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One-off Ferrari 458 pays tribute to Niki Lauda

One-off Ferrari 458 pays tribute to Niki Lauda Younger readers might not see the connection between Ferrari and Niki Lauda; after all, Niki Lauda is Chairman of the Mercedes F1 team, not Ferrari. But back in the 1970s, Niki Lauda was the Prince of the Ferrari F1 team, notching up driver titles in 1975 and 1977 in a Ferrari (and suffering horrific burns at the Nurburgring in 1975). Although Lauda left Ferrari  in 1977 on less than good terms, the Ron Howard tribute film to the ’70s battle between Lauda and James Hunt – Rush – has obviously had an impact on one of Ferrari’s wealthier clients, who has commissioned Ferrari’s Tailor Made Programme to create a Ferrari 458 dedicated to Niki Lauda.

Volkswagen & Suzuki – it’s handbags at dawn

Volkswagen Suzuki Partnership - things aren't exactly rosy Back in 2009 Volkswagen invested a rather large chunk of change (around €2 billion) in Suzuki in exchange for a 20% stake in the Japanese car maker, and there were big hopes for advantages for both parties. Volkswagen were looking for a quick-fix route to the burgeoning car market in India, where Suzuki were doing very well, with sales in India last year of 1.13 million cars – almost half its production – in comparison to VW’s paltry sales of just 53,000. In return, Suzuki were expecting to get a quick route to cutting-edge hybrid and electric tech for their range, and access to VW’s engines.

Autoweek in review: Sergio Pininfarina dies; ZL1 and GT500 hit the drag strip

The automotive world lost one of its most influential figures this week. Sergio Pininfarina, longtime chairman of his family's Italian design firm, died on July 2 after an undisclosed illness. He was 85 years old.