Amid the hype and over production of Super Bowl television commercials BMW has released a simple and effective YouTube clip that showcases the company’s history as well as its present. The BMW 1M, with its near 50:50 weight distribution, has been selected to spearhead the message.
Who needs explosions and supermodels?
Audi has chosen a vampire theme for its Super Bowl television commercials. Things start to look a bit grim when the party runs out of blood. But a fresh new night time delivery is on its way, delivered by an Audi, if course. What could possibly go wrong?
Australian automotive sales have started strongly in 2012 with a total of 76,783 sold. That’s an increase of 3199 sales compared to the same month last year.
Sadly, we think, the growth is due in part to the seemingly insatiable appetite the Australian market has for SUVs. In this segment sales were up almost 30% on 2011 figures.
“This is an encouraging January sales result and provides a good start to 2012,†FCAI Chief Executive Ian Chalmers said.
“It is mostly being driven by private and business buyers of SUVs and car rental companies updating their passenger car fleets. The number of private buyers for passenger cars declined by 8.4 per cent compared with this time last year.â€
Toyota, Holden and Mazda have started the year as the top three selling marques.
Audi has announced it will be taking four R18 cars to Le Mans this year. Changing things up a little, and with an eye to the future, two of the cars will be running a hybrid drive system.
“To develop the hybrid technology for Le Mans is at least as ambitious and challenging as our diesel project was in its early stages,†explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich.
“The first test results are very encouraging and we are intrigued to see just how this technology performs in combination with our ultra lightweight technology on the race track at Le Mans. As before, we still, however, see potential with the conventional drive – just as our colleagues do in production development. This is why we are absolutely delighted that the ACO and FIA selection committee has accepted our entries and that we can join the grid with four cars at the commemorative running of the Le Mans race.â€
The R18s will carry numbers 1 through to 4, with 1 and 2 being the hybrid models.
Audi Motorsport has also confirmed it will be entering two cars in the FIA World Endurance Championship, with additional cars to be entered for the Six hours of Spa and 12 hours of Sebring.
When you compare the McLaren MP4-27 side by side with the Ferrari F2012 you notice something quite interesting. Notice how much lower the nose is on the McLaren? There’s a few more comparison pics for you after the break too.
Please note, of course, these images are intended to be a quick comparison only and the measurements and scale may not be totally accurate.
Here’s five images comparing the F2012 against last year’s F150 Italia. At first glance it’s really just that horrible nose on the F2012 that stands out, but spend some time to look more closely and there’s quite a few differences between the two cars.
Force India has unveiled their 2012 challenger, the VJM05, at SIlverstone today. They are the next F1 team to give us an “alligator” nose and we now have to question if McLaren is playing silly buggers with the conventional nose on the MP4-27.
Drivers Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg were in attendance, along with Force India’s new reserve driver 22-year-old Frenchman Jules Bianchi.
Speaking to Sky Sports News Paul di Resta said, “I think every individual in this team has put a lot of effort into his car.
“The momemtum we had at the end of last year, hopefully we’ve manged to carry that over but I must say it is a fine piece of art. Hopefully when it gets to track it’ll be able to show what it’s capable of.”
Interestingly, Autosport technical correspondent, Gary Anderson, had this to say about the VJM05, “I’m impressed and, including what I’ve seen of the Ferrari, this looks like the best overall package yet.
“The car looks very good in all areas. The exhausts are a bit non-commital, but that can change easily.”
There’s a dozen pictures below as well as the team’s official press release.
[Pics: Sahara Force India Formula One Team]
Ferrari has just released images of their new F1 car for the upcoming season. This year it’s simply called the F2012, leaving behind the unique F150 naming saga from last season.
Now, that “alligator” nose. It’s not pretty is it. Ferrari acknowledge this too, saying: “The nose has a step in it that is not aesthetically pleasing: with the requirement from the regulations to lower the front part, this was a way of raising the bottom part of the chassis as much as possible for aerodynamic reasons.”
In 2011 Ferrari won just one race, the British Grand Prix. Clearly they have set much higher goals this year and at the launch Fernando Alonso said, “We have to be optimistic. We have to fight for the title.”
Team Principal, Setfano Domenicali, responded by acknowledging Ferrari has an obligation to perform, “That is a sign of the responsibility we feel. We have to offer you [Alonso] a competitive high-performing car. I’m sure it will be winning from the very beginning.”
After the break you can read more from Ferrari as well as seeing a full suite of press images, all available in 2000px super sizing. There’s also a brief video clip showing the F2012 from all angles.
A cyclist from the Dutch cycling club OGOTT has come up with a great sneak preview of the new Mercedes-Benz A Class on a recent trip to the Canary Islands. The car appeared to be on an official photography shoot and is scheduled for debut next month at the Geneva Motor Show.
As one would expect the production model A Class looks to be a watered-down version of the Concept A-Class released last year, but all in all it looks like Benz has done a pretty good job.
While the Bangle-like ‘flame surfacing’ won’t be to everyone’s liking it’s great to see such a major player shedding its inherent conservatism to target a broader, and perhaps younger, audience. On this preview it’s perhaps only the the SL-like headlights that may prove to be the only disappointment.
AMG anyone?
[Source: autoblog.nl]
TopGear is telling us they have the scoop on the Golf VII GTI, which they reckon is due to be revealed later this year. If true, the most likely date would be the Paris Motor Show. That’s when the garden variety Golf is scheduled to debut and it would be unusual to show the GTI at the same time. So we won’t be surprised if we’re not seeing the next GTI in any official capacity until 2013.
Anyway, we’ve summarised the key features reported for the new GTI in dotpoint form. Follow the source link below if you want more.
[Source: TopGear]
It’s one week until Rally Sweden and Autosport brings word that the BMW Group is expected to terminate its contract with Prodrive later today. This news brings the future of the MINI WRC program into question.
A BMW Group source has allegedly revealed, “There was a chance this might have happened last year, but in the end it was decided to wait until after Monte Carlo. The decision has now been taken at board level and will be communicated in due course.”
When contacted by Autosport, Richard Taylor from Prodrive claimed, “That’s news to me. There’s no question of that, no question at all. The team is on its way to Sweden for the pre-event test as we speak. MINI remains committed to the programme and to supporting customers.
“We all want to see the MINI John Cooper Works WRC out there on the stages and that’s what we will see with Prodrive running the cars on Rally Sweden next week.”
You’ll recall Kris Meeke is currently on the sidelines after the team didn’t have the funding to keep him on a full-time basis. His seat is being sold to teh highest bidder on a race-by-race basis.
The unease of the BMW–Prodrive relationship is now becoming clearer and it’s understood finances have been central to those difficulties almost since the relationship began.
It’s believed BMW is now deciding if it should hand over the running of the team to another firm, with an Italian group supposedly in the frame, or quit the WRC altogether.
[Source: Autosport]
Kia has taken a leaf from the Jeremy Clarkson book of advertising for its Big Game Day Super Bowl XVLI television commercial. There’s loud music, Motley Crüe no less, explosions and, of course, Adriana Lima. Making sure they got bang for buck with the supermodel they have also upload a five hour video showcasing Lima’s flag waving prowess. No, we’re not kidding!
Oh yeah, the ad is for the Kia Optima. Almost forgot that bit.