget just how much money VW Group must surely make from the vast numbers of A3 hatchbacks, Sportbacks and cabrios that it sells (and will continue to sell - the new A3 looks just right, inside and out).

The vehicle class that has long been defined by the A3 saw some new rivals appear at Geneva: the Volvo V40 I applaud for its pop-out pedestrian airbag and I also like the styling, while the Mercedes-Benz A-Class is a step up from the old model but ultimately left me a bit cold. And here's another observation from my walk around the show stands at Geneva (occasionally lifting bonnets to peer at what's new in engine bays): the owner of this premium priced hatchback must fiddle with a dirty metal pole after popping the catch to top up the washer fluid. Am I being too harsh? Not when the Tata Aria, another car I saw for the first time at Geneva, has two gas struts that raise and retain its hood aloft.

Geneva was the sadder for the absence of Saab - this time last year we saw a concept car and there was brave talk of a new 9-3 and even a Mini-based small car to come. This year, Victor Muller was at the show minus his former car company - it's hard to miss such a tall man, and I saw him on the Volvo stand. Not that I'm suggesting anything. Nor will I say anything about who I suspect the Japanese gents were who I witnessed leaving a meeting with GM's Stephen Girsky on the Opel stand as I waited nearby for an appointment to interview Karl Stracke. They each wore a three-diamond badge on their lapels.

Industry execs talk to one another all the time of course. Still, it's always interesting to see just WHO is talking to WHOM. But about what? Maybe we'll find out in due course.

Signs are intended to be informative guides to travelers, but they sometimes unintentionally end up being offensive, creepy, or just so awful they're hilarious. These are Jalopnik readers' picks for the ten worst road signs. More »

With Big & Rich's (a duo normally found shilling in Chevy ads) "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" twanging over the speakers, Ford revealed their 2013 Ford Super Duty pickup here at Ford Field, home to those lovable losers — well, until this year at least — known as the Detroit Lions. More »

High gas prices suck, right? Wrong. There's actually a silver lining that only the in-market car consumer boys at Edmunds Inside Line are able to see. They put together a list of five good things about the increasingly higher cost of gas that we've refined and edited below. More »

Great 'house arrest' ad for the Fiat 500 Abarth in the US: http://www.youtube.com/user/fiatusa/featured.

In less than a week since its debut on the Fiat brand's YouTube channel, the ad attracted over 1m viewers. The new commercial launched online the afternoon of 1 March. The spot is set to make its broadcast debut next Thursday, 15 March, during the NCAA basketball tournament.

When Ferrari introduced the 599 GTB at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, they introduced with it a graceful and elegant piece of aerodynamics: Gothic flying buttresses for C-pillars. They are gone on the F12 Berlinetta, the 599’s just-unveiled successor, but Honda is here to pick up the slack with the NSX. More »

It's been an insane week and there's just one weekday left. Let's make it awesome. Raymonde Wert III is out readying himself to intercept the 2013 Ford Super Duty and thus will be skipping The Morning Shift today. But feel free to make your own TMS in the comments below. More »

Four door convertibles are the height of ostentation. Just think how elegant JFK looked in his presidential Lincoln — I mean, up to a point. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe custom Chrysler 300 lets the sun shine in, but is its price something that you would rather shine on? More »

Engineer Live

Sevcon, Flextronics to provide drivetrain systems for EVs Automotive Business Review Sevcon and Flextronics Automotive have entered into an agreement to provide hybrid and electric vehicle (EV) drivetrain systems to automotive OEM customers in Germany and other central European countries. The deal will allow combination of Sevcon's ... Sevcon and Flextronics Automotive Join Forces to Provide Drivetrain Systems ...MarketWatch (press release) all 24 news articles »

Chevy's new ad for the Volt plug-in hybrid does something that might be a first in a national car commercial: It uses the word "crap." More »

Humans love to argue. For some people it's not about being correct so much as being convincing. And if you can conjure up some kind of puzzle that has no real answer, well, take that and a lunch and there's your day. More »

The lovers of indecipherable circular symbology at Consumer Reports don't do the whole "give us free cars to maybe write about" thing. They went out and bought a $107,000 Fisker Karma range-extended electric car to test. It promptly broke down for reasons no one has explained. This follows photos of a possibly broken down Karma sent to Jalopnik a week earlier. What's going on? More »

Los Angeles is certainly known for having more than its share of massive egos, and often those egos are kind enough to announce their presence via sickeningly overconfident vanity licence plates. I'm sure we've all seen vanity plates crowing about how hot or rich or awesome the driver allegedly is. More »

