PSA Peugeot Citroën obtient le label "origine France" pour six voitures

PSA rappelle qu'il a produit l'an dernier en France deux fois plus de v?hicules qu'il n'en a vendu. Face au marasme du march? automobile europ?en, il est toutefois en train de r?duire la voilure dans l'Hexagone, avec la fermeture pr?vue en 2014 d'Aulnay-sous-Bois, dans la Seine-Saint-Denis, et la suppression de onze mille deux cents postes en tout entre la mi-2012 et la mi-2014. Le premier constructeur automobile fran?ais compte aussi demander la labellisation d'autres v?hicules produits en France et qui seront lanc?s plus tard.

Pour l'obtenir, il faut que "le produit pren[ne] ses caract?ristiques essentielles en France (le produit prend sa forme distinctive en France)", et que "50 % ? 100% du prix de revient unitaire de ce produit so[ie]nt acquis en France". Il avait ?t? lanc? en mai 2011 par le pr?c?dent gouvernement dans le but de valoriser les produits fran?ais aupr?s des consommateurs. Le ministre du redressement productif du gouvernement actuel, Arnaud Montebourg, s'est fait le chantre du "made in France", en particulier dans le secteur industriel.

Le japonais Toyota, qui produit sa gamme Yaris dans son usine de Valenciennes (Nord) va aussi b?n?ficier de ce label.

Suspension de la grève à PSA Aulnay

La CGT indique avoir obtenu l'annulation des poursuites p?nales et disciplinaires contre certains gr?vistes, dont quatre avaient ?t? licenci?s, et l'assurance que les jours de gr?ve ne seront pas d?compt?s dans le calcul notamment du 13e mois, "ce qui att?nue fortement les pertes financi?res de la gr?ve". En ?change, la CGT abandonne son recours en justice contre le plan social.

Seule la CGT n'avait pas vot? le plan de sauvegarde de l'emploi valid? fin avril par la direction et les autres syndicats.

Lire aussi : L'usine PSA d'Aulnay acte sa propre fermeture

INCIT?S ? PARTIR

"Les quelque 130 salari?s gr?vistes qui feraient le choix de quitter le groupe avant le 31 mai pourront b?n?ficier d'une indemnit? compensatoire" de 19 700 euros, a expliqu? la direction. Ceux qui en b?n?ficient s'engagent ? ne pas saisir les prud'hommes.

"Les non-gr?vistes n'ont pas droit" ? cette indemnit?, a soulign? Brahim Loujahdi, d?l?gu? CFTC de l'usine, syndicat qui a sign? le plan social avec la CFDT, la CFE-CGC, FO et le GSEA. Concr?tement, gr?ce ? l'indemnit? exceptionnelle, un salari? gr?viste avec dix ans d'anciennet? partira avec 50 % de plus (60 000 euros, contre 40 000 euros pour un non-gr?viste) que ce qui ?tait pr?vu dans le plan social, selon M. Loujahdi.

"ACC?L?RER LES CHOSES"

Mais le directeur des ressources humaines du groupe, Philippe Dorge, a contest? toute in?galit? de traitement. Les gr?vistes qui partiront avant fin mai renoncent ? leur pr?avis, ? la p?riode de volontariat et au budget formation (jusqu'? 10 500 euros) pr?vus dans le plan social, a-t-il soulign? lors d'une conf?rence de presse. "Il n'y a pas d'indemnisation suppl?mentaire", a-t-il insist?.

"On a ouvert une porte. (...) D'autres salari?s doivent pouvoir y adh?rer", a plaid? Philippe Julien, secr?taire g?n?ral de la CGT du site. "Ils vont ?tre oblig?s de l'?tendre ? tout le monde car sinon ?a va chauffer", a aussi pr?venu M. Loujahdi. "Si la direction fait ?a, c'est pour acc?l?rer les choses" et fermer l'usine "bien avant 2014", a-t-il regrett?.

"G?CHIS SOCIAL"

"Pour l'ensemble des salari?s, la fermeture de l'usine reste toujours inacceptable et injustifi?e", ?crit la CGT dans son tract. "Cette fermeture est un v?ritable g?chis social qui aura des cons?quences d?sastreuses au niveau de la r?gion. C'est pourquoi, si les salari?s ont d?cid? de suspendre la gr?ve, ils n'ont pas renonc? ? d?fendre leurs droits", pr?cise-t-elle.

Mardi, "de 7 heures ? 9 heures, on va manifester dans l'usine", a ainsi ajout? le secr?taire g?n?ral de la CGT de l'usine, Philippe Julien.

Lire la synth?se : A la peine en Europe, PSA doit encore r?duire ses co?ts

Le site, dont PSA a programm? la fermeture pour 2014 afin d'ajuster ses capacit?s de production en Europe, produit au compte-gouttes depuis le d?but de l'ann?e. L'usine emploie environ 2 500 personnes.

Le plan social de PSA, qui pr?voit 8 000 suppressions d'emplois en France, reste contest? en justice par des repr?sentants de salari?s d'un site de la filiale Faurecia. Le tribunal de grande instance de Paris doit rendre sa d?cision sur cette plainte le 6 juin.

Pour aller plus loin lire la note de blog : PSA : c'est encore loin la mer ?

Wheels Blog: Wheelies: The Luxo-Fisker Lutz Edition

Larry W. Smith/European Pressphoto Agency VL Automotive – headed by former G.M. executive and vocal car guy Bob Lutz – made a bid with a Chinese parts manufacturer to buy ailing Fisker Automotive.

In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:

• What do Bob Lutz and a Chinese auto parts manufacturer have in common? If they have their way, they’ll be the new owners of Fisker Automotive, the struggling hybrid-electric carmaker that laid off most of its workforce earlier this year. Mr. Lutz, a former General Motors executive, runs VL Automotive. The boutique car company teamed up with the parts maker Wanxiang and offered $20 million to buy Fisker, which still owes $171 million in loans to the Department of Energy. Although VL Automotive’s Destino uses a gasoline V-8 in a Fisker Karma, Mr. Lutz has been a vocal advocate of electric and hybrid cars as the way of the future. (Reuters)

• George Michael – the singer, not the character from “Arrested Development” – was injured last week after he apparently fell out of a Range Rover traveling at 70 miles per hour. Top Speed reports that Mr. Michael fell out of his vehicle on a busy highway just north of London, having tried to open and close his door quickly because it wasn’t properly shut. He was admitted to the hospital, but his publicist said the injuries were minor. (Top Speed)

• Facing annual summer production scale-backs, at least two of the Big Three indicated that they would try to minimize this year’s slowdown. Although General Motors hasn’t commented on its summertime production expectations, Ford and Chrysler said they planned to boost production of certain models over the summer. Ford’s typical two-week summer shutdown will be reduced to a week, which the automaker estimates will boost production by about 40,000 vehicles. Chrysler plans to keep three of its factories open through the summer, stepping up Jeep Grand Cherokee and Cherokee, Dodge Durango and Viper production. The automaker’s engine and transmission plants will also operate without a summer break. (Automotive News)

• Automobile Magazine has named its all-star vehicles for 2013. In alphabetical order, they are: the Audi A7; the BMW 3-Series; the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1; the Ford Focus; the Honda Accord; the Mazda CX-5; the Porsche Boxster; the Ram 1500 pickup; the Subaru BRZ/Scion FR-S; and the Volkswagen GTI. The publication called the current era “the golden age of sports cars,” highlighting driver-oriented models like the Toyobaru twins and the snarling Camaro ZL1. And the V-6 Honda Accord coupe? Automobile’s staff swears the soul of an NSX lives in there somewhere. (Automobile Magazine)

• In other awards-related news, Toyota has been named by BrandZ as the world’s most valuable automotive brand for 2013, edging out BMW. The list’s top three spots were claimed by Apple, Google and IBM; McDonald’s and Marlboro also made the top 10. The closest marques behind 23rd and 24th-ranked Toyota and BMW were Mercedes, in 43rd place, and Honda, in 71st. Volkswagen took the 100th spot in the annual survey. (The Green Car Website)

La production française de PSA et Renault chute de 32 % au premier trimestre

La production hexagonale du premier constructeur automobile fran?ais, PSA, a recul? de 35,7 % sur un an ? 230 337 unit?s, indique le CCFA. Le recul est limit? ? 23,7 % pour Renault, dont la production a atteint 118 060 v?hicules.

La production mondiale de PSA a recul? de 18,8 % ? 712 936 unit?s et celle de Renault de 7,9 % ? 658 587 voitures et utilitaires l?gers. Si la marque Renault souffre (- 10,8 %), la production des mod?les Dacia, qui sont fabriqu?s hors de France, a augment? de 23,7 %.

RESTRUCTURATION

La production hexagonale des deux groupes avait d?j? baiss? de 16,4 % en 2012, ann?e o? ils avaient produit 1,65 million de v?hicules ? eux deux dans le pays. Ils ont entam? tous deux une vaste restructuration de leurs activit?s en France pour faire face ? la baisse continue de la demande sur ce march? et sur le march? europ?en.

Au total, plus de 11 200 postes seront supprim?s entre mi-2012 et mi-2014 chez PSA, qui employait encore un peu plus de 91 000 salari?s en France ? la fin 2012. Cela va se traduire entre autres par des plans sociaux et la fermeture de l'usine d'Aulnay, en r?gion parisienne, pr?vue pour l'an prochain. Renault, qui a r?duit sa pr?sence en France au fil du temps, comptait 54 000 employ?s ? la fin 2012.

Lire : Le duel du losange et du lion change de cr?neau

Plusieurs dizaines de salari?s de l'usine PSA Peugeot Citro?n d'Aulnay-sous-Bois ont occup? mardi des locaux, ? Paris, de la d?l?gation g?n?rale ? l'emploi et ? la formation professionnelle. Ils ont r?clam? l'intervention de l'Etat entre la direction et les ouvriers d'Aulnay en gr?ve depuis plus de trois mois, ainsi que la suppression des mesures disciplinaires contre certains salari?s.?Une d?l?gation, compos?e notamment de repr?sentants des syndicats CGT et CFDT, ?tait re?ue dans la matin?e par des responsables de la d?l?gation g?n?rale ? l'emploi. La semaine derni?re, le comit? d'entreprise de l'usine, qui emploie quelque 3 000 personnes, a ent?rin? le plan de sauvegarde de l'emploi, prenant ainsi acte de sa propre fermeture.

Le plan de restructuration de PSA, site par site

En juillet 2012, le constructeur a annonc? un vaste plan social. Ce dernier pr?voit le d?part de 8 000 salari?s, ainsi que la fermeture de l'usine d'Aulnay-sous-Bois – d?cision qui a fait l'objet d'un long bras de fer entre la direction, les syndicats et le gouvernement.

