Porsche Steps Up Vintage Motorsports Activities

With the famed Monterey Motorsports Reunion as backdrop, Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) announced Saturday it will expand from serving teams and owners of contemporary 911 race cars to providing a similar service to the large number of collectors of vintage Porsche race cars in the United States and Canada. PMNA has established a partnership with a new historic motorsports department that is now being established within Porsche AG's Motorsport Division in Weissach, Germany. The new department will provide expert restoration services to the Porsche Museum for many of the vintage competition cars the company owns well beyond the ones displayed in its riveting exhibition center.

Mercedes-Benz axes Maybach

High ranking Mercedes-Benz sources have confirmed to Autoweek that the underperforming Maybach brand will be officially killed off in 2013. The decision to disband Mercedes-Benz’s upper luxury marque comes after a decade of disappointing sales for the Maybach 57 and 62 and a recent decision from the German car maker’s chairman Dieter Zetsche not to push ahead with the development replacement models – the likes of which were tentatively due out in 2014 – owing to what one insider describes as a “positive move to focus greater attention on the Mercedes-Benz brand” . “We’ve come to the conclusion that it is better to cut our losses with Maybach than to continue into an uncertain future with a brand that has failed to live up to original sales expectations," the insider said.

Kia unveils GT4 Stinger at 2014 Detroit Motor Show

When you hear the brand ‘Kia’, what do you think of? Top Gear’s Reasonably Priced Car and seven-year warranties, perhaps? If so, you might be surprised to hear that Kia’s unveiled a rear-wheel drive 315hp coupe that the brand says “pushes the boundaries of performance” and “places man and machine in harmony on the road or track”.