Ford posted a $2.1 billion profit for this quarter, beating market expectations by a full year despite a lull in the new vehicle market. Ford has undergone a series of cost-cutting measures, including plant closures and layoffs, but has also introduced a torrent of new product in nearly every segment.

Ford hasn’t earned $2 billion profit since 2004, when the company sold 17 million vehicles. Expectations for this year include sales of fewer than 12 million cars and trucks. Ford’s strong performance has been attributed to a number of factors. New products like the Fiesta, Mustang, Edge and Fusion have been extremely well received by the automotive press and well as consumers. Sales of the full-size Taurus are up 96 percent from the previous generation. Ford’s image has also remained strong, as it avoided taking government loans (unlike rivals GM and Chrysler), and avoided the quality problems that have plagued Toyota.

However, Ford’s executive chairman told the New York Times that the success of the company was attributable to its own strengths, not the weaknesses of its competitors.

“I don’t know how much it really helped because it’s all about the product,” Mr. Ford told reporters after a speech in Detroit this month. “People will come into our showrooms but if they don’t see anything they like, they’ll go elsewhere.”

A candidate for the Labour party in the British general election was dumped by the party after it emerged that he had made a series of inappropriate comments on a popular automotive message board. John Cowan, 35, a former manager of glamor models, was kicked out of the Liberal Democrat party in 2004 for sending “sexual emails”.

A string of messages left on Pistonheads.co.uk, a popular online car forum, as well as PlentyOffFish, a dating site, saw Cowan boast about various taboo topics, including tales of his sexual exploits, paying his housekeeper in cash (for the purposes of not reporting her income to the government), speculating on the deats of Jeremy Clarkson and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and soliciting nude models for a photography business, and expressing his displeasure at the prospect of his daughter marrying a Muslim.

Cowan’s comments have been met with widespread displeasure in Britain, but for anyone who has ever frequented an automotive message board, comments like these are unfortunately typical, if not slightly tame.

[Source:  The Telegraph]

For many Formula 1 fans, the 1980′s was home to one of the greatest eras of the sport, thanks in part to the incredible performance of the small, turbocharged engines that put out 1500 horsepower. While turbochargers haven’t been used since the end of the 1988 season, rumors have surfaced that in 2013, the turbocharged four-cylinder will make a comeback in Formula 1 racing.

The engines will likely use two turbos and a direct injection system, as a means of cutting costs, fuel consumption and emissions. The twin-turbo DI setup is also similar to many production car engines, and will help continue F1′s tradition of having their technology “trickle-down” to road cars.

While the thought of the pinnacle of motorsports going to four-cylinder engines may cause some people to question the legitimacy of the sport, F1 fans know that some of the best racing of all time went down during the turbo area, and the current breed of drivers combined with a familiar formula should make for an action packed 2013 season.

[Source: World Car Fans]

Porsche‘s 918 Spyder hybrid supercar may be close to production after the automaker revealed it had approximately 900 people who are interested in buying it.

Wolfgang Duerheimer, development chief for Porsche, said that 1,000 interested parties were needed before Porsche could green-light the eco-friendly sports car, which uses a 500 horsepower V8 and an electric motor to help deliver a claimed 78 mpg fuel economy rating.

Porsche has a history of building ultra-exclusive low volume models, like the Carrera GT and the historic 959, but the 918 Spyder would be the first road-going supercar that also uses hybrid technology. The 918 is also part of Porsche’s new long-term strategy to add more models to its range, although no specifics have been revealed.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Hyundai‘s new Accent was the star of the companies exhibit at this year’s Beijing Auto Show, but the debut of two new engines and a new automatic transmission will have broader implications for the rest of the company’s lineup.

In addition to the 2.4L GDI four-cylinder in the Sonata (pictured above), two new gasoline direct-injection engines were unveiled at Beijing, a 1.6L four cylinder putting out 138 horsepower, a 28 horsepower bump over Hyundai’s current 1.6L four banger. The 1.6 GDI should appear in the Accent, Elantra, certain Kia models and the upcoming Veloster compact sports car. Even more enticing was the mention in a product video that the 1.6 could potentially be turbocharged and paired up with a dual-clutch gearbox, though no timeline was given for either technology.

Hyundai’s long awaited GDI version of the Lambda V6 was also previewed, although the engine was only rated at 296 horsepower, which is a few ponies less than the current Lambda makes in Hyundai’s Genesis Coupe. One can assume that there will be different variations, and that the engine will see a bump in power when it comes Stateside. Hyundai also joins Lexus in the elite 8-speed automatic club, and it’s a sure bet that the Genesis Sedan and Coupe will get the new 8-speed auto option.

With Hyundai positioning itself as a premium brand, the company has an obligation to innovate on its own, and not just play catch-up – even if they’re hot on the heels of world leaders like Lexus.

[Source: Edmunds Inside Line]

As reported in Autosport Magazine, the two Nissan teams competing in the new FIA GT1 World Championship have threatened to boycott the next round and to launch a protest unless the weight penalty heaped on the GT-R ahead of the Abu Dhabi series opener is removed.

