KEY POINTS:
Chrysler believes petrolheads will still look for the fastest vehicles, even if fuel prices climb and unconventional powertrains become mainstream. "The performance-enthusiast market will continue to exist in some shape or form and we will want to satisfy that customer base," said Kipp Owen, vice-president of Chrysler's Street
and Racing Technology group. But Owen said the definition of a performance vehicle might change. "It might be defined as how big the electric motor is at each wheel," he said. "A lot will depend on the voice of the customer."
CHATTING DRIVERS FINED
More than 185,000 drivers in Britain have been fined up to $180 during the past 12 months for using their cellphones at the wheel. The British Government introduced fines and penalty points after research showed drivers using a hand-held phone were four times more likely to be involved in a crash than those who who used hands-free set-ups.
TATA DEAL ALMOST DONE
Tata Motors is expected to officially announce next Wednesday that it has bought British brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. Tata and Ford executives met British motor industry union Unite to iron out concerns about ongoing production. Unite sought assurances that the giant Indian carmaker would continue to source engines, stampings and other systems from Ford's plants in Bridgend in Wales and Dagenham, near London. All Jaguar and Land Rover engines come from Ford plants, as do many of Land Rover's stampings. Roger Maddison, national officer of Unite, said: "Everything seems fine as far as we are concerned; it's just the lawyers working on it now."
PHANTOM REVEALED
Rolls-Royce will unveil the Phantom Coupe at the Geneva motor show. It's the third model from a common platform since parent company BMW relaunched the brand in 2003. But it is not to be confused with a smaller, less-expensive sedan scheduled to arrive in 2009. Internally, Rolls-Royce calls it NGS, for "new generation saloon". Rolls-Royce CEO Ian Robertson said the first running prototype of the smaller car had been completed and the factory in Goodwood, England, was preparing to build the new sedan.
WE ARE THE WORLD
A woman has filed a US$2 million lawsuit against Arizona police for not preventing her from driving after she had been drinking. Korie Hoke claimed it was a police officer's fault that she crashed her car and was injured. The saga began when Hoke, 18, called police from a party, upset because she found her boyfriend with another woman. Police arrived, cited Hoke for underage drinking, confiscated the keys to her car, phoned her parents to pick her up and left. But Hoke had a spare key and drove off _ into a wall. A blood test showed she was over the limit. Her lawsuit claims police should have stayed until her parents arrived.
THIEF SUES JAIL
Convicted car thief Scott Anthony Gomez Jr is suing jail officials in Pueblo County, Colorado, for failing to take security precautions to stop him from escaping. Gomez fell and injured himself trying to scale a wall. His lawsuit says that no security "improvements" had been made to the jail since his first attempt to get over the wall. He slipped and fell that time, too.
