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Lotus Exige S Type 72 launched – are they celebrating a return to Formula 1?

December 24, 2009 at 10:45 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Lotus

Is Lotus finally accepting the Litespeed run/Malaysian backed Lotus F1 Team as their own? It would seem so because Hethel has chose now to launch the Exige S Type 72, named after the Lotus Type 72 Formula One car which achieved 20 Grand Prix victories between 1970 and 1975. To commemorate a return of the Lotus name in F1 perhaps?

The Type 72 won three Formula 1 Constructors’ Championships (1970, 1972, 1973) and two Drivers’ World Championships (Jochen Rindt in 1970 and Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972). The Exige S wears the famous black and gold Type 72 livery and is finished by the same sign writer who painted the racing cars.

The 935kg Exige S sprints to 100 km/h in just 4.7 seconds, before maxing out at 233 km/h. It is a powered by a mid-mounted Toyota sourced 1.8-litre supercharged engine with 220 bhp/215 Nm and an 8500rpm redline.

The Exige S Type 72 comes with black micro fibre ProBax sports seats with gold stitching and a special build plate commemorating one of the F1 car’s 20 GP wins. The Sport Pack, which includes a steel main roll hoop, Lotus Traction Control, twin oil coolers and an adjustable front anti-roll bar, is standard.

Looks really good to these eyes. Gallery is after the jump.

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GM sends CFO to help unprofitable Daewoo arm

December 24, 2009 at 10:00 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Chevrolet/Daewoo, International News, Koreans

General Motors Chief Financial Officer Ray Young has been elected to the GM Daewoo Auto & Technology (GMDAT) board of directors with the main aim of steering GM’s Korean outpost to profitability, according to a statement by GMDAT President and CEO Mike Arcamone.

“Ray Young will help drive the change needed at GM Daewoo to make the company profitable in 2010. His depth of knowledge of the global automotive industry and his financial skills will benefit the entire company,” Arcamone said.

The 47-year old Young drew criticism from President Obama’s auto task force for weak leadership leading up to GM’s bankruptcy earlier this year. He will be replaced by Chris Liddell, who was the CFO at Microsoft Corp since 2005.

GM now ownes 70.1% of GMDAT after it invested a further $416 million in October to purchase additional shares offered in an equity rights issue. The Korean outpost is GM’s global design and engineering center for small cars. The Chevrolets that we see here in Malaysia, including the Captiva and still to be launched Cruze, had most of their design work done in GMDAT.

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Mahindra to launch pick-ups in US next year

December 24, 2009 at 9:26 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News

Indian company Mahindra & Mahindra is set to export its 4X4s to the US, but the brand launch is delayed once again after an earlier postponement in August by Global Vehicles USA, its distributor. With this, M&M should launch its diesel-powered TR Series small trucks in April 2010.

Mahindra has completed all the testing needed to ensure the Indian-built pickups meet US federal standards, assured Global Vehicles USA. Certification paperwork will be submitted for approval to the government in January and approved by February.

Mahindra TR pickups will be offered in two-door regular form and as a four-door crew cab. Both will use Mahindra’s 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel engine that’s modified to meet US emissions rules. To start from USD 22,000, it’s expected to have fuel economy ratings of 10.6 km/l and a 1.3-tonne hauling ability.

Remember the Mahindra Scorpio 4X4 sold by USF-Hicom? Looks like there are still some that lie around, as USF took up an ad in Tuesday’s The Star promoting the petrol version of the SUV with the headline “Let’s Talk Price!” and the RM55,000 figure. At that price, the Scorpio is surely Malaysia’s cheapest SUV/4X4.

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Volvo’s sale to Geely on track, major issues resolved

December 23, 2009 at 9:31 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, China, Ford, Geely, International News, Volvo

Ford has officially announced that all substantive commercial issues relating to the sale of Volvo to the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group have been resolved. The current owner of Volvo revealed that it expects the deal to be signed in the first quarter of 2010 and the deal is expected to be fully finalized by the second quarter of next year. The sale is said to be worth about US$ 1.8 billion and it would be the largest acquisition of a foreign automaker by a Chinese company.