Monomaniacal life enthusiast and occasional rally driver Bill Caswell returns to the scene of his Rally Mexico triumph to once again astound the men (and make swoon the women) of Mexico in his beater BMW. It's been a typically Caswell-ian wild start. Here's the voice message Caswell just left me about it. More »

Today is International Women's Day, and yesterday was the birthday of Valentina Tereshkova. It's ok to admit you don't know who that is. Despite beating Sally K. Ride (and many men) into space by 20 years, Tereshkova and her comrade Svetlana Savitskaya are probably most notably remembered in a souvenir apron bearing Savitskaya's face. More »

A fire that started yesterday is raging in the underground garage of Paris's Ritz Hotel below the Place Vendome, allegedly caused by a Ferrari that burst into flames. The garage is typically full of exotic cars and damage could be well over $6 million once the fire is extinguished. Because, yes, the fire still isn't out yet. More »

A Miami police officer was suspended for moving a mattress and a box spring on the roof of her squad car. This is the second infraction in Miami PD's new "take-home" car program. More »

Wednesday 7 March

TL - 7.00pm (CET) Lausanne

 

Wednesday - so we - that is Ant (273 pix and counting) Holdgate, boss Anna Ruddock and your correspondent - catch the train and rendezvous with the rest, hosted by Kia's Steve Kitson at a pub called the Pinte Besson in, appropriately, rue d'Ale. We have picked up, if you'll forgive the expression, Georgia Fox of Sims Images. She too is staying out in Lausanne - well out of Lausanne, as she puts it. Pinte Besson is reputedly the oldest hostelry in Lausanne but it serves traditional fondue which we have down our end while Stansfield, Wright and co tuck into the biggest steaks ever seen.

Almost. Well, they probably deserve it. Another show done, emails praising the coverage are shared. How can we improve for next time, asks Roger.

You'll have to wait. And by the way, did you know women have to use 10,000 words a day, but men only 2,000? That's Georgia's theory and she and Anna seemed to prove it. Strong, silent type signing off.

 

CJ - 5.50pm (CET)

 

I think that's me just about done. Back at the hotel and all copy written. Time I think to kick back and have a beer or two. The team is meeting up with the Kia PR team this evening. Let's see who wins.

 

 

TL - 1.00pm (CET)

Now here's an idea - guilty pleasures (of the four wheel kind) at a motor show, particularly Geneva where the Swiss love their styling. These are cars that you know you shouldn't like but do, according to Ford's Tim Holmes. How about Mansory and Gemball (or should that be Gumball?) for starters? Perhaps not. Any suggestions will be considered!

CJ - 12.50pm (CET)

This is all going downhill very quickly. Getting round the hall is impossible now the heaving masses have entered. Mind you, they seem to be quaffing the hospitality booze with a gusto that many a hack would be proud of. Just heard about Dacia’s plans for the UK and then left my phone on their stand. Why should that induce blind panic? We never used to have mobile phones or email how on earth did we ever manage? Renault then gave me a quick lunch for which I will be forever grateful and then left my bag on their stand. I now have everything back and making my way to the Kia stand to do some writing. Oh no, where are my trousers………

TL - 11.12am (CET) Geneva Palexpo

First baby spotted - well at least it was on second press day and not first when the 'surely too young to be journalists' count was a modest two, both aged around eight or nine.

CJ - 8.00am (CET)

A lie-in, of sorts. Maybe it was more than one last night. Anyway, most of the group are flying back to the UK later this morning but Roger, Steve Kitson and I are heading back to the shows – another pretty full day ahead. I am sooooooo looking forward to it. Plan is to leave early-ish and spend the evening touring the fleshpots of Lausanne. Well, having a fondue anyway. That should please Ant, it’s yellow.

TL - 6.30am (CET)

Forget what I said about Swiss trains last night - first one woke me at 4.30am then regularly from 6am. I need to sleep with the window open and my room in the splendid Royal backs onto the main line. Oh well, at least it gave me time to ponder more metrication: Mark Adams, Opel/Vauxhall chief designer, told me that the Mokka was only 10in longer than a Corsa. So that's 25cm or 25.4cm, as Andrew Didlick tells me.

 

 

Tuesday 6 March

TL - 18.30 (CET)

Much though we appreciate having a door-to-door chauffeur service (the aforementioned Peugeot 5008, now seven up including including driver), there is something to be said for using Geneva's free public transport service for show visitors – it's quick! The interminable traffic around Palexpo meant it took more than an hour from leaving the show to getting back downtown. Still, the conversation was entertaining. After nine interviews a beer seems appropriate before getting back to writing.

