Team Chevy drivers William Byron* in the NASCAR Cup Series and Rinus Veekay in the NTT INDYCAR Series met at the Chevrolet Simulator ahead of the NASCAR / INDYCAR weekend on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). Chevrolet is the only manufacturer that will compete in both series. This week, Veekay and Byron met at the SIM DIL to share a ‘driver swap” and trade information. Continue reading
There are double FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) points to win.
Following three-straight Le Mans victories with its TS050 Hybrid, this year the Toyota Gazoo Racing team competes with the new GR010 Hybrid Hypercar for the first time at the Circuit de la Sarthe. (See 1 below) The team “is determined to extend its winning run.” It faces Hypercar competition from Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, which enters two cars, as well as Alpine, which participates with a grandfathered LMP1 car at the 13.626 km Circuit de la Sarthe.
Reigning World Champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López, in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, have endured calamity at Le Mans, particularly when mechanical issues denied them victory despite domination in 2019 and 2020. They go into the biggest race of the year following wins in the 6 Hours of Monza last month. (Le Mans 2018 – Wrecks, Pit Stops, Safety Car – Pick Winners. Toyota Finally Wins P1 After Years of Breakdowns with a Record 388 Laps; C’est Bien – Corvette Racing off to Le Mans 24 Hour) Continue reading
The design claims to be inspired by 5-star hotel rooms – “refined and rich in natural materials.”
Move over Tokyo Motor Show – known for its wacky concept vehicles. Here’s comes the Hippie Caviar Hotel concept built from the new Renault Trafic van. It debuts at the 2021 Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf from 28 August to 5 September 2021. It claims to be the world’s largest van and camper show. Renault Design says it “chose the new Trafic to imagine a nomadic life with all the space, comfort and modularity necessary for all journeys.”
Whatever. The van’s dimensions make it easy to park. As to the claims that a camper-van after repeated lockdowns can fill the urge to escape without accommodation constraints with the application of the sanitary restrictions related to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which leads to a “stress-free life” – well maybe designers were smoking something. Consider: “Hippie Caviar Hotel is our take on the nomadic hotel concept, based on connected services.” Sounds reasonable so far, but… Continue reading
Seventeen years in the making… Click to Enlarge.
Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) team members, and politicians today celebrated the five millionth vehicle built at Hyundai’s U.S. assembly plant. HMMA reached the five million mark in less than 17 years, after starting production in May 2005.
The five millionth vehicle was a Hyundai Santa Cruz Sport Adventure Vehicle that was built on 27 July 2021. To reach this milestone, HMMA has produced 2,562,880 Sonatas, 1,489,568 Elantras, 908,779 Santa Fes, 36,989 Tucsons, and 1,784 Santa Cruzes. Continue reading
Lotus Emira with F1 driver Jenson Button at the wheel at Laguna Seca.
The Lotus Emira made its first appearance in the USA with aging Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button at Laguna Seca Raceway. Jenson – in California for Monterey Car Week – drove the Radford 62-2 – a reinterpretation of the Lotus Type 62 that recently received its world premiere ahead of making its public debut with the Emira on the Lotus stand at The Quail, A Motorsport Gathering. Jenson Button said after his drive that “This is such a great circuit, most road cars on tracks don’t work, but this does.” (AutoInformed on Renault Group to buy Lotus F1 Team; Alpine and Lotus to Study Joint Development of an Electric Sports Car as Groupe Renault Restructures) Continue reading
The 2022 Ford GT is available to order for approved customers. Production is scheduled in January.
It’s the end of the line for the Ford GT so the 2022 Ford GT Heritage Edition supercar pays homage to the 1964 Ford GT prototypes that led to America’s only Le Mans-winning supercar, with wins from 1966 to 1969, and in born-again form in 2016.
The latest Ford GT Heritage Edition is a marketing take on the original, combining Wimbledon White paint and a triple racing stripe with expensive touches including exposed carbon fiber behind blue-painted carbon fiber wheels and Lightspeed Blue Alcantara suede seats.
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The Global Light Vehicle (LV) selling rate was 82,000,000 units/year in July, according to consultancy LMC Automotive. This continues the softening trend of recent months. “The semiconductor shortage held back the post-lockdown recovery of vehicle sales in Europe, while its impact on inventories in the US meant average transaction prices soared. Meanwhile, rising Delta variant cases threaten to worsen the outlook in parts of Asia,” LMC said in a release today. Continue reading
The #3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R driven by Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor takes the checkered flag first in the GTLM class Saturday, July 4, 2020 during the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship WeatherTech 240 on the Road Course at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The stands were empty per IMSA and Florida Covid regulations.
Corvette Racing is returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Only days following its most recent IMSA race at Road America, the program heads across the Atlantic for the French endurance classic – one of the most famous and storied races still running. The twice-around-the-clock race is set for Aug. 21-22 around the 8.4-mile circuit that is a mix of permanent racetrack and public roads. Corvette Racing and other teams – including seven other entries in GTE Pro – will have nine hours of track time Sunday during the official Test Day.
This year’s Le Mans is the first time in France for the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, and this year’s race marks Corvette Racing’s return after missing the 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It ended a run of 20 consecutive years at Le Mans that started in 2000. In that time, Corvette claimed eight victories with three different generations of Corvette… all with the engine in the front. Continue reading
Public safety and public health are reasons for a government working toward the collective good. Click to Enlarge.
