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Ducati Motorcycles Come to Life in Terminator and Transformers
Photos
The Ducati plays the role of a MotoTerminator killer machine bent on destroying the human race, and making a pretty good start at it, judging from this image from the Terminator movie. (Photo courtesy of Ducati/Warner Bros.)
BOLOGNA, Italy — Taking a cue from the auto industry, Ducati has positioned its Hypermotard motorcycle in major roles in the upcoming Terminator Salvation and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
In Terminator, the Hypermotard is transformed into a killing machine as a MotoTerminator for the Skynet army, bent on destroying the human race. Four Hypermotard motorcycles were used to play the two MotoTerminators in filming, but digital editing has transformed them into very different machines. The rider has been replaced with a robotic substitute, complete with glowing red eyes, and the motorcycle… Read the rest of this entry
Ghost Workers: Rolls-Royce Adding Nearly 400 New Jobs To Support Production of New Model
Rolls-Royce will add 400 jobs, many of which will be in the leather (pictured), wood and paint shops, to support production of the new Ghost. (Photo courtesy of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars)
GOODWOOD, England — Rolls-Royce has some good news for the troubled U.K. auto industry. The company has added 150 new jobs already to support the building of its new model, the Rolls-Royce Ghost. By the end of the year, the automaker says, it will have added 400 new workers, increasing the workforce here by 50 percent.
Workers in the wood, leather and paint shops make up the majority of the new hires. Those shops are shared between the Ghost and the Phantom lineup. Apprentices and student interns are also being accepted. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars CEO Tom Purves praised the British auto industry's “exceptional talent for automotive production” and the company said vacancies can be… Read the rest of this entry
POLL: Do you care about the Indy 500?
The 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place tomorrow at noon. ABC will provide the usual live coverage, and viewers will watch to see if pole-sitter Helio Castroneves manages to do his Spider-Man thing at the race's conclusion. Or if Danica makes history. Or maybe you're just looking for a race – and a finish – as exciting as the spectacular ending to the 2006 Indy 500.
Or maybe you don't care anymore.
Maybe you tuned out after the nasty CART/IRL split and never looked back.
So here we are, into the second season of the freshly-reunited Indy Racing League, hours away from its signature event – the most storied race in American motorsports. The starting grid boasts plenty of fast drivers. Young ones,… Read the rest of this entry
Ssangyong given go-ahead to restructure, avoids liquidation
A South Korean court just approved a plan to keep SsangYong Motor (SYMC) out of liquidation. In granting its approval the court agreed with a recent report that showed SsangYong is worth more alive than dead. After entering their version of Chapter 11 back in February, the company was faced with liquidation unless they came up with a convincing argument that they could turn things around.
According to the PriceWaterhouse report, the liquidated value wouldn't be nearly as great as a restructured, lean-and-mean automaking SsangYong. The final restructuring report needs to be completed by mid-September, but is already going well apparently. The new plan includes a significant reduction in workforce and a new model range, starting with the diesel-hybrid Eco C200 CUV, that should be out late this year. Full press release after the jump.
[Source: SsangYong]
Press Release:
SSANGYONG MOTOR GETS GO AHEAD TO RESTRUCTURE
SsangYong Motor… Read the rest of this entry
REPORT: More foreign automakers skipping Tokyo Motor Show as tally swells to 22
As of Thursday, Porsche and Maserati are the latest two brands to pull out of the biennial Tokyo Motor Show. That brings the tally to 22 foreign brands sitting out the Japanese showcase, leaving Hyundai, Ferrari, and Lotus to duel for import honors. Said a show spokesman, “It is unprecedented to see such a large number of carmakers not coming to the motor show. It's disappointing.”
And even though Japan's 14 domestic makers are expected to show in force, the country's four largest truck makers have said they won't be coming. At least one report has said there will be half as many cars this year as there were two years ago. As with the other brands that have decided to pass on this year's show, Porsche and Maserati cited the cost of attendance.
[Source: Taiwan News]
REPORT: Chevrolet Aveo replacement postponed until 2011
According to Reuters, Chevrolet's Aveo replacement has been postponed until January 2011 due to the well-publicized financial troubles at General Motors and its Korean subsidiary, Daewoo. Previously, the Aveo's replacement, codenamed T300, had been expected to bow in April of 2010.
Over the first four months of 2009, Daewoo has reported a whopping 44.5-percent decline in total vehicle sales, which comes as particularly bad news for The General since the Korean automaker accounts for a quarter of GM's total production. Much of that slumping production is being lost to rivals like Hyundai and Kia in oh-so-important emerging market of China, where Daewoo's sales dropped by 3.2-percent even in the face of an expanding market.
In effort to keep the doors open in the face of such heavy losses, GM Daewoo is reportedly seeking additional loans from the Korea Development Bank after running through all $2 billion of its… Read the rest of this entry
Honda UK workers vote in favor of 3% pay cut to save jobs
The numbers for the UK car industry in April point to a 50% drop in production, and factories that aren't shut down completely are being run at glacial paces. After closing its Swindon, England plant for four months, the choice Honda gave workers there fit the template of the times: take a pay cut or else 490 of you will be let go. The workers voted for the 3% drop in wages, while management gets a 5% reduction.
While everyone waits — and prays — for the scrappage scheme to show some results, the move keeps hundreds of people on the job. The workers will also get six extra days of leave, which could be a mixed blessing, but it's better than being out of work, which isn't.
[Source: BBC]
Event Alert: Nrburgring 24 is now streaming live
The N?rburgring 24 kicked off a short time ago, and as was the case last year, you can watch it streaming live (in German) at the official N?rburgring 24 site. RadioLeMans.com is providing live audio in English. Just head over there and click the “Listen Live” button in the upper left corner. Then, if you're us, you'll turn off the volume on the German video stream and listen to the RadioLeMans.com audio, since they're calling it off the same video feed. Good stuff.
[Sources: N?rburgring 24, Radio Le Mans]
Aston to field half-dozen V12 Vantage racers at Nrburgring 24
It started with one lone V8 Vantage, dubbed the N24, that ran the N?rburgring 24-hour race in 2006. Last year, that first racer, a yellow car dubbed “Rose,” won class honors in the race. This year, it will be joined by five more Vantages, one of them being the 510 horsepower V12 Vantage introduced in Geneva earlier this year.
Only three of the six cars will be factory efforts. The slightly modified V12 Vantage will be piloted by Aston CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez and three co-drivers, and “Rose” will be driven by another team of three. Privateer entrants will be headed by Richard Kramer, an Austrian Aston dealer whose Vantage N24 is being supported by the factory.
You can read the full press release after the jump, and check out live action from the weekend's qualifying and race at the ADAC site.
Gallery:Aston Martin V12 Vantage at
FAW Toyota aims to sell 400,000 cars in ‘09
By George Gao From:Gasgoo.com
(Gasgoo.com) China’s auto market has been recovering since the government launched a slew of stimulus measures earlier this year. To benefit from the support policies and meet the growing market demand, FAW Toyota has decided to raise its sales target of this year from 380,000 vehicles to 400,000 units, xinhuanet.com reported today.
Mao Liwu, general manager of FAW Toyota Motor Sales Company, said yesterday that FAW Toyota will make good preparations for the auto-parts supplies needed for more output. The 20,000 vehicles added to this year’s sales target will include different models. For instance, the newly launched RAV4 SUV is selling well and its sales goal of 50,000 units is raised to 60,000 units.
As the Chinese government halved the sales tax to 5% on small cars with engines of 1.6 liters and less starting January 20, FAW Toyota’s vehicles of these engine sizes have… Read the rest of this entry
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