 

 

CJ - 2.30pm (CET)

So, the question is: how do people get the time to sit down and eat? I've been darting from stand to stand and each one is rammed with people filling their faces. But then, as ever, a good number of then can't possibly be journos. Just been in a round table with Opel boss Karl Freidrich Stracke who kept his cards very close to his chest on the subject of Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port factory. Everything is on the table, he said. Read into that what you will. Haven't seen photo shooter Ant since we met in the press room at 7.30am. He's obviously drowned in a sea of reveals. Either that or he's sitting on a stand eating.

 

 

CJ - 12.30pm (CET)

So far, I've been running to catch up since that early interview was delayed but I have had some interesting chats with Jeep, Ford, Suzuki and Honda. I've also bumped into a whole bunch of people I have not had a chance to actually stop and talk to. Next stop is the Kia stand. Two coffees and two cokes so far but no food. Someone pulled a lead out of the sound system on the Fiat stand earlier which sent a buzz - a very loud feedback buzz - through the show. This was followed a few minutes later by what sounded like a gunshot. Rather harsh punishment I thought. Also I would like thank Ford for playing the loudest imaginable music while I was interviewing Mike Manley at Jeep. We ended up yelling at each other and I've been hoarse ever since.

 

TL - 11.00am (CET)

Why do we still use mpg in the UK when all fuel has been sold in litres for 10 years? It was a question raised by Auto Express editor-in-chief Steve Fowler over dinner last might and emerged again this morning when we learnt that the Peugeot 208 will have emissions of between 87g/km and 99/km for the diesel model and from 99g/km for petrol models. See, grammes and kilometres again. Shouldn't we at least have miles per litre for fuel consumption or go the whole hog and switch to kilometres and litres per 100km for consumption? Buy Auto Express to find out the results of their survey, said Fowler, who revealed that a surprisingly large number of people favour miles per litre. Will it ever catch on?

 

CJ - 09.00 (CET) Geneva Palexpo

I don't know why I find this amusing but two place names on the way in from Lausanne were Gland and Coppet. Anyway the day has got off to a bad start with the first interview being delayed by half an hour which is going to have a bit of a domino effect. Having arrived at the show at 7.30am it all seemed nice and quiet. Not so now, I have already tripped over three trolley bags and why are these people wandering around looking at cars? Haven't they got any work to do?

CJ - 06.30 (CET) Lausanne

We are back on the bus with a packed breakfast. To be honest all I can manage is half a bun and a coffee, after all it is 5.30am at home. It's going to be a long, long day as I'm having dinner with Renault this evening so I will not get back to the hotel until around 11pm. Last night's Kia unveil was in an old stable and I'm sure there's a gag there somewhere but it's too early to think of one.

Monday  5 March

TL - 11.00pm (CET)

Fascinating evening with Keith Ryder, Peugeot's veteran designer, currently working on mid-size cars (so that'll be the 308 replacement, not that he would admit it). Keith, who hails from north-east England, has been with Peugeot for some 28 years and a couple of years ago decided he needed a change so spent 18 months in Sao Paulo, setting up Peugeot's Brazilian design studio. They have huge talent there, he says, and are extremely hard working.

The Sao Paulo studio has 3D capability but doesn't yet extend to building mock-ups. It joins Shanghai and Paris as the third of Peugeot's global design centres. One tip: drive a black car in Brazil. Keith had a 307CC which also had blacked out windows and was never stopped or hassled in the streets. "They must have thought I was a drug dealer," he joked.

TL - 6.10pm (CET)

You really can get six adults and their luggage in a Peugeot 5008 even if Peugeot PR Kevin Jones had to volunteer for the third row alongside the luggage. He assured us there was plenty of room, urging me in the seat ahead of him to move my seat back. Makes a change from catching the train from the airport and walking to the Capitole or the Nashville which have been headlineauto's show stopovers in recent years. The Hotel Royal where Andrew Didlick has us ensconced isn't far from either so handily placed.

Just heard that our snapper Ant Holdgate has had a long delay at London City airport but he's fairly confident of getting in this evening. I won't be joining him for our customary eve of show strategy meeting (a couple of beers at a rather good bar close to the station); dinner with Peugeot's design chief Gilles Vidal is on the agenda.

TL - 5.35pm (CET) - Geneva

Record time from home and through security at Bristol airport (just 19 minutes) gets the first part of the annual Geneva outing off to a good start. Sometimes we need to be thankful for EasyJet. Flying solo as I normally do for Geneva but at least I'm meeting up with Peugeot at the other end and staying with them which should be better than the hotels I normally end up in!

