A report by the BBC says that top officials at Renault held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the company's future in Formula One. This comes on the heels of Toyota's official departure announced the same day.
The report said Renault was considering whether to stay in full time, become an engine supplier or pull out altogether.
UPDATE: Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn told reporters today that Renault will make a decision on its participation in Formula One by the end of the year.
BBC Sport: Renault Considers Formula One Exit
FT: Renault stays cagey on F1 future
Categories: Motorsports,Renault
FIA slapped the ING Renault Formula One team a two-year ban at a hearing Paris today for orchestrating a crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to provide an advantage to Fernando Alonso (who won that race). The ban is suspended, however, provided Renault is not found guilty of "a comparable breach" over the next two years.
The team will reimburse FIA for the cost of the investigation and make "a significant contribution to the FIA's safety work," according to the FIA statement.
Renault's decision not to contest the charges evidently contributed to the lenient sentence, as did its dismissal of Managing Director Flavio Briatore and Executive Director of Engineering Pat Symonds. FIA placed an indefinite ban on F1 drivers forming business associations with Briatore while banning Symonds from any participation in a FIA-sanctioned event for 5 years.
Alonso has been cleared of any involvement in the scandal, though he attended today's hearing. FIA has taken no punitive action against the whistleblower, former Renault driver Nelson Piquet, who admits that he crashed his car deliberately on that fateful day.
IL News -- Formula 1: Renault Gets Suspended Two-Year Ban in Race-Fixing Scandal
Categories: Motorsports,Renault
A quick roundup of the news in Formula One today:
First off, there's the mess that is Renault. FIA announced it would call team representatives before the World Motor Sport Council on Monday in Paris to answer charges that the team conspired with former driver Nelson Piquet to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. Said crash resulted in the deployment of the safety car -- to the advantage of teammate Fernando Alonso, who went on to win that race.
Renault moved quickly, dismissing Managing Director Flavio Briatore and Executive Director of Engineering Pat Symonds. The team issued this statement on its web site: "The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix."
The UK-based Times has published a piece with some of the radio traffic from the day of the race, and it does little to exonerate Renault. Notably, there's considerable conversation between Symonds and Piquet reconfirming lap numbers; plus, Symonds orders an unusually early pit for Alonso.
Times Online
IL News: Scandal in Formula 1 as Renault Won't Contest Race-Fixing Charges and Team Heads Quit
More on Lotus and BMW after the jump.
Photo source: ING Renault F1
Continue reading F1: Renault Goes Into Self-Destruct, Lotus Returns, BMW Sells .
Categories: BMW,Lotus,Motorsports,Renault
F1 driver Felipe Massa came through surgery just fine, and has been awakened on multiple occasions to allow communication with family, CNN is reporting. Massa, of course, underwent surgery for head injuries sustained when he crashed during Hungarian GP
qualifying on Saturday. He remains in an induced coma, but doctors at AEK hospital in Budapest are expected to bring him out of it later today.
Ferrari's Massa was hit in the helmet by a 2-pound spring that came loose from Brawn's Rubens Barrichello's car. At speed, the impact was enough to knock him unconscious, causing him to lose control of his car and crash into a tire barrier. The official F1 website even has a diagram of the crash.
Just about every story you read on this topic today has suggestions for how safety might be improved in Formula (everything from stronger helmets to closed cockpits). And for the moment, the Renault team has been suspended after Fernando Alonso's right front tire came loose as he was leaving the pits on Sunday and bounced across the track.
Do you think additional safety measures should be taken in open-wheel racing, or was Massa's accident a freak occurence in a sport that invariably presents some risk to participants?
CNN International
Inside Line News: F1 Racing Driver Massa Improving after Injury; Debris Incidents Called "Very Disturbing"
Update: The Guardian quotes one of Massa's doctors as saying, "He has suffered some damage to his [left] eye. We don't know if he'll be able to race again."
Photo Source: SpeedTV
Categories: Ferrari,Motorsports,Renault
Considering how many American autoworkers are losing their jobs this year, the reaction here has been comparatively mild. To our knowledge, no one has threatened to blow up a plant. But that's exactly what's going down in France right now.
All 316 workers at the partsmaker New Fabris will be losing their jobs after the factory closed June 16. New Fabris was a parts supplier to Renault and PSA (the Citroen-Peugeot alliance), and the workers are demanding 30,000 euros (almost $43,000) each in compensation from the automakers.
They've set a deadline of July 31, and workers are taking turns guarding cannisters of acetylene and butane once used to power tractors at the plant.
Auto Observer: French Auto Workers Threaten To Blow Up Factory
Associated Press
Categories: Citroen,Peugeot,Renault
In what can only be considered a win for the Formula One Teams Association in its contentious stand-off with F1's governing body, the FIA president Max Mosley has agreed to not run for a fifth term this fall.
It was Mosley who pushed budget caps for the 2010 season, which were wildly unpopular with established teams such as Ferrari, Toyota, McLaren and Renault. There will apparently be no spending cap for next season, although the sport's commercial boss, Bernie Ecclestone has said that he expects costs will be brought in line with spending levels from the early-90s in two years. No specific details of the agreement have been released.
Eight teams, including most of the biggest, most competitive, threatened to start a rival series, taking the big-name drivers and big budgets with them.The teams have agreed to stay in Formula One reportedly to 2012 to get the deal done.
Categories: Ferrari,Motorsports,Renault,Toyota
According to the Wall Street Journal, General Motors is considering the idea of selling its Saturn unit to Renault. The French automaker would use the Saturn dealer network as a launching pad for a new lineup of small, fuel efficient vehicles.
Renault already controls Nissan and Samsung Motors, so Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn may consider the acquisition of Saturn a cheap way to get its European products into the U.S. market.
