The Fiat 500 will go on sale in the U.S. by the end of the year, according to Dodge Car Brand CEO Ralph Giles in a speech to the Economic Club of Chicago.
Ralph stated that the Grand Cherokee will be on sale within the next three months. Given how desperate Chrysler is for new products before they run short on funding and FIAT runs short on patience, it could be a great step forward for the automaker.
Source: Jalopnik
Bernie Ecclestone reckons Campos Meta and USF1 could miss the opening three races of this year’s Championship, only joining the F1 grid in time for the Chinese GP.
Campos and USF1 are two of the four newcomers to Formula One this season but unlike the other two, their preparations have not been making headlines. Rather, they have been making headlines in terms of financial woes.
The F1 supremo told the Express newspaper: “I think we won’t see Campos and I don’t think we will see the Americans.”
And should either team miss the opening stint of the Championship, Ecclestone revealed they won’t face a financial penalty as his terms allow all teams to miss up to three races.
Ecclestone also took the time to once again give his support to Stefan GP. Although the team does not have a place on the 2010 they are preparing in the hope that one of the newcomers will pull out before the season starts.
“They have got the money from the Serbian government, I’ve spoken to the prime minister,” he said.
The 2010 Dakar (née Paris-Dakar) Rally is well under way. The race began on January 1st and is scheduled to end on the 16th. Thanks to security concerns, the Dakar Rally no longer runs, as its name once indicated, from Paris to Dakar. The event now takes place in Argentina and Chile, and while it’s nowhere near as epic as before, it’s still nothing to sneeze at — some stages encompass up to 550 miles of off-road travel and include everything from desert terrain to dense forest.
We thought we would just post some pretty cool pictures of the Dakar 2010 on Trickshift, but Im sure you can find many other pictures from the rally across the web.
Bernie Ecclestone has come out and stated that he believes there will be only 24 cars on the grid when the new season kicks off in Bahrain in the middle of March.
Nine of the 10 teams who raced in 2009, two of them under a new guise, plus four new teams – Lotus F1 Racing, Campos Meta 1, USF1 and Virgin Racing – have been handed slots for next year’s World Championship.
According to The Times, Eccelstone is convinced that Campos F1 and USF1 will not make it for 2010. However, I think that USF1 will be there! Mainly because they cant afford not to be.
The 2010 Dakar Rally will put bikes, quads, cars and trucks to the test through 5,600 miles of South American terrain and we’ve got the official route map. Fiambalá here we come! [Motorbiker.org via MahindraPlanet]
There has been a lot of rumours on whether the Aptera would actually deliver on their flightless wonder by Christmas, however they have now stated that they will be pushing out in 2010.
Hopefully, the delay won’t be a full year as it was the last time they announced delivery postponement. According to the company, fundraising efforts didn’t keep pace with vehicle development, so they’re taking measures to slow the cash burn. One of those unfortunate actions involved laying off an unspecified number of employees, though one of them, co-founder Steve Fambro, has said he will resume his role next year. Addressing the situation he said:
Right now my advanced work is a lower priority for Aptera. We’ve got to be wholly focused on funding and getting the first 2e on the road. Paul’s leadership and (chief engineer) Tom Reichenbach’s talent have led to changes in the vehicle that are spot-on. They’ve made the vehicle safer, it’s better handling and more comfortable. Once we get through this stage, we’ll begin mass producing the 2e – the most aerodynamic and efficient vehicle in the world.