GM Ventures* today announced its participation in the $40 million Series B funding round for RapidDeploy**, a public safety technology company working to accelerate so-called Next Generation 911 in the United States. The General motors press release claimed that the investment “will enable RapidDeploy to help improve the public safety community’s situational awareness with a cloud-native, data-driven solution.”
“This latest milestone in our collaboration with RapidDeploy demonstrates OnStar’s commitment to keeping members and first responders safe during emergencies and supporting new innovations to advance Next Generation 911 initiatives,” said Catherine Bishop, senior manager, OnStar Emergency Services.
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Lyft and Motional Self Driving prototype.
Motional, a Hyundai and Aptiv joint-venture in driverless technology*, is expanding West Coast operations. The expansion follows 18 months of existence for Motional during which it closed the formation of a joint venture, extended Asia operations to Seoul, and increased headcount. Motional was the first in the auto industry to have operations in the U.S. and Asia.
This move comes as Motional accelerates towards mass commercialization, which includes a landmark agreement with Lyft to launch a multimarket fully driverless service starting in 2023. Motional claims to be one of the world’s key AV players. “We’ve had a presence in Los Angeles for more than five years and are now increasing our investment in California with a new operations facility and road testing in the Los Angeles area, a new San Francisco Bay Area office, and extensive hiring that will more than double the size of our California team,” Motional said in a release. (AutoInformed.com on Lyft and Motional to Deploy Fully Self-Driving Vehicles in 2023; Argo AI, Ford to Launch Self-Driving Vehicles on Lyft Network; Hyundai Motor, Kia to build American-made Electric Vehicles) Continue reading
Delta – the virus variant – continues as a plague.
Reaffirming a CDC recommendation, the FAA has just issued Notice Number – NOTC1986 – that stipulates global COVID-19 testing is required for all air passengers entering the country. If you plan to travel internationally, you will need to get tested for COVID-19 no more than 3 days before you travel by air into the United States (US) and show your negative result to the airline/operator before you board your flight or be prepared to show documentation of recovery (proof of a recent positive viral test and a letter from your healthcare provider or a public health official stating that you were cleared to travel). The CDC order does not replace the Presidential proclamations.
This order applies to all flights; private flights and general aviation aircraft (including 14 CFR 135 charter flights and 14 CFR 125 flights). On January 12, 2021, CDC announced an Order requiring all air passengers arriving to the US from a foreign country to get tested no more than 3 days before their flight departs and to present the negative result or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 to the airline before boarding the flight. Air passengers will also be required to confirm that the information they present is true in the form of an attestation. Continue reading
Subaru of America is recalling 2019-2020 Ascent, 2018 Forester, 2018-2020 Impreza, Legacy, Outback, 2018-2019 BRZ, WRX, and Toyota 86 vehicles. The low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail. Sudden stalling may result. Continue reading
Mercedes-Benz USA is recalling model year 2021 G550, AMG G63, E350, E450, AMG CLS53, AMG E53, AMG GT43, AMG GT53, AMG GT63 and 2021-2022 CLS450, and AMG E63 vehicles. The rear seatbelt automatic locking retractors may “deactivate early, which can prevent the child restraint system from securing properly.” These vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, “Occupant Crash Protection.” Continue reading
The all-new 2022 Kia Carnival Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) replaces the outgoing Sedona. Carnival has a 3.5-liter V6 engine rated at 290 horsepower. This provides up to 3,500 pounds of towing capacity for trailer, boat, or camper trips. It also has standard Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). The 2022 Carnival will be offered in four (confusing, complicated? – Autocrat) trim levels: LX, EX, SX, and SX-Prestige.
Kia America has announced “Kia@Home” which delivers scheduled test drives of two of vehicles direct to consumers at a location of their choosing in several major cities. It is the latest example of an automaker exploring the boundaries of the traditional franchised dealer network.
The all-new Carnival MPV and the all-electric Niro EV are available in some locations. The hour-long sales pitch includes a detailed vehicle walk-around from a Kia@Home Drive Specialist. Ultimately, customers interested in buying a Carnival MPV or Niro EV “will work with a local Kia dealer to purchase a vehicle.” The people conducting the test drives/vehicle walk-arounds are third-party product specialists that Kia has enlisted in each market. No other details were provided to AutoInformed. Continue reading
Brickyard Saturday – Power, Cindric Win for Penske
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Will Power took his front row starting position into a win as he led 56 of the 85-laps of The Big Machine Coolers Grand Prix on the Road Course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is the fifth win of the season for Team Chevy in INDYCAR. Moreover the race lacked the usual idiocy of allegedly professional drivers wiping out on the early laps of Indy Car races such as last week in Nashville when the Pace Car led more laps than any racing car – and in AutoInformed’s view won the demolition derby like race.
“Roger Penske has had a rough year as far as the team goes. I’m really happy for the whole group. Because it’s not for lack of effort,” said Power. They worked really hard during the Month of May and we were all scratching our heads at the end. I’ve been here six times now (five for road course wins, one Indy 500 win) in this Victory Lane; pretty special place for me. This win goes to the whole group; they deserve it more than me.” Continue reading →