Autoblog

We know that Ferrari is working on turbochargers and all-wheel-drive hybrids, and the hybrid portion of that equation could show up as soon as this year's Los Angeles Auto Show. If so, Autocar supposes the car in question will be the new Ferrari F450. As Jaguar has reportedly planned with the XE, Ferrari could show off a hybrid F450 first in order to make an even bigger splash.

Yet even if the production model doesn't show up on dealer floors with some alternative energy system, it is still expected to show off plenty of top tier technology. A "lightweight aluminum structure" will house a seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox, traction control and programming to eliminate understeer, and radiators forward of the front wheels.

The KERS system employed by the Ferrari F1 team and being trialled on that ludicrous 599XX are also slated for the F450, but that will apparently come with the hybrid car and Ferrari thinks customers might not be ready for that yet. For now, the Prancing Horse is said to be working on direct-injection evolutions of its current engines, which it feels will meet Euro emissions standards until 2014.

[Source: Autocar]

Michael Jackson was hired by General Motors in 2000. In 2006, he was made the VP of marketing and advertising. Less than a year later, he retired. In a recent column in Automotive News, he wrote a commentary calling on the bankrupt automaker to "overhaul marketing," saying "GM needs passion and creativity – not incentives." Now, in an interview with Advertising Age, he says that GM's bureaucracy doused the fire of innovation.

His specific indictments were that "U.S. operations have too many layers for approval of ads," that GM is a "bureaucracy of meetings culture," that GM put "engineers and finance people with no marketing training in key marketing positions," and that GM doesn't "treat its ad agencies like partners but rather as vendors. If an agency doesn't fall in line with the marketer's demands, the client threatens to move the business." That turned agencies into factory stampers that would "present work they know will get approved, not cool, risky creative."

We can all see how that could have been true at GM. Yet before anyone aims the truncheon at GM, as one of the Ad Age article commenters wrote, "Mike Jackson's comments are emblematic of many large, lumbering companies that place process above performance." Anyone who understands the comic strip Dilbert knows exactly what Jackson speaks of. If his sentiments are accurate, it doesn't excuse what GM has become, but it's certainly fair to say that the automaker is far from alone. The point of bankruptcy is to let GM start over. Hat tip to Grahm!

[Source: Advertising Age]

Bo Andersson was General Motors' global purchasing group vice president up until last Friday, when he suddenly resigned without warning. Now, we appear to know why he left – Automotive News is reporting that Andersson will become CEO of GAZ, the Russian consumer and military vehicle maker.

As you may recall, GAZ is involved by proxy in the purchase of Opel, since Russian bank Sberbank is GAZ's largest investor and Magna's partner in the pending deal for Opel. With Andersson at the helm, GAZ would have a European automotive industry insider (he also spent time at Saab) and a known cost-cutter and dealmaker. As a result, AN speculates that Andersson could end up playing a key role in the revival of Opel's fortunes.

Andersson's installation as CEO is not a done deal just yet – he still must still be formally voted in by the GAZ board.

[Source: Automotive News, sub req'd]

Ratan Tata, Jaguar's owner, knows that the future of the company rests on "shiny and new" products. That's why the XE roadster was reportedly moved to the front of the line and given a 2011 release date. If the soothsayers at Motor Trend are correct, Tata also understands that cleaner engines are the future of the industry itself, because the XE could also bolster Jaguar's credentials by reportedly including the option of a Volt-like range-extending hybrid drivetrain.

The mooted gas-electric system is a conventional three-cylinder gasoline engine mated to an electric motor. It is also being suggested by MT that the concept XE may be fitted with that powerplant, but it might not make it to the production version.

If it does come to market, however, the car probably won't have any natural competition at its price point given its green credentials, with the possible exception of the Fisker Karma S. Even if the extended-range hybrid rumor fails to materialize, the coupe is likely to get variants of the company's new 5.0-liter V8 engine range, which presently offers up to 510-horsepower in supercharged form...

[Source: Motor Trend]

It's official: Honda America is 50 years old. The company actually began its golden jubilee celebration earlier this year with a special float in the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena. That was followed by a little ceremony at the company's headquarters in Torrance, California this month – almost a painfully modest way to commemorate going from nothing to market heavyweight in at least five different areas (cars, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, power equipment, and racing). And all of it was done on the back of a 50 cc step-through motorcycle. Perhaps Honda wants its milestones to sing their own tunes, so you can check them out in the gallery of high-res photos below, or read about them and check out a video that spans the ages after the jump.



