SAFETY RECALL - Porsche Cars North America recall the 918 Spyder for location of screws for seat belt mountings.

Porsche Cars North America Statement Regarding 918 Spyder Recall

The original parts catalog for the 918 Spyder inadvertently transposed the locations for the screws which respectively secure the seat belt mount and the belt reel mount. 

These screws are one-time-use only and are not the same. We cannot rule out the possibility that, due to the mistake in the catalog, technicians who had to work on those components might have been led to install the wrong screw in the wrong location. 

In that event, the function of the seat belt system could possibly be impaired in the event of an accident. To prevent this risk, the fastening screws on the seat belt mount and on the belt reel on all 918 Spyder vehicles will be checked. 

Depending upon the result of the check, Porsche might replace the screws on some vehicles. In an abundance of caution, Porsche is treating this as a safety-related recall and will make contact with all owners. The mistake in the parts catalog already has been corrected

Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin statement on Volkswagen and vehicle emission testing.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said:

“The government takes the unacceptable actions of VW extremely seriously. My priority is to protect the public as we go through the process of investigating what went wrong and what we can do to stop it happening again in the future."

“We have called on the EU to conduct a Europe wide investigation into whether there is evidence that cars here have been fitted with defeat devices.

“In the meantime we are taking robust action. 

The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), the UK regulator, is working with vehicle manufacturers to ensure that this issue is not industry wide.

“As part of this work they will re-run laboratory tests where necessary and compare them against real world driving emissions.”

VOLKSWAGEN BOARD - Statement from the executive committee of VW AG'S Supervisory board.

In a meeting on Wednesday, September 23, the Executive Committee of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG discussed in detail the manipulation of emissions data of Volkswagen Group diesel engines and came to the following conclusions:

1. The Executive Committee takes this matter extremely seriously.  The Executive Committee recognizes not only the economic damage caused, but also the loss of trust among many customers worldwide.

2. The Executive Committee agrees that these incidents need to be clarified with great conviction and that mistakes are corrected.  At the same time, the Executive Committee is adamant that it will take the necessary decisive steps to ensure a credible new beginning.

3. The Executive Committee has great respect for Chairman Professor Dr. Winterkorn's offer to resign his position and to ask that his employment agreement be terminated. The Executive Committee notes that Professor Dr. Winterkorn had no knowledge of the manipulation of emissions data. The Executive Committee has tremendous respect for his willingness to nevertheless assume responsibility and, in so doing, to send a strong signal both internally and externally. Dr. Winterkorn  has made invaluable contributions to Volkswagen. The company's rise to global company is inextricably linked to his name. The Executive Committee thanks Dr. Winterkorn for towering contributions in the past decades and for his willingness to take responsibility in this criticall phase for the company. This attitude is illustrious.

4. Recommendations for new personnel will be presented at the upcoming meeting of the Supervisory Board this Friday.

5. The Executive Committee is expecting further personnel consequences in the next days. The internal Group investigations are continuing at a high tempo. All participants in these proceedings that has resulted  in unmeasurable harm for Volkswagen, will be subject to the full consequences.

6. The Executive Committee have decided that the company will voluntarily submit a complaint to the State Prosecutors' office in Brunswick. In the view of the Executive Committee criminal proceedings may be relevant due to the irregularities. The investigations of the State Prosecutor will be supported in all form from the side of Volkswagen.

7. The Executive Committee proposes that the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG create a special committee, under whose leadership further clarifying steps will follow, including the preparation of the necessary consequences. In this regard, the Special Committee would make use of external advice. Further details about this will be decided at the Supervisory Board meeting on Friday.

8. The Executive Committee is aware that coming to terms with the crisis of trust will be a long term task that requires a high degree of consistency and thoroughness.

9. The Executive Committee will work on these tasks together with the employees and the Management Board. Volkswagen is a magnificent company that depends on the efforts of hundreds of thousands of people. We consider it our task that this company regains the trust of our customers in every respect.

RESIGNATION STATEMENT - Prof. Dr Martin Winterkorn.

“I am shocked by the events of the past few days. Above all, I am stunned that misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group.

As CEO I accept responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines and have therefore requested the Supervisory Board to agree on terminating my function as CEO of the Volkswagen Group. I am doing this in the interests of the company even though I am not aware of any wrong doing on my part.

