The Superbowl is always known for awesome commercials. Click on the link to check out all the car related commercials that magically showed up on YouTube this morning.
click the read more link below to see the videos

[ Source: jalopnik.com Read The Full Article ]  Photo Credit: Platinum Motorsport

Audi celebrates the impending rollout of the Audi R8 V10 in Germany by showing off a new video of the high-performance flagship and lots of photos. But the plans for a U.S. debut of the car isn't cast in stone, the automaker tells Inside Line.

 [ Source: edmunds.com Read The Full Article ]

Porsche's sales for the first six months of its fiscal year (August 1, 2008 through January 31, 2009) have decreased by 27.3% for a total of 34,000 units sold. The resulting financial effect is a 14.3% drop in revenue, or around three billion euros (just under $4 billion US).

Although Porsche execs admit that the automaker isn't immune to the global economic downturn, it has no plans cut jobs. However, it will reduce the number of days worked at the Zuffenhausen plant in Stuttgart by 19 days this summer.

According to Porsche, one of the major factors contributing to the sales slump is a change in its model mix, specifically an increase in 911 variants leaving dealer lots and a decrease in Boxster sales – one of the marque's largest sellers. Strictly judging by our First Drive of the 2009 Porsche Boxster, we'd expect things to improve by the end of July.

 [ Source: autoblog.com Read The Full Article ]

Less than a month after receiving the first $4 billion from the federal government’s bailout package for the auto industry, Chrysler has revealed that it needs an additional $3 billion to help close an alliance deal with Italy’s Fiat Group. Unlike General Motors, which has been allocated up to $9.4 billion in restructuring loans, Chrysler was only given $4 billion despite the claims that it needed at least $8 billion to completely reform its operations.

The fact that the latest demand is to help facilitate an alliance with a foreign carmaker seeking to gain from the deal, lawmakers in Washington are wary to offer more money. There is also the possibility that Chrysler could one day be controlled by a foreign carmaker.

Despite this, Chrysler will have its chance on February 17 when it is scheduled to present a viability plan that the Obama administration will use to determine whether the automaker will receive more loan money.

 [ Source: motorauthority.com Read The Full Article ]

Evidently, early consumer feedback suggests that Fahrvergnügen is not spelled "R-o-u-t-a-n." Volkswagen has reportedly asked Chrysler Canada to temporarily halt production for the month of February on its new ported-over minivan.

Initial Routan sales have been slow, with the Windsor Star reporting that around 29,000 units have been shipped to dealers, but only a few thousand have actually been sold. The production stoppage should help stem the supply overage somewhat, but all signs point to the Routan having a rough road ahead – and not just because of the increasingly dire economic climate. VW's Brooke Shields "Routan Boom" ad campaign appears to have drawn more quizzical looks and outright scorn than potential buyers, and critics are questioning how well the vehicle lines up with VW's brand image.

If nothing else, the Routan clearly has the finest interior of any model in the Chrysler minivan family and a quick spin by this author suggests that it's the best driving, too. Still, those positive aspects don't appear to be enough to guarantee homes for the 300 or so Routans leaving the plant each day.

 With more sources confirming General Motors’ contract to build a new engine plant in the city of Flint, Michigan, for its upcoming Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid and Cruze has been cancelled, the question that now arises is where will GM source the cars' compact engines? A senior union official has now revealed that the likely option will be to source the engines from South Korea, where they are already built for the Daewoo version of the Cruze by an external supplier.

The engine in question is a new 1.4L petrol unit from an engine group called the ‘Family 0’, which includes powerplants displacing between 1.0 and 1.4L. Family 0 engines first appeared as far back as 1997 and have been in production in Europe since then. A naturally-aspirated version of the 1.4L unit was destined for the Volt, while the Cruze was to use a more powerful turbocharged version.

[ Source: motorauthority.com Read The Full Article ]

 The pressure to show an interest in the ecological impact of driving is extending ever-upwards, so high that even Bentley is working on a biofuel model. Due to arrive at the Geneva Motor Show in March, Bentley yesterday released a teaser shot of the car. Interestingly, the “Extreme Bentley” won’t be just a one-off concept as the car has already been described by the carmaker as a “production” model and latest reports indicate it will hit showrooms late in the year. Today the company released a new teaser video for the car, shown below.

Along with the teaser, Bentley released the statement: “On March 3, Bentley will reveal its fastest, most powerful production car ever. Delivering supercar performance, this new model is very much the extreme Bentley. Importantly it will run on biofuel, delivering stage one of Bentley's environmental commitment and pioneering the use of this fuel in the luxury sector.”

 [ Source: motorauthority.com Read The Full Article ]

[Source: Pistonheads]  [ Source: autoblog.com Read The Full Article ]