Hors production, les r?ductions d'effectifs vont toucher la recherche-d?veloppement (1 400 postes), la direction industrielle (1 325), marketing (570) et 284 postes dans les autres directions. Le Monde.fr a fait un ?tat des lieux des sites fran?ais du constructeur.

Dans la?carte ci-dessus (voir en plein ?cran), sont indiqu?s en vert les sites o? aucune annonce majeure n'a ?t? faite, en jaune, les sites concern?s par une cession, en orange ceux qui ont ?t? touch?s par une r?duction d'effectifs ou sont susceptibles de l'?tre et en rouge les sites concern?s par une fermeture.

Sur le site PSA d'Aulnay-sous-Bois, des hommes en lutte

La production va reprendre, pour huit mois, ? l'usine PSA d'Aulnay-sous-Bois?(lien abonn?s)

PSA lance ses 8 000 suppressions de postes (lien abonn?s)

Wheels Blog: Taking a Spin Around a Dirt Track in a Pro Lite Unlimited Racing Truck

Mike Caudill/Driven PR This Pro Lite Unlimited race truck is powered by a 347-cubic-inch Ford V-8.

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. – Casey Currie drummed in one message last Friday during our laps around the track at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park: “Slow! Slow down! Slow into the turn!” Currie, 29, who has motorcycles and Baja 1000 trucks, had good reason to worry.

After he had first showed me around the five-turn, about 1.1-mile course, we switched places. Now I had the wheel of this beastly Pro Lite Unlimited truck, a two-seat demonstrator that was otherwise comparable to single-seat entries in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, which competed here over the weekend.

Naturally, I envisioned soaring over the jumps, touching down on all four wheels and pitching sideways into each turn, where I would find the cushion on lightly packed dirt and shoot forward for the next suborbital launch.

But Currie communicated a healthy respect for the truck’s potency, its 2,800-pound mass, and its willingness to roll over if mishandled. He also stressed that the highly technical business of flying over jumps shouldn’t invite a cavalier attitude, lest we land on our chins or tailbones.

In fact, just before I had strapped into the driver’s seat and hooked my helmet to the truck’s intercom system, another driver in a 300-horsepower truck had gone end-over-end. Fortunately, he appeared to be uninjured after the wreck.

Mike Caudill/Driven PR Casey Currie, 29, was a little nervous about a journalist’s relative lack of experience behind the wheel of a racing truck.

For a reporter to get behind the wheel was unprecedented, so why was he letting me drive the truck? “I’m not sure,” he said, hardly able to hide his skepticism. “Have you ever driven on a track?”

My naming some big ones didn’t seem to allay his concerns about my ability. The fact is that he was stuck with a writer almost twice his age behind the wheel; the recent accident had clearly upset him.

While he was still strapped in, I nudged onto the track. As soon as the engine had fired up, normal conversation became impossible, but through the speakers inside my helmet Currie told me everything that could go wrong.

The truck’s lack of a windshield allowed me to see, ever so clearly, how imposing the jump hills looked. Rattling around in the back of my brain was a speech  that Rich Unferdorfer, the racing series fire safety director, had given at the drivers’ meeting. Flame-retardant socks were strongly encouraged, he had said.

Mike Caudill/Driven PR Ronald Ahrens, the author of this post, gets some wheel time.

Meanwhile, even though I’d bitten into my right cheek on a jump during Currie’s demonstration lap, I felt relaxed and comfortable in the racing seat. Cozied up to my right knee, throwing off a fair amount of heat through its sheet metal covering, the throbbing 347-cubic-inch Ford V-8 begged to go racing.

Reviewers of new cars might talk about instantaneous response, but boldly shooting forward in this rig required just one more red blood cell in my big toe. Everything about the truck reflected its intent to extend the driver’s reflexes. The steering had eye-blink directness. The tread of the big tires offered plenty of bite. And without 4-wheel drive, the truck’s rear-end wanted to swivel right around so we could power-slide through the corners.

“These ruts could make us roll over,” Currie said, breathing shallowly, as we entered a turn. “Are you braking?”

We seemed to be crawling, and I’d hardly touched the brakes on the first lap.

“Use the brakes,” he said.

Mike Caudill/Driven PR One of the turns at the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park in California.

Noticing the white flag waving, he expressed astonishment that we had been granted a third lap (and then another, which seemed almost endless, for a wholly unneeded cool-down).

I turned off the track, docile to the last. At least I hadn’t lost control and ruined someone’s day.

Mike Caudill/Driven PR Ronald Ahrens drives a racing truck at the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park in California.

BMW rappelle 220 000 voitures pour cause d'Airbag défectueux

Ce probl?me d'airbags, con?us par l'entreprise japonaise Takata, avait d?j? provoqu? il y a quelques semaines le rappel de plus de 3 millions de voitures fabriqu?es par Toyota, Honda, Nissan et Mazda.

Lire : Plus de trois millions de voiture japonaises rappel?es pour un probl?me d'airbag

"Nous avons ?t? inform?s par notre sous-traitant qu'il pouvait y avoir un probl?me avec ces airbags", a d?clar? le porte-parole de BMW, Bernhard Santer, ? l'AFP. Les voitures concern?es, fabriqu?es entre d?cembre 2001 et mars 2003, incluent diff?rents mod?les.

"Nous n'avons jamais eu aucun probl?me, il s'agit d'une mesure de pr?caution pour garantir la s?curit? de nos clients", a toutefois affirm? M. Santer, soulignant que le changement durait une heure et que son co?t ?tait pris en charge par BMW.

Le d?faut touche le syst?me pyrotechnique, cens? d?clencher le gonflement de l'airbag, avait expliqu? le minist?re des transports japonais en avril. En cas d'accident, l'airbag pourrait ne pas se d?ployer correctement et br?ler une partie de l'habitacle, entra?nant un incendie, avait alors indiqu? un porte-parole de Takata.

PSA va céder son site de Meudon

Selon le document distribu? aux syndicats en amont de cette r?union, "le co?t global du projet de cession du site et des optimisations n?cessaires serait de l'ordre de 9 millions d'euros."

D?M?NAGEMENT

Lors de la pr?sentation des r?sultats financiers du premier trimestre, le 24 avril, la direction du constructeur, qui perd toujours 100 millions d'euros par mois, avait pr?venu de l'imminence de nouvelles cessions. Cependant, alors que le groupe a engag? un plan de restructuration, qui pr?voit le d?part de 11 000 personnes d'ici 2016, "ce projet n'entra?nerait aucune suppression de postes" suppl?mentaires, pr?cise le document.

?

Projet de transfert des activites de Meudon-La-For?t

Les 660 employ?s de Meudon seront red?ploy?s sur les sites tertiaires de Poissy ou de V?lizy, en Ile-de-France, ainsi qu'? Vesoul pour une division de 21 personnes. "L'ironie, c'est qu'ils sont l? depuis deux ans et la fermeture du site PSA de Melun. Ce sera un second d?m?nagement en deux ans !", souligne une source syndicale. Sur les 660 salari?s, il y a une ?crasante majorit? de cadres et de techniciens agents de ma?trise. "La fermeture de ce b?timent ne pose pas d'importants probl?mes, comme dans le cas de la fermeture d'Aulnay par exemple", pr?cise un syndicaliste.

Pour PSA, cette cession permettra d'am?liorer le taux d'occupation des diff?rents centres tertiaires du groupe, progressivement vid?s par les plan de d?part qui se succ?dent depuis 2007. Apr?s ce d?m?nagement, le groupe ne sera pas au bout de ses r?organisations. Le mois dernier, il a lanc? officiellement le plan de restructuration tout en entamant une s?rie de mutualisations entre ses sites industriels en r?gion. Dans quelques jours, la direction lancera des n?gociations sur la comp?titivit? de l'ensemble de ses sites avec ses syndicats.

"Depuis plusieurs ann?es, nous allons de plan en plan, mais nous ne voyons toujours pas la fin de ce cycle n?gatif, constate un syndicaliste. Cela donne une impression de gestion au fil de l'eau. J'esp?re que la direction sait o? elle va. Et si elle le sait, j'aimerais qu'elle nous le dise rapidement..."

Lire (?dition abonn?s) : La production va reprendre, pour huit mois, ? l'usine PSA d'Aulnay-sous-Bois

Selon des informations communiqu?es mercredi par la direction, les n?gociations sur la mise en oeuvre d'un plan de comp?titivit? d?buteront le 29 mai. - (AFP)

Wheels Blog: Franchitti and Castroneves Pause in New York Before Indianapolis 500

Richard Drew/Associated Press Scotland’s Dario Franchitti, left, and Brazil’s Helio Castroneves were interviewed in New York on Monday.

On Monday, IndyCar sent the drivers for this Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 on a press tour to cities around North America. New York can rest easy in its title as the media capital of the world: it got the only pair of three-time Indy winners in the lineup, Dario Franchitti of Scotland and Helio Castroneves of Brazil.

Franchitti, the defending champion who also won in 2007 and 2010, is stuck in midpack, in the middle of the sixth row, after a weak performance by most of the Honda-powered teams in qualifying. His Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon of New Zealand, is next to him, in 16th starting position. Castroneves, in a Chevrolet-powered Penske car, starts eighth, in the middle of Row 3.

“I am worried,” Franchitti said of the apparent disparity between the Honda and Chevy engines, although most teams will be switching to fresh engines for the race itself, giving Honda a chance to perform some tweaks.

“Last year, we had an even bigger deficit,” Franchitti said. Obviously, that didn’t hurt him on race day. “The Honda guys brought in a new engine and made a big step forward in fuel consumption and horsepower. Hopefully, they can bring something similar this time.”

Castroneves offered some hope for Franchitti. “It doesn’t matter if you have the fastest car,” said Castroneves, who won the race in 2001, 2002 and 2009. “You need everything going right for you.”

Both drivers said they were impressed by the depth of driving talent and quality of the teams in this 500. “There’s probably 20-something cars that can win that race,” Franchitti said. “There’s a drop-off in some of the cars, but it’s only maybe three, four guys.”

Like the Kentucky Derby in horse racing, the Indy 500 is an event that draws many viewers who do not regularly follow the sport. Asked for viewing tips for newcomers, Franchitti pointed to “the subtleties of what’s going on.”

“You’re not going to see big slides or big steering movements,” he said. Instead, the in-car cameras, Franchitti said, can be telltales: any driver using anything but the smoothest, slightest steering input is having a handling problem.

He also suggested that viewers call up indycar.com to follow the race timing and scoring. “You can see if someone is moving up from the back of the pack,” he said.

