Formula One Driver Lewis Hamilton, who finished sixth in the chaotic Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday has apologized to the FIA Stewards for his controversial remarks. After being punished three times in two days, Lewis criticized the stewards in a BBC interview. He also made a reference to Ali G, the comedy character created by Sascha Baron Cohen. Lewis said the way he had been treated this season was “an absolute frickin’ joke” and described his treatment as “stupid”. Asked why that was the case, Hamilton said: “Maybe it’s because I’m black! That’s what (British comic character) Ali G says.”

During the early part of the race, Hamilton was given a ‘drive-through’ penalty for a brush with Brazilian Felipe Massa of Ferrari. He was then called in again by the stewards after a late clash with Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado of Williams, as he passed him at the tail end of the race for which he received a 20 sec penalty which did not affect his final placing. Hamilton said he felt he had done nothing wrong in both cases.

Hamilton said that he felt victimized by events at recent races, complaining that he had done his best to provide entertainment by going for over-taking opportunities. “People want to see racing,” he said.

[Source: Autoweek]

Toyota is taking product development authority away from Japanese bosses and putting it in the hands of North American executives as part of a larger change aimed at fixing quality control issues that hurt the automaker’s reputation last year.

Until now, vehicles produced and designed and developed in North America had to be approved by chief engineers in Japan. Vehicles unique to the North American market such as the Venza, Sienna, Avalon, Tacoma and Tundra will no longer require painstaking and frustrating sign-offs from Japan at each step of the development processes.

“We are going to implement the process from design to preparation for production to development, cost planning, and identifying and selecting suppliers,” said Inaba, CEO of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. “All these processes are going to be 100 percent done here, without going back to Japan for approval.”

The changes come too late to affect the development of the redesigned 2012 Toyota Camry due this fall, however upcoming models based in North America, such as the next Tundra pickup, will see the result of the new structure.

[Source: Automotive News]

Volkswagen wants to produce the Tiguan SUV model in North America in an effort to slash production costs on the compact crossover. VW is already producing the Jetta and Passat in North America and is considering moving production of the Tiguan, according to a report by WirtschaftsWocke magazine.

Presently, the Tiguan model is only produced at the Wolfsburg plant in Germany.

The shift in production from Germany to North America will allow VW to guard against exchange rate fluctuations that can eat away at profits, analysts said.

Producing Volkswagens in the U.S will also allow the automaker to keep closer track of changing tastes in the world’s second largest auto market, where consumer trends often originate.

It is unclear whether the Tiguan will be produced at the Chattanooga, Tennessee plant (currently VWs only plan in North America), however, production is scheduled to rise to 150,000 vehicles annually by 2012.

[Source: Reuters]

Hyundai officially announced that its has sold 5 million vehicles in Europe since it first began retail operations in 1977. The first Hyundai Pony was imported to Europe in 1977 and the five millionth vehicle was in i30, which was launched in 2007 and has sold just over 320,000 units throughout Europe.

Hyundai has managed to sell 1 million cars alone, in the last three years. However it took the Korean automaker 19 years to sell its first million cars within Europe, and the two millionth car was sold in 2001.

The company progressed immensely with the introduction of the Hyundai i30 in 2007, which was designed for the European market. The i30 is built in Nosovice, Czech Republic producing 300,000 units per year.

Allan Rushforth, Senior Vice President and COO of Hyundai Motor Europe, commented, “Hitting five million sales is a wonderful achievement for Hyundai, and it marks us out as a major player in what is the world’s most competitive car market. But this is just the beginning for the brand. We are planning for further sales growth during 2011, to take us to 3% market share in Europe. And in the longer term we expect the quality and desirability of our cars to help us maintain our momentum and deliver our next five million sales in a much shorter time frame.”

It has been in the rumor-mill for a while that Porsche will be offering hybrid technology in their next-generation 911 models. Considering Porsche is using such technology in the 911 GT3 R Hybrid race car, it seems feasible that such technology will trickle down to the production road-going model, especially since this system has just given Porsche a win at the Nürburgring Long Distance Championship in Germany.

Porsche, however, has other plans. A company executive said that hybrid technology is only being applied to the racecar for the present time. If and when such features make their way to the production 911, it will probably be a plug-in system, rather than a KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) derived device.

