Luxury car buyers get kid-glove treatment from dealerships

Luxury vehicle buyers want service -- not just repairs done right, but the kind of pampering they get at high-end hotels, restaurants and boutiques. It's all about the extras. In response, luxury vehicle brands are stepping up their games, rolling out unprecedented customer service, training staff and reconfiguring showrooms to cater to these buyers.

Hungarian GP qualifying: Rosberg on pole for Mercedes – Hamilton out of qualifying after car fire

Hungarian GP qualifying: Rosberg (pictured) on pole for Mercedes Lewis Hamilton seems to have had most of the unreliability problems that have hit Mercedes this year, but a fire in his car before he even set a time in qualifying for the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix today in Budapest was a cruel blow to his title chances. Hamilton managed to limp his stricken car in to the pits as flames licked round the back after what appears to have been a fuel leak, but that means Hamilton will start from the back of the grid tomorrow, making it incredibly difficult to get even close to Rosberg who finished qualifying on pole. Behind Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel managed to put the Red Bull in second, with Williams’ Botas in third during a final qualifying that saw rain drench the first corner, nearly claiming Rosberg and sending McLaren’s Magnussen in to the tyre barrier and out of Q3.

Fiat set to grab 51 per cent of Chrysler

Sergio Marchionne wants majority at Chrysler What a difference a couple of years makes. On May Day in 2009 we reported that Chrysler had been put in to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and the US Government was stepping in to ease the pain with $7.5 billion (admittedly at somewhat less than mates-rates) and that the management were ‘leaving the building’. Step forward Fiat to take up a 20% stake in Chrysler and Fiat boss, Sergio Marchionne, who planned to lead Chrysler away from the dark side and in to the light, with the promise of smaller and more efficient platforms and engines.