“If you see a car really close behind another car, you know that person has a very good car,” Castroneves suggested, referring to the difficulty most teams have in getting a car to handle well once it is in the turbulent air coming off a car ahead.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway has received approval from the State of Indiana for millions of dollars in loans for improvements. One planned project would light the track for night racing. But Franchitti would not want to see the Indy 500 run under lights. “I don’t think you mess with 100 years of tradition,” he said.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images Helio Castroneves, driver of the No. 3 Shell V-Power/Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske Chevrolet, after qualifying for the 2013 Indianapolis 500.

Franchitti can appreciate tradition, being a serious student of racing history. “I read anything I can get,” he said. “I collect memorabilia. I talk to drivers who have gone before. No matter how long these guys have been out of the car, they still get it.”

(A little more from the history department: Castroneves and Franchitti are tied with Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford, Mauri Rose, Wilbur Shaw and Louis Meyer for the second-highest number of Indy 500 victories.)

He is the second Scot to win Indy, the other being Jim Clark, in 1965. Franchitti had a dream experience not long ago when he had the chance to drive Clark’s Indy-winning Lotus 38-Ford at the speedway. “It was something I never thought would happen, ” he said. “I saw it at the Henry Ford Museum. They let me walk behind the rope and touch it. I thought that was as close as I’d ever get to it. It was one of the greatest days of my life.”

A fellow Scot, Derrick Walker, will take over as the president of operations and competition for the IndyCar series after Sunday’s race (during which he will be the team manager for the pole-sitter, Ed Carpenter). Franchitti and Castroneves said they were happy to see Walker get the job.

“I think it’s a great hire for the series,” Franchitti said. “I pushed for it years ago. The only facet of experience he doesn’t have is as a driver.”

Walker owned his own team for many years and before that ran the Penske IndyCar team.

“There’s nothing like putting a person in that position who’s had to struggle to balance the books each year,” said Franchitti. Either he or Castroneves would be tied with A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser Sr. for the most Indy 500 victories with a win on Sunday.

And that would mean another trip to New York.

Ferrari, ou l'exception automobile

Le pr?sident de Ferrari, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, a annonc? mercredi 8 mai qu'il comptait r?duire sa production. La raison officielle ? "Pr?server le concept d'exclusivit? et donc la valeur de nos mod?les et de la marque". A Maranello, l'usine historique de la marque qui a vendu 7318 voitures en 2012, il a pr?cis? vouloir limiter la production ? moins de 7 000 exemplaires cette ann?e.

Pendant que les constructeurs automobiles, y compris dans le haut de gamme, s'?chinent ? miser davantage sur les mod?les qui marchent le mieux, la c?l?bre maison italienne jouerait-elle les snobs ? O? s'agit-il d'un habile artifice de communication pour masquer des perspectives de ventes d?cevantes ? On ne peut rien exclure.

Mais la marque au cheval cabr? a toujours appr?ci? cette strat?gie malthusienne. D?j? en 2003, il avait ?t? d?cid? de freiner globalement l'usine. Et aujourd'hui, les indicateurs de vente des voitures de sport rouges sont au beau fixe. Ferrari vient de clore la meilleure ann?e de son histoire en soixante-dix ans d'existence avec un chiffre d'affaires de 2,43 milliards d'euros (+8 %) et un b?n?fice net de 244 millions (+18 %). La filiale de Fiat g?n?re plus du quart des profits du groupe en repr?sentant moins de 1% de sa production automobile. Les carnets de commandes sont pleins.

Au salon de Gen?ve le 5 mars, la nouveaut?, baptis?e LaFerrari, a fait un tabac. Cette voiture hybride de 963 chevaux est vendue 1 million d'euros pi?ce, avec, c'est la moindre des choses, le si?ge du conducteur fabriqu? sur mesure en fonction de la morphologie du propri?taire. Le constructeur italien avait annonc? qu'elle ne serait produite qu'? 499 exemplaires, mais affichait plus de 700 commandes ? l'issue du salon.

C'est pourquoi Di Montezemolo assure que la baisse du nombre de voiture produite cette ann?e ne remet pas en cause ses pr?visions de hausse des b?n?fices. Cette raret? entretenue permet de maintenir les prix les plus ?lev?s du march?, et de g?n?rer des revenus compl?mentaires. Ferrari est la seule marque automobile ? tirer plus de 100millions d'euros par an de licences pour des produits de luxe.

Pour Fiat, la relative retenue de sa marque embl?matique, peut faire de la place ? Maserati, un peu en dessous dans l'?chelle du luxe. L'italien a investi dans une nouvelle usine d'assemblage de moteurs qui devrait permettre de monter les ventes de Maserati ? 15 000 unit?s en 2015. Les frustr?s de Ferrari pourraient y trouver une consolation.

jacquin@lemonde.fr

Agency’s Inquiry Covers 400,000 Ford Pickups

A new federal study shows that too many prisons and jails tolerate sexual abuse.

If the good guys can’t have guns on planes, only the bad guys will have guns on planes.

Renault : l'usine de Flins va fabriquer des Nissan Micra dès 2016

"Un mois et demi apr?s la signature d'un accord de comp?titivit? chez Renault, le constructeur fran?ais et son alli? japonais vont annoncer aujourd'hui, selon nos informations, la production de la prochaine g?n?ration de Nissan Micra dans l'usine fran?aise du Losange ? Flins ? partir de 2016", avance le journal. Contact? par l'AFP, Renault n'a pas souhait? faire de commentaire.

Renault, dans le cadre d'un accord de comp?titivit? sign? en mars en France, s'est engag? ? augmenter les volumes produits dans ses cinq sites fran?ais et ? produire aussi pour des partenaires ? hauteur de 80 000 unit?s par an. Son PDG, Carlos Ghosn, avait promis d'en dire plus d'ici ? l'?t?. Le groupe fran?ais assemble d?j? dans l'Hexagone des v?hicules pour Nissan et pour l'allemand Mercedes.

Lire : L'accord de comp?titivit? sign? chez Renault

La France rétrogradée au 4e rang du palmarès européen des voitures propres

La France est ? nouveau r?trograd?e au palmar?s europ?en des voitures neuves les moins ?mettrices de CO2, et occupe d?sormais le quatri?me rang, m?me si elle continue d'am?liorer ses performances en la mati?re, indique, mercredi 24 avril, l'Agence de l'environnement et de la ma?trise de l'?nergie (Ademe).

LES VENTES DE VOITURES DE CLASSE A EN HAUSSE

En 2010, la France s'?tait hiss?e au deuxi?me rang du march? des voitures neuves les plus "propres" (130 g) gr?ce au bonus-malus, mesure du Grenelle de l'environnement, mais aussi ? la prime ? la casse, qui s'est arr?t?e ? la fin de cette ann?e-l?. En 2011, le pays avait gliss? ? la troisi?me place, ex-aequo avec l'Irlande, avec une moyenne d'?missions de 127 g. Si elle perd du terrain, la France n'en est pas moins dans les mesures des objectifs europ?ens, qui fixent une moyenne maximum de 130 g de CO2/km pour les voitures neuves en 2015, et 95 g en 2020.

L'Ademe note d'ailleurs que les ventes de voitures de classe A – dont les ?missions sont inf?rieures ou ?gales ? 100 g – sont pass?es de 5 % en 2011 ? 14 % des v?hicules vendus en 2012. "Cette importante progression s'explique par l'offre croissante de mod?les performants appartenant ? la classe A", avec soixante-quatorze mod?les en 2012 contre cinquante et un en 2011, souligne l'Ademe.

A cet ?gard, les voitures les plus "propres" sont la Renault Clio (berline et break) dans la cat?gorie diesel, avec 83 g de CO2/km, qui d?tr?ne ainsi la Smart ForTwo, qui affichait 86 g l'an dernier. Pour la cat?gorie essence, les v?hicules hybrides restent les plus "performants" avec Toyota en t?te avec sa Yaris (79 g). L'Ademe propose un comparateur en ligne de la quasi-totalit? des v?hicules particuliers vendus en France : ?mission de CO2, consommation de carburant, affichage des ?missions de polluants.

PSA va supprimer plus de 800 emplois d'intérim à Sochaux

La direction explique cette d?cision par la "chute des march?s en Europe"?et les perspectives moroses de vente pour le second semestre 2013 des mod?les Peugeot 3008, 5008 et Citro?n DS5. "Les int?rimaires iront au terme normal de leur contrat, qui ne sera ensuite pas renouvel?", a-t-elle pr?cis?. Les salari?s permanents seront quant ? eux "red?ploy?s" dans les ?quipes de jour.

"Le nombre d'int?rimaires tombera ainsi entre 350 et 400 personnes, un niveau proche du point bas de 300 atteint en 2009", rel?ve Pascal Pavillard, responsable du syndicat FO du site. "L'impact sera ?galement fort sur les fournisseurs automobiles locaux", pr?dit-il.

L'?quipe de nuit avait ?t? cr??e en octobre 2009. Selon la direction, il n'est pas exclu qu'elle soit reconstitu?e "vers la fin du premier semestre 2014", ? condition que les perspectives de march? repartent ? la hausse et que la rempla?ante de la 308, que Peugeot s'appr?te ? lancer, remporte un "franc succ?s".

Le plan Varin pr?voit par ailleurs 579 suppressions de postes parmi les salari?s permanents de Sochaux, qui sont actuellement au nombre de 11 500.

Lire aussi : PSA : le recours des syndicats rejet?

Wheels Blog: Euro Tuner Cars Rally For Cheesesteaks

Nathan Laliberte Jameson Willoughby, a copy machine repair technician from Northern Virginia, eating a Philly cheesesteak on the rear deck of his Lotus Elise.

Last Saturday, I rode shotgun in an all-black BMW M3. Behind the wheel was Andrew Pollock, 26, an engineer from New Jersey, who had allowed me to be his co-pilot for the fourth annual Euro Philly Cheesesteak Run, a road rally that culminated at Tony Luke’s Cheesesteaks in South Philadelphia.

The 40-mile journey began in the parking lot of a Dick’s Sporting Goods in New Jersey. Mr. Pollock, in khaki shorts and a graphic T-shirt, let his left hand dangle loosely over the top of the steering wheel while his right deftly toggled the shift knob. Upon arriving at Tony Luke’s, which is by an I-95 overpass, Mr. Pollock said it would be best to buy a cheesesteak before looking at the hundreds of cool cars in the parking lot. “Better hit up the line now, otherwise you’ll be waiting for hours,” he said.