[PR chief] Andrew Didlick has just emailed to book me in for a round table with Frederic St Geours, VP of PSA brands tomorrow. That's interview #9 for me and takes the headlineauto team's tally above 25 for the first press day. It's going to be a busy show - and Matt reckons there are some 130 debuts as well.

This is, I think, my 24th Geneva show and my 20th successive one. I still get a buzz from it - will I still feel like that tomorrow night?

CJ - 2.00pm (CET) - Geneva

Off 'plane and on bus for one hour ride to the hotel in Lausanne. Back into Geneva this evening for a Kia presentation then out for steak and chips...

CJ - 12.50pm (GMT)

Somewhere over France. The BA flight is packed with most of the UK motor industry and journos. Quick chat with Vauxhall boss Duncan Aldred as we were in the queue to board. He was giving nothing away re speculation over Ellesmere Port but that's only to be expected. Roger has time with him tomorrow morning while I am seeing Opel chief Karl-Freidrich Stracke a bit later in the day.

CJ - 9.45am (GMT) - BA departure lounge, Heathrow

Well here we go again, bound for Geneva. Arrived in the BA lounge with the Kia massive. Colleague Roger Stansfield present and correct and moaning about the speed (lack of) of the wifi. Lewis will be joining the crew later going in from far flung Bristol airport. I have already had my shaving foam and deodorant taken away (it was ok last week). So a trip to the shops in the departure lounge which is normally against my religion. Looks like it's going to be a busy one, the three of us have something like 20-plus interviews to get through tomorrow and more on Wednesday so look out for a flood of copy - when we get to write it that is.

 

This is the Dutch Supercar Challenge, a gentleman's race series that puts all different kinds of GT cars on the same grid. We get to see a BMW 1er hunt down a 996 GT3 Cup car and all the close racing that follows. More »

Audi pulled the wraps off the new 2013 RS4 Avant in Geneva, looking every bit like an RS5 longroof. We won't get it here in the US, but that doesn't mean we won't drool over it and all its precision details. More »

While out in Vegas to review the Fiat 500 Abarth, one exciting moment was that they had captive drivetrain engineers there to answer questions and explain things. So, one night at dinner, thanks to a cunning arrangement of tables as obstacles and excellent seafood buffet access, I was able to corner one and make him talk to me. He agreed, but asked, as he squeezed my upper arm really hard, to remain anonymous. I agreed. Here's what was said: More »

Highway signs are an essential part of the traffic infrastructure. They can also be unintentionally, but unavoidably, offensive or suggestive or plain ridiculous. We recently had weirdness, but now, on the day before the anniversary of the first adopt-a-highway sign, let's seek out awfulness: What's the worst highway sign in the world? More »

Representations of cars in virtual worlds have gone from crude raster drawings to a realm of dreamlike hyperreality. What once merely suggested beauty and power now shows a world beyond physical constraints. These are Jalopnik readers' picks for the ten best cybergame car pictures. More »

Lexus brought the LF-Lc concept to Geneva and it's still the most gorgeous two-door Lexus has ever built. So of course Lexus is never going to build it. More »

Since the greater Las Vegas area only has a copy of Paris, New York, Venice, and alien-occupied ancient Egypt, it's still a good ways away from having a copy of all of Earth's good stuff. Luckily, Bruton Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports, is working to fix that, starting with a copy of the Nürburgring. More »

This is the Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place at 9:00 AM. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parcel it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important? More »

I'll bet you woke up this morning thinking I wonder if Audi's 4.2 V8 would fit in a Porsche Boxster? Well, wonder no more early bird because today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe '97 project Porsche proves it fits. Now you'll just need to wonder does its price fit too? More »

The Geneva Motor Show, nestled in the heart of continental Europe, tries its hardest to advertise a sense of class and refinement. It largely succeeds, with only a few bits of genuine weirdness thrown into the mix. The booth professionals matched the show to a T. More »

An early morning drive to Gatwick, a gallon of coffee, some slight turbulence over the Alps, a stroll in the sunshine at the other end and I'm finally at the Geneva show. Besides the snow-capped peaks, which are never boring, a few other things have impressed after a quick blast around the halls. Kimi Raikkonen on the Lotus stand seemed very relaxed after the three-hour drive from Zurich. Three hours? And you kept to the speed limit then Kimi, asked the MC. "Yes, of course, this is Switzerland," came the straight reply.

There was a cargo version of the VW up! which I thought looked rather good for urban light delivery work. With several varieties of up! on show (winter up!, x up!, swiss up! etc) it looked kind of unloved. But the classic 'car-derived van' is perhaps not dead after all.

