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Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings, Renault

UPDATE: Official press release from Renault confirming Alonso’s return can be read after the jump.

Emerging reports confirm that Fernando Alonso has signed a two-year contract with the Renault F1 Team, with which he won a pair of world titles before defecting to a tumultuous and disappointing year with McLaren.

The contract, according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo, will make Alonso one of the top-paid drivers currently in F1 at a staggering $50 million per season (According to the Wikipedia, Kimi R

Filed under: Car Buying, Euro, UK

So far this year, increased car sales in the U.K. and Italy — two of the biggest markets in Europe — along with a rising tide across Central and Eastern Europe, have contributed to a 1.9-percent increase in car consumption across the Atlantic. While the U.S. has traditionally been the world leader in units of vehicles sold, with some 16 million leaving dealer lots in 2006, that might change come the end of this year. (more…)

Filed under: Concept Cars, Mazda

Click the image above for more high-res shots of the Ryuga concept.

It’s no surprise that Mazda’s looking to radically revamp its entire product portfolio in the coming years, and the cohesive style set by the Nagare line of concepts will bring Mazda’s design chief, Laurens van den Acker’s vision to the road in the next few years. (more…)

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Police/Emergency

Despite the lack of a formal announcement (nor any real surprise), the Detroit News has the inside scoop on Ford’s plan to close its Ontario plant after production of the Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car ceases, likely by the end of 2010. (more…)

Filed under: Government/Legal, Shelby

click above image to read Carroll Shelby’s statement

There are always two sides to every story. When Carroll Shelby canceled his licensing agreement with the SAAC (Shelby American Automobile Club), it looked like he was giving the 33-year-old club the short end of the stick. After all, the club has done an incredible job of promoting and preserving the Shelby brand. Rick Kopec and Ken Eber, who run SAAC, thought so and formed a legal defense fund to fight for the right to use the Shelby name. However, Carroll recently released an official statement giving his take on the situation, and has listed several ways in which he believes the SAAC has refused to comply with the various terms of the licensing agreement. Interestingly, he has extended an offer to local clubs to use the Shelby name. The cost? $1.00 per year, the same as he charged the SAAC.

Looking at Shelby’s reasons for canceling the contract, it becomes apparent that the feud is not with the club, but with Kopec and Eber. Whatever the result, we hope that the 5,000 members of the SAAC don’t suffer as a result.

Shelby’s full response to Ken Eber and Rick Kopec after the jump.

[Source: Shelby Licensing]

Continue reading Carroll Shelby responds to SAAC allegations

Filed under: Car Buying, Coupes, Ford

Prior to the introduction of the new-for-2004 Mustang, Ford sold about 70-percent of its pony cars with V6s, while the remaining 30-percent came with V8s. That figure shifted when the retro coupe went on sale in late ‘03 and Ford was forced to bump up the output of its V8-equipped models to keep up with demand.

Over the last few years, 52-percent of ‘Stangs came with the 4.6-liter V8, but rising fuel prices and the fact that enthusiasts bought early has brought that number back down to 45-percent, so Ford will be reducing the number of 2008 Mustangs it builds with a V8. (more…)

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Volkswagen

Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn has put a bull’s-eye on Toyota. He believes the German automaker can outpace the Japanese company in ten years time, if not sooner. He sites German design aesthetics and meticulous engineering as VW’s strong points over Toyota. However, he knows that’s not all it takes to win the global battle, as sales in the North American market will be the focus of Winterkorn’s plan to grow. Part of VW’s sales deficiency is its high market price over its competition. In order to reduce costs, Volkswagen must streamline production and decrease exchange rate losses through new plant locations, such as building a new one in the United States (Auto News, Sub. Req.). With these future goals in mind and the assistance of a 9.5 billion Euro investment. Winterkorn hopes to develop 20 new cars over the next three years. Ultimately, by 2010 Winterkorn would like to see VW where Toyota is today. (more…)

Filed under: Hirings/Firings, Chrysler

For as long as this young blog can remember, Jason Vines has been the official voice of Chrysler. Though he began at Chrysler back in 1983, Vines’ professional career has seen him receive paychecks at both Nissan and Ford before returning to Chrysler in 2003 to become Vice President-Communications. Little did Vines know that he’d be on the front lines when this whole blog phenomenon hit the big time and the face of automotive journalism began to change. He’s had to endure embargo breaks, late night confirmation calls and the unique personalities that exist within our cottage Web 2.0 industry for the past four years. At the end of December, however, Vines will have to deal with it no more as Chrysler has just announced his resignation, effective immediately. It appears as if his parting is on friendly terms, as Vines will stay on through the end of the month to help his replacement, Nancy Rae, formerly Senior Vice President-Human Resources, get settled. We, for one, will miss Vines, as he possessed a shrewdness in his craft that most mouthpieces lack, and proved up to the task of matching wits with us internet folk as we made his life more difficult time and again. There’s no word on where Vines is headed next, but we’ll try and find out if he’s exiting the auto industry stage left or landing in another cubical across town somewhere. (more…)

Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings

Talk about airing your family’s dirty laundry in public. Michael Schumacher has made a public statement to his kid brother Ralf, urging him to consider taking a sabbatical from F1.

The news comes hot on the heels of a less-than-spectacular test Ralf undertook for Force India, the team formerly known as Spyker, which has two of the remaining seats open on the F1 grid for next season. Team owner Vijay Mallya and Schumi Jr. formed close links when the Indian tycoon’s Kingfisher Airlines was sponsoring Ralf’s Toyota, and the German driver was strongly linked to a potential drive for the new team. Unfortunately for Ralf, the test didn’t go so well, prompting him to admit that the session could very well be his last drive in F1.

His considerably more successful brother, meanwhile, urged him to consider taking a sabbatical from Formula One, pointing out that, following his own retirement, it wasn’t hard for him to come back for the recent test sessions for Ferrari, in which he posted top lap times. Michael was quick to point out, however, that he himself had no intention of returning to the race seat.

[Source: Autosport]

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Crossovers/CUVs, Saab

The 2002 Saab 9-3x concept

We’ll be seeing a wide array of vehicles from General Motors at the Detroit Auto Show less than a month from now. According to Bob Lutz, the lineup will include at least the ZR1 ‘Vette, the CTS-V, Saturn Flextreme, and Two-Mode Saturn Vues in regular and plug-in variants. AutoCar is also reporting that a concept version of Saab’s new crossover, the 9-4X, will turn up at Cobo Hall. The 9-4X is expected to share a variation of GM’s Theta compact CUV architecture with the new Cadillac BRX and be built in Mexico alongside the Saturn Vue. Perhaps more interesting to true Saab aficionados will be the arrival of a new 9-1 model at the London Motor Show next July. This one will come off the next generation Delta platform along with the Astra and be as close as Trollhatten ever again gets to a “true” Saab. (more…)