Renault
Nissan to Build Mercedes Engines in the U.S.
Renault-Nissan and Daimler have announced the joint engine production of Mercedes-Benz 4-cylinder engines at Nissan’s Decherd, Tennessee, plant beginning 2014. According to the press release, this marks the first ever production of a Mercedes-Benz engine within the North America Free Trade region. Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Daimler Board of Management and Head of…
Renault UK To Discontinue At Least Five Models In February 2012
Renault is looking to take a step back in order to take two steps forward, looking to discontinue at least five models from their UK lineup in February. At the top of the list of vehicles getting killed off are the Laguna hatchback, Sport Tourer and Coupe, along with the Espace and Grand Espace, Modus…
Fiat Panda 2 Remains As Entry Level Model In Europe
You might find it strange, but in Europe when automakers release a new model, they don’t always retire the old one. That’s the case with Fiat‘s Panda 2, which will now run under the new “Panda Classic” title. Fiat debuted the new model at last September’s Geneva Motor Show, where it seemed likely the old…
Robert Kubica To Sit Out Start Of 2012 Formula One Season
Robert Kubica, one of Formula One’s most promising young drivers, will sit out the start of the 2012 F1 season as he continues to recover from a crash that partially severed his arm. While Kubica is making a recovery, the pace is not as rapid as some had hoped for. Kubica can move his arm,…
Renault To Make Ultra Low-Cost $3,500 Tata Nano Competitor
Renault is in development of an ultra low-cost vehicle, along the lines of the Tata Nano. While the Nano is currently suffering from some awful sales numbers (initial projection of 20,000 a month but only saw 1,200 units sold in September), CEO of Renault/Nissan Carlos Ghosn is convinced that an extremely affordable vehicle would…
Smart FourFour Coming to America
Mercedes-Benz is rethinking their line of Smart cars and will bring the ForFour, a four door, four passenger vehicle, to American consumers by 2015. That choice, among others, came after Mercedes-Benz took over distribution of the brand in the U.S. last July. They also plan to scrap the current FourTwo (above) in favor of a new…
Nissan CEO Ghosn: Rising Yen Could Force Production Out Of Japan, Electric Cars To Be Built In China
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said that the Japanese government’s effort to keep the yen’s value under control had failed and that Nissan was strongly considering moving production out of Japan and into foreign countries. A weakened United States dollar has meant that the value of the greenback has shifted from 91 yen per dollar to…
2012 Car of the Year Candidates Chosen
It’s that time of the year again as Car of the Year begins the laborious task of whittling down new Car of the Year contenders for 2012. A total of 59 journalists, representing automotive authorities across 23 European countries, have been recruited for the task of choosing top car. The number of journalists to represent…
Wacky French Cars of the Frankfurt Auto Show [Gallery]
When it comes to bizarre concept cars, the Tokyo Auto Show might be the traditional winner, but when it comes to production time, often things end up looking like a Camry. Not so for those baguette-loving Frenchmen (and women). From Citroen, to Renault, to Peugeot, their production cars are plenty strange and the concepts that…
Nissan to Launch One New Model Every Six Weeks for Six Years
Nissan has emerged from the global economic downturn as a powerhouse, quietly growing but without grabbing headlines like Ford or Hyundai have. Now the Japanese automaker has unveiled a new business plan titled “Nissan Power 88” that aims to grow its share of the global market to 8 percent, while bringing operating profit to a…
Watch the Megane RS 265 Trophy Set a Nurburgring Record [video]
Renault deserves all the credit in the world with its stunning 8:07.97 lap time on the Nurburgring, giving it the FWD record and besting some seriously impressive machines such as Audi’s RS4 and BMW’s E46 M3. So it’s without a doubt that we have to share a video of the record setting run from the…
RenaultSport Megane Trophy 265 Sets New Front-Drive Nurburgring Record
If we asked you what the fastest Nurburgring time for a front-wheel drive car was you’d probably guess the Ford Focus RS. Nope, not even close. In fact it belongs to French automaker Renault, and has for some time. Back in 2008 the automaker ran an 8:16 with a rather stripped-down R26.R version of the…
Renault Megane RS Trophy Edition Gets Added Power, Style
