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Hyundai puts Michel Nandan in charge of WRC effort

Hyundai has appointed former Peugeot WRC technical director Michel Nandan to head up their assault on WRC. As Hyundai matures in to a credible mainstream force, improving brand perception is crucial to its long-term goals and 2012 is all about improving Hyundai’s brand experience and perceptions of the brand. A part of that focus is to take Hyundai back in to WRC rallying with a much modified i20, where Hyundai are hoping for a better experience than they had when they went rallying a decade ago – which should be a given considering the big strides Hyundai has made in its cars in the last few years.

VW & Audi sell 100,000 diesel cars in the USA for the first time

VW & Audi sell 100,000 diesel cars in the USA for the first time Until very recently, a diesel engined car in the USA was as rare as hen’s teeth; Americans felt much the same as we used to about diesel-engined cars – fit only for commercial vehicles. But from a slow start, VW Group of America is gradually changing the mindset of American car buyers and now, 36 years after the first VW diesel was sold in the US, the VW Group have sold more than 100,000 diesel-engined cars in the USA in a year for the first time. With 12 Audi and VW diesel models on offer in the States – including new arrivals Audi arrivals like the Audi Q5 TDI, A6 TDI, A7 TDI and A8 TDI models – its seems the USA may now be heading down the route the UK went a few years ago, where a majority of car buyers in the UK feel the default buy is a diesel.

New Bugatti 'could be too fast to test'

THE UPCOMING replacement for the world's fastest luxury car could be too quick to test, according to a motoring magazine. Bugatti is looking to replace the famous Veyron with a new, faster model that could reach speeds of around 286mph, but questions have been raised by weekly title Autocar over whether the facilities will exist to test it to its maximum. Not only is space a concern for the 1,500-horsepower concept, because it will need much longer straights than the Veyron, but also tyres are an issue.