Articles by Viknesh Vijayenthiran

Mercedes-Benz this week started production of its sixth-generation S Class at its main plant in Sindelfingen, Germany, and in an official video showing the production line one of the cars featured just so happens to be the high-performance S63 AMG variant.The latest S63 AMG model is yet to be revealed, officially, though clearly the cars are already in production. This video shows the S63 AMG with its front fully revealed. We know it is the S63 AMG by its enlarged air intakes in the front bar, AMG-spec wheels and “S63” badge on the trunk lid.Interestingly, the styling of this model is somewhat restrained compared to some other cars we’ve seen launched by AMG recently, namely, the 2014 E63 AMG and 2014 CLA45 AMG. As for what's under the hood, we're likely to see the base model adopt the 410 kilowatt version of the twin-turbocharged 5.5-litre V-8 fitted to the 2014 E63 AMG. A new S-Model with even more power may also be introduced, just as we saw with the latest E63 AMG.A seven-speed AMG SPEEDSHIFT dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive are expected, too, and should be the standard setup for cars delivered to the U.S.The new S63 AMG will be joining the rest of the 2014 S Class range in showrooms late this year. Shortly after launch, we should also see a new S65 AMG powered by a twin-turbo V-12. The same V-12 rates at 463 kilowatts and 1000 Newton metres of torque in the 2013 SL65 AMG, and we would expect this to carry forward to the new S65 AMG.www.motorauthority.com

BMW’s newfound focus on vehicle electrification isn’t likely to be some flash in the pan affair. The automaker already has around 100,000 people around the globe eager to test drive its upcoming i3 electric hatch, according to the automaker’s sales chief Ian Robertson.The information was revealed by the BMW exec during a recent interview with Automotive News. He also revealed that a “significant number” of deposits for the i3 had been received and that the car was likely to be a game changer for the electric car segment.This will be due, according to Robertson, to the car’s industry shaping technology and relatively low expected pricetag. It has been previously reported that the i3 will cost about the same as a well-equipped 3-Series.As for the innovative technology, this will include carbon fibre construction, which is usually reserved for cars costing in the six-figure range, new charging technology and efficient electric drive systems.The basic i3 will come with a five-door body and electric motor rated at 125kW/250Nm, driving the rear wheels via a fixed-gear transmission. On a single charge of its lithium-ion battery, owners should expect a driving range of 150km.A second version uses a 650cc two-cylinder petrol engine (from BMW's scooter line-up) acting as a range-extender to give 300km of travel when a full tank of petrol and batteries at 100 per cent capacity are employed.Though we’ve seen many i3 concepts since the announcement of the original ‘Megacity Vehicle,’ we’ll finally get to see the production version at the 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show in September. The first showroom examples should arrive in overseas markets before the year is out, and land here in 2014.BMW’s upcoming i3 electric car will be priced similar to a reasonably-equipped 3-Series sedan in the US, which means a starting price there of around $40,000. However, Australian buyers are likely to pay more than $60,000 when it arrives here in 2014.That estimation takes into account our higher prices for cars, and the levels already set by the less-prestigious Holden Volt at $60,000, and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and Nissan Leaf -- both of which were just under $50,000, with the Leaf taking another price cut recently to $39,990 drive-away.www.motorauthority.com 

Talk of a new Toyota Supra dates back almost as far as when the last generation of the car, the MkIV Supra, bowed out of the market in the early part of the last decade. All manner of rumours pertaining to a new generation have emerged since then, including the adoption of hybrid technology, switching to a mid-engine layout, and the latest spin: sharing a platform with a new BMW sports car.  What hasn’t emerged in that time is official comment on a new Toyota Supra--until now. Speaking with Bloomberg, Toyota’s incoming chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada, the man credited with fostering the original Toyota Prius, said the company’s new sports car being developed with BMW should be a mid-size vehicle comparable to the Supra. At the start of this year, Toyota and BMW reaffirmed plans for the joint development of a new sports car for their respective brands, which we’ve previously reported could eventuate into a new Supra for Toyota and a new Z4 for BMW--or possibly even a new 8-Series.  In his latest interview, Uchiyamada said Toyota must be careful not to launch a second sports car that would overlap its current GT 86/Scion FR-S. “That’s what I want but it’s not me who makes the decision,” Uchiyamada said, adding later that the decision would be up to the company’s engineers. Whatever the end result of the collaboration between Toyota and BMW, we're keen to see it. Fortunately, we may not have to wait long--a concept could arrive as early as this fall, at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. www.motorauthority.com  