And on the GM stand there was the RAKe, which we have seen before, but I got a close look at it. Genuinely innovative, I hope it makes it into production. I want a go and I like the way it rethinks the urban mobility problem but also looks like it might actually be, whisper it, fun. 

No time for lunch as I have an interview to get to... and that will set the tone for the afternoon as the schedule is crammed with them.

Volkswagen brings out the big guns, Bentley blings up the Q7 and Lamborghini's Aventador roadster gets the heart of my inner five-year old racing.

8am: After a long jam on the autoroute finally cleared (it somehow just vanished a few metres after the border crossing from France) it was a pleasure to be greeted by the efficiency and friendliness of the press office staff here at the Palais des Expositions. This is how all international motor shows should be: a quick scan of my pass barcode and I'm in, downstairs to the already crowded coat-check (it's 4C outside) to be greeted by a smiling assistant. I'm ready for work.

9am: The first walk around is done and so time for some quick observations.

• Chevrolet and Opel/Vauxhall, having told us all for so long that the Volt and Ampera have separate identities, are newly bathing in the glow of a shared Car of the Year award. Let's hope they each have more luck with what they're marketing as an EV than Nissan Europe has had with the Leaf (ie Nissan struggled to break 1,000 sales in the UK, the region's largest market for such models in 2011.
• Volkswagen pulled the covers off all its Up design studies and pre-production variants but, almost lost amongst the thumping bass and smiles and waves by Ferdinand Piech, Martin Winterkorn and Wolfgang Porsche in the front row of the presentation, was another world premiere, the Polo BlueGT. This one has something big under its bonnet: the first application of the group's EA211 series engine. This new powertrain family has been designed especially for MQB platform vehicles.
• And the first MQB vehicle was a few stands' walk away at Audi (after I managed to eventually avert my gaze as I lingered quite a while at Lamborghini and its eye wateringly desirable new Aventador roadster in cherry red). The interesting thing about the A3 is its launch as a three-door no sign of the Sportback as yet [that's what they did with the last one - ed]. Word is a new four-door sedan should follow at either the New York or Beijing shows next month. In which case the Sportback seems likely for Paris in September.
• The Bentley SUV concept, the EXP9F, looks as though the coachbuilder commissioned to create it was given an existing Audi Q7 and told to rebody it with maximum bling. That's not meant to be critical - Volkswagen knows where its brands make their money and if buyers in markets in the Gulf states, China and certain parts of the US want lots of shiny bits and are prepared to pay loads for them, then why not?
• Still with VW Group, the SEAT Toledo concept looks great in the metal, to my eyes at least, and the boot is huge. If you loved the generation before last but can't get on with the looks of the present Toledo, chances are you'll like the next one. I seem to have a thing for cars that look like sedans but are in fact hatchbacks: the Skoda Superb five-door still looks terrific, even as it approaches mid-life (its first facelift now seems likely for Paris, having failed to appear here).
• I'm tapping this out from the Subaru stand, which has the Impreza centre stage (accompanied by a banner slogan which declares itself to be 'Proud of Boxer'). So much for nonsensical English, what matters more is that no-one can tell me when the diesel engine will be launched: certainly there is no sign of it here.

Time to go and see the lower floor for the rest of the stands but thought I'd attach a pic of the interior of the Tesla Model S Beta, which the company revealed to the media in the US in the last quarter of 2011. Just have a look at the size of those touchscreens. Perfect for iPad addicts.

It's European Car of the Year time, with the results just announced at a ceremony timed to coincide with the Geneva motor show (press day is tomorrow). And the winner is... the Opel and Vauxhall Ampera.

Which will of course thrill General Motors but the timing is odd, with the news of a production hiatus for the car's twin, the Chevrolet Volt. For now, it's unclear what that means for Ampera production, which is on the same line at Detroit-Hamtramck.

As luck would have it, I am scheduled to have dinner tonight with Vauxhall's Duncan Aldred here in Geneva. But with so much anxiety about over possible manufacturing cuts at GM's UK plants, the champagne corks might not be popping. Dave Leggett interviewed the Vauxhall MD as recently as December so do take a look at that if you missed it the first time around.

Will be staying away from the boozy stuff and hitting the hay early as I have an 05:30 alarm call so as to (hopefully) beat the traffic to the Palais des Expositions - I'm staying in France but in theory the PalExpo is a mere 30 minutes' drive away. We shall see.

The plan is to do an early sweep of most of the world premieres, blog a little or a lot, catch up with Dave Leggett, try to stay hydrated and then be ready for an afternoon of interviews with various industry executives. Wish me bon chance?

In an election year in the US, it's not too surprising that the subject of the auto industry will enter the fray of political debate.