Ford also said that some work still remain before the deal can be completed and these include final documentation, financing (from Geely’s end) and relevant government approvals. Ford will focus on its core brand and also revealed that it will still continue to cooperate with Volvo in certain areas after the sale but confirmed that it does not intend to retain a shareholding in the Swedish brand.

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Michael Schumacher signs with Mercedes GP Petronas!

December 23, 2009 at 7:57 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

Looks like the rumor is true after all! Mercedes GP, the team that recently got Petronas as its title sponsor has officially signed up 7-times World Champion Michael Schumacher as its driver for the 2010 season. Schumacher will join Nico Rosberg behind the wheel of the Silver Arrows racer, which helps give an indication that Nick Heidfeld will stay at Sauber. Schumacher was racing for Mercedes before joining the pinnacle of motorsport in 1991 with Jordan. Mercedes even backed Schuey’s jump into Formula 1.

The German who will turn 41 this January will reunite with team principal Ross Brawn as the duo worked together for all of Schumacher’s seven titles, two achieved with Benetton and the rest with Ferrari. Schumacher’s move should also mark his official relationship with Ferrari to an end. The deal with Mercedes is said to be worth £6.2 million and is valid for a year, although I won’t be surprised if both Schumacher and Mercedes decide to extend it.

“Mercedes GP Petronas represents a new challenge for me both in a sporting and a personal context. It is a new chapter in my racing career and I am really looking forward to working with my old friend Ross Brawn and my companions from my days with the Mercedes Junior Programme,” said Schumacher.

“I am convinced that together we will be involved in the fight for the Formula 1 World Championship next year and I am already looking forward to getting back onto the race track. For me, this partnership closes the circle. Mercedes supported me for so many years when I began my Formula 1 career and now I can hopefully give something back to the brand with the star,” he added.

Team principal Ross Brawn said, “I am delighted that we can confirm today that Michael will make his much-anticipated return to Formula One next year and drive for our Mercedes GP Petronas team. As seven-time World Champion, Michael’s outstanding record in Formula One speaks for itself and I am looking forward to working with him again. With the completion of our driver line-up, I believe that we now have the most exciting partnership in Formula One with Michael and Nico, who provide the perfect mix of talent, experience, speed and youth.”

“We can now turn our full attention to the preparations for the new season and everyone at Mercedes GP Petronas is extremely excited about the challenge ahead. With the investment and support in our team provided by Daimler, Aabar and our new title partner Petronas, and with two such exciting drivers, we have all of the building blocks in place to have another successful season in 2010,” he added. This is definitely the biggest come back news in Formula 1 history and it looks like Schumacher is set to increase his career statistics of 250 races, 91 wins and 68 pole positions! Look out for Petronas ads with Schumacher on board!

UPDATE: Look after the jump for a video interview with Schumacher.
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Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team official renderings

December 23, 2009 at 7:00 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Mercedes Benz

We picked up these renderings of the Mercedes GP Formula 1 car complete with Petronas livery from the Brawn GP official website (Brawn GP is the 2009 Constructors Champion, bought by Daimler and renamed as Mercedes GP). We’ll have to wait for pre-season testing in February to see the car for real, but here’s a teaser of how it could look.

The based colour is silver (of course) but there are streaks of Petronas green to break the monotony – previously BMW Sauber didn’t allow any of it on its car. The Petronas name is prominently displayed on the rear wing, front wing and side pods; the latter location has ‘Malaysia’ below the brand, just like on the BMW. There’s also a Petronas Syntium logo on the engine cover. Other sponsors such as Henri Lloyd, MIG and Graham are carried over from Brawn GP.

Look out for one more picture and downloadable hi-res files after the jump.

