SEB LEADS CITROEN'S FIRST 1 - 2 - 3 -4

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena laid the foundations of their victory during the first two days of the rally. At the end of the final stages of Rally Bulgaria they racked up their 58th world championship win. Despite being under constant pressure from Petter Solberg, Dani Sordo and Marc Marti held on to their second place giving the Citroën Total World Rally Team its first double of the 2010 season. Thanks to Petter Solberg and Sébastien Ogier, Citroën scored the first one-two-three-four in its history in the FIA World Rally Championship.

NEW PEUGEOT 508 : PICTURES AND DETAILS

A replacement for the 407 has showed its claws. The new, upcoming Peugeot 508 sedan and SW (Estate) are coming to South Africa sometime in mid-2011. And we have pictures. And some details. Peugeot and Citroen, sister brands, are both going after the same sweet German trio of chocolates (3, A4, C) with the 508 and C5 respectively.

We thought the 407 would represent itself quite well in the market when it launched a few years ago. But a combination of factors, including the advent of the NCA, fierce brand loyalty and the recession blocked the car’s progress.

DEZIR CONCEPT SHOWS FUTURE RENAULT SUPER ELECTRIC CAR?

Renault could be reviving the Alpine name with this DeZir Concept car. Although it’s still all speculation, some rumours have suggested DeZir will be built, come rain come World Cup loss to South Africa. Sorry France.

Under current economic climates I can’t see Renault paying for the millions of Euros needed to develop this car. But of course things could change. Company CEO Carlos Ghosn is already committing both Nissan and Renault to the electrification of the automobile ahead of other mass-producers. A car like the DeZir would spearhead brand loyalty to new heights, similar to what the R8 has done for Audi.

The concept runs a mid-mounted electric motor producing 110kW and 226Nm, hardly the stuff of supercars, let alone normal sports cars. Nevertheless lightweight construction and torsional rigidity would ensure a fun drive. Plus extra brownie (or greenie) points for being enviro-friendly.

MINI COUNTRYMAN DETAILS BREAK OUT

MINI has released a slew of details regarding the MINI Countryman, a mini-SUV, if you’ll excuse the pun, that aims to create a whole new market segment of miniature premium soft-roaders. Just by looking at the pictures one can tell that while the heart may be in the right place, the body will not carry through its promise. So don’t go looking for trouble out in the wild bushes with this one.

Instead concentrate on urban excursions and gravel. Of course no BMW-made car (apart from past Land Rovers) is created to bash the bundus. Fact is, those Germans even pride themselves for building cars with such good road manners as to surprise even the tarmac itself.

5TH AND 6TH FOR FORD FOCUS RS RALLY TEAM

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila finished fifth and sixth respectively in Rally Bulgaria today.  It was the first occasion that Bulgaria has hosted a round of the FIA World Rally Championship and the asphalt roads in the mountains near Sofia provided a stern test for the Focus RS World Rally Car pair.

CITROEN SURVOLT SILENT RACER TO GO PUBLIC

After being introduced at the Geneva Motor Show, CITROËN Survolt is now coming to life as a genuine, fully electric racing car that will first spin it wheels on the Le Mans track on 10 July, with the experienced driver Vanina Ickx at the wheel.

CITROËN Survolt adopts a new, fully electric drive system that allows it to combine sportiness and great performance with respect for the environment.

PEUGEOT LE MANS TEAM REFLECTS ON 2010 LOSS

Bruno Famin (Technical Director, Peugeot Sport): "To begin with, with regard to the N°3 908 HDi FAP which retired 2½ hours into the race, we have found a quality-related problem concerning the production of the tub at the point where the lower front-right suspension wishbone is attached to the chassis. This is the same tub that won the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours and the 2010 1,000km de Spa-Francorchamps, and – like every 908 chassis – is regularly inspected at the factory using sophisticated tools that enable us to detect ageing or damage to the carbon. The problem in this case, however, was due to a totally undetectable defect which resulted in a premature and sudden failure of the mounting point.

BMW DETAILS MEGACITY MINI CAR EVEN MORE

The BMW Group is once again breaking new ground with the Megacity Vehicle (MCV), due to come onto the market in 2013: “The Megacity Vehicle is a revolutionary automobile. It will be the world’s first volume-produced vehicle with a passenger cell made from carbon. Our LifeDrive architecture is helping us to open a new chapter in automotive lightweight design. Indeed, this concept allows us to practically offset the extra 250 to 350 kilograms of weight typically found in electrically powered vehicles.” says Klaus Draeger, Member of the Board of Management for Development.

SEXY VOLVO V60 SLATED FOR MZANSI IN 2011

Volvo Car South Africa plans to launch the all-new Volvo S60 locally early in 2011. At launch the V60 will be available in 2.0T (149kW), D5 (151kW, 420Nm) and T6 (224kW) guise. The 2.0T will be available in either manual or powershift while the T6 and D5 derivatives are fitted with a Geartronic gearbox.

Volvo has just released the first official information on its all-new Volvo V60, which enters the vehicle market with its sights firmly set on being the sexiest sports wagon on the road.

"Many customers who've had an advance look at the new V60 during the development process feel that its attitude is certainly as sporty as that of the all-new S60," says Volvo Cars Design Director Peter Horbury.

BMW M5 TAKES A BOW AFTER 5 SIZZLING YEARS

After being on sale on the global automotive market for five successful years, the BMW M5 has ended its production lifespan with a new record high. The BMW M GmbH produced a total of 20 548 of the charismatic high-performance sports car featuring a V10-cylinder power unit. The BMW M5 Sedan is accountable for 19 523 of these, with the BMW M5 Touring, which was first launched in 2007, contributing a further 1 025 units towards the overall result.