Nissan scales back on auto shows

Nissan said on Friday that it will not participate in some of the major auto shows in its new business year starting April 1, Reuters is reporting. The reason: to save money. This means no Nissan display at the show in Frankfurt in September and probably another absence in Detroit in January 2010.

Russian Grand Prix: Hamilton on pole for Mercedes

Hamilton (r) has pole in Russia followed by Rosberg (l) and Bottas (c) Amid tight security thanks to Russia’s ongoing spat in Ukraine, and a muted appetite for exuberance after Jules Bianchi’s dreadful crash with a JCB on track last weekend, the rest of the F1 circus seems to be on normal duty, with Hamilton’s Mercedes taking the front row and Hamilton dominating proceedings in qualifying to secure another pole position. But it wasn’t necessarily going all Mercedes’ way, with Bottas stringing together a very quick lap in the dying moments of final qualifying that looked like it could propel him in front of the Mercedes duo, until he lost traction at the end of his flying lap and had to settle for third spot in tomorrow’s race. Joining Bottas on row two is Jenson Button and his McLaren after a strong qualifying, and Daniil Kvyat – at his first home Grand Prix – managed to secure a very impressive fifth spot for Toro Rosso. Kevin Magnussen in the second McLaren would have been on row three in sixth spot but gets a five place penalty for a gearbox change.

Mini paints Rocketman concept, celebrates Britain ahead of Olympics

Mini has updated the 2011 Geneva motor show Rocketman concept to celebrate the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. The Rocketman concept couldn't make the leap to production status, we reported in January. For those interested in all the “changes” the one-off concept received to celebrate the Games, the full press release is reproduced below: Munich/Oxford/London.