Bob Lutz Says General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai are the World's New Big Three

It's fall again, time for Bob Lutz to make headlines. Less than a month after "Maximum Bob" made his official comeback to General Motors as a consultant, the semi-retired car executive and onetime Marine pilot gave an in-depth interview to German monthly Manager Magazin.

Lutz was questioned about a variety of subjects that mainly concentrated on Opel and its relationship with General Motors, but he was also asked about the future of the industry in general, and whom he sees as being the major players.

According to Captain Lutz, the new big three in the automotive industry are General Motors, the Volkswagen Group and –wait for it- the Hyundai Group. And what about Toyota and the rest of the Japanese carmakers like Honda? According to the GM exec, Japanese automakers have lost it… Follow the jump for his (translated) response as well as the original Q&A.

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Court Dismisses First Sudden Acceleration Case Against Toyota Over Technicality

The sudden acceleration issue is still troubling Toyota, which has already paid $50 million in fines and recalled almost 8 million vehicles in the US alone in 2009 and 2010. The Japanese carmaker still has to face the lawsuits brought about by citizens and their families affected by the issue which, according to estimates, could cost the company as much as $10 billion.

However, the first sudden acceleration lawsuit lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge who ruled that it should have been filed in Utah instead of California. The case is about Paul Van Alfen and passenger Charlene Lloyd, who were killed in 2010 when a 2008 Camry driven by Van Alfen hit a wall in Utah.

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Video: A Quick Look at the World of MotorSports in the Middle East

There's no doubt that the web and readers alike tend to be more interested in troublemakers and the darker or if you prefer, the more bizarre side of things in general. But as we all know, there are always two sides of a coin and the same goes for gearheads in all four corners of the world, be they in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas or in this case, the Middle East.

Carscoop reader Mousub S. wanted to remind us that the Middle East is not only about blinged-up supercars and gun-carrying Honda Accord drifters, which understandably gather a lot of attention, but also about the high-revving world of Motorsports with a video.

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Bentley Launches China-Only Continental Flying Spur "Linley" Special Edition

China is quickly becoming the ideal place to launch bespoke (…and higher-priced) special edition versions for luxury carmakers. The latest example is Bentley, which will sell just 10 Continental Flying Spurs created in cooperation with British design company Linley.

The Linley limited edition will only be available in what is now Bentley’s biggest market in the world. According to the British carmaker, it “incorporates signature Linley elements that will appeal to customers who value pedigree, lineage, handcrafted quality and peerless design”.

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Nissan GT-R Smacks Ferrari 458 on the Highway, But Fails Miserably on a Twisty Road

The Nissan GT-R is something like a poor-man's supercar – and there is nothing wrong with that in our book. It has beaten/embarrassed vehicles costing several times as much on more occasions that we can care to remember.

However, sometimes we tend to forget that being fast is as much about the car as it is about the driver. Case in point, a friendly road race between an SP Engineering-prepped Nissan GT-R and a Ferrari 458 Italia.

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Taiwan’s All-Electric Studio X-Gene Avant GT

It’s called the Avant GT and it looks like someone tried to make a Porsche Panamera out of a Honda Crosstour. The pure-electric model was first shown in Shanghai earlier this year and it’s the product of five companies – none of which have any real experience building cars – including Taiwanese design firm Studio X-Gene, financial partner Altair ProductDesign and technological partners Delta Electronics, Wistron and Qisda. Read more »

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QLD, Australia Speed Camera Site Nabs 37,000 Motorists and Earns at Least $5 Million in Less Than Two Months!

Talk about milking a cash cow… A new speed camera site with four fixed cameras mounted on a bridge eyeing over motorists on the M1 at Loganholme in Queensland, Australia, has nabbed close to 37,000 motorists since they were installed on August 2.

“The M1 at Loganholme is of particular concern where 36,661 vehicles have been detected speeding since it was switched on,” said State Traffic Support Branch Acting Chief Superintendent Dale Pointon in a statement on the Queensland Police website.

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Gentlemen, Start Your Engines: Thrustmaster Unleashes Authentic Replica of Ferrari F1 Wheel

It's been a good few years for racing game enthusiasts. And we say that both in terms of software with the release of games like the Gran Turismo 5, as well as hardware with choices ranging from the low cost Logitech G27, the mid-priced Fanatec Porsche wheels and Clubsport pedals, to the upper-end Thrustmaster T500 RS wheel / pedal combo and TH8 RS gated gearbox.

Now Thrustmaster, which has been on a product roll lately, has announced a new authentic replica of the Ferrari F1 steering wheel found inside the cockpit of the 150 Italia racecar. The life-size wheel is not a stand-alone item but a removable add-on designed to attach to the T500 RS base.

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