The reason Porsche is said to be resisting such technology for its road cars is because they don’t want to dilute the Porsche driving experience. While their other models like the Panamera and the Cayenne have already gone the hybrid route, the company’s most well-known model will remain pure and true to its route, at least for now.

[Source: Autocar]

BMW has announced that it will be ending production of the E90 3-Series sedan this October, as the company gears up for the next generation of its volume seller.

Internally coded the F30, the 2012 3-Series is expected to be built off a modular platform, though will keep much the same dimensions as the outgoing model. Styling is said to be more toned and ‘muscular’ adopting many of the cues seen on BMW‘s more recent offerings, including the current 5-Series (F-10).

In an effort towards increasing efficiency, the 2012 3-Series will employ such technologies such as aerodynamically tuned wheels, a solar roof panel, a stop/start engine feature and re-generative braking.

Powertrain options are said to include a range of four and six-cylinder engines, both normally aspirated and turbocharged, as well as the possibility (however unlikely) of a three-cylinder engine for the first time. Look for the entry level 328i model to toss its straight-six in favor of a newturbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder making 245-hp and 258 lb-ft of torque.

A new M3 model will also make it’s debut, powered by a twin-turbo inline six, slated to make as much as 450 horsepower. Watch this space for further developments.

[Source: BMW Blog]

It may only have been a sideshow stunt to the main attraction at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but what a stunt it was. Team Hot Wheels had promised a world record attempt, sending a specially prepared Baja-like truck down a 90 foot ramp, shooting it out across a 332 foot void before landing on the other side. The result? Success, with the mystery “Yellow Driver” ripping down the track (built to look like the bright orange Hot Wheels toy track) getting enough speed to clear a good portion of the ramp on the other side.

In doing so Team Hot Wheels now lays claim to the world record jump for a vehicle, besting the previous record by 31 feet.

As for the mystery driver? He was revealed to be none other than rally car racer and drifter Tanner Foust, who also happens to be one of the hosts of American Top Gear. Were you expecting maybe the Stig?

GALLERY: Team Hot Wheels Record Setting Jump

Watch the video after the jump:

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It’s been a dramatic week at Chrysler‘s financial department. Now that Chrysler’s paid off its bailout loan from the government, Fiat is looking to step in and take the government’s remaining share off its hands.

Fiat already holds a not-insubstantial 46 percent share in Chrysler. But even though Chrysler and the U.S. and Canadian governments have finally completed business, the two still hold a 6.6% share in equity stakes, with 1.7% of that belonging to Canada and the rest to the U.S. Treasury Department.

“This has been a memorable week for Chrysler as well as Fiat,” said Gualberto Ranieri, Chrysler spokesman, “and it is consistent with the strategy of building a stronger partnership.”

Fiat and the Treasury Department have until June 10th to come to an agreement. If the deal goes through, Fiat will become a majority shareholder at 52.6%, and like most Americans, Chrysler will be able to point to their Italian heritage with gusto.

[Source: Detroit News]

Having officially announced the new Roadster versions of the SLS sports car yesterday, Mercedes-Benz has now released an extensive selection of stunning photos of the brand’s new drop-top.

Powered by the same 6.2-liter V8 the convertible makes 563-hp and 479 lb-ft of torque and uses a soft-top that can raise or lower in 11 seconds at speeds of up to 31 mph. Up front the car gets 19-inch wheels with 20s in the rear, while options include an adaptive AMG sport suspension and ceramic brakes.

No pricing was announced on the SLS Roadster, but with the coupe retailing for $183,000 it’s likely to approach or even exceed the $200,000 mark.

But enough with the details; see all the stunning photos in our gallery below.

GALLERY: 2012 Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently opening a probe on 2007-2008 Nissan Altimas and 2007-2008 Jeep Wranglers for issues that may or may not result in a recall.

For the Nissan Altima, NHTSA is responding to 20 complaints in regards to a possible brake issue though none of the complaints have resulted in crashes or injuries. As for the Jeep Wrangler, NHTSA has received 29 complaints (again, no injuries) in regards to the front driver’s air bag.

The Altima’s complaints consist of the brake master cylinder springing an internal leak which can cause the warning light to turn on. Those who ignore the light can eventually lose braking power.

The Jeep Wrangler is being investigated for issues where the front driver’s air bag can fail to deploy due to a broken electrical circuit. Of the 29 complaints, NHTSA has contacted 14 of those owners and six of them were right-hand-drive models, typically used by postal carriers.

[Source: Associated Press]