FROM THE INDEPENDENT:  Porsche has announced that it plans to take on Tesla by developing its own high performance electric sports cars.

  The German premium brand revealed July 26 that it has already electrified three of its Boxster sports cars and is currently testing them in Stuttgart.

 The research cars are being used to test batteries and [...]

FROM AFP:  A year after its first Formula One race, Abu Dhabi hopes to lure even more tourists with “Ferrari World” — a grandiose theme park that is the first of its kind for the iconic Italian carmaker.

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi announced on Monday that the park will open in 100 days featuring a record-breaking [...]

Deal with Russian-born inventor allows imports of Prius and other hybrids to continue in U.S. -FORBES

 FROM FORBES:  Toyota Motor, the leader in hybrid vehicles, has settled a patent-infringement dispute that had threatened to block the sale of the best-selling Prius and other Toyota hybrids.

The agreement with Paice LLC, a tiny Florida firm founded by [...]

FROM SPEED:  Jose Maria Lopez says he was embarrassed to be involved with the failed US F1 project.

The Argentine driver was announced by the team after co-founder Peter Windsor met the country’s president in January. Days later it became apparent that the project was in trouble.

“At the time I felt terrible,” Lopez told SPEED.com on [...]

FROM THE DETROIT NEWS:  Europe’s automotive manufacturers lack the will to rid themselves of unprofitable operations that threaten their future, and experts predict a future of muddling through rather than decisive action to restore health and profits.

At a conference in Bilbao, Spain, last month, Ford Europe Chairman and CEO John Fleming said overcapacity had reached [...]

FROM REUTERS:  Honda Motor Co would stop selling two of its longstanding brands and phase out the gas-powered Civic in its domestic market, to focus on green vehicles and low-priced cars, the Nikkei business daily reported.

The No 2 Japanese carmaker, which is now focusing on low-priced cars for India and other emerging markets, will stop [...]

FROM THE IRISH TIMES:  Fiat have wrapped an impressive amount of power into its new 2-cylinder petrol engine but it comes at a price

WITH downsizing becoming de rigeur these days, Fiat reckons it has found a solution to emissions and fuel economy, without sacrificing power. And that is by taking away some cylinders. We have [...]

FROM REUTERS:  Volkswagen’s  luxury brand Audi reaffirmed its forecast to post record vehicle sales in 2010, only one year after the biggest crisis the auto industry has seen in decades.

Audi said on Thursday deliveries to customers rose 8.7 percent to 99,250 vehicles in June thanks to another surge in demand in China, which overtook Germany [...]

FROM BUSINESSWEEK:  Ford said that replacing up to 25 percent of the petroleum used in rubber with soy oil can double the stretchability of the material. The company already uses soy oil in seat cushions, seatbacks and vehicle headliners in models such as the Ford Escape and Ford Mustang.  MORE»