The first race of the season took place last weekend (April 17th/18th) at Abu Dhabi’s F1 masterpiece Yas Marina Circuit, where the FIA held a controversial test session prior to the race in an effort to equalize performance between the varied machinery being campaigned. Former F1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen took each of the six types of cars in the series for a few hot laps, but rather than taking the planned 10 to 15 laps in each car it has been reported that he took fewer and that those were unevenly distributed amongst the six types of cars that compete in the series (Nissan GT-R, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Ford GT, Aston Martin DB9, Maserati MC12, and Lamborghini Murcielago R-SV).

The result of Frenzen’s testing was 66 lbs of penalty weight being added to the Nissan GT-Rs (the stiffest penalty of the bunch, with the Maserati receiving a 55 lb penalty and the Corvette and Lamborghini taking on 22 lb each), which turned out to render them uncompetitive during the season opening race.

Both teams campaigning Nissan GT-Rs argued that the test done by the FIA was unfair, citing the limited time Frentzen spent in each car and the varying track conditions during the tests. There were also allegations of gamesmanship leveled at the Ford, Chevrolet and Aston Martin teams. The Ford GT, which went on to win the main race, apparently did not break the 2-minute 10-second mark during the FIA test and yet lapped in the 2-minute 7- to 8-second range during the race.

GT-R runners The Swiss Racing team stated “We will not go to Silverstone under these conditions. We cannot be a grid filler.” The other GT-R squad, British-based Sumo Power, stated “We have to go to Silverstone because it is our home event. We have tried to argue our car with facts and figures, but we are prepared to put our money down and protest.”

For highlights of the Yas Marina 2010 FIA GT1 Championship opener, watch the video after the jump.

[Source: Autosport]

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Between sticking accelerator pedals and rollover-prone SUVs, this year has not been kind to Toyota. However the Japanese automaker is poised to return a handsome $532 million profit, despite expectations to the contrary.

Toyota had initially forecasted a loss of $213, but a weak yen and a series of cost-cutting measures meant that Toyota is likely to beat expectations. On the other hand, Toyotas sales were down 5 percent, or about 7.2 million vehicles. All in all, Toyota’s earnings are admirable in a year where the Japanese auto giant was forced to recall some 10 million vehicles, forced to testify before Congress and endure a series of devastating quality control problems. Toyota will report its earnings on May 11th.

[Source: Automotive News via Autoblog]

Amanda Pogany’s 1996 Honda Accord was stolen from outside her Brooklyn apartment three years ago. When she called the police for help, they did little more than laugh. After all, the Accord is one of the top selling cars in America, and one of the most stolen to boot.

But Pogany’s car did turn up, three years after it first went missing. And while most theft recovery cars are missing some important bits, like seats, a drivetrain and wheels, Pogany’s Accord came back in better condition than original.

Gone was the anemic single-cam 2.3L F-Series four cylinder and automatic transmission. In its place was an H22 VTEC engine from a Prelude, along with a cold-air intake, a header, alloy wheels, tinted windows and a 5-speed manual gearbox. Pogany can’t even drive a manual transmission car, but claims her husband is “very excited” about the family vehicle’s new modifications. The AutoGuide staff are all fans of hopped-up Hondas, and we found ourselves chuckling at the fact that we slaved away at minimum wage jobs to afford these sorts of parts, while a mother who is definitely not a car person just happened to have a very potent Honda fall into her lap.

[Source: Huffington Post]

Hyundai’s Genesis sedan is a vehicle of many talents; effortless highway cruiser, stoplight drag race sleeper and plush transporter of discrete well-to-do types. Now you can add “Police Interceptor” to the list.

With its snazzy blue and gold livery and copious lighting equipment, the Genesis doesn’t have the same intimidation factor as, say, a black and white Crown Vic, but the 290 horsepower V6 and 375 horsepower V8 mean that the Genesis is significantly faster than the venerable Ford.

The Genesis police car is a cool idea, but in a densely populated country where traffic moves at a snails pace, its hard to see the logic of an enormous, gas guzzling V8 sedan. A Genesis Coupe, with its 2.0L turbo four-banger is the more sensible (and cooler) choice.

[Source: Chosun]

Last year, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering announced its new Chevy Camaro Engine Packages bragging about major horsepower upgrades while maintaining daily-driving performance. A little less than a year later, Lingenfelter is lighting up the quarter-mile track, putting on a display with their own Chevy Camaro demo vehicle.

This Camaro packs a real punch, sporting a built LS9 supercharged V8 throwing down 855-hp. The motor has been reinforced with JE forged aluminum pistons while the head has been CNC ported with upgrade cams from LPE. At South Georgia Motorsports Park, the Camaro laid down several mid-to-low 10 second passes with a best of 10.36 @ 139.95 mph. This was done with the stock six-speed transmission.

This new generation of American muscle is capturing a whole new audience, with many previously devoted import fanatics looking at the new Chevy Camaro as a great platform to customize. If you need some inspiration, make sure to check out the video of Lingenfelter’s Camaro lighting up the track after the jump.

[Source: Autoblog]

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