This is The Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important ? all in one place at 9:00 AM. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parse it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?
1st Gear: The Twizy Renault Sport F1 Concept Is So? French
You last saw the Renault Twizy electric plaything in the hands of Chris Harris, but that golf kart has nothing on this hopped up version from Renault Sport (the same people behind the Megane RS and Twingo RS).
They've added a KERS system from their very capable F1 cars, which instantly adds 100 horsepower to something that normally has just 17 horses, making it as fast as any Renault on the road (0-60 mph in sub six seconds). It's also covered in F1-style bits such as Formula Renault tires, carbon splitter, side pods, differs, and mirrors.
Oh, and there's an F1 Steering wheel.
This is just a concept, but it's a freaking crazy one, and we totally want to drive it.
2nd Gear: Hyundai's First Quarter Profit Drops
The good news is Hyundai made a net profit of $1.88 billion, which is 2.1 trillion won. If you haven't learned by reading TMS, your currency has a big impact on profits and that "trillion" figure should make it clear that South Korea's was, at one point, very low and thus great for manufacturers. That's not the case anymore as it's weaker relative to the Japanese yen.
There's also an issue of labor stoppages on the weekend with Hyundai's unions in South Korea which, according to Reuters, resulted in production loses of 48,000 vehicles.
Hyundai is also trying to avoid a Toyota situation whereby expansive growth leads to poorer quality and huge recalls. Is Hyundai being too cautious or just cautious enough? Time will tell.
3rd Gear: You Can Buy Enzo Ferrari's Favorite Car
Silverstone Auctions plans to sell Enzo Ferrari's allegedly favorite car, a 1964 Ferrari 330GT Series 1. I assume they mean the model and not this specific car.
This specific car was in the U.S. up to 2002 before being transported to the U.K. where it was stripped and resprayed in Ferrari Blu Pozzi paint. It's expected to go for a reasonable $150K to $175K.
Other vehicles up for auction include a 1986 Testarossa and a 1974 Dino 308 GT4.
4th Gear: Good And Bad News For GM
As a plus, Dan Akerson told a crowd at a Habitat for Humanity banquet that U.S. auto sales should continue to be up year-over-year in March by about 3.4%.
He did say, however, that lower consumer confidence and Ford's losses in Europe are something to be concerned about. That's important because for all the money GM has been making in the U.S. and China they've been losing it in the Old World.
We'll know next week just how big of a hole they're in thanks to Opel.
5th Gear: Chrysler Is Still Imported From Detroit
Chrysler is going to stay with "Imported From Detroit" as a tagline reports The Detroit Free Press, probably because it still works.
The tagline was launched in 2011 during that famous Super Bowl commercial with Eminem. It was a total Detroitgasm and has been seen on YouTube about 16 million times.
It's been contorted since then, but as long as Ralph Gilles still wears nothing but pro-Detroit t-shirts we can probably expect them to keep it up
Reverse: RIP Michele Alboreto
On this day in 2001, 44-year-old Italian race car driver Michele Alboreto is killed on a track in Germany during a test drive. Alboreto collected five Grand Prix wins on the Formula One (F1) circuit, where he competed during the 1980s and early 1990s, and also claimed victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in 1997.
[HISTORY]
Neutral: Is Imported From Detroit The Best Auto Tagline Ever? Or is it "Like a Rock?"
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Just about any other day of the year, you can find Chris Harris four-wheel drifting through some? Read?Renault has a history of building some fairly taut sporting versions of regular production? Read?As part of a bizarre ad campaign, Renaultsport got Margot Laffite (F1 driver Jacque Laffite's? Read?Wow. I can't believe how amazing the Super Bowl ad from Chrysler starring Eminem is that just? Read?Source: http://jalopnik.com/this-french-f1-inspired-electric-city-car-is-insane-480771530
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