Tony Luke’s serves what is widely regarded as one of the best cheesesteak sandwiches in town. As is typical at cheesesteak restaurants in Philadelphia, customers must order in a Philly dialect. “Whiz wit” means you want a cheesesteak slathered in Cheez Wiz and topped with diced onions; “whiz widdout” means you want Cheez Whiz but not the onions; provolone is “provi”; peppers are “peps.”

Nathan Laliberte Andrew Pollock’s black BMW was one of the entrants in this year’s Euro Philly Cheesesteak Run.

After ordering a cheesesteak whiz-wit and a mug of Mountain Dew (when in Philly …), I went to the parking lot where participants were eating on their car trunks. The lot was filled with European tuner cars – I counted 120 in total. I talked with several owners about top speeds and 0-60 times. Jameson Willoughby, a copy machine repair technician from northern Virginia (“In five years, I’ve only encountered one copier I couldn’t fix”), huddled over the spoiler of his 2005 Lotus Elise, eating a cheesesteak with peps and whiz.

“The guys at work think I am getting paid too much,” he said, as we discussed the performance specs of his Lotus. “What they don’t know is that I also deliver pizzas at night to support the car habit.”

One man, holding his 6-month-old daughter, said he had recently bought a Recaro baby seat for his customized Audi S4. “She already loves cars,” he said.

Nathan Laliberte About 120 European sports cars showed up for the fourth annual cheesesteak rally last weekend.

A man standing beside a late model Porsche 911 said he had recently beat a Ferrari off the line. “I took the rev-limiter chip out, and now I can smoke just about anything.”

His 9-year-old son, wearing a blue T-shirt with a Porsche logo, was standing next to his father. I asked the boy if he had enjoyed the rally. He smiled and made sweeping motions on his belly and said, “Cheesesteaks! Cheesesteaks!”

City Room: 25 Gas Stations Fined for Price-Gouging After Hurricane

Barton Silverman/The New York Times Drivers waited for gas on Long Island after Hurricane Sandy. (The station shown is not one of those found to have gouged prices.)

Twenty-five gas stations in New York State agreed to pay a total of $167,850 in fines for price-gouging in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced on Thursday.

The stations included a Lukoil on Pelham Parkway in the Bronx that raised its price by $1.10 per gallon after the storm, from $4.29 to $5.39, even as the wholesale price the station paid fell by one cent, the attorney general’s office said.

Another station that paid a fine, a Mobil on Crescent Street in Long Island City, Queens, raised its price by $1.03 per gallon after the storm, from $3.86 to $4.89, while the wholesale price fell by two cents.

“As New Yorkers were sitting in lines waiting for hours to buy critical supplies of gasoline, some shady business owners were trying to make a fast buck at their expense,” Mr. Schneiderman said in a statement. “Today, we are sending a powerful message that ripping off New Yorkers during a time of crisis is against the law and we will do everything in our power to hold them accountable.”

The attorney general’s office received hundreds of complaints of price-gouging after the storm. Mr. Schneiderman said that investigations were still pending against dozens of other stations.

International: The Biggest Car Show You May Never Have Heard Of

But the Techno Classica show, held each spring at the Messe Essen exposition center here, is a relative secret. Though vast, it is little known in the United States.

Techno Classica, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, combines dealer exhibits with car-club displays and a classic-car auction by Coys, along with hundreds of vendors selling new and used parts, accessories, clothing, die-cast model cars, literature and manuals.

Techno Classica may be the closest thing the classic car world has to an all-encompassing trade show. Consider the numbers: 2,500 cars on display, 234 participating clubs, 1,250 vendors and 1.3 million square feet of display space. Nearly 200,000 people attended over five days in mid-April.

Essen is in northwest Germany just 30 minutes by cab or train from the Düsseldorf airport. And while it’s not Paris, Essen has its charms even though little of the old city survived Allied bombing in World War II. (The next Techno Classica is scheduled for March 26-30, 2014.)

Some of the larger American shows, like the concours at Pebble Beach in California and Amelia Island in Florida, feature enthusiastic participation by new car manufacturers. But at Techno Classica, automakers’ involvement is positively off the charts, with a strong presence by Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Citroën, Ferrari, Ford, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Opel, Peugeot, Porsche, Volkswagen and Volvo. The companies’ lavish displays suggested that they were all aware of the equity in their heritage.

BMW’s display was particularly impressive, celebrating the history of the “M” cars from its Motorsports division and the 90th anniversary of BMW motorcycles. And just to remind everyone of what country they were in, a giant beer tap was set up in the trunk of a BMW 502 sedan from the 1950s. The tap seemed to be in service nonstop from the 9 a.m. opening until the 6 p.m. close.

Club displays ranged from the Spartan — a few cars with owners and club members sitting nearby — to the elaborate and often incomprehensible — like a Borgward Isabella sitting in a large makeshift bathtub. The more humble displays tended to showcase autos, like the Trabant and Wartburg, from the former East Germany.

A great deal of what was on display would have been wholly unfamiliar to all but the most knowledgeable American enthusiasts, including the Borgward — along with its companion Lloyd and Hansa marques — and the cars of Glas and Bitter. The profusion of never-seen-in-America models from familiar marques like BMW, Volkswagen and Opel would hold the attention of a curious American enthusiast nearly indefinitely — or at least as long as one could stare at a display of tiny Volkswagen Polo GTis and unfamiliar versions of the BMW 2002, like the Turbo and the Touring hatchback.

The number of vendors was remarkable even if some of the wares were rather standard swap meet fare. Every car show on the planet seems to have a guy selling a miracle metal polish that will make an empty soda can shine like a mirror.

As one might imagine, given the location, Techno Classica was short on ’57 Chevy grilles and long on Karmann Ghia bumpers and taillamps. One could pass the time staring into seas of red and amber taillamp lenses and puzzling over what cars they fit.

One vendor specializing in rebuilt vintage radios claimed to have virtually every type of postwar Blaupunkt unit, with prices starting at a lofty $392 for a basic unit that appeared to have come from an old VW Beetle. Steering wheels, carburetors, interior fabrics and leathers were common. Aside from wares for popular German marques, quite a few British vendors offered parts and accessories for MGs, Triumphs and Austin-Healeys.

Behind the Wheel | 2014 Aston Martin Vanquish: Candy for the Eyes, Music to the Ears

Rolls-Royce and Bentley, brothers-in-arms for decades, were split up and absorbed by, respectively, BMW and Volkswagen. Both brands have achieved record sales since. VW also revived Lamborghini and Bugatti, lavishing resources and components to allow these tiny and often-troubled brands to thrive as never before. Ferrari and Maserati, once fierce Italian rivals, now share and share alike, playing nice within the Fiat family.

Even Porsche, so proud of its record as a small independent, succumbed to hubris and tried to swallow Volkswagen in a takeover — and found itself eaten by VW instead. Yet Porsche, too, sells more cars than ever around the world.

Among the pedigreed names, that leaves two British marques, Aston Martin and the even tinier Lotus, standing with no sugar-daddy automaker to lend support.

For Aston Martin, that tenuous position raises a question: how strongly can the company — propped up for now by Italian private equity and Middle East petrodollars — compete against Ferrari or Bentley, brands with munificent parents helping to pay the bills?

One thing’s for sure: 10 minutes in the company of the 2014 Vanquish, and even a casual car fan would wish this 100-year-old company a fruitful second century.

That’s because the Vanquish, which assumes the DBS’s position atop the Aston hierarchy, seems to be appreciated by one and all as one of the world’s most nakedly pretty automobiles. It’s hard to drive the Vanquish anywhere, and impossible to stop, without people popping up to remind you of that fact, as though you were showing off a particularly photogenic child.

Second, and almost unfairly, the sound of this Gabriel is as beautiful as its looks, a 12-cylinder, 565-horsepower Hallelujah chorus. That’s a 55-horsepower jump from the DBS, with additions like direct injection, dual variable valve timing and a “big wing” intake manifold.

Oddly, perhaps, that sound and beauty trace their roots to workaday Detroit. Ford owned Aston outright from 1994 to 2007, bequeathing a new factory in Gaydon, England. It also carved out space in a plant in Cologne, Germany, where Aston is hand-building its 5.9-liter V-12 engines.

Tooled up and modernized, the oldest living sports car company went from just 43 worldwide sales in 1993 to nearly 6,900 by 2007. Just as important, a longtime Ford designer, Ian Callum, blossomed into a star with the DB7 of 1994. That DB’s signature shape was burnished in the later DB9 and Vantage by Callum’s successor, Henrik Fisker (now perhaps better known for the troubled plug-in car company that he started, then departed).

The Vanquish is the most blazing riff yet on that 20-year theme. By updating Aston’s bonded-and-riveted aluminum platform and a V-12 engine whose thirst is increasingly at odds with regulations, the Vanquish works to justify its $282,110 base price, a cinematic splurge of luxury and force.

Making its glamorous way through the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, the Vanquish stood out like the Duchess of Cambridge at the local tattoo parlor. In Manhattan, when the Aston growled up to a Chelsea wine bar, the Italian managers threw open the building’s glass-walled garage door to better display the car, despite chilly temperatures; one joked that I should just pull the Aston inside.

Such gratuitous charm is influenced by Aston’s $1.8 million One-77 supercar, including the Vanquish’s all-carbon-fiber body, demure recessed grille and a valved exhaust system that opens its gilded throat under acceleration. Buyers can expose a little or a lot of the lightweight carbon twill by opting to forgo paint on the roof or side mirrors, or to leave a full wraparound carbon-fiber band on the lower body. In any case, the driver will cringe every time the low front air dam sands the pavement.

Peugeot remet les compteurs à 8

Le premier chiffre indiquait la cat?gorie, le "0" central ?tait cens? d?signer l'identit? de la marque et le dernier, repr?sentant la g?n?ration du mod?le, montait d'un cran lors de chaque renouvellement. Or, cette belle m?canique a fini par s'enrayer. Compte tenu de l'?largissement de la gamme, il a fallu introduire un double z?ro ? partir de 2005 (1007, 3008, 5008) pour d?signer les mod?les ? "architecture sp?cifique" (SUV, crossovers, monospaces).

NE PAS BROUILLER LES CARTES

La num?rotation ? la mode Peugeot - qui allait s'?puiser apr?s la s?rie des 9 - fait partie du paysage automobile europ?en, mais elle est peu lisible sur les march?s ?mergents, l? o? la marque au lion mise l'essentiel de son avenir.

Enfin, Peugeot a ?galement r?alis? que le renouvellement permanent des num?ros l'emp?chait de capitaliser sur la notori?t? d'un mod?le ? succ?s. Exemple type?: la 206 aurait eu tout ? gagner ? s'appeler 205 et ? s'inscrire dans le sillage de ce mod?le culte. La Volkswagen Golf, elle, surfe sur son succ?s depuis quatre d?cennies.