Volkswagen needs a fresh start – also in terms of personnel. I am clearing the way for this fresh start with my resignation.

I have always been driven by my desire to serve this company, especially our customers and employees. Volkswagen has been, is and will always be my life.

The process of clarification and transparency must continue. This is the only way to win back trust. I am convinced that the Volkswagen Group and its team will overcome this grave crisis.”

VW SCANDAL UPDATE - Statement from Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn - But honesty how can we trust them now

"The irregularities that have been found in our Group's diesel engines go against everything Volkswagen stands for. At present we do not yet have all the answers to all the questions. But we are working hard to find out exactly what happened. 

To do that, we are putting everything on the table, as quickly, thoroughly and transparently as possible. And we continue to cooperate closely with the relevant government organizations and authorities. 

This quick and full clarification has the highest priority. We owe that to our customers, our employees and the public. Manipulation and Volkswagen – that must never be allowed to happen again.

Millions of people all over the world trust our brands, our cars and our technologies. I am deeply sorry that we have broken this trust. I would like to make a formal apology to our customers, to the authorities and to the general public for this misconduct. We will do everything necessary to reverse the damage. And we will do everything necessary to win back trust – step by step.

In our Group, more than 600,000 people work to build the best cars for our customers. I would like to say to our employees: I know just how much dedication, how much true sincerity you bring to your work day after day. Therefore, it would be wrong to cast general suspicion on the honest, hard work of 600,000 people because of the mistakes made by only a few. Our team simply does not deserve that.

That is why we are asking for trust as we move forward: We will get to the bottom of this. We are working very hard on the necessary technical solutions. And we will do everything we can to avert damage to our customers and employees. I give you my word: we will do all of this with the greatest possible openness and transparency."

Rolls Royce clarifies news of redundacies at Aero Engine name sake.

• Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a distinct company from Rolls-Royce plc
• Rolls-Royce Motor Cars on track for another record year
• Rolls-Royce Motor Cars annual sales up by 24.3%
• 200 new jobs created over the past two years    
• Company expands its footprint in Southern England

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is issuing the following statement in order to clarify confusion that has arisen in certain media following statements issued by Rolls-Royce plc today.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a completely distinct company from Rolls-Royce plc which manufactures engines for aircraft, ships and land applications. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group, Munich, and commenced business on 1 January 2003 at its new global production facility situated on the Goodwood Estate near Chichester in West Sussex. 

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars manufactures the world’s pinnacle super-luxury automobiles including the Phantom, Ghost and Wraith range of models.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars recently announced that it is on track for a record year in 2014. The company is poised to deliver a record of over 4,000 super-luxury motor cars, making 2014 the fifth consecutive record year and the highest in the marque’s history. 

This is underlined by the company’s latest sales figures, with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars increasing worldwide sales by 24.3% year-to-date over the same period in 2013.

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said, “I am very pleased to see that we are on target for another record year. This result is based on a balanced global business picture and is testament to our stated objective of long-term, sustainable growth. Rolls‑Royce Motor Cars is a British manufacturing success story and the world’s leading manufacturer of luxury goods.”

2014 has been a year of growth for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. The company recently announced the successful completion of its recruitment campaign for 200 new permanent jobs. The campaign was launched in 2013 and followed on the worldwide success of its new model, Wraith, and a growing demand for the company’s unique Bespoke personalisation offering. 

More than 1,500 people are now employed at the Home of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars at Goodwood, England.

The recruitment campaign is further evidence of Rolls-Royce’s commitment to manufacturing in Great Britain. Earlier this month, the company announced that a new Technology and Logistics Centre will be built at Bognor Regis, close to Goodwood. 

The new 30,000m² centre will consolidate a number of current technical and logistics functions and allow for future expansion. Around 200 people will be employed at the Centre, with a number of new roles created in addition to those transferred from existing logistics functions. The Technology and Logistics Centre is planned to be fully operational in early 2016.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars continues to see strong customer demand for the company’s super-luxury cars, with significant customer orders for the recently announced Ghost Series II. Wraith has been a major success in the super-luxury segment, setting new, contemporary style and technology leadership benchmarks. 

