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The State Government of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Nissan, Petrobras and local businesses to study the possibility of building electric vehicles in the state and creating an electric automotive infrastructure. Using the Leaf as a taxi in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro is part of this program.  "We want to make sure Rio de Janeiro will ...

Earlier this summer, the Japanese Yen traded at over 100 to the US dollar for the first time in about a decade. It is just one example of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s attempts to end 15 years of deflation in the Japanese market. His strategy has been to weaken the yen against the dollar and euro to make exported goods cheaper. His next attempt is to craft a free trade in ...

If you are a fan of Mercedes-Benz's most powerful cars, then you will love June. Mercedes is introducing 18 new AMG models in June, although really there are only about eight new cars among them. Power for them ranges from about 350hp to over 700hp and German prices go from €49,682.50 to €416,500.  Among the new models is the A 45 AMG with its 355hp and 332lb-ft of ...

Audi is planning on bringing a second concept for its Audi Quattro to the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, according to German magazine Auto Zeitung. The car will be a 2+2 that is still inspired by the look of the 80s Audi Sport Quattro rally car but with much sharper styling. The platform will come from the A4 but lightened by using carbon fiber reinforced plastic, aluminum and ...

The German government is joining the lobbying efforts of its automakers in attempting to weaken EU automotive CO2 emissions rules as much as possible before the final rules are ratified next week. The major German automakers like BMW, Daimler and Audi would have to clean up the large executive sedans and SUVs that offer especially high profit margins. The automakers warn that they may have to ...

Lotus F1 team owner Genii Capital has sold a 35% stake in the team to a consortium of investors that calls itself Infinity Racing. Gerard Lopez remains chairman of the team, and Genii Capital CEO Eric Lux remains on the board of directors Infinity Racing is made up a consortium of investors from the United States, Abu Dhabi and the royal family of an unidentified oil-producing nation....

McLaren is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and is bringing a brace of F1s to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Among the cars will be chassis F1/01R that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995, the prototype for the F1 LM and the Gulf-liveried F1 GTR Longtail that took second place at Le Mans in 1997. The McLaren P1 will also be on display. The F1 LM was a limited edition of five ...

Aston Martin has taken the top off its new Vanquish to create its first Volante model ever with a fully carbon fiber body. Power for the Vanquish Volante comes from the same 6.0-liter V12 as the Vanquish coupe with 565hp and 457lb-ft of torque, and Aston Martin estimates that it will take the convertible 4.1 seconds to reach 100km/h. The top speed is 183mph. Aston’s Touchtronic 2 ...

Fiat has introduced the new seven-seat 500L Living, which will be publicly revealed in July. Fiat has given the car the name the Magic Purpose Wagon because it claims that it combines the looks of the 500, drivability of a city car, exterior size of a mid-size car and room of a C-segment station wagon. It looks more like the Living might be a jack of all trades but a master of none, but we ...

Aston Martin is expecting a very good performance in the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, and it should with five Vantage GTEs split between the two GT classes. It is Aston Martin's largest factory effort ever in the race. At the Le Mans test on June 9 the brand had the fastest cars in both the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am classes. “Running five cars smoothly for 24 hours, however, is going to be ...

As we have learned, it is hard to sell any car at the moment in Europe with sales falling to their lowest level in 20 years, but Ford plans to reduce its fleet sales to rental car companies in Europe in favor of more private sales. Even if it results it fewer total sales, private sales yield higher profit margins that fleet sales. Currently, about 17% of Ford’s European annual sales ...