A la fin de l'ann?e, la 308 sera donc renouvel?e sans changer d'appellation. Ce qui, au passage, permettra de ne pas brouiller les cartes en rappelant le souvenir de la 309. Un mod?le controvers? apparu en 1986 et qui avait ?t? con?u par Simca. Ult?rieurement, la 107 deviendra la 108 afin que tous les mod?les se terminent une fois pour toutes par un 8. En parall?le, les chiffres se terminant par 1 seront utilis?s pour identifier les mod?les "low-cost" destin?s - pour l'instant - aux march?s ?trangers. La Peugeot 301 - notamment commercialis?e en Europe de l'Est et au Moyen-Orient - a d?j? ouvert le bal. En attendant de futures 201 et 401.

Wheels Blog: Wheelies: The Electric Phantom Edition

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars The Rolls-Royce Phantom 102EX.

In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:

• It sounds like something from an elaborate April Fools’ joke: an electric Rolls-Royce. The Rolls-Royce Phantom 102EX has not done so well in the market since its 2011 release. Torsten Muller-Otvos, the company’s chief executive, told Edmunds on Monday that Rolls-Royce customers just didn’t bite. He admitted that they tended to be very conservative, preferring little change in the cars they drive over the years. It appears that for now, even as other automakers move toward electric, hybrid and other more efficient means of propulsion, Rolls-Royce will stick with its venerable V-12 for a while longer. (Edmunds)

• General Motors became an unexpected history maker on Wednesday, becoming the first auto manufacturer to sign a call for climate change action. A coalition of businesses interested in eco-friendly practices drafted the Climate Declaration, attracting the support of companies including Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s and the North Face. G.M. said it already had been making an effort to be more environmentally conscious by cutting energy use in its facilities. (Green Car Reports)

• In other G.M. news, the company acted quickly to pull down a television ad some in China considered racist. The ad featured music from Parov Stelar’s jazzy “Booty Swing,” which includes the lyrics, “Now, in the land of Fu Manchu, The girls all now do the Suzie-Q, Clap their hands in the center of the floor, Saying, “Ching, ching, chop-suey, swing some more!” The South China Morning Post picked up on the lyrics, taking G.M. to task for it. Digging a little deeper, “Booty Swing” may not have been the best choice of songs, because it samples heavily from Lil Hardin Armstrong’s 1930s-vintage “Oriental Swing.” (Wheels.ca)

• Although recent surveys show that American car buyers favor more fuel efficient vehicles and tighter fuel efficiency standards, full-size pickup truck sales are booming, up 27 percent industry-wide last month. Accordingly, the Ford Motor Company announced plans to add a third shift to the Kansas City assembly line that builds F-150s. The increase in production at the factory will create about 2,000 jobs. Ford had promised the United Auto Workers union in 2011 that it would create 12,000 American jobs by 2015. Ford says this new, truck-spurred boost will put the company at the 9,000 mark. (USA Today)

• The fact that Toyota is the world’s largest carmaker is thanks in no small part to its Camry, which has been an American best seller for more than a decade. But as Toyota struggles to keep the staid family sedan in the number one spot for the 12th consecutive year, Honda is making tracks to the top with its Accord. Honda sold 33,538 Accords to Toyota’s 31,710 Camrys last month, amid a slight decline in sales among other Toyota brands. April was the second straight month the Camry has been unseated by another brand. In March, it was outsold by the Nissan Altima. (Bloomberg)

• Nissan cut prices on seven of its vehicles sold in America, in hopes that the models will appear in more Internet searches. For example, the company’s top-selling Altima midsize sedan will receive a 2.7 percent cut – about $600 – as it competes with the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord for best-seller status in the United States. General Motors said it would follow suit, reducing the price of its Chevrolet Malibu by up to $770. (Yahoo Finance)

• Apple may be trying to get into the heart of car manufacturing; the part that seems to matter most to consumers, at any rate. Some sleuthing done by 9to5Mac uncovered a possible plot by the computer company to begin working directly with auto manufacturers in creating vehicles’ infotainment systems. According to the company Web site, Apple posted job listings for “in-car” engineers and software managers. Unlike Volkswagen’s iBeetle, which incorporates an iPhone into the car’s infotainment system though third-party apps, 9to5Mac’s sources indicated that in conjunction with Siri, the iPhone’s display screens would be integrated with the car’s onboard display. It could be something, or not. Either way, it seems that the people who make decisions about such things are thinking about it. (9to5Mac)

Sans reprise en Europe, Michelin devra restructurer ses activités

Michelin devra restructurer ses activit?s en Europe si les march?s des pneumatiques ne s'am?liorent pas, a pr?venu lundi 22 avril le directeur financier du groupe fran?ais.

"Si les volumes demeurent aux niveaux actuels, cela impliquerait bien s?r certaines restructuration en Europe, c'est ? l'examen, mais rien n'est encore d?cid?", a d?clar? Marc Henry, directeur financier de Michelin, au cours d'une t?l?conf?rence avec les analystes.?

LES VENTES DE PNEUS POIDS LOURDS EN BAISSE

Le chiffre d'affaires de sa principale division "tourisme camionnette" a baiss? de 6,5 % ? 2,6 milliards. Les ventes de pneus ?quipant des v?hicules neufs ont recul? de 11 % en Europe et celles de pneus de remplacement de 9 %.

En Am?rique du Nord, la progression a ?t? limit?e ? 1 % pour les ventes de pneus "premi?re monte" et elles ont recul? de 2 % pour les pneus de remplacement. Cela n'a pas pu ?tre compens? par la progression enregistr?e en Asie (hors Inde), tir?e par la Chine et l'Asie du Sud-Est et celle en Am?rique du Sud.

Les ventes de pneus poids lourds ont baiss? de 7,9 % ? 1,5 milliard, selon un communiqu?. L? encore la situation est contrast?e entre l'Europe et l'Am?rique du Nord, o? les ventes "premi?re monte" chutent, l'Asie et l'Am?rique du Sud.

Les autres activit?s (pneus destin?s aux ?quipements de g?nie civil, agricole, deux-roues et avions) n'ont pas ?t? ?pargn?es avec une baisse de 13 %. Michelin maintient pour autant ses pr?visions d'une stabilit? en 2013 de ses volumes et de son r?sultat op?rationnel avant ?l?ments non r?currents. Le flux de tr?sorerie devrait ?tre positif.

Wheels Blog: My Other Car Is: A 1965 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

Courtesy of Vince Vespe Vince Vespe’s 1965 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible.

Vince Vespe admits that dating a German woman – and perhaps hoping to make points with her father, a Volkswagen owner and aficionado – influenced his decision to buy a red, white-topped Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible in 1961. As it turned out, his relationship with the German car outlasted the one with the German woman.

Then, in 1962, Mr. Vespe, who had just started his career as a history teacher, took the Karmann Ghia on a cross-country road trip with a friend, spending two months crossing the continent and traversing Mexico.

Mr. Vespe bought a 1965 convertible model after a drunken driver hit his ’61 Karmann Ghia. The new one was red with a black roof and interior. It came with worthwhile upgrades over the 1961 version, including a gas gauge and the optional AM/FM radio.

Courtesy of Vince Vespe Vince Vespe’s 1965 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible.

Built on a wider VW Beetle chassis, the Karmann Ghia took its name from the German coachbuilder that assembled it and the Italian design company that shaped its pretty lines. The car was introduced as a coupe in 1955, with a convertible added in 1957. Both were built until 1974.

Ghia had also been responsible for building several Chrysler concept cars in the 1950s, including one that evolved into the limited-production Dual-Ghia luxury car, as well as the Norseman prototype that sank off Nantucket aboard the doomed Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria in 1956. Ford Motor Company bought control of Ghia in 1970, and Ghia-built prototypes influenced the design for the 1974-1978 Mustang II.

The underpowered Karmann Ghia was more “sporty” than sports car, but its perky style, reliable powertrain and easygoing road manners made it popular around the world. Volkswagen manufactured about 445,000 of the cars, building another 42,000 of a Karmann Ghia variant known as the Type 34, which had a handsome, squared-off body resembling the 1960 Chevrolet Corvair. That model was not officially imported to the United States, but numerous owners shipped them here individually.

Fans of the 1960s TV show “Get Smart” will remember the Karmann Ghia’s appearance in the opening credits on some episodes, when Volkswagen sponsored the show.

Courtesy of Vince Vespe The Karmann Ghia remained Vince Vespes only car until 1974.

After the 1965 Karmann Ghia entered Mr. Vespe’s life, so did a new woman, Gail, who would become his wife. For their honeymoon, the newlyweds, both teachers at Bergenfield High School in New Jersey, packed the convertible with a tent, cans of Dinty Moore beef stew and other supplies and spent their summer break on the road, revisiting Mr. Vespe’s earlier adventure to California and Mexico. They camped in state parks for 50 cents a night.

“It was safe to drive through Mexico back then,” said Mr. Vespe, who lives in Hillsdale, N.J. “Gas was 25 or 30 cents, and the car got about 40 miles per gallon.”

The Karmann Ghia’s diminutive 1,200 c.c. air-cooled flat-4 engine, which made all of 40 horsepower, remained a reliable partner for the entire trip. Mr. Vespe did all the driving, because his wife didn’t have a driver’s license and couldn’t drive a stick shift anyway.

In 1969, the Vespes tried to drive the Karmann Ghia to the Woodstock Music festival, but were halted by the torrential rain that ended up turning the concert field into a giant mud puddle. They took the trusty convertible on one more cross-country and Mexico drive in 1971. Mr. Vespe also recalled a later vacation trip to Florida, with their toddler son, Vince Jr., sitting in the rear “seat” (which is really no more than an upholstered luggage shelf) the entire way.

The convertible remained the Vespes’ only car until 1974, when they bought a larger Plymouth to accommodate their growing family, now with a daughter, Jacqueline. Ms. Vespe finally acquired a driver’s license and drove the Plymouth, while Mr. Vespe commuted in the Karmann Ghia, which by then had begun to rot.

Courtesy of Vince Vespe The back seat of a Karmann Ghia isn’t really much of a seat, but it was good enough for a toddler during a Florida road trip one year.

“The Karmann Ghias were terrible rusters, and the convertible would rot out faster than the coupe,” he said. “That’s why the convertibles are rare.”

When he couldn’t bear to watch the car get worse, Mr. Vespe patched its rough spots with duct tape and sprayed oil on various parts in an effort to slow the spread of cancer. He bought an Audi for daily driving in 1985, but still tooled drove his rusting Karmann Ghia on weekends. His daughter drove the car to her junior prom, duct tape patches and all.