UPDATE: It’s official! Mercedes GP has unveiled latest signing Michael Schumacher at its Brackley HQ. About the condition of his neck, the seven-time champ has this to say: “It wasn’t OK in the summer, but it’s had the time to heal completely, there is no further issue with the neck – 100%,” he told BBC.

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Honda reveals new Super GT racecar – the HSV-010

December 23, 2009 at 3:26 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, Motorsports

As reported before, Honda’s “new NSX” will see the light of day not as a production road car, but as replacement to the long serving NSX-GT in the Japanese Super GT series. Honda Racing has confirmed this by releasing info and a picture of its 2010 race car.

Called the HSV-010 GT, the front engine, rear-wheel drive Honda competes in the GT500 class and will be powered by a 3.4-litre V8 engine, as per Super GT regulations. HSV stands for Honda Sports Velocity.

Super GT is for production cars, but Honda has managed to find a loophole in rulebook that permit cars that are production ready (which this prototype NSX is), though not necessarily in production.

The 2010 Super GT season starts on March 20-21 at Suzuka and we will be able to see the HSV-010 at Sepang in June.

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Peugeot appoints new design director – brand’s “new identity” to be launched next month

December 23, 2009 at 2:48 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under International News, Peugeot

Peugeot has appointed Gilles Vidal as its new Design Director, reporting to Jean-Pierre Ploué, Design Director for the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group.

Vidal, 37, is a graduate of the Art Centre College of Design in Vevey, Switzerland. He joined PSA in 1996 and has spent nine years working alongside Ploué to revamp the Group’s line-up. Since early 2009, he has been in charge of concept cars for Peugeot. He has also been actively involved in the creation of Peugeot’s new identity, to be unveiled early next month.

I’m curious to what this “new identity” is. Perhaps a phasing out of the “big mouth” look currently used across the range for a more sleek, subtle style? I remember reading a Jean-Pierre Ploué admission in Autocar saying that Peugeot last made a nice looking car in 1996 – the 406 Coupe.

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CONFIRMED: Michael Schumacher signs for Mercedes GP!

December 23, 2009 at 12:49 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Mercedes Benz

Word that seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher will make his Formula 1 comeback via Mercedes GP has been circulating for quite some time, but he has finally signed for the Silver Arrows, according to an AFP report which quotes Bild.de.

The report says that Schumacher, who will turn 41 in January, signed a one-year deal for the 2010 season worth seven million euros, adding that the contract was signed on Tuesday at Mercedes’ headquarters in Brackley, England.

Schumi, who retired in 2006, will join compatriot Nico Rosberg in an all-German line-up for Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team. He will also be reunited with Ross Brawn, the mastermind behind his seven titles at Ferrari and Benetton. Michael has competed in 250 Grand Prix races, winning 91 of them, and started in pole on 68 occasions.

UPDATE: It’s official! Mercedes GP has unveiled their star driver at its Brackley HQ. About the condition of his neck, Schumacher has this to say: “It wasn’t OK in the summer, but it’s had the time to heal completely, there is no further issue with the neck – 100%,” he told BBC.

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Aston Martin One-77 breaks 350 km/h in testing

December 23, 2009 at 10:10 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Aston Martin, International News

The One-77 supercar is set to be Aston Martin’s fastest road car ever after surpassing its maker’s predictions and comfortably breaking the 320 km/h mark.

The ultra exclusive £1.2 million car (only 77 will be made) is currently in the later stages of development ahead of its planned debut in 2010. During high speed testing at an undisclosed proving ground in southern Europe, the One-77 recorded a 354.86 km/h top speed in dry but windy conditions.

Powered by a new 7.3 litre V12 engine with over 750 bhp, the One-77 features a new carbon fibre monocoque body structure and adopts active aerodynamic technology. Gaydon describes it as “the ultimate expression of what Aston Martin stands for which will combine modern technology and design with craftsmanship and ultimate exclusivity to create the world’s most desirable automotive art form.”

Check out our previous post for an undisguised view of the One-77.

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