The government bailouts of GM and Chrysler are just one aspect. And that is something that deserves to be discussed and debated. There was not, I recall, a complete political consensus at the time. The auto industry should be at the heart of the political debate on what sort of economy the US should be striving for and the vision that politicians present.

Let's hope it's an intelligent debate. And on that note, I have seen something from GM in reaction to what one politician has been saying about the Volt...

 

We Did Not Engineer the Volt to Be a Political Punching Bag

Tata Motors has just announced its sales for February. In the Indian market, Nano registrations were up just over 1,000 units compared to the same month in 2011.

Indian market Nano registrations numbered 9,217 units, which represents a year on year rise of 12% over the 8,262 registered in February 2011. That improvement is welcome but the Nano still lags the company's best seller, the Indica range, 10,424 of which were sold last month. 

The Indica is a pretty old car now, so on current trends, Tata's smallest passenger vehicle might well start living up to the hype surrounding it at the time of its launch: could we finally see the Nano become the brand's best seller later in 2012?

If you're wondering how the brand itself is doing (and look too at the numbers for Fiat's troubled manufacturing JV), here's what Tata Motors' press release has to say: "...passenger vehicles business reported a total sale and distribution offtake of 36,536 units (34,832 Tata plus 1,704 Fiat) in the domestic market in February 2012, higher by 8%, compared to 33,751 (31,909 Tata plus 1,842 Fiat) in February last year".

I am looking forward to next week’s Geneva Motor Show – I always do. As well as being an important date on the automotive calendar, the Geneva event always seems to mark the end of winter. This year promises to be an exciting show with more than 100 debuts at the last count and some highly interesting news to follow up on.

It will be interesting to hear the ‘world on the street’ from insiders at PSA and General Motors about the new alliance. At the Detroit show in early January there was much speculation that PSA was doing a deal with Fiat after Sergio Marchionne and Phillipe Varin were spotted together. It was a rumour quickly quashed by the Fiat boss who said they were attending a regular meeting of CEOs.

You often have to read between the lines when talking to executives and, to be fair, Marchionne did not seem to be trying to divert us along another path and events this week have shown  this to be correct. One thing Marchionne does keep telling us is that there will be more alliances and that we still have a big overcapacity problem in Europe.

No doubt that’s something we will be talking to car bosses about next week.

Just back from the media launch of the facelifted Audi A4, where the importer has boasted of a record 6.65% share of the UK market in January. That's now a long way ahead of the other premium German brands.

How has Audi done it? The 42-strong model range (e.g. the A4 range comprises the saloon and Avant, plus the same again for the S4, and the allroad quattro) helps a great deal, but more than anything, it's about brand perception. Put simply, Audi here in the UK does seem to have an enviable image.

Of course once you're on top, there's usually only one way to fall but Audi UK thinks it can stay number one, even with the imminent launch of the new BMW 3 Series saloon. In January, 8,563 Audis were sold versus 6,273 for BMW (brand) and 6,249 for Mercedes-Benz.

The revised A4 and S4 range is, Audi says, all about fewer emissions and better performance. Sales start on 1 March. I'll publish my thoughts on the new cars in a few days' time in one of our Product Eye pieces. But in short, the updated A4 line-up is an impressive effort. Oh, and the S4 had me intrigued: I know it's got a supercharged V6 under the bonnet but you cannot believe just how much it sounds like a V8.

The Volkswagen brand is uncharacteristically quiet ahead of the Geneva motor show. What might it be planning to unveil at the event?

I've just given our list of world premiere vehicles its third update for today before signing off from the keyboard for this week. The GTI version of the Golf Cabrio, as well as the Hyundai i20 facelift, Renault Zoe and the SEAT Toledo Prototype, were all new additions.

The 2011 edition of the Geneva show saw VW pulling the covers off the Bulli concept so who knows what surprise it might spring this year. There's certainly a lot of new product due, though apart from a mid-life update for the Scirocco that should be launched during 2012, the two big ones might not now appear until 2013 (Golf & Passat). Incidentally, the new Audi A3 will be at Geneva and it brings with it the first application of the MQB platform that these two new VWs will also use.

Don't forget about project VW019 either, the so-called 1-litre/100km city car, as well as the Phaeton replacement (VW511) - I'm expecting both of these in 2013.

Vaulting over the iron walls erected by media handlers to get self and dictaphone in front senior industry engineers can often be a tricky process. But Fiat's PR team is more enlightened than some.

So it was that earlier today I was able to chat to the head of A-segment vehicle R&D for Fiat (and Chrysler), Gianfelice Formento. While as guarded as men and women at his level always are told to be with the likes of me, he was refreshingly open on some topics - always a plus.