It’s been three years since we first heard Porsche’s confirmation it would be returning to Le Mans’ premier LMP1 category in 2014, with a brand new works team and car. Porsche has been working overtime since then, in order to get its team ready for the start of the 2014 World Endurance Championship but more importantly for the 24 Hours of Le Mans race that is always the highlight of the season. Today, we get our first look at the LMP1 prototype that will form the basis of Porsche’s Le Mans assault. The car has just completed its first rollout at the hands of works driver Timo Bernhard. The drive took place at Porsche’s test track in Weissach, Germany and was attended by the whole board of directors. Developing a new LMP1 is no easy task, especially with rivals as strong as Audi and Toyota, which have already had a number of successes with their own prototypes. Porsche said it needed to expand its Weissach facilities considerably, including building a new workshop and office complex, just to house the 200-plus staff working on its LMP1 project. Unfortunately, no details on the car have been revealed, though it’s expected to feature a petrol powerplant as its main power unit to help separate it from Volkswagen Group stablemate Audi, which will likely stick with its proven TDI diesel technology. At the same time, there will be at least one form of energy recovery technology in line with the 2014 regulations for the LMP1 category. Don’t be surprised if we see the car’s technology tied with that found in the upcoming 918 Spyder. “From 2014, the regulations are primarily based on efficiency,” Porsche’s LMP1 project chief Fritz Enzinger said at the conclusion of the rollout test. “This makes the competition amongst engineers more interesting and presents us with completely new challenges.” As for the driver lineup, so far only two drivers have been named: works drivers Timo Bernhard of Germany and Romain Dumas of France. Bernhard comes from the Porsche junior driver development program and in 2010 won at Le Mans with Audi. Dumas, meanwhile, is both a Porsche and Le Mans veteran, and has several wins under his belt. Porsche, of course, is a veteran of Le Mans itself, having won overall at the legendary endurance race 16 times. If you’re wondering how Audi will react when a Porsche LMP1 lines up the grid next year, according to its works driver Alan McNish, a former Porsche driver himself, the competition will be as fierce as that between any other brands. The coming year is certainly shaping up to be a great year for race fans, especially with the new regulations coming in for Formula One and the start of Formula E electric car championship. And with the added competition in Le Mans, road car fans also have reason to cheer as few other forms of motorsport have such a direct influence on the development of new road car technology. “The engineers were able to start with a blank sheet of paper in the design of the new LMP1,” Porsche CEO Matthias Müller explained. “Hence, they were able to apply many new technologies within the framework of the regulations that will also benefit the customers of our road legal automobiles in the future.” www.motorauthority.com

If you want to know why we’re so crazy about AMG’s new compact range of performance cars, just take a look at this quick video.It shows the A45 AMG hatch being put through its paces at the legendary Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari race track in Italy, otherwise known as Imola.Behind the wheel of the car is AMG’s own driving instructor Lance David Arnold, who quickly goes through some of the car’s main performance features. His favourite attributes are the car’s emotional driving pleasure, powerful performance and everyday usability.Under the hood is a turbocharged and direct-injected 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, which develops 265 kilowatts and 450 Newton metres of torque. Drive is sent to all four wheels via an AMG SPEEDSHIFT DCT seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and according to Mercedes, the car needs just 4.6 seconds to reach 0-100km/h. Top speed is limited to 250km/h.The A45 AMG will be priced from $74,900AUD and arrives in Australia in September. The CLA45 AMG will arrive soon after. www.motorauthority.com

Fresh from its appearances at the 2013 Geneva and New York auto shows, Rolls-Royce’s new Wraith finally gets a chance to stretch its legs.Here we see the elegant coupe take to some of Britain’s country roads, with the car’s product manager, Philip Harnett, sitting behind the wheel.He lets us share the journey by providing an intimate explanation of what it feels like to drive the new Wraith.We also learn about the extensive testing program the car was put through before being signed off for production. Durability and performance testing took place at the Nürburgring while extreme weather tests were done in the heat of California’s Death Valley and the cold of northern Sweden.The end result of Rolls-Royce’s hard work is the marque’s fastest and most powerful model to date. The Wraith, which is powered by a 616-horsepower version of the Rolls-Royce Ghost sedan’s twin-turbocharged 6.6-liter V-12 engine, needs just 4.6 seconds to reach 60 mph.One other standard feature of the Wraith worth mentioning is its unique Satellite Aided Transmission. Using GPS data about the road ahead, the Wraith pre-selects the correct gear for the terrain--effectively shifting intelligently based on topological, road map, and other key data.Hopefully we’ll have a chance to experience it firsthand when deliveries commence in the fourth quarter of 2013.www.motorauthority.com 

