TOP 100 RACING SITES
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| Stuntman Revs Up for Indianapolis 500 Stanton Barrett, a Hollywood stuntman with more than 200 films and television series to his credit, and probably as many broken bones, torn muscles and assorted injuries, is trying to prove himself on auto racing’s biggest stage as a rookie at the Indianapolis 500. “I’ve never experienced something like this,” Barrett said Tuesday at the start of the two-day Indy rookie tests. nytimes.com |
Porsche and Volkswagen Showdown is Looming Top management of German auto companies Porsche AG and Volkswagen will come to the table in the next two weeks to discuss an investment by the Qatar sovereign wealth fund and how that could possibly strengthen Porsche’s bid to takeover Volkswagen AG.Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking has been pursuing a strategy of trying to acquire control of VW since 2005 when he first bought a stake in the larger company. That strategy blew up in the CEO’s face, though, last Fall when the global capital markets tanked and Porsche got caught holding risky derivative investments it was using to finance its acquisition of VW.The dealings between Porsche and VW have taken on a soap-opera-like quality. The VW supervisory board chairman is Ferdinand Piech, the great grandson of Ferdinand Porsche. His family is also part of the controlling stakeholders in Porsche.The Porsche and Piech clans have long been rivals. At one time, it was believed that Piech and Wiedeking were working in concert to have Porsche acquire VW. But in recent months, Piech has been openly critical of Porsche’s moves and its excessive debt.Piech, as a significant Porsche shareholder, can, in fact, block the Qatar investment. Qatar is looking for voting shares in Porsche in exchange for investing billions. Up to now, the Porsche and Piech families have controlled all the voting shares.If Wiedeking is blocked, and the Qatar investment doesn’t go through, there is the strong likelihood that he will be ousted as CEO and that Porsche will be absorbed by VW. It would be a spectacular fall of one of Germany’s leading industrial executives. Wiedeking has been CEO of Porsche since the early 1990s and led the sports car company to be the most profitable, as measured by operating margin, auto company in the world.Porsche currently owns 51 percent of VW.Wiedeking has so far failed to secure 1.75 billion euros in loans it wants from commercial banks or from KFW, a state-controlled bank in Germany.Qatar is approaching a potential investment in Porsche as a passive financial investor and is apparently open to investing in either company. rss.businessweek.com |
Winterbottom: Now for Sunday Mark Winterbottom has always been fast when the V8 endurance races come around - the problem is his pace has usually been on the wrong day. foxsports.com.au |
Former F1 champ Raikkonen lands with Citroen rally team Forner Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen will compete for Citroen in the World Rally Championship next season, the team ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Detroit Auto Show: Chrysler goes Euro There’s no doubt about it. Chrysler brand is going Euro. While the struggling carmaker didn’t have a press conference to unveil new models at the Detroit auto show, they did put up one new idea on their show stand. Chrysler--or more appropriately Fiat-Chrysler--took the Delta hatchback from Fiat’s tony European Lancia brand, fashioned a Chrysler brand nose and grille on it and put it out there to get feedback at the show. It’s not necessarily for production, Olivier Francois, the French head of Chrysler brand told me. It’s really an exercise to show where the Chrysler brand is headed. And it looks like Chrysler’s namesake brand will get a heavy dose of European flair. In a round table meeting with the motoring press, Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said that in a few years, the product lines for Chrysler and Lancia will be married up. That means the Chrysler brand will soon be selling Lancia’s premium sedans, coupes and hatchbacks. Lancia could get Chrysler vehicles like the 300 sedan or Town and Country minivan to sell in Europe. “On Chrysler-Lancia, these are two brands that will share completely a common destiny,” Marchionne said. “They will share completely their product portfolio.” That’s not the only way the Italians are bringing European culture to Chrysler. Fiat-Chrysler’s auto show stand turned heads and generated buzz at the auto show with leggy, scantily-clad models. The Lancia–Chrysler concept car was accompanied by models wearing gold-toned mini dresses that covered the bare minimum. The tiny Fiat 500 was surrounded by models strutting around in thigh-high leather go-go boots. It wasn’t in poor taste, but it is more risqué than Americans have seen at the Detroit auto show for many years. That kind of thing is a mainstay at venues like the Paris Auto Show. Not so in America’s industrial heartland. Francois told me that he wasn’t trying to sex it up. That’s just what he does in Europe. Says Francois: “I’m doing here what I know from there.” The models turned heads, but giving Chrysler some allure will be a bigger challenge than sparking chatter among coffee-addled automotive writers. Dressing Lancia cars up as a Chrysler models will be a head snap. The brand that sells the gangsterish 300 sedan, retro PT Cruiser and posh Town and Country would then get small luxury cars designed for Europeans. Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.com, says the idea isn’t completely daft for the Chrysler brand because it doesn’t really have much of an image. That gives the Italians a clean canvas. A slate of Lancia models could help it start anew, he said. He has a real point. But the Town and Country, 300 and PT Cruiser all have one thing (and only one thing) in common. They make very American statements. A Lancia with a Chrysler grille does not. On a positive note, I think the car looked pretty good. But the brand will get a makeover that will be a real departure from what most Americans think of Chrysler. The cars will need to have some substance to make it work. rss.businessweek.com |