Auto News 5

Toyota said there were only 'sporadic reports' of demonstrations Tuesday at Toyota dealerships by the UAW, and dealer groups echoed that assessment. Full story...

Automaker's investigation of accidents involving unintended acceleration where motorists said they pressed on the brake pedal show that 'virtually all' involved drivers who pushed the accelerator instead, a company spokesman said. Full story...

General Motors Co., preparing to launch the first U.S. mass-market plug-in hybrid, will offer buyers of its Chevrolet Volt an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty on the lithium-ion battery's 161 components. Full story...

Fiat S.p.A. will invest 700 million euros ($887.7 million) to build in Italy the next generation of the Panda, Europe's best-selling minicar. Full story...

Volkswagen has recruited Frank Tuch, a former quality executive at Porsche, as its chief quality officer. Tuch, 43, will leave his current post as chief operating officer of the British niche sports car maker Lotus Group at the end of July. Full story...

Struggling French coachbuilder Heuliez will no longer build cars but has a future as a parts supplier, new CEO Francois de Gaillard said. Full story...

The Range Rover SUV from Land Rover was the overall top-rated vehicle in AutoPacific's 2010 survey of the most ideal vehicles as surveyed by new owners. Full story...

Ford Motor Co. has selected LG Chem's U.S. unit Compact Power Inc. to supply battery packs for an electric Focus compact car for U.S. production starting in 2011, the automaker said today. Full story...

Toyota's investigation of accidents involving unintended acceleration where motorists said they pressed on the brake pedal show that 'virtually all' involved drivers who pushed the accelerator instead, a company spokesman said. Full story...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has pressed the head of the country's largest carmaker AvtoVAZ to outline modernization plans following state support which helped the company through the financial crisis. Full story...

Organisers of the NAPA Auto Parts 200 Presented by Dodge race of the NASCAR Nationwide series have confirmed that Canadian driver Andrew Ranger will compete in the event late August. Full story...

F1 Grand Poobah Bernie Ecclestone, three-time F1 World Champion and leading pundit Sir Jackie Stewart and Eddie Jordan, former F1 team owner, have all recently declared that F1's leading personality Michael Schumacher may not be back next year, because of poor results, a bad car, lack of interest or a combination thereof. Full story...

Russian driver Vitaly Petrov's future with the Renault team "is in his hands", according to team boss Eric Boullier. Full story...

Laval - The Smog Alert operation of the Société de transport de Laval (STL) was set in motion on Monday, July 5, and continued on until Friday, July 9. During those 5 days when the air quality was considered to be poor by Environment Canada, the STL dropped the fares on its network to only $1. In so doing, it recorded a total of 15,564 more transit trips than the estimated number. This is equivalent to a reduction of no less than 27.7 metric tons of greenhouse gases discharged into the atmosphere. Full story...

Rumours continue to mount about Flavio Briatore and a major future role for the Italian in formula one. Full story...

The Indy Racing League announced at noon on Wednesday that the new concept for the 2012 IndyCar would be designed by Dallara. The series will allow teams to develop their own aerodynamic packages, wings and bodywork and mate them to the new spec-Dallara chassis. Full story...

More, more, more, always more! And they say that the car business is in trouble! Not! Ever-changing and morphing perhaps, but dying, it is not. Full story...

Here's another video to tantalize your eardrums. This time, we pit the Porsche to a 2010 Audi R8 5.2 to find out which engine melody gives us more chills. In this attack, the cars are evenly matched price, power and prestige-wise. In-house, we're torn between the V10 burble and the flat-6 warble. What do you guys like? Full story...

Avalon. It's the name of the mystical site where King Arthur was laid to rest. Toyota chose a bit of a strange metaphor for the name of its largest sedan. Were the automaker's strategists perhaps looking to hint that the car's typical buyer sports a little grey at the temples? Full story...

Brownstown Township, Mich. - The Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle with extended range will provide customers with an unprecedented, standard, eight-year/100,000-mile warranty on its advanced, lithium-ion battery. It is the automotive industry's longest, most comprehensive battery warranty for an electric vehicle, and is transferable at no cost to other vehicle owners. Full story...