Eventually, Mr. Vespe sent the Karmann Ghia to a Clifton, N.J., restoration shop, which spent two years returning the car to like-new condition. The shop finished the job in 2002, and Mr. Vespe said he was likely the only owner of a stock-condition 1965 convertible in the Karmann Ghia Club of North America.

“All the others are modified in some way,” he explained. Modifying engines to make more power, or installing larger VW or even Porsche 4-cylinder engines are common upgrades that Karmann Ghia owners make. “I always left mine stock,” he said.

Courtesy of Vince Vespe Vince Vespe’s 1965 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible, top up.

The Vespes’ Karmann Ghia has been solicited to appear in television commercials, and, three years ago, a production company rented the car to use in a remake of the 1960 film, “Butterfield 8,” for which Elizabeth Taylor won an Oscar in the original version. Mr. Vespe attended an all-day location shoot in Manhattan, but has not heard anything further about the movie’s completion or eventual release.

The Vespes, now retired, own two Audis but still drive the Karmann Ghia often. They finally made it to Woodstock, attending the various reunion events in the car. Mr. Vespe, who is 74, continues to do the driving, because his wife still can’t drive stick shift.

“I’ll keep it forever” he said. “I’ll drive that car into oblivion.”

Moody's dégrade la note de Peugeot

L'agence souligne que le constructeur fran?ais fait face ? un ?norme d?fi : redresser la barre dans un contexte difficile pour le march? automobile europ?en qui continue de se d?grader, notamment pour les mod?les bon march? et de moyenne gamme. "A moins que le march? d'Europe occidentale ne se redresse fortement en 2014 compar? ? ce qui est anticip?, PSA devrait ?tre contraint de proc?der ? de nouvelles mesures de r?duction de co?ts", estime Falk Frey, vice-pr?sident de Moody's, auteur du document.

Confront? ? la baisse des ventes sur son principal march?, PSA a pr?vu de supprimer 11 000 postes entre 2011 et 2014 en France (sur un total de 91 000) et de fermer son usine d'Aulnay-sous-Bois, en r?gion parisienne, en 2014. Il a aussi c?d? plusieurs actifs pour plus de 2 milliards d'euros, r?duit ses co?ts de 1,2 milliard et ses stocks.

LOURDES D?PR?CIATIONS D'ACTIFS

Moody's rappelle que les r?sultats financiers de PSA l'ann?e derni?re ?taient bien en dessous de ses pr?visions. Elle fait remarquer que, malgr? le lancement de nouveaux mod?les, comme la 208, PSA n'a pas ?t? en mesure de limiter le d?clin de ses parts de march? en Europe. PSA Peugeot Citro?n a essuy? l'an dernier la plus lourde perte de son histoire (– 5,01 milliards d'euros), payant le prix de sa d?pendance vis-?-vis du march? automobile europ?en morose, qui l'a conduit ? passer de lourdes d?pr?ciations d'actifs.

A court terme, Moody's est moins alarmiste, d'o? la perspective "stable", sugg?rant que l'agence de notation n'entendait plus la toucher ? court terme. L'agence de notation estime que PSA va mener dans les d?lais annonc?s son plan de restructuration et que les liquidit?s dont il dispose vont lui permettre de traverser cette p?riode de r?organisation. Moody's s'attend aussi ? ce que PSA arr?te l'h?morragie cette ann?e en Europe et puisse stabiliser sa part de march? gr?ce ? de nouveaux mod?les.

Lire : La crise est encore devant l'automobile europ?enne?(lien abonn?s)

L'usine PSA Peugeot-Citro?n de La Janais, pr?s de Rennes, sera en ch?mage technique pendant plus de trois semaines ? compter du 17 avril. La direction avait d?j? annonc? le mois dernier que, du fait des march?s en baisse en Europe, l'usine serait ferm?e jusqu'au 13 mai afin de co?ncider avec les cong?s scolaires puis les jours f?ri?s de d?but mai. "Mais on a un probl?me avec un fournisseur qui ne livre pas les pi?ces n?cessaires pour le syst?me de navigation d'un v?hicule et on a d? rajouter deux jours en fin de semaine prochaine", a expliqu? la responsable de la communication du site, Erika Louis-Roy.

Du c?t? des salari?s, David Ruellan, d?l?gu? du Syndicat ind?pendant de l'automobile (SIA), a ?galement vu dans cette annonce "un calendrier de commandes pas tr?s favorable". Mme Louis-Roy a pr?cis? que le ch?mage technique concernait la fabrication mais pas les cadres ni la recherche et d?veloppement. Environ 4 000 salari?s sur les 5 500 du site sont ainsi concern?s.

Renault va produire un nouveau véhicule pour Nissan

Le fourgon, assembl? depuis plus de dix ans en Espagne, embo?tera le pas ? son cousin Renault Trafic, dont la relocalisation en France est programm?e depuis plusieurs ann?es. Une version de l'Opel Vivaro, con?u sur une plate-forme identique pour le compte de la filiale europ?enne de General Motors, suivra le m?me chemin.

GAIN DE VOLUME

Renault d?tient 43,4 % du constructeur japonais dans le cadre d'une alliance forg?e en 1999, ? laquelle Daimler s'est associ? en 2010. Selon le groupe fran?ais, son partenaire allemand a d'ores et d?j? d?cid? d'augmenter cette ann?e de 26 000 unit?s sa production de Citan, la fourgonnette assembl?e sur la base du Renault Kangoo dans l'usine de Maubeuge (Nord). Barcelone ayant produit l'an dernier environ 4 600 Nissan Primastar et 800 Opel Vivaro, les trois mod?les pourraient repr?senter pour la France un gain de volume de l'ordre de 31 400 unit?s.

De son c?t?, la CGT juge trompeur d'int?grer les fourgons Nissan ou Opel dans l'objectif des 80 000 v?hicules, car ce choix industriel est selon elle ant?rieur ? la signature du pacte de comp?titivit?. L'usine de Sandouville, qui emploie actuellement 2 200 personnes, a ?t? reconvertie pour produire ? partir de 2014 la troisi?me g?n?ration du Trafic, moyennant un investissement de 230 millions d'euros. Le site ?tait sp?cialis? jusqu'ici dans le haut de gamme de la marque au losange – Espace et Laguna – qui sera ? l'avenir confi? ? l'usine de Douai (Nord).

Lire aussi : Renault : l'accord de comp?titivit? sign? mercredi par trois syndicats

Wheels: Semiautonomous Cadillacs Hit the Road for Testing

Monica Almeida/The New York Times Cadillac says its Super Cruise semiautonomous technology can allow motorists to let the car’s computer take over in bumper-to-bumper traffic typical of cities like Los Angeles.

It seems inevitable that there will be more and more cars with a computer rather than a human being behind the wheel in the years to come, and Cadillac has joined the race for auto autonomy. The company said Monday that it had begun testing a semiautonomous car, a vehicle that can handle driving functions without operator input in certain situations.

Cadillac calls its system Super Cruise, and it combines lane centering technology and full-speed adaptive cruise control to allow the automobile to handle steering, braking and speed regulation in situations like bumper-to-bumper traffic and highway driving, where direct driver input can be tedious and, in theory, unnecessary. The system would use components and technology that are already available in some cars, including radar, cameras, proximity sensors, and GPS data.

Dan Flores, a General Motors spokesman, said in a telephone interview that while Super Cruise would depend largely upon existing hardware, a lot of other technology was required as well.

“It involves taking in all this data, fusing it together and deciding what to do with it,” he said.

G.M. first introduced Super Cruise at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’s Driverless Car Summit in Detroit last June and has said the technology could make its way into production cars later this decade. The system has progressed beyond laboratory simulations and is being tested on the road.

“The best way to achieve reliable performance is to gather as much data as possible in the conditions our customers will experience,” said Jeremy Salinger, the research and development manager for Super Cruise, in a media release.

Cadillac says that when Super Cruise handles mundane driving chores, operator attention will still be required, adding, “When reliable data is not available, such as when there are no lane markings, the system will prompt the driver to resume steering.”

Asked how the car would be able to determine whether drivers were paying attention before requiring them to take over, Mr. Flores said, “That’s an issue we’re working on right now. We believe one of the challenges to semiautonomous driving is how do you determine that the driver is engaged.”

Bryan Reimer, a scientist studying driver behavior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has expressed reservations about semiautonomous technology, saying that it’s difficult to keep drivers involved if they have nothing to do. He said taking the workload away from a driver could cause understimulation and that was being lost in the debate about the future of part- and full-time driverless cars.

A basic tenet common to many studies of driver performance is the Yerkes-Dodson Law, a theory developed in the early 20th century that says human operators fail when there is too little to do and when there is too much to do.

Asked if the Super Cruise system might include a workload detection component that would cause it to take over control if the driver were overworked, showing signs of stress, Mr. Flores said, “There are a lot of things we’re looking at.”

“The intention is to bring Super Cruise to market later this decade,” he added, “but there are a lot of details we have to resolve.”

Peugeot veut rivaliser avec les trois roues de l'italien Piaggio

Le hic ? Ce segment des trois-roues est monopolis?, depuis six ans, par l'italien Piaggio et son MP3. Pl?biscit? par les cadres, qui l'utilisent comme une seconde voiture en ville, ce tricycle, vendu entre 5 600 et 9 200 euros selon le mod?le, il s'?coule en moyenne ? 12 000 exemplaires par an en France, ce qui repr?sente les trois quarts des ventes mondiales de MP3.

"Mais la concurrence ne nous effraie pas, assure Fr?d?ric Fabre, directeur g?n?ral de Peugeot Scooters. Nous entrons sur ce march? avec de vrais atouts pour nous diff?rencier, comme un moteur de 400 cm3 d?velopp? ? 100 % en interne ou des ?quipements qu'on ne trouve d'habitude que sur les voitures." Cl? ?lectronique, capteur de pression des pneus, feux ? LED... Le Metropolis est, il est vrai, richement dot?. M?me s'il ne propose pas de freinage ABS, comme la plupart des motos premium aujourd'hui.

Plusieurs technologies sont ?galement h?rit?es du savoir-faire automobile de la marque, explique-t-on chez Peugeot Scooters, comme le train avant suspendu ou le frein de parking ?lectrique. "Nous n'utilisons que des technologies maison et ne payons aucune licence ? Piaggio", assure M. Fabre.

20 MILLIONS D'INVESTISSEMENT

Au total, le fran?ais a investi 20 millions d'euros dans ce projet, qui a mobilis? 50 personnes durant trois ans. Le Metropolis sera fabriqu? ? Mandeure, pr?s de Montb?liard (Doubs), o? se trouve la derni?re usine tricolore de Peugeot Scooters. Il devrait d'ailleurs arborer un petit drapeau bleu-blanc-rouge sur son coffre arri?re. Le recrutement d'une centaine d'int?rimaires est pr?vu d'ici ? l'?t? pour renforcer les 500 salari?s de l'usine lors de la p?riode de lancement du Metropolis.

