VOLKSWAGEN PROFITS ALMOST QUADRUPLE IN Q1

Volkswagen AG posted a profit of €1.71 billion (R16.8 billion) in the first quarter of 2011. That is up from €473 million (R4.6 billion) during the same period in 2010. It’s all at the back of revenues amounting to €37.5 billion (R368.2 billion). China seems to be the driving force behind VW’s success, along with former BRIC countries. South Africa recently joined the group to form BRICS.

NEW PORSCHE 911 GT3 RS 4.0 BURSTS OPEN

Porsche has announced that only 600 of its brand new 911 GT3 RS 4.0 will come off the production line. Track-inspired and featuring the most powerful naturally aspirated 911 of all time, the GT3 RS 4.0 features a flat-six engine displacing, you guessed it, 4.0-litres and pushing out 368kW past the centrally-mounted twin exhaust pipes.

DR DRE "CRASHES" FERRARI 360 MODENA IN MUSIC VIDEO

West Coast hip-hop godfather Dr Dre (born Andre Young) shot the video for his new single “I Need A Doctor” featuring protege Eminem, off his new CD Detox a while ago. Part of the video’s antics included crashing a Ferrari 360 Modena, and that’s exactly what the stuntman did, as you will see on the video.

OPEL GTC: NEW RENDERINGS REVEALED

Opel’s GTC Concept car, unveiled at the 2010 Paris International Motor Show, is well on its production way. These renderings are just a short reminder of that. They are officially from Opel itself, but as you can see, the badging is Vauxhall which is the UK version of Opel. The GTC is based on the new Astra and is placed beneath the OPC model and it faces off with hot hatches like the VW Golf GTI, Ford Focus ST, Renault Megane RS and Mazda3 MPS.

KENNY KUNENE'S ZAR PARTNER GAYTON MCKENZIE SURVIVES HORROR CRASH

It was a mega roadtrip this weekend with several of the ZAR sports cars heading to East London and Umtata for the Zuma-Sambudla weddings, but it was on the way home from Umthatha that disaster struck, about 40km from the town, between Umtata and Ncgobo. Gayton McKenzie, the Chairman of the ZAR brand, was passing a truck on a bumpy road, when the bumps turned into ditches in the road. The white, V10 R8 Spyder began to lose control.

JAPAN TSUNAMI: FORD SHUTS DOWN SA PLANT

Ford South Africa is one of three of the company’s plants around the world which shut down this week because of shortages of parts from earthquake-hit Japan. The plants are located in South Africa (Silverton, Pretoria), Taiwan and China. The SA outfit builds the current Focus, Bantam bakkie (pickup), Ranger and Mazda BT-50 bakkies.

NEW NISSAN MICRA SECRET PRICING OUT!

Nissan South Africa launches the all-new Micra 5-door hatch in May. We have some exclusive indicative pricing for the small car. The cheapest one will come in at R108 000 while the most expensive is R143 000. Three engine models will be on offer, according to our secret sources.

VOLVO NORTH AMERICA BOOSTS R-DESIGN ENGINE POWER

Volvo North America has made our dreams come true by not only adding aerodynamic and cosmetic bits to its S60 and XC60 R-Design lines, but also bumping up power. In Mzansi, Volvo recently announced its R-Design models for the S60 and V60. However, no power ups were involved in that exercise.