Opel’s flagship Insignia sedan, hatch and Sports Tourer wagon have received a slew of updates as part of their respective mid-cycle refreshes

In August of 2012, Spyker filed a US$3 billion lawsuit against General Motors in a U.S. District Court in Michigan, alleging that the American auto giant deliberately forced Spyker-owned Saab into bankruptcy by blocking a planned asset purchase by Chinese investor Youngman Lotus. General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] retaliated by seeking a motion to dismiss the case, which in turn was opposed by Spyker within a couple of months of the original lawsuit being filed. GM’s argument was that the deal under which it sold Saab to Spyker in 2010 allowed it (through preferred stock) to veto any new financing or restructuring for Saab. Spyker, meanwhile, claimed that GM’s actions were unlawful. Fast forward to today, and it has been confirmed that GM has won the dismissal of the lawsuit. US District Judge Gershwin A. Drain determined that the language of the contract made between GM and Spyker over the original sale of Saab was “clear, unambiguous and absolute.” He will issue a written order in two weeks, according to Bloomberg, which Spyker can then access and decide if it wants to appeal. At present, neither GM nor Spyker have any significant involvement with Saab, although Spyker through its dealings has the right to use some of Saab’s technology. Saab and most of its assets are now the property of National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), which plans to start production of Saab-branded eco cars in China and Sweden. www.motorauthority.com  

Late last week, news broke that the assets of niche sports car manufacturer TVR, which hasn’t built a car since 2006, had just been sold. At the time, it wasn’t clear who the new owner was or what they planned to do with the assets, but we can now confirm that TVR will remain a sports car manufacturer for the time being.TVR’s previous owner, Russian businessman Nikolai Smolenski, had announced plans to use the company’s production facilities to start churning out wind turbines instead of sports cars. Thankfully, he ended up selling the business before the switch could happen.He sold the business to a British firm registered as TVR Automotive, whose director, Les Edgar, was interviewed recently by Top Gear. Edgar, whose background is in video games, though he also has links with Aston Martin, revealed that TVR’s new owner was keen to stay true to the brand’s roots (i.e. building raw sports cars with insane levels of performance).He also said TVR Automotive had the resources and acumen to succeed where Smolenski failed and that a lot of research was involved before the deal to purchase TVR’s assets was made.Unfortunately, the British exec couldn’t reveal any more details due to a non-disclosure agreement. Let’s hope we won’t have to wait too long until the next titbit of information surrounding TVR’s revival is revealed.www.motorauthority.com 

The former CFO of Porsche SE, the holding company once responsible for sports car manufacturer Porsche and now a majority owner of Volkswagen, has been convicted of credit fraud by a court in Porsche’s home town of Stuttgart, Germany. The former CFO, Holger Haerter, was found guilty of making incomplete and misleading statements about the value of Volkswagen share derivatives held by Porsche SE back in 2009, when the company was attempting to secure a multi-billion dollar loan from French bank BNP Paribas in order to take over Volkswagen. According to Reuters, he was fined €630,000 (approximately $824,000) for the offence, despite BNP representatives claiming during the case that they never felt misled. Haerter, understandably, plans to appeal. It all started in 2007 when Porsche SE started increasing its ownership in Volkswagen. By 2009 Porsche SE’s stake had increased to 50.76 per cent and the new loans were needed to finalise the takeover. Unfortunately for Porsche SE, German state laws and its own mounting debts (which it used to finance the original purchase of the Volkswagen shares) ultimately forced it to turn to Volkswagen itself for help, leading to Volkswagen’s own purchase of shares in Porsche the sports car manufacturer from Porsche SE. This separate deal was finalised only last year with Volkswagen now fully owning Porsche the sports car manufacturer. Porsche SE, meanwhile, was able to retain its 50.76 per cent stake in Volkswagen. The failed takeover attempt not only cost then Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking his job, but it also cost investors of the parties involved billions once it became known. A group of investment fund managers are still attempting to recover some of the lost funds, estimated to be as much as $2.6 billion. www.motorauthority.com