Andrei Costea
343 ARTICLES
Personal motto:
Drive quick through turns, they're dangerous! - his driving instructor
His favorites include the 60s-70s American muscle cars, 80s-90s Italian super cars and contemporary mean machines like the Murcielago or the 599 GTO. He dreams that one day he'll have the opportunity to drive alongside renowned racers on a track, or at least do a time attack in a reasonably priced car on BBC's famous show Top Gear.
The Nissan Leaf Will Have Low Insurance Premiums
25 Nov 2010, 10:11 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / With all the talk of purchase price, charging costs, tax incentives, congestion charging exemptions and maintenance costs for EVs, there is one vehicle expense that people seem to have forgotten: insurance. There's still too few EVs on the ...
Vauxhall Calibra To Rise From the Dead
25 Nov 2010, 09:19 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Having heard recent news of Ford reviving the iconic Capri as a Focus Coupe, Vauxhall confirmed rumors that a successor of the Calibra is in the making. “I believe we should have one, so we will have one,” said Nick Reilly, CEO at GM...
Ford Opens 40 New Dealerships in China
25 Nov 2010, 08:25 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / As part of Ford's strategy to increase sales in the world's biggest automotive market, China, the company has inaugurated 40 new dealerships on Wednesday. Its goal is to have 100 new dealerships this year, mostly in secondary, inland citi...
Diesel Panamera Confirmed
25 Nov 2010, 08:07 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Porsche confirmed that a diesel version of the Panamera sports sedan will be launched in late 2011. CEO Matthias Muller made the announcement during an interview with Germany’s Westfalen-Blatt newspaper, saying that the success of the Cayenne...
Mitsubishi Rolls Out 5,000th i-MiEV
24 Nov 2010, 16:22 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has announced that the 5,000th i-MiEV rolled off the assembly line at its Mizushima Plant yesterday, marking an important milestone in electric vehicles' existence. Production commenced in June of 2009, with de...
Chrysler Hopes to Be the Next Big Comeback
24 Nov 2010, 15:35 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / General Motors' initial public offering has taken a lot of people by surprise, raising a record $23 billion and repaying part of its $50 billion debt to the US Government. Widely perceived as the weakest and most troubled carmaker in the US...
Ford Focus RS500 Grabs Sports Car of the Year Award
24 Nov 2010, 14:46 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / The Ford Focus RS500 was given the “Sportive de l’Annee” (Sports Car of the Year) award by the French magazine Echappement (exhaust). This is the fifth time Ford has won the title since the beginning of the contest in 1982. The...
Audi Completes Hat-Trick in Auto Trophy
24 Nov 2010, 13:42 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / The Audi A1, Audi R8 Spyder and the Audi A5 Sportback were voted the best in their class by readers of the German car magazine "Auto Zeitung". The “2010 Auto Trophy” poll gathered the votes of more than 103,000 readers, choosi...
Treasury Department Gains $11.7 Bn from GM's IPO
24 Nov 2010, 12:02 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / The US Treasury Department has received $11.7 billion following the sale of 358.5 million shares of stock in General Motors Co. Its stake shrunk to 37 percent from 61 percent after the IPO, and could drop to as low as 33 percent. This means the Gov...
Audi Flirts with the Hybrid Market
24 Nov 2010, 11:31 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Audi's plans of introducing a plug-in hybrid vehicle by 2014 surfaced today, showing no signs of the German automaker slowing its electrification program. Having displayed numerous concepts surrounding the idea of green transportation, Audi is...
Ferrari CEO Drives the New Stratos
24 Nov 2010, 10:37 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / The legendary Lancia Stratos HF has, undoubtedly been the most spectacular and successful rally car of the 70s. The iconic sports car has suffered a major redesign under the supervision of one very popular car design firm and coachbuilder, Pininfar...
GM Replaces Logo at Detroit HQ
24 Nov 2010, 09:28 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / GM has replaced its well-known blue logo on the front of its Renaissance Center complex in downtown Detroit after its listing in the New York Stock Exchange last week, further enhancing its overhauled public image. The two-story plastic block-lette...
Rumor Mill: BMW to Release Twenty Models by 2015
24 Nov 2010, 08:08 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Approaching the end of the decade, every automaker is exposing, more-or-less intentionally, its direction for the 5-10 years to come. While some have hybrids up their sleeve, a few are just eager to get their hands on more potent batteries for thei...
ZAP Signs Agreement With Shanghai Officials
23 Nov 2010, 18:13 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Shanghai officials have contracted Santa-Rosa based EV maker ZAP to provide charging stations, battery swap facilities and maintenance depots for the city's commercial Yangpu district. ZAP will also be working on a pilot electric vehicle ec...
Automakers Push For Faster EV Chargers
23 Nov 2010, 16:16 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Electric vehicles seem like a reasonable approach on the environmental problem everybody's been fussing about lately. Yet production and distribution of all-electric cars is slowed drastically by the lack of infrastructure and battery technolo...
Lincoln Turns to Luxury Markets
23 Nov 2010, 14:34 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Lincoln executives were brought to their senses, as Ford's luxury brand will give dealerships in metropolitan areas the majority of the Lincoln production. The statement given by Ken Czubay, Ford's vice president of U.S. vehicle sales, se...
Sanyo Supplies Batteries to Six Automakers
23 Nov 2010, 14:20 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Back in August, Sanyo Electric Co, the world's biggest maker of lithium ion cells, has completed construction of the “Kasai Green Energy Park” lithium-ion production facility in Hyogo, Japan. The plant has a production capacity of ...
Ford Focus Coupe Arrives in 2012
23 Nov 2010, 12:11 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Seemingly undiscouraged that the 2.5-liter turbocharged unit on the Focus ST failed to comply with stricter EURO V emission standards, Ford is preparing for the release of a new rival for the Volkswagen Scirocco, returning to the coupe market with ...
Mahindra to Buy Stake in Ssangyong
23 Nov 2010, 11:08 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Ssangyong Motor Company and Indian manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra signed an agreement on Tuesday in Seoul, regarding their future plans on the SUV market. The agreement was signed by Yooil Lee and Youngtae Park from Ssangyong and Pawan Goenka...
Toyota Turbocharges Its Engine Lineup
23 Nov 2010, 10:25 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Toyota plans to introduce 11 new or redesigned hybrids to its lineup by 2012, but it doesn't ignore the fact that consumers are still demanding traditional internal-combustion propelled vehicles. To satisfy the needs of such customers, the car...