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.

When most people think of automobile toxins, they usually think of dirty exhaust smoke billowing out of a tailpipe. But all cars harbor potential toxins, even as they sit in a garage.
Modern automobiles are built with thousands of parts from hundreds of suppliers. Automobile manufacturers understand consumer safety issues, but smaller companies often take shortcuts with their products. Whatever a car’s make, model, or age, it is likely to hide numerous toxins in the dashboard, interior plastics, and other automotive parts. Long-term exposure to these toxins can cause serious, often life-threatening health issues.

The automotive industry has been using dangerous materials for many years. Asbestos is one example. Asbestos is a natural mineral found in various places around the world. Its heat- and fire-resistance qualities made asbestos ideal for certain automotive parts, such as brake and clutch components and hood liners. The mineral substance was also used for insulation purposes.

The federal government banned asbestos use in the late 1970s, when the mineral’s toxic dangers were revealed to the public. The automotive industry stopped manufacturing asbestos products shortly thereafter; but, by then, asbestos had done its damage. Some cars still contain asbestos parts today, and this poses a serious health risk for people like classic car hobbyists and automotive service technicians.

Prolonged asbestos exposure can cause numerous respiratory illnesses, including asbestosis, emphysema, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer with a long latency period that can span several decades. By the time of diagnosis, however, the prognosis is usually grim.

 Bisphenol A, also known as BPA, is another potential automobile toxin. While asbestos products were banned from automotive parts years ago, Bisphenol A is still a legal additive in automotive manufacturing. Found in dashboards, plastic wiring, and other plastic components, Bisphenol A is linked to various serious health conditions. Chronic exposure to this chemical may cause heart disease, breast cancer, and pancreatic cancer.

Today’s automobiles hide other toxic chemicals, too. The long-term effects of prolonged exposure are as-yet-unknown. Many people drive cars every day, unaware of the dangers that lurk inside. Heat and sunlight can increase the levels of interior toxins. Drivers can protect themselves by opening a window before starting the car, and by sitting inside the car as little as possible. Adults can protect their children by never leaving them alone inside a car.

After two seasons in second place, Alain Prost (56 years old!) and Dacia Lodgy Glace managed to winfirst place in the Andros Trophy 2011/2012 after the final stage of the competition, held in the French resort of Super Besse. Quadruple world champion in Formula 1 in the 80s, managed to win both qualifications and final race though, the last weekend of the 2011/2012 edition of the Andros Trophy did not start with Alain Prost, in the main favorite position. Although Alain Prost dominate the 2 qualifications, finishing with more than one second in both first and second race, Prost was hit by Villeneuve in the first race. Dacia engineering team had time to fix his car and Prost won in a categorical manner, the second race. Alain Prost’s victory in the General Top, was accompanied by a good ranking of Stievenart Evens, in the second Dacia team, who finished on a respectable 5th place,on their first participation in the Andros Trophy competition

It’s small and black, has about 500 hp and run by a professional pilot, beats big names in super-sports cars like: Lamborghini Gallardo, Ferrari 458 Italy and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG! It is none other than Nissan Juke-R, a modified SUV with a modified body and a 480 hp engine, adapted from the Nissan GT-R. This demonstration race, with a marketing character, held in Dubai, with the occasion of the 24 hour Endurance Race competition. At the wheel of the small Nissan Juke-R, was the winner of the 2008 Nissan PlayStation GT Academy competition, Spaniard Lucas Ordonez, that won the race in front of the super-cars like: Ferrari 458 Italia, Lamborghini Gallardo and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, leds by professional drivers, too.

As promised, BMW released today the first informations and images of the new range M Performance Automobiles, equipped with the most powerful diesel in the history of BMW: 381 horses! M Performance range is positioned between the series vehicles, and BMW M devision. New models will have a completely new engine developed by BMW engineers in workshops with the help of M devision. The new tri-turbo diesel: 381 hp and 740 Nm, has a six-cylinder diesel unit with 3.0-liter, which received a boost with 3 turbines is a technological premiere for the German manufacturer. The new engine comply the strict Euro 6 standards, proposed to take effect in 2014 and will be found on M550d Touring versions, X5 M50d and X6 M50d, the first 3 representatives of the range M Performance Automobiles.

The only tire supplier in Formula 1, Pirelli, presented today, on Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, the new range of tires to be used in Formula 1 this year. Main features of the new tires that were developed by Pirelli with Formula 1 teams are to have a higher profile square, grip better and more competitive compositions. To be more easily recognized, especially in TV broadcasts, the colorful mark on the sides became larger and more visible and have the following meanings: the most commonly used in the 2011 season tires, soft tires have yellow markings. Medium composition tires are marked with white. Hard composition tires hard are marked with silver. Supersoft tires, the fastest tires Pirelli products are marked in red. Intermediate tires are marked with green and the rain tires with blue.

Volkswagen Group, which currently holds 50.1% stake in Porsche, will buy the wholepackage for $ 3.9 billion. When in 2009 the company producing sports car attempted a hostile takeover of Volkswagen, and then came rumors of the merger of the two, we are dealing finally with a happy ending. If Volkswagen AG will complete the purchase of the Porsche until 2014, it will be exempt from payment of fees in excess of one billion euros, according to Der Spiegel. Volkswagen leaders have already prepared a series of measures for Porsche, to remain independent in the new group, to avoid any problems with Porsche unions. “For now, all parties wishing to form an integrated car group for economic reasons.” said Christine Ritz, a spokesman for Volkswagen.

Scosche makes available to interested people, at a price of $ 129.95, a new lock phone system, while driving. Americans talking on the phone while driving is a big problem, especially in young people who use SMS phone or surfing while driving, often leading to serious injury results. Using Bluetooth, the cellCONTROL device simply locks phone when the car is moving, so you can not give and receive calls, you can not use SMS, or to browse the Internet. This system is activated online, but it requires for an installation of a mobile specific application on the cell phone. Device has the particularity that can unlock some features of the phone when it is detectedusing a hands-free. CellCONTROL system is clearly still an enemy of the facebook generation drivers, recently announced at CES, with the collaboration between Facebook and Mercedes for socialization at the wheel!

After everybody said that Saab is forced to declare insolvency, Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri argues that the Youngman group does not give up hope for Saab to put it back on its feet. Unofficial sources claim that Youngman is interested to make a new offer to purchase Saab, the sum is about 500 million euros. This time, Youngman management committee members, including chairman PangQingnian, who will travel to Sweden next week to sit at the negotiating table again, aredetermined to restore Saab feet without GM technology. This week, liquidators of Saab decided to put up for sale 120 Saab collection models , from the Trollhattan manufacturer museum.

The Mercedes-Benz Company presented this year at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, a prototype car that provides a special version of the famous social network Facebook for drivers. Facebook, which will be integrated into Mercedes-Benz cars, offers a limited set of features, not to distract the drivers. The set of tools available are related to points of interest that drivers can share with friends and also to the GPS location. Thus, you can see where your friends are by using this service, which is useful for group traveling abroad. For driving safety, typing messages and posting while the car is in motion is disabled. Although Mercedes claims that the Facebook integrated service aboard the car is safe and has the same level of distraction as a GPS device or a sound system, the safety criteria remain questionable.