Prudent, Peugeot Scooters table sur une production de 4 000 ? 5 000 exemplaires par an, au moins dans un premier temps. "Nous visons 30 % de part de march?", indique M. Fabre. Mais une d?clinaison du Metropolis dans d'autres cylindr?es (125 ou 250 cm3) serait d?j? ? l'?tude. "Ce mod?le a ?t? con?u comme un produit de conqu?te", confirme-t-on chez PSA, qui d?tient la totalit? du capital du dernier fabricant fran?ais de deux-roues ? moteur (MBK poss?de encore une usine ? Saint-Quentin, dans l'Aisne, mais a ?t? rachet? par Yamaha en 1986).

D?LOCALISATION

La t?che s'annonce n?anmoins ardue. L'inventeur de la fameuse 103, une "mob" qui a fait les beaux jours de la marque dans les ann?es 1970 et 1980, est en perte de vitesse. Concurrenc? par les ta?wanais Sym et Kymco, dont les deux-roues low cost font un tabac, Peugeot Scooters n'a r?alis? qu'un chiffre d'affaires de 105 millions d'euros en 2012 et cumule les pertes depuis plusieurs ann?es.

Pour redresser la barre, la marque tricolore a d?localis?, en 2007, une partie de sa production en Chine, par l'interm?diaire d'un partenariat avec le fabricant local Qingqi. Mais ses ventes, notamment de mod?les de petite cylindr?e, ont continu? de baisser, ce qui a entra?n? la fermeture, fin 2012, de l'usine que le groupe poss?dait ? Dannemarie (Haut-Rhin), o? travaillaient 150 personnes. Les usines de Mandeure et de Dannemarie employaient encore 1 500 ing?nieurs et ouvriers au milieu des ann?es 2000.

"Le Metropolis est un scooter qui va nous permettre de mieux valoriser notre production en France et, ?l?ment non n?gligeable, de diminuer nos co?ts logistiques : importer des deux-roues de grand gabarit depuis la Chine a un co?t ?lev?", explique M. Fabre. En 2012, la moiti? des 70 000 scooters vendus par Peugeot ont ?t? fabriqu?s en Asie.

China Cracks Down on Military License Plates

What he had accomplished was getting a new license plate, which he held aloft under a headline that said: “Holding a new license plate, sense of responsibility in heart.”

In their latest attempt at cracking down on corruption, Chinese leaders are taking aim at license plates, specifically those on military vehicles. The military is issuing new plates and generally excluding luxury cars from receiving them. As of Wednesday, all military vehicles were supposed to have the new plates.

The campaign has ignited significant interest because many Chinese complain about regular abuses of privilege by people driving cars with military plates — speeding through traffic, taking the emergency lane and running red lights, for instance.

Police officers generally do not stop cars with military plates. Drivers with the plates can also avoid paying road tolls and parking fees. Because of the privileges attached to them, military officers have been known to sell them or pass them on to friends and relatives. An entire industry has arisen devoted to the creation and sale of counterfeit military plates.

“It is hoped that the new license plate policy will help to reduce such irregularities and dispel public anger resulting from military license plate abuses and other forms of corruption,” said an article by Xinhua, the state news agency.

Cars that will not receive military plates unless they are officially purchased as military equipment include models made by Bentley, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Porsche and Land Rover, Gen. Zhao Keshi, director of the army’s General Logistics Department, said in an earlier Xinhua report. Private vehicles and those of local officials will be ineligible for the new plates, he said, and anyone caught leasing, lending or stealing the new plates will be punished.

Southern Daily, an official newspaper in Guangdong Province, reported in 2011 that real military plates good for six years can sell for nearly $45,000, while fake ones can go for about $100.

Chinese leaders have tried introducing new military plates before, but abuses have grown. Luxury sedans with military plates are spotted with frequency on city streets. Chinese take photos of the vehicles and post them online, which inspires vitriol against the army.

The military plates campaign, announced this year, is being attributed to Xi Jinping, the new leader of China. Mr. Xi, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, has made fighting corruption a hallmark of the early months of his administration. Corruption is one of the main sources of animus directed by Chinese at the Communist Party. Mr. Xi has said corruption threatens the very existence of the party — and that he will pursue both “tigers and flies.”

Burnishing the military’s image is part of that campaign. Under Mao Zedong, the army had a reputation for honorable conduct and ascetic living, in contrast to the reputed decadence of officers of the Kuomintang, which the Communists fought to take over China. But in recent years, military officers have become known for a high-flying lifestyle.

Xinhua said replacing the military plates was only “a starting point for the military and government to curb corruption.”

“Those who use military vehicles must follow the government’s call to improve their work style, reduce extravagance and cultivate a more frugal and hard-working image,” Xinhua said.

The military began issuing the new plates on Sunday. That day, the People’s Liberation Army Daily ran an op-ed article by Xin Shihong that said: “In this age of the Internet, the moment a military car drives out of the barracks, its every move is under public scrutiny. Every word and action of the driver and passengers are carefully monitored.”

In Beijing, a resident of a complex of high-end apartments known as Central Park said military plates on luxury cars had once been common, but the plates had mostly disappeared after the policy was announced.

China is a huge and growing market for luxury carmakers, and it is unclear how the new policy on military plates and the general crackdown on wasteful spending by officials will affect the market. Stephen Green, head of Greater China research for Standard Chartered Bank, said he had heard that government purchases accounted for roughly 10 to 15 percent of all car sales in China. He said he did not have a breakdown for luxury car sales.

Alistair Thornton, a China economist for IHS Global Insight, said the crackdown on luxury living was already being felt across the consumer economy.

“The impact of the crackdown is not devastating, but there is certainly softness in the retail sales data,” he said. “The impact can most clearly be seen in the restaurant business, but there has been visible weakness in the auto market — something that will inevitably deteriorate should the crackdown intensify.”

On Wednesday, People’s Daily, the official party mouthpiece, published an editorial that said officials were finding ways to transgress and indulge in “low-key extravagance.” It said they were enjoying “saunas in farmhouses” and hiding expensive Maotai liquor in water bottles.

Some are questioning the new policy on military plates. Dong Zengshou, a party official at the Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, wrote on his microblog on Wednesday that there should be more scrutiny over who was driving the luxury cars.

“Who is using these extravagant military cars?” he wrote. “When will military vehicles stop being used for private matters? If we don’t answer these two questions, changing the license plates of these vehicles is nothing but a waste of money.”

Sue-Lin Wong contributed research from Beijing.

Electric Car Maker Files for Bankruptcy Protection

The filing with the federal Bankruptcy Court in Delaware will allow the Los Angeles company to get out of the auto sector and refocus on energy storage, a far less capital-intensive business. The company uses the same technology it used in cars to build systems for utilities and building operators to store power.

A group of lenders led by Fortress Investment Group plans to extend debtor-in-possession financing and will seek to acquire the company for $25 million through the bankruptcy process, Coda said in a statement.

Coda introduced its five-passenger electric car in California a year ago, delivering a range of 125 miles, or 200 kilometers, on a single charge.

The $37,250 vehicle was criticized for its no-frills styling, and its short history also included a recall because of faulty air bags.

Consumers have been slow to gravitate toward electric vehicles as a result of their high cost, and fears about their driving range.

Just three years ago, Coda was one of an emerging crop of California start-ups, including Fisker Automotive and Tesla Motors, seeking to build emission-free electric cars to appeal to mass-market consumers.

Investors poured money into the sector, and Coda raised $300 million in equity from backers, including Aeris Capital, the Limited Brands chief executive Les Wexner, and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

However, in 2012 the company withdrew its request for $334 million in federal loans like the ones Fisker and Tesla received.

As the allure of electric vehicles faded, Coda struggled to secure new private funding. Last year, Coda sought to raise $150 million but clinched just $22 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tesla has put thousands of cars on the road, but Fisker is considering a bankruptcy filing. The maker of lithium-ion batteries for Fisker, A123 Systems, filed for bankruptcy late last year.

General Motors and Nissan Motor also invested heavily in electric vehicles.

Coda has about 40 active employees and expects to recall 50 furloughed workers. Emerald Capital Advisors is advising Coda on its restructuring, and Houlihan Lokey is its investment banker.

Greentech: Squeezing More From Ethanol

The effort to untangle itself from this sticky situation is part of a larger proposal by the federal government to make the most sweeping changes in gasoline since lead additives were banned.

Tucked inside the E.P.A.’s March announcement of a plan to cut the amount of sulfur allowed in gasoline was an audacious suggestion that sought to solve all three ethanol challenges at once. The proposal, for a fuel that is 30 percent ethanol, could reduce tailpipe emissions and improve fuel economy — and even encourage drivers to use more ethanol.

“You make the dog like the dog food,” said William H. Woebkenberg, senior engineer for fuels policy in the United States at Mercedes-Benz.

The idea is that while today’s typical pump blend — E10, which is 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline — has drawbacks, a blend of 30 percent ethanol and 70 percent gasoline could take advantage of ethanol’s strengths. Unlike a flexible-fuel vehicle that can use E85 formulations but offers little financial or performance benefit, an engine tuned specifically for E30 would perform better on that fuel than on the standard E10, creating a market incentive.

The idea has widespread support among technical experts.

It also has another appealing aspect: current ethanol policy is probably unsustainable, because Congress has ordered the oil companies to use ever-larger amounts of ethanol. To comply with the mandate, ethanol levels would have to exceed 10 percent of each gallon of fuel, yet many automakers advise against using higher concentrations unless the car is equipped for it. With a declining demand for gasoline, the problem becomes more acute.

The 30 percent idea is laid out deep in the 938-page text of the proposed Tier 3 rule, which would lower the amount of sulfur in gasoline by two-thirds, to the level required in California. In the proposal, the E.P.A. asked automakers to comment on E30.

Like other efforts to introduce new fuels, it would require big investments at gas stations for blending pumps and storage tanks.

Still, there is a powerful incentive in the E.P.A. plan: offering automakers the option of having their cars certified on E30. Before a new car can be sold in the United States, the company must submit data on the vehicle’s pollution output and fuel economy to the E.P.A. Certifying with E30 would call for engines optimized to take advantage of the blend’s octane rating of 93 or perhaps higher.

Using high-octane premium-grade gas in an engine that does not require it offers no benefit. But in engines designed to squeeze the fuel-air mixture to very high pressures before igniting it with the spark plug, high-octane fuel burns predictably and can produce more horsepower. (On the other hand, burning low-octane gas in an engine tuned for premium grade can cause erratic combustion, or knocking, and result in severe engine damage.)