WSJ: GM Considers Turning Over Saturn to Renault
Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Renault,Saturn
WorldCarFans.com is reporting that Fiat & PSA/Peugeot-Citroen are about to merge. The story, which apparently originated in Italy, states the reason for the merger is to try and survive the global financial crisis. It's that simple: merge or die.
So here we have one more example of just how far-reaching this economic debacle is. If this merger does come about, it would create the fourth largest automaker in the world, rivaling VW and Renault-Nissan in scale.
Full story here.
Here's Inside Line's take: PSA and Fiat Reportedly at the Altar for Economy-Driven Marriage
Categories: Auto Industry,Citroen,Fiat,Nissan,Renault,Trends,Volkswagen
Further evidence of the GM-Chrysler deal going through, is that Chrysler and Nissan have stopped their discussions. The reason being is that Chrysler would rather do their deal with GM. Neither Cerberus nor Nissan would comment on the situation.
So I guess the big question is can financing for this mega deal be be obtained, as that seems to be the biggest stumbling block at the moment.
Full story here.
Categories: Chrysler,General Motors,Nissan,Renault
Michelle Krebs, the Grand Godess of AutoObserver. has really outdone herself here, with a really excellent report on what might happen if this GM-Chrysler deal comes to pass.
Also rather revealing, is the listing of the various Chrysler products and the vehicles that are cross-shopped against them. Good stuff!
The World Without Chrysler As We Know It -- And the Road Kill Left Behind
Categories: Auto Industry,Chrysler,Dodge,General Motors,Jeep,Nissan,Renault
You can add one more rumor to the "As the Chrysler Turns" auto industry soap opera: that being that Renault has expressed interest in acquiring the Jeep brand.
This raises more questions than it provides answers: If Jeep goes to Renault, what would that mean for a GM-Chrysler deal? Isn't Jeep one of the primary carrots being offered by Chrysler LLC--to any new buyer, be it GM or anyone else? Without Jeep, would a GM-Chrysler (or ?-Chrysler) deal be less likely to happen?
Full story here.
Speaking of a GM-Chrysler deal, AutoObserver adds one more "no vote" to this silly idea.
GM-Chrysler Deal to Save $10 Billion - From Where?
Categories: Auto Industry,Chrysler,General Motors,Jeep,Renault
This is interesting if for no other reason that Chrysler's CEO, Bob Nardelli, has confirmed that there have been discussions with other parties "interested in exploring future possibilities." He added that no final decision has been made one way or the other. It's unusual that such a comment would be made on a topic like this. I guess, with all the news on this possible merger over the last few days, Nardelli felt something needed to be said.
Full story here.
Also, GM is not the only suitor for Chrysler. Renault-Nissan, Fiat and Tata have expressed interest as well.
Full story here.
Categories: Auto Industry,Chrysler,Fiat,General Motors,Nissan,Renault,Tata Motors
Here we go again folks. Another rumor of a possible industry merger between GM and Chrysler. The question is: does this one have legs? With all that's going on in the financial market, does this now make more sense than it did before?
It's well known, or at least suspected, that Cerberus would love to get out of this Chrysler mess. Even so, I cannot for the life of me see what's in it for the General. Redundant models, already a huge problem at GM, would only get worse by including Chrysler models. I suppose the Jeep brand is worth saving, especially since GM is dropping the Trailblazer and its cousins. Beyond that I just don't get it. Maybe their are manufacturing synergies to be gained, or the possible link to both Nissan and Renault have possibilities since Chrysler has a toe in the door there?
Stay tuned folks. This should be interesting.
Full story here and here.
UPDATE: It looks like Cerberus is interested in acquiring all of GMAC. Back in 2006 they bought 51 percent of GM's finance arm, and now it looks like they want the whole kit and kubutle. No further word on possible merger mentioned above.
Full story here.
UPDATE 2: Many analysts are skeptical of such a move--but if it does come to pass, expect major job losses, as there would be a huge amount of job duplication which would need to be eliminated.
Full story here.
Categories: Auto Industry,Chrysler,General Motors,Nissan,Renault
The one thing that's predictable about the Paris auto show is that the vehicles that will debut will be unpredictable. Only the Tokyo auto show is wackier than the Paris show.
Among French automakers, Renault is sure to hold up this unpredictable theme, as they and others have been fine-tuning their art for decades. This year is no exception, as they will show the Ondelios, which is a luxury CUV hybrid. So they've covered all the buzz-word segments here, and have added the expected unexpectedness in terms of design.
For starters, the vehicle has gullwing doors, a feature usually reserved for Benz and Benz wannabes. It seats six, with six individual chairs. It's powered by a 2.0 dCi turbo diesel engine, with two 20kW electric motors at the front and rear that use a brake and boost system, recovering energy during braking then delivering it to the engine to boost acceleration. The crossover is also equipped with a lithium-ion battery that can deliver power of up to 4kW/h.
Renault claims a 0-62 mph in 7.8 seconds, as well as 53.2 US mpg.
Full story here.
Here's Inside Line's take: 2008 Paris Auto Show Preview: Renault Ondelios
Categories: All Auto Shows,Hybrids,Paris Auto Show,Renault,SUVs,Tokyo Motor Show
VW, and possibly Fiat and Renault too, are considering putting forth rally teams for the WRC. I think this is great news if it comes to pass. I say the more the merrier.
Personally I think the WRC is the most exciting form of 4-wheeled motorsport out there. And unlike NASCAR, the racers bear more than a passing resemblance to "stock" cars--like those you might find in showrooms.
Full story here.
Categories: Fiat,Motorsports,Renault,Volkswagen