Curiously, Fiat has changed the name of the platform that underpins the 500. Formerly known as New Small, in modified form for the new Panda, it becomes 'Mini Architecture', but this is mostly a working title as the PR people don't like the possible association with a certain BMW Group division.

Signore Formento, certainly one of the more courteous execs I have interviewed, also took the time to make sure there was clarity on how the engineering of vehicle architectures within Fiat and Chrysler now works. Responsibility for B-segment models will remain in Turin alongside A-segment vehicles. But when it comes to the C segment, yes this starts in Turin, but Chrysler then creates its own derivatives for the EPA's Compact class in North America, not to mention crossovers and SUVs.

Sadly he wouldn't tell me anything about Fiat's future C-segment model for China, but there was a smile when I asked about its supposed strong connections to the new Dodge Dart.

One last point. I hadn't realised until I was told, that the Mexican-made Fiat 500 sits on what is effectively a unique and re-engineered platform: US collision tests mean that the rear floorpan had to be bespoke. More on that topic, as well as the engineering elements of the new Panda, in my forthcoming PRODUCT EYE of that car.

So, Europe's car market is falling in 2012 and the pressures to do something about rising excess capacity are growing. For General Motors, it is a particularly difficult one and one that comes with history/baggage after the planned Opel/Vauxhall sell-off of a few years ago, the political furore over where future restructuring would happen and the eventual 180 on the sale from GM's board. Antwerp closure notwithstanding, GM's board has more or less sat on its hands on Europe since then with more important things to deal with (like getting back to profitability and an IPO). Now that the company overall is in reasonable shape, US recovery and China doing nicely, the spotlight is not unreasonably shining on the problems in Europe where GM is losing stacks of money - and it is structural as well as cyclical.   

Aside from the obvious thorny issue of applying the cost-cutting axe so that operations are left more efficient while avoiding heavy and counterproductive opposition or labour disputes (go for rolling capacity cuts at several plants or take a big plant out altogether?), there's another big problem. Restructuring comes with unavoidable costs. The pain will come with little short-term benefit to the bottom line.  

I have just seen an estimate from Barclays Capital that GM's European restructuring costs could total US$1.2bn if 4,000 jobs are cut. Other estimates for the restructuring charge GM will have to swallow are in the US$1bn area, taken this year and next.

Therefore, there's no magic wand on the Europe losses and the grief will rumble on for GM in the troublesome Europe region for a while yet. But it will be viewed more favourably by investors if it at least faces up to the problems and takes actions that are credible for putting it on a much better profitability footing a few years out.

Not an easy one though. Will there be voices in Akerson's ear saying 'let's just offload this political problem and fill the gap with Chevrolet'? Offload? Or do some kind of sharing deal with Fiat? But as Saab showed, that comes with other problems due to your embedded technology that you don't exactly want to present to a competitor on a plate. And there are the engineering resources that you are giving up, sunk investment that you are saying goodbye to. All in all, knotty. 

Forget for a moment the endless bad news out of the French, British, Italian and Spanish new car markets. Aside from Germany, there is another important European country where a sales surge is underway.

Registrations in Poland were up 27 percent YoY in January to 24,198 units. Agreed, this is not a large market but give it a few years and it will be. So which brands are putting down firm roots with local buyers? Last month, Škoda's Octavia and Fabia took the first two places (the Czech brand was Poland's number one in 2011), followed by the Astra. The Corsa was in fifth, so a good result for Opel which continues to be in the news for the wrong reasons. It's also worth mentioning the fourth placed model: not a Volkswagen, nor a Renault, nor a Peugeot, but the Yaris. Yes, it would seem that Toyota is on the comeback trail in the largest market of the EU's geographic east.

The other name to note is, unsurprisingly, Hyundai. The Korean brand was a mere 38 cars behind Volkswagen in January. It might well grab sixth spot from VW in February, and start to close on Fiat (fifth) and Ford (fourth, behind Opel). If you're wondering, the remainder of the top ten were Nissan (eighth) Chevrolet (ninth) and Renault (tenth).

Unlike Citroën and Peugeot, Fiat at least made the top then. But that's the end of the good news. Sales were down 10 percent year-on-year and that's doubly disappointing as the company has a major manufacturing presence in Poland - the Panda Classic and the 500, as well as the Lancia Ypsilon and the Ford Ka are all made at Fiat's Tychy plant.

Perhaps the new Panda, an import from Italy, can help Fiat find its way again in what will surely be a major European market within the medium term. I shall be driving it later this week so shall post my impressions shortly afterwards. But looking at the size of the cars that Polish buyers seem most interested in, Fiat's current model range isn't exactly ideal for maximum growth potential in this high-growth market.

