VW’s Sebastien Ogier wins 2013 World Rally Championship

By Ollie Kew Motor Industry 04 October 2013 11:00 The World Rally Championship has its first new champion in nearly a decade – and wouldn’t you know it, this one’s called Sebastien too. Taking over the mantle from unbeatable Frenchman Sebastien Loeb is his fellow countryman Sebastien Ogier, driving for VW rather than Loeb’s dominating Citroen World Rally Team. Loeb chose to compete in ‘selected events’ in 2013, opting to race in the Monte Carlo, Sweden and Argentina and France events.

State Farm releases Driver Feedback app

Accelerometers aren't just for the autocross geeks who want to see whether they threw more than 1.0 lateral g's on their last apex. These gadgets have made their way to the iPhone. State Farm is releasing its Driver Feedback app, which uses the iPhone's high-tech guts (accelerometer, gyroscope and digital compass) to measure driving habits such as smoothness or aggressiveness during acceleration, frequency and abruptness of braking and how hard you take corners (ahem, BMW owners).

Chrysler vows to rebuild SRT

Ralph Gilles promises that Chrysler Group will be "very choosy" about the cars and trucks that get the SRT performance badge. Gilles, recently named head of SRT, is charged with rebuilding the SRT unit, which languished when Chrysler was owned by Cerberus Capital Management. Three new SRT vehicles, versions of the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans and the Jeep Grand Cherokee, will arrive in dealerships this fall, joining the Challenger SRT8.