[Source: Honda]

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When he's not racing superbikes or reliving the good old days, seven-time Formula World Champion Michael Schumacher gets his thrills testing new Ferrari supercars. The Prancing Horse recently had Schumi take a 599 GTB with the company's new Handling GT Evoluzione (HGTE) package around Fiorano with a vengeance, and then they got the man to talk about his hand in developing Ferrari models from the ground up.

Schumacher's flogging of the tauter 599 was part of Pilota Ferrari, which is Ferrari's multi-level driving school program for owners. In a second video after the jump, the German pilot also discusses the importance of driving schools for every day driving. Somehow, we have a feeling that the "on-the-limit" maneuvers he speaks of just aren't the same in a 599 GTB HGTE as they are in the Pontiacs at our local track.

Gallery: Schumacher Tests the Ferrari 599 HGTE

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[Source: Ferrari]

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At the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz revealed its F700 concept. In addition to being a big sedan with a tiny gas engine, it also wore a version of Mercedes' PRE-SCAN predictive suspension system. The technology scans the road ahead with a set of lasers mounted next to the headlights, and then optimizes the suspension settings to soak up what's coming.

An S-Class mule in Stuttgart has been caught wearing something that spies suggest could be an evaluation version of the PRE-SCAN system, hinting that a production system is in the not-too-distant future. The spotter said that you could put a glass of wine on the car and drive 50 km/hr and not spill a drop. If true, that would be fantastic. If, at the very least, it made the next S-Class as smooth as the Citroen C6 around a horse track, Mercedes would have another solid achievement on its hands. Hat tip to Paul!



[Source: Spyshots.nl (translated)]

Mercedes-Benz has built an S400 Hybrid called the Experimental Safety Vehicle (ESF in German) as a rolling jack-in-the-box of the company's safety technology. One of those tech highlights is the braking bag -- the panel under the car in the picture above -- which operates both as an air brake and a support in the event of an accident.

When the PRE-SAFE system detects a crash is imminent, it will deploy an airbag located in the vehicle floor above the front axle carrier. This action will thrust a panel to the ground that, in its most simple form, slows the car down fractionally due to aerodynamic and friction drag.

But the panel is also thrust down forcefully enough to raise the car up 8 centimeters, reducing dive and possibly helping to prevent the car from submarining under an obstacle in front of it. The Mercedes-Benz ESF S400 will be displayed at the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles conference on June 15 in Stuttgart. To learn all about it right now, check out the gallery below, then follow the jump to watch three videos and read MB's excruciatingly-long press release.




[Source: Mercedes-Benz]

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When Ross Brawn took over the artist formerly known as Honda F1, the other Formula 1 teams voted to allow Brawn GP to receive the commercial revenue owed to Honda. That was before Brawn started winning, oh, everything. The reversal came when the FIA declared Brawn an entirely new team and Renault's Flavio Briatore declared Brawn shouldn't get any money -- so Brawn didn't get the twenty million pounds it was expecting.

Now Brawn has decided to sell its Honda and BAR Racing heritage collection. The cars and collectibles span the 2001 to 2006 seasons and were piloted by Villeneuve, Button, and Barichello. With a 2001 BAR chassis pegged at something like £7,000 ($11,528 US), the sale won't come anywhere close to the £20,000,000 from the lost commercial revenue.

The sale is said to be about raising money, but we imagine that's only part of the case. Brawn has already said "we have the budget and the people to win the championship," and the team knocked back Virgin sponsorship because Sir Richard Branson wasn't offering enough. All of that makes this sale sound just as much about housecleaning and out-with-the-old as it is about money.

[Source: Five FWD]

The scalpel of bankruptcy that is slicing off GM's sponsorship activities hasn't touched NASCAR's top tier Sprint Cup series, but the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series' have been trimmed. NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kevin Harvick have teams running in the lower two series, and have been told by GM that they will lose funding.

Harvick runs three trucks in the Camping World Truck Series and hasn't commented on what GM's move will bring. Earnhardt, with the backing of Hendrick Motorsports, fields two cars in the Nationwide series and a team spokeswoman said "we are fully capable of adjusting our business model to this change" to continue racing.

For now, Chevrolet has no plans to pull out of NASCAR entirely and the Sprint Cup remains immune to the cost cutting. As the red carpet event, everybody knows the fans want to see Chevrolet doing the ovals, and we imagine there will be quite a few other painful measures taken before the Bowtie would bow out of oval racing.

[Source: AP via Google News]