Not much has been heard from Bristol Cars since it collapsed into administration in March 2011. But today there is news of fresh management and plans for a plug-in luxury car.

This small firm, which is keeping its HQ and sole showroom in the west London suburb of Kensington, has signed as its new MD the son of the man who founded the Bristol Car Company in 1945. George White, whose late father was founding managing director, is to act as chairman of the firm's advisory board. Julian Ramshaw will take the role of general manager while Lady White becomes an advisor to the firm.

As well as announcing the new man in charge, Frazer-Nash Research, the firm which rescued the carmaker in April of last year, now says it is working on what it terms a 'luxury, high-performance range-extender Bristol'. No word on what, if any future there might be for the old cars, the Fighter and Blenheim 3.

The Chinese vehicle makers have largely moved on from the bad old days of inferior copycat cars, right? This article suggests there may still be instances of that sort of thing going on. A big blue oval badge in the middle of the grille (click on the slideshow)? Well, that's not exactly subtle. But is it a kind of acknowledgement, compliment to Ford, tip of the hat? If it is, I don't suppose they will see it quite like that in Dearborn.

Chinese knock off Ford F-150

Received an interesting email this morning from Australian colleagues in Sydney about a 12km (about eight miles) morning rush-hour tailback and up to four-hour delays caused by an Audi A8 breaking down with total electrical failure in a tunnel.

The car's steering wheel, handbrake and keys were stuck and it took an hour to get it off the road, transport authorities said. Audi Australia got one of the first calls from the driver and a spokeswoman said: "It appears to have run out of battery power." The driver was talked through the release of the electronic handbrake.

That prompted local motoring writer Toby Hagon to recall being trapped a couple of years ago with his family inside a A$400,000 Porsche Panamera.

"What turned out to be electronic interference with the transponder key caused by signals from the TV and radio towers near Artarmon on Sydney's north shore shut down all the electronics for the then-new four-door flagship.

"Windows up, no air-conditioning and a car that refused to start. After 45 minutes of a cabin fast heating up - and calls to the police and Porsche's assistance line - it quickly turned into a frightening experience. Especially with a none-too-impressed wife and a newborn baby on board.

"It ended when a window was smashed from the outside, allowing us to exit via the front passenger window," Hagon wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"It then took two tow-truck drivers 90 minutes to get the stricken Porsche on to a tow truck, battling with releasing the electronic handbrake and locked steering. Porsche has since instigated a worldwide fix to eliminate the interference.

"The experience gave me a first-hand understanding of how badly things could go wrong in the event of complete electronic failure."

 

Hagon noted that the local Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries is understood to be working on new regulations that would make it impossible for people to be locked in cars, in much the same way as many cars now have internal boot releases to prevent children from being locked inside [this is law in the US - ed].

"Of course, what happened to my family is an extreme example and one that highlights a near worst case scenario," Hagon added.

"But it's an example of how far electronics have come in the operation of modern cars."

 

According to the Institute of Advanced motorists, the number of drivers on UK roads over the age of 80 has topped one million for the first time.

The group obtained the data from the UK's DVLA. The licence-issuing authority's files show that 1,012,399 drivers were aged over 80 on 31 January, of which 122 were over the age of 100. There are now three 105 year-olds out and about on Britain's roads, and one woman who is 106.

One of the IAM's more interesting findings is that the rate of deaths and serious injuries in crashes among drivers over 80 is three times lower than the rate for those aged 17-19.

The UK is one of the few European countries with a rising population but when it comes to the average age of its citizens, it remains in sync with other EU nations: the Office of National Statistics predicts that there will be 8.7 million people over the age of 75 living in these islands by 2033. This will represent an 81.1 percent surge in the number of over 75 year-olds since 2008 - some 4.8 million people.

No fewer than three new or updated Morgan models are set to be unveiled at the Geneva motor show.

I've just been adding to our Geneva show preview list and it's quite something to see this tiny firm having such an ambitious new vehicle push. The family-run company is planning a facelift for the Roadster, as well as two additional models - the aluminium chassis Aero Coupe and the Plus 8, the latter two powered by BMW's thundering 4.8-litre V8.

A long time ago in a far away land, I first found out what a Morgan was via this TV commercial. The ad hasn't stood the test of time too well but the car's still timeless, IMHO.

Volkswagen has thrown its weight behind a project to cover a New Beetle in waste. Spark plugs, motherboards, bottle tops, you name it, it's there. If by chance you're reading this in Mumbai or Germany, there's a chance to see the car for yourself.