Both models complement the pinnacle performance of the incomparable Rolls-Royce Phantom while Bespoke production continues at record levels across all model families.

Statement from Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo

“Ferrari will have an important role to play within the FCA Group in the upcoming flotation on Wall Street. This will open up a new and different phase which I feel should be spearheaded by the CEO of the Group.

This is the end of an era and so I have decided to leave my position as Chairman after almost 23 marvellous and unforgettable years in addition to those spent at Enzo Ferrari’s side in the 1970s.

My thanks, first and foremost, to the exceptional Ferrari women and men from the factory, the offices, the race tracks and the markets across the world. They were the real architects of the company’s spectacular growth, its many unforgettable victories and its transformation into one of the world’s strongest brands.

A warm farewell and my thanks also to all of our technical and commercial partners, our dealers across the globe and, most particularly, the clients and collectors whose passion I so wholeheartedly share.

But my thoughts go also to our fans who have always supported us with great enthusiasm especially through the Scuderia’s most difficult moments.

Ferrari is the most wonderful company in the world. It has been a great privilege and honour to have been its leader. I devoted all of my enthusiasm and commitment to it over the years. Together with my family, it was, and continues to be, the most important thing in my life.

I wish the shareholders, particularly Piero Ferrari who has always been by my side, and everyone in the Company the many more years of success that Ferrari deserves.”

GENEVA - VW statement on the future for its environmental policies

• Corresponds to average fuel consumption of less than 4 litres
• Group already offers 245 models under 120 g/km, 36 under 100 g/km
• Energy and water consumption pervehicle produced cut by 10 percent in two years
• Winterkorn: “Ecological restructuring proceeding to schedule”

Before the opening of the Geneva Motor Show, the Volkswagen Group reiterated its strategic goal of becoming the world’s most environmentally sustainable automaker by 2018. In the run-up to the show, the Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft,

Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, said that the Group’s ecological restructuring, also announced in Geneva a year ago, is “proceeding to schedule”. He added: “We are orienting Volkswagen towards maximum energy and resource efficiency. We are well on our way to making our Group the world’s leading automaker in environmental terms.”

The Volkswagen Group is now setting itself even more ambitious targets: “Volkswagen is committing to reducing the CO₂ output of theEuropean new car fleet to 95 grams per kilometre by 2020.” This makes the Volkswagen Group the very first automaker to commit to this ambitious target. According to Winterkorn: “That corresponds to a fuel consumption of less than 4 litres – across all segments and vehicle classes.This is a Herculean task calling for the best efforts of all our 40,000 developers. We can do it.” Winterkorn also stated that Volkswagen would reach its self-imposed target of reducing the CO₂ output of its European newvehicle fleet to less than 120 gram per kilometre by 2015. Volkswagen intends to outperform by more than 12 gram the figure required by law for its vehicle fleet.

The Group is not speculating on any loopholes to achieve its target. Winterkorn underscored that “now is the time to initiate innovations so that efficient technologies and alternative powertrains can be widely used faster. I am convinced this is in the best interests of customers, the environment and Europe as an industrial location.” That is why Volkswagen is advocating credits of the type which are normal practice in the USA andChina for especially eco-friendly vehicles to be introducedin Europe, too.

The Volkswagen Group already offers its customers 245 model variants with emissions of less than 120 grams CO₂ /km, over 60 percent more than two years ago. And 36 model variants already have emissions below 100 grams CO₂ /km, almost 40 percent more than in 2011. Winterkorn: “Our one-litre car, the XL1, is a technological spearhead. With fuel consumption of 0.83 litres and 21 grams CO₂ per kilometre, the XL1 sets new long-term standards in the automotive industry. The technologies used in the XL1 find their way into our series vehicles. That applies in particular to plug-in hybrid technology, which we are systematically pursuing.”

Winterkorn underlined that thedevelopment of increasingly efficient technologies, powertrains and vehicles and environmentally sustainable production would account for more than two thirds of the total investment of €50.2 billion planned by the Group up to 2015. The Group was moving forward “in leaps and bounds”towards its ambitious target of making all 100 production facilities throughout the world 25%more environmentally compatible by 2018.

In terms of the key indicators for energy and water consumption, waste production, and CO₂ and solvent emissions, the Group has on average made environmental savings of 10 percent per vehicle produced over thepast two years.