These are said to be pictures of Dacia's coming crossover, caught in a Dacia facility in Romania. Said to be based on the Nissan Qashqai platform and using four wheel drive tech from the Nissan X-Trail, this is another in a line of vehicles with which Dacia wants to take its brand to the world. Names mentioned include Duster and Steppe, and production plans call for one million units per year at a price of €12,000. It is expected to be officially unveiled at next year's Geneva Auto Show. You can have a closer look at it in the gallery of high-res photos below. Hat tip to Ironick



[Source: Dacia Club via Automarket]

With nearly every automaker launching special editions by the boatload, it's hard to point a finger and claim one is really bilking it more than the others. Especially not at Renault, which typically applies the special badge treatment to limited editions of its rippin' Renaultsport hot hatches. So you'd figure that if the French automaker were to launch a special line to honor its own one-marque formula racing series, it'd bring the goods, right? Unfortunately that doesn't appear to be the case with the World Series special edition Clio and Megane.

Not to be confused with baseball's championship, the World Series by Renault is a racing class started over a decade ago by sister company Nissan and functions as a stepping stone for aspiring racers with an eye toward F1. Current grand prix drivers Fernando Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica have all won the championship in their formative years. But while the World Series by Renault runs identical Dallara chassis with 3.5-liter 425hp Renault V6 engines, the lackluster WSR edition Clios and Meganes run engines producing between 75 and 110 hp. With a handful of minor cosmetic tweaks like spoilers and alloy wheels, the WSR specials amount to little more than an options package adding £1650 (~$2700) of equipment to otherwise ordinary cars for a £500 (~$800) premium. Not a bad deal, but not quite what we've come to expect from Renault.



[Source: Renault]

Every F1 fan knows that while these might not be the darkest days for F1, they are certainly distracting and annoying. Max Mosley's years of unilaterally implementing rules might finally break up the F1 band, sending eight current teams into a breakaway F1 series or a different series entirely. If that happens, the people behind Le Mans have thrown open their doors to those poor, huddled masses.

Remy Brouard said that not only would Le Mans organizers welcome former F1 entrants, it would give them a voice in drafting regulations. "If they want to make proposals," he said, "we will listen." Among the possible breakaway teams, Ferrari, Renault, BMW, McLaren and Toyota all have experience in F1, and the first four have won the race. As much as we don't want our F1 to burst, a 2010 Le Mans grid with those five entrants plus Audi, Peugeot, and Aston Martin would be nothing short of outstanding.

[Source: Autosport via Motor Authority | Photo Credit: Fabrice Pluchet]

The Renault Laguna, Scenic, Megane and Megane Coupe-Cabriolet were designed by Renault, built by Renault factories in France, and have all earned five stars in European NCAP tests. They have also all been banned by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine for "serious safety risks" and inadherence to technical regulations.

Renault didn't even sell a thousand cars in China last year, and the GAQSIQ didn't specify what could have been so wrong with those four cars that they deserved a ban. It has only said that Renaults "have many times revealed quality problems" and urged the company to check its Chinese-market cars thoroughly. We have no idea what the technical and safety issues could be, but based on some of the Chinese cars being sold... well, you know the one about glass houses, right?

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]

As the bidding to take over over the Saturn brand from General Motors nears its conclusion, it looks increasingly likely that Roger Penske will walk away with the "prize." Regardless of who takes control, all Penske is slated to receive is a network of dealers and a brand name. GM has already announced it will cease producing new Saturn cars at the end of June 2009, which means the new owner will have to line up another company to provide products for those 380-odd stores. One of the rumors making the rounds is Renault would be a supplier, however, as GM learned trying to import the Astra from Europe, importing cars from the continent is not a viable business plan under current exchange rates. It turns out the supply of vehicles could come from Renault Samsung Motors, the small South Korean maker that's 80% owned by Renault. That's a plan that could be financially viable with vehicles based on shared Renault-Nissan platforms. Hyundai has demonstrated that South Korea can produce quality products and priced aggressively as Saturns.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Another race, another week of wondering whether the other Formula 1 teams would make enough progress to catch Brawn GP. Saturday's qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix looked pretty familiar, save for a sorely missed flash of red on the front row. This week's top three? Not surprisingly, Brawn's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello bracketing Ferrari's former champion, Kimi Raikkonen. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel was fourth, with last year's runner-up, Felipe Massa fifth in the other Ferrari. Massa had shown the updated F60's potential by qualifying fourth last time out in Spain, but it was refreshing to see both Ferraris in the front three rows for a change. Would KERS help Kimi grab the lead going into turn one? Would Brawn show any chinks in its previously impervious armor? Would Vettel somehow get through to bring Red Bull its second victory of the season? Follow the jump to find out.