Ethanol contains only about two-thirds as much energy as gasoline, gallon for gallon. But if it is burned in engines designed for high cylinder pressures, it will produce competitive horsepower.

In general, the oil companies have opposed using higher concentrations of ethanol. The oil industry is trying to get Congress to change federal rules so they can use less ethanol, not more.

But various engine and fuel experts like the idea, because the E.P.A. is inviting the auto companies to take advantage of the good characteristics of ethanol, including an octane rating that is well over 100.

“That’s getting smarter,” said Margaret Wooldridge, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan. The way ethanol is used now, she said, “if anybody does notice there’s any ethanol in the fuel, it’s always in a way that is negative.”

The trouble with the flexible fuel vehicles on the market now, which can run at blends of up to 85 percent ethanol, is that they are still mostly optimized for gasoline, not ethanol, she said. While there are millions of such vehicles on the road, they run mostly on E10 because that is a better bargain for the driver.

Higher concentrations are no better, and ethanol companies are struggling for acceptance of E15 with drivers, who show little enthusiasm.

“E15 is the answer to the question nobody asked,” said Mr. Woebkenberg of Mercedes-Benz. “It is a detriment.”

But an E30 blend in an engine designed to use that fuel would be attractive to car buyers, he said, with “ridiculous power and good fuel economy,” and owners of those cars would seek out the fuel, unlike owners of flex-fuel cars.

“I hope that the E.P.A. agrees to do it,” said C. Boyden Gray, a former aide to President George H. W. Bush who is now a Washington lawyer representing energy clients. In coming years, Mr. Gray and others say, more cars are going to be engineered for high-octane fuel so they can get better fuel economy as automakers move to double economy, and high-octane fuel with 30 percent ethanol is cleaner than blends relying more heavily on gasoline.

But Mr. Gray and other experts said that the E.P.A. would probably have to do more than just give automakers the option to certify vehicles on E30; it would probably have to mandate its availability to give car shoppers confidence that they would be able to refuel such vehicles.

Coup de frein chez les BRIC sur les ventes de voitures

Si la Chine tient son rang, et confirme, mois apr?s mois, son statut de premier march? automobile mondial, l'Inde, la Russie et, dans une moindre mesure, le Br?sil, sont ? la peine.

Au premier trimestre, les immatriculations ont affich? une confortable croissance de 17 % en Chine, avec 4,4 millions de v?hicules particuliers.

Mais en Inde, l'ann?e fiscale 2012-2013, close fin ? mars, s'est achev?e avec ? peine 1,9 million de voitures particuli?res vendues. C'est peu ? l'?chelle d'un tel pays. Cela marque surtout un recul de plus de 6 % par rapport ? l'ann?e pr?c?dente.

Il s'agit de la premi?re baisse des ventes de ce segment de v?hicules depuis dix ans! Le march?, qui reste restreint – l'essentiel des v?hicules vendus en Inde sont des deux ou trois roues – c'est un v?ritable coup d'arr?t, apr?s des croissances de 20 % ? 30 % par an.

"REVIREMENT DU COMPORTEMENT D'ACHAT"

Le mois de mars a ?t? particuli?rement difficile, avec un recul de 22 % des immatriculations, selon la soci?t? indienne des constructeurs automobiles (SIAM).

"Ces chiffres ont d?jou? toutes nos pr?visions, il y a eu un revirement du comportement d'achat", des m?nages, a indiqu?, ? l'AFP, le directeur g?n?ral adjoint de la SIAM, Sugato Sen. "Le probl?me principal a ?t? le fort ralentissement de l'?conomie et les taux d'int?r?t ?lev?s."

"La difficult? de ce march? est avant tout l'?tat des routes, la congestion des infrastructures en g?n?ral. Ce march? prend beaucoup de temps ? d?marrer", rel?ve Bertrand Rakoto du cabinet Polk.

Le coup de frein est ?galement perceptible en Russie, qui connaissait, elle aussi, depuis 2009 des taux de croissance insolents.

Apr?s 2,9 millions de v?hicules ?coul?s en 2012, soit une hausse de 11 % par rapport ? 2011, le march? marque le pas au premier trimestre 2013 avec un taux de croissance nul. Pis, en mars les immatriculations ont baiss? de 4 %.

Il est vrai que, d?s la fin 2012, tous les constructeurs pariaient sur un ralentissement de la croissance avec l'extinction de diverses aides fiscales ? l'achat.

"Les r?sultats du premier trimestre sont math?matiques, rel?ve Carlos Da Silva, analyste chez IHS Automotive. Comme le march? ?tait tr?s dynamique en 2012, notamment du fait d'une prime ? la casse, son arr?t a eu un effet d?but 2013. Cette ann?e, le march? devrait rester relativement stable."

"La croissance devrait ?tre plus faible, mais stable, autour de 5 % sur les prochaines ann?es", consid?re Alexander Migal, le directeur des ventes de Chevrolet (General Motors) en Russie.

Chez Volkswagen on estime qu'en 2015 il devrait se vendre 3,5 millions de v?hicules en Russie, soit plus qu'en Allemagne, le premier march? europ?en actuel avec 3,2 millions d'immatriculations.

Le Br?sil, enfin, conna?t un d?but d'ann?e timide. Le quatri?me march? mondial a affich? une modeste croissance de 1,5 % des immatriculations de v?hicules neufs. Il s'est ainsi vendu 830 000 voitures.

L'Anfavea, l'association des constructeurs au Br?sil, estime que le march? devrait passer de 3,8 ? 3,9 millions d'immatriculations cette ann?e.

NOUVEAUX MARCH?S

Si l'augmentation r?guli?re de la classe moyenne a, tout au long des ann?es 2000, permis un essor rapide, les ventes, d?sormais, se stabilisent.

"Le march? devient plus mature et ressemble d'avantage aux march?s europ?ens", rel?ve Charles Perrard, directeur au sein du cabinet AT Kearney.

"Il d?pend surtout fortement de la politique fiscale du gouvernement", reprend M. Da Silva. A l'?t? 2012, le gouvernement a d?cid? d'all?ger la taxe sur les produits industriels afin de relancer le secteur alors en plein ralentissement du fait, notamment, de la crise en Europe.

De mani?re g?n?rale, que ce soit pour le Br?sil, la Russie ou l'Inde, "les taux de croissance ? deux chiffres sont d?sormais ? oublier", assure M. Da Silva. Pour retrouver de telles progressions, il faut se tourner vers d'autres march?s.

L'Alg?rie par exemple, qui a augment? de 50 % en 2012, ou encore l'Indon?sie, qui conna?t un v?ritable boum. Selon IHS Automotive, pr?s de 900 000 v?hicules devraient y ?tre immatricul?s en 2013, soit une progression de 20 % sur un an.

Renault : l'usine de Flins va fabriquer des Nissan Micra dès 2016

"Un mois et demi apr?s la signature d'un accord de comp?titivit? chez Renault, le constructeur fran?ais et son alli? japonais vont annoncer aujourd'hui, selon nos informations, la production de la prochaine g?n?ration de Nissan Micra dans l'usine fran?aise du Losange ? Flins ? partir de 2016", avance le journal. Contact? par l'AFP, Renault n'a pas souhait? faire de commentaire.

Renault, dans le cadre d'un accord de comp?titivit? sign? en mars en France, s'est engag? ? augmenter les volumes produits dans ses cinq sites fran?ais et ? produire aussi pour des partenaires ? hauteur de 80 000 unit?s par an. Son PDG, Carlos Ghosn, avait promis d'en dire plus d'ici ? l'?t?. Le groupe fran?ais assemble d?j? dans l'Hexagone des v?hicules pour Nissan et pour l'allemand Mercedes.

Lire : L'accord de comp?titivit? sign? chez Renault

Wheels Blog: Wheelies: The Juiced Beetle Edition

Volkswagen of America The Volkswagen Beetle R-Line features sportier front and rear bumpers and 19-inch “Tornado” aluminum-alloy wheels.

In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:

• Volkswagen announced a new gasoline engine Friday morning – a third generation EA888 turbocharged 2-liter 4-cylinder – for the Beetle Turbo, the Beetle Turbo convertible, a sportier Beetle Turbo called the R-Line and the Volkswagen Jetta GLI. The company said that the new engine, rated at 210 horsepower, was lighter, more powerful and more fuel efficient than its predecessor. It will be manufactured in Volkswagen’s Silao, Mexico, factory. Volkswagen said in a news release that the 2013 Beetle Turbo was able to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 6.6 seconds with the new motor, a couple of tenths of a second quicker than last year’s model. (Volkswagen of America)

• The 2014 Corvette Stingray has been named the official pace car for the 97th Indianapolis 500 on May 26. General Motors’ Indy 500 pace car streak has been unbroken since 1997; eight of those cars have been Corvettes. Perhaps the strangest pace car the company has entered during that time was an Oldsmobile Bravada, in 2001. In the end, parading the compact S.U.V. around the track did nothing to help the struggling Oldsmobile brand, which was canceled in 2004. But G.M.’s choice of the Stingray, the price of which was just announced last week, seems more in keeping with the company’s racing heritage. (Yahoo Autos)

• Pilot Corporation, which operates Pilot Flying J truck stops all over the country, is the subject of yet another lawsuit, with Edis Trucking of Franksville, Wis., claiming that Pilot scammed its customers out of fuel rebates and discounts. Suits had already been filed in several federal judicial districts. Jimmy Haslam, the company’s chief executive and owner of the Cleveland Browns National Football League franchise, has been personally named in the suit and said that he would cooperate with a federal investigation into allegations of racketeering. A federal investigator accused Mr. Haslam and other Pilot Flying J employees of engaging in a scheme that involved withholding fuel rebates, and mail and interstate/foreign wire fraud, although no charges have been filed. (Bloomberg Businessweek)

• The electric carmaker Coda filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, confirming that it would be restructuring and looking for a buyer. That more likely than not means the end of Coda’s 2012 sedan, which reached the market last July. Aside from a less than stellar track performance when tested by Edmunds’ The Inside Line, the car received a two-star frontal crash test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Coda had reduced the price of the car from nearly $40,000 to less than $25,000 in December. (The Washington Post)

• With auto manufacturers moving toward production of lighter, more fuel efficient cars, the demand for aluminum has increased. The American aluminum manufacturer Alcoa announced plans Thursday to produce more sheet aluminum for automotive use. The expansion includes a $275 million investment in its Alcoa, Tenn., rolling mill and $300 million for its plant in Davenport, Iowa. (The National Post)