Renault has upped the bar in the European sport compact market with a special edition Megane RS, sporting 261-hp and 265 ft-lbs of torque. In addition to the slight performance increase, the Megane RS Trophy features several aesthetic changes including 19-inch wheels and special decals. One of the Megane RS Trophy’s selling points is the…
Renault Megane RS Nurburgring Teased In Video
When the Nürburgring Nordschleife was built in 1927, the good folks of the ADAC—who were there to promote Socialist Teutonic goodness, eventually—hadn’t expected to carve out a 14-mile merchandising empire among the world’s finest carmakers. Now Renault has given its hot-hatch Megane RS the full-on Nürburgring treatment, and it promises to be a corker, as…
Renault Names Nissan Americas Boss Carlos Tavares as new COO
Carlos Tavares has been appointed Renault’s new Chief Operating Officer. As of July 1, Tavares will oversee Renault’s growth strategy focused on developing electric vehicles and new markets. He has replaced Patrick Pelata, who resigned in April following a case of alleged industrial espionage which turned into a fraud investigation. Carlos Tavares, 53, a Portugues…
Official: Dacia Unleashes 850-hp GT-R-Powered Duster “No Limit” Pikes Peak Challenger
The Romanian racing company Dacia famous for winter racing has joined Renaultsport, and a number of independent firms to build the Dacia Duster. The “No Limit” race car driven by Jean-Phillipe Dayraut was built for the Unlimited class at Pikes Peak. In this class, there are essentially no restrictions placed on a car’s specifications. In…
Infiniti Working On KERS Energy Recovery System With Red Bull F1
Infiniti might not have their own F1 team, but that little detail isn’t stopping them from helping the Red Bull team with an energy-recovery system for their F1 team. Consider it Infiniti’s foot in the grand prix door. Infiniti’s and Nissan’s electric car expertise are what drew Red Bull to them in the first place,…
Nissan Reinforces Plant In Defense Of Future Earthquakes
Nissan is looking to strengthen some key plants in an effort to minimize damage from future earthquakes starting with the heavily damaged Iwaki engine plant in the Fukushima prefecture. The Iwaki plant is being repaired ahead of schedule, receiving a reinforced foundation costing $37 million USD. Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan, stated that the…
41 Dacia Logans For Sale In Iowa, Ready To Undergo EV Conversion
The Dacia Logan, intended to be sold in world markets as basic transportation, was never supposed to come to America, but somehow, 41 Dacia Logan station wagons found their way to Iowa, sans drivetrain. The fleet of Romanian-built compacts, engineered in collaboration with Renault, came without VINs as well, since the cars were intended to…
Vitaly Petrov Catches Serious Air at Malaysian Grand Prix [video]
Renault’s Vitaly Petrov recently made history by becoming the first Russian driver to clinch a Formula One podium finish. Now he’s making history through the Internet with this awesome footage of him catching air at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Going slightly wide on turn 7 of the course, Petrov launched his Renault race car while…
Nissan, Renault to Form World’s Fourth Largest Automaker; Or Not
Nissan and Renault are planning to officially combine into one automaker, solidifying a partnership between the Japanese and French companies that has existed since 1999. Or at least, they were planning to do so according to a report by Japan’s Nikkei, that quoted company CEO Carlos Ghosn. Today, however, both automakers are refuting that claim….
Renault Le Car Is Rumoured To Be Resurrected, Has Mini And Fiat In Its Sights
Everything that is old is new again. That is the mantra of pretty much every single major car company. Volkswagen has the Beetle (a newer version of which will be launched later this year), Mini has had the reborn Cooper for awhile now, and Fiat recently introduced the new 500 in the North American market….
Renaultsport To Go Into The Roasdter Business Once Again And Becomes Its Own Brand
It has been a long time since Renaultsport had a car entirely of its own creation. The last one, as some might remember, was the mid-engined roadster called the Spider (see picture). Now it seems that Renault wants to create Renaultsport into its own brand and are looking to once again produce a roadster, and…
Renault Admits Wrongdoing In Spy Case, Executives Exonerated
Renault is admitting that is wrongfully dismissed three executives accused of corporate espionage, saying it has found no evidence to support the allegations made. Carlos Ghosn, Renault’s CEO, met with the three and promised compensation for their erroneous termination. Renault had accused the executives of holding illicit bank accounts in Switzerland and Lichtenstein, but their…