After hinting at its displeasure, Renault has joined the the threats made by other manufacturer-supported teams (Ferrari chief among them) that they'll quit F1 if the FIA doesn't change its proposed rules for next season. The motorsport governing body put forward a new set of regulations that would effectively create a two-tier system in Formula One, forcing teams to choose between severely capped budgets or even further restricted parameters for building and fielding their cars in the series.

Like the other corporate teams, Renault can afford to sit out the season, objecting that the teams' voices have fallen on deaf ears and that the FIA is governing unilaterally, putting the onus on Max Mosley to rethink his strategy or else watch all the major teams march out. With the deadline for registration rapidly approaching, the controversial FIA chief is set to meet with the Formula One Teams Association sometime this week to see if they can iron out a deal, so stay tuned, or follow the jump to read Renault's statement in full.



[Source: Renault]

Carlos Ghosn became Nissan's chief operating officer in 1999, initially declared that he would remain in the job for a maximum of ten years. At the time, Nissan had $13 billion in debt, a history of losses, and an almost completely forgettable product lineup. Now, on the eve of his ten-year anniversary and after a success story that few expected, Ghosn says he won't step down until Nissan is clearly profitable again.

For fiscal 2008, Nissan suffered an operating loss of 100 billion yen ($1.03 billion U.S.) on sales that were down 9.5% from 2007. For Ghosn to leave in the aftermath of that showing would be, in his words, "deserting." As one of the industry's few major execs upon whom praise is regularly lavished, we imagine many employees at Nissan and Renault are pleased to see him remain at the controls.

[Source: Reuters | Image: AFP/Getty]

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, General Motors is working on a deal with Renault to hand over Saturn, providing the French automaker with a "launching pad" to expand into North America. The WSJ's sources say that the deal with GM would allow Renault and its South Korean subsidiary, Samsung Motors, to sell its wares in the States though the existing retailers, possibly marketing the new vehicles as Saturns and building some of the vehicles using the General's underutilized plants. How the deal would flesh out financially remains to be seen, but there's a chance that Renault would acquire Saturn for no cash down – not surprising considering GM said it essentially plans to cancel the brand – but the French automaker would need to take on Saturn's liabilities and production costs. We're not entirely sure how acquiring a brand that could compete with Renault-owned Nissan in the U.S. would be in the best interests of the company overall, not to mention Saturn's track-record of marketing "European" vehicles in North America.

On the Geely front, the Chinese automaker is one of "three to four" serious bidders for Saab (as opposed to the ten reported yesterday), and comes a few weeks after Geely's bid for Volvo. Geely execs traveled to Trollhatten in the last few weeks, joined by nine other suitors, and the WSJ hypothesizes that Geely could be pushing for a deal with Saab as a way to put pressure on FoMoCo to get serious about the Chinese automaker's bid for Volvo. Regardless of Geely's apparent love of Sweden, expect a deal to be inked on Saab's future owners early this summer. Top tip throwback.

[Source: WSJ]

200. That's a mighty big number for such a tiny car, but it's the horsepower figure that Renaultsport's latest hot hatch packs beneath its bonnet. And while it may be only three measley horses more than the 197 version on which it's based and replaces, Renault's performance and motorsport division has worked to improve the aerodynamics and cut weight to make each one count more.

Complimenting the mid-cycle revised styling of the entire Clio range, the Clio RS 200 and 200 Cup benefit from Renault's Formula One program, with which the French automaker attributes the aerodynamic expertise implemented on its latest hot hatch. Air passes over the front splitter to feed the the revised 200-hp, 2.0-liter 16-valve four-cylinder engine, but it also goes underneath to the flat rear bottom and exits the fully functional rear diffuser. The design also pushes air around the wider front fenders, past the side vents and around the widened track to give the new Clio RS its performance edge. The aerodynamic enhancements gives the car an even meaner look, while customers can choose from a wider variety of look-at-me colors, contrasting with either black or anthracite-finish trim.

Inside it's all business: the compact steering wheel has perforated leather trim with a yellow strip to show when it's centered, and Recaro racing buckets are available along with leather upholstery. Unfortunately the car isn't available Stateside, but across the pond the new Clio Renaultsport 200 starts selling next month at £16,570, while hardcore enthusiasts can save a bit and get the even more focused, stripped-down Cup version for £15,750. Follow the jump for all the details in the press release, and check out the images in the gallery below.



[Source: Renault]