Germans from Porsche presented the official name for Cayenne’s younger brother, with the first draft of the compact SUV. The new compact SUV Porsche Macan, will be placed in the Porsche range, just below the Cayenne and it’s platform will be built on the Audi Q5 one’s. Porsche new model name has its origins in Indonesian language and it means “tiger”. Porsche Macan will be produced at the Leipzig factory from 2013 and create 1,000 new jobs at an investment of over 500 million euros. Except silhouette could suffer a relative “softening”, front and rear lights inspired by the concept 918 Spyder, protruding bezel and very flared wheel arches will define the design of Macan.

Motorcycle manufacturer, Ducati, is put on sale by the investment fund Investindustrial Holdings. After the investment fund, Invesindustrial Holdings, managing the Italian motorcycle manufacturer, Ducati, decided to put the company up for sale, tenders were immediate. Acording to the man who led Ducati destiny in the last six years, Andrea Bonomi, the interest for motorcycle manufacturer actions is extremely high, being made ​​offers by major producers such as Mercedes, Volkswagen and Mahindra. These big names in the automotive industry, are able to invest generously in the development of new and competitive products.

The new Tesla Model X, the first purely electric crossover produced in large series, was finally inaugurated at the Tesla Design Studios in Hawthorne. Elon Musk, Tesla company boss, said that mass production will begin in 2013, but the orders for the first electric crossover will be taken from this year. Will be produced between 10,000 and 15,000 units a year at a starting price of $ 50,000 and the top version, with the largest battery and maximum equipment, will reach 90.000 USD. From the technical view, the Tesla Model X will have the same electric platform as Tesla Sedan. Because Tesla Model X is heavier, it will have less autonomy than Tesla Sedan with 10%. There will be 3 types of propulsion for Tesla Model X: an electric motor and rear wheel drive, two electric motors (one front, one in back) and All-Wheel Drive traction. The Tesla Model X Performance version, which announced a start 0 -100 km / h in just 4.4 seconds, as an BMW M5 or a Porsche 911!

Because Daimler had a record profit in 2011, decided to reward employees in Germany with a premium of 4,100 euros. Although Mercedes-Benz had the smallest increase in sales in 2011, 8% from the previous year, registering 1.26 million cars, Daimler, owner of this brand, reached a record profit than the previous year. Daimler has 271,370 employees worldwide, with 11,270 more than in 2010. Of these, only167,684 work in Germany, where the 3658 Daimler had fewer employees in 2010. Audi, with 1.3 million cars sold in 2011 has exceeded for the first time in history in terms of saleson the Mercedes. BMW was leading premium car market in 2011 because it sold 1.38 millioncars and an increase of 12.8 percent by 2010. For the whole Daimler group, car sales recorded in 2011 amounts to 1.35 million units.

Fiat has launched a new limited edition for the German market: Fiat 500 ID, which costs 13,500 euros and is painted in two shades. ID 500 will be built in only 500 copies, is painted in two colors and has an interior matching the exterior. You can choose between just 3 different color combinations: white on exterior with red interior “ivory” in red, blue and white exterior and interior “ivory” in blue and gray exterior with gray interior and “ivory” and gray. Each copy of Fiat 500 ID has a 1.2 liter petrol engine and 69 hp. By default the model has air conditioning, 15 inch alloy wheels, leather steering wheel, chrome trim kit and Blue & Me with handsfree and USB port. Since the launch of the new 500, Fiat has created several special editions for this model, some being sold only on select markets and usually sold in limited edition of 500 copies.

FIA announced last week that negotiations conducted with Eurosport for the transmission of World Rally Championship failed, so WRC will have no promoter for the 2012 season. The WRC 2012 season will not be transmitted internationally by any television, so that promoting competition will be very modest. “FIA regrets to announce that it was not possible to find an international promoter of the 2012 season World Rally Championship. FIA was involved in lengthy and detailed discussions with stakeholders, but some problems proved impossible to reconcile, and finally decided to withdraw from negotiations”. Following this decision, FIA rally informed the organizers that for this season, they will have to find their own TV stations that will broadcast WRC stages. The only alternative is the videos made ​​by manufacturers and partners in the 2012 WRC season, and videos taken with cameras mounted on cars.

Ferrari Formula 1 drivers: Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa have been given a copy of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, because of the European launch of the SRT Jeep performance division (Street and Racing Technology). Because of the relationship of ownership between Fiat and Chrysler Group, is easy to understand how the new Jeep Grand Gherokee SRT8 stopped in court of the Scuderia, making the new car of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Under the hood lies a 6.4 liter V8 HEMI engine capable of delivering 465 horsepower and624 Nm. This great SUV can reach 100 km/h in just 4.8 seconds with a top speed of 257 km/h. To prove that not everything is for the engine, Jeep public the braking distance from 100 km / h to 0 : 35 meters. The debut of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 on the European market will be from March this year.

Ford began production of the Ford Focus with 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine. The new three-cylinder engine is the most efficient petrol model, in terms of fuel consumption, Ford’s ever built. Ford Focus with the new 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine and 100 hp has a fuel consumption ofjust 4.8 l/100/km. Turbocharged direct injection engine is also available on the Focus in the125 hp version with a consumption of only 5l/100km. The new 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine has the same performance as the models equipped with diesel engines, due to a constant torque of 170Nm between 1.400rpm and 4.500rpm. Ford has invested over 134 million euros to develop a special line of high-tech factory in Cologne (Germany), to build this engine. Also this year, the production of this engine will start on the Ford factory in Craiova (Romania) too, European production capacity could reach 700,000 engines a year.

The production of an Lamborghini SUV was confirmed by an Audi official, in an interview for AutomotiveNews, where he said that: “the assumptions presented by the media are largely correct.” The engine of the new SUV will be made ​​entirely by people from Lamborghini, who pledged to not use turbines by 2020, so we can expect to be used the V10 engine from Gallardo. The most powerful configuration of this engine has 570 hp and is offered in a four-wheel drive version, but the Italians could offer a hybrid version that provides 700 hp help by an electric motor. Lamborghini brand’s first SUV was: LM002, and was produced between 1986 and 1993. The off-roader design was massive, angular, completely different from what Lamborghini promoted at that time and resembled more with american brand car: Hummer.

Citroen DS range was awarded with the Grand Design Award and Sebastien Loeb was awarded with the Palme d’Or prise, were the 2 trophies obtained by the French company. DS3, DS4 and DS5 are the models from the Citroen DS range. The newest member of this range, Citroen DS5, is the first full hybrid technology that proposes Citroen Diesel DS and this DS range has already been sold in over 180,000 vehicles from the beginning of its commercialization. In this ceremony of the 27th International Automobile Festival, DS range, which was founded 20 months ago, was rewarded for its unique style and creativity in the automotive industry, with the Grand Design Award. Sebastien Loeb, with is the Citroen brand ambassador, received in this ceremony also, the prestigious Palme d’Or prise, for the 8th World Rally Champion title gained in the 2004-2011 period.