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.
Porsche Wins Internal Battle with Audi
8 Dec 2010, 12:09 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / The traditional brand with the four rings took a blow from its parent company, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn having told Porsche it will take the lead in developing sports cars and big luxury sedans for VW group, a role that Audi executives and ...
GM HydroGen4 Testing Reached 2 Million Kilometres
8 Dec 2010, 09:18 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / General Motors is undergoing testing of its HydroGen4 fleet, with more than 100 vehicles of this type operating in real driving conditions around the world. The vehicles have accumulated more than 2 million km (more than 1.2 million miles) in road ...
Ford Maintains UK Retail Sales Leadership
8 Dec 2010, 08:11 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Ford sales in the UK were again strong this November, as they've been throughout the entire year to date. Ford's car retail market share was 11.3 percent this November, up 0.7 percent year-on-year. The Society of Motor Manufacturers an...
Ford Begins Transit Connect Electric Deliveries
7 Dec 2010, 17:29 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Ford and Azure Dynamics have begun shipping the Ford Transit Connect Electric to North America and the UK. The all-electric commercial vehicles come equipped with Azure Dynamics’ patented Force Drive powertrain and are assembled by AM General...
Volvo Won't Ship Chinese-Built Cars to India
7 Dec 2010, 17:05 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / A Volvo official from China stated the company does not intend to ship cars from its proposed manufacturing facility in China to India. The Swedish brand was bought by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group from Ford in August. The Chinese group...
Toyota Unveils Solid-State Battery in Japan
7 Dec 2010, 16:08 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Today's battery technology is in an incipient form that cannot sustain the emerging eco-friendly car industry. Fortunately, Toyota takes matters into its own hands and proposes a solid state battery design that has the potential to offer more ...
China Auto Imports More than Double
7 Dec 2010, 15:42 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Automobile imports to China have more than doubled in the first 10 months of this year, compared to the sales figures of last year. The number of passenger cars imported reached 628,100 units from January to October in 2010, up 111.9% year on year,...
Geely and Volvo Still Negotiating Chinese Plants
7 Dec 2010, 14:31 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / In spite of their recent arguments, Geely and Volvo are negotiating an increased production of Volvo vehicles in China. Geely is keen on building three new plants in its home country and increase Volvo sales to 300,000 cars a year. Volvo's ...
Fiat Is Suing Radiotelevisione Italiana
7 Dec 2010, 13:30 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Fiat announced it would file a lawsuit against the producers of the Italian television show AnnoZero for statements made on air on December 2, 2010. The automaker claims the producers have wrongly portrayed the Alfa Romeo MiTo as being technically ...
Second-Generation Ampera Already Under Development
7 Dec 2010, 13:18 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Before the British brother of GM's Chevy Volt, the Vauxhall Ampera, has even been released, GM Europe announced it will be replaced by a family of three extended-range electric vehicles within five years, that could potentially be made at Gene...
Mercedes-Benz B-Klasse F-CELL Makes It to the US
7 Dec 2010, 11:08 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / The first series-produced fuel cell car in the road, the new zero-emission Mercedes Benz B-Klasse F-CELL, made its way to the US market. The vehicle will be handed over to a group of selected customers before the end of 2010. Only 70 of these envir...
Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid Is Eligible for Federal Tax Credit
7 Dec 2010, 10:19 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / The all new 2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid, the company's first production hybrid, has been declared eligible for the Alternative Motor Vehicle Tax Credit as a Qualified Hybrid Motor Vehicle. Customers who purchase a new Cayenne S Hybrid s...
Blindfold Hotlap in a Volvo S60
7 Dec 2010, 09:35 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / The guys and gals at Volvo Cars know what it takes to make a promotional video. Actually they didn't, until they found professional racing driver Jonny Reid, one of the most skilled racing drivers in New Zealand. The 27-year old fearless New Z...
Liberty Electric Launches Luxury SUV
7 Dec 2010, 08:10 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Electric cars are more and more popular each day, with conversions, new models, new battery technologies and new chargers coming out on a daily basis. For the luxury SUV customer who thought there is no EV out there to fit his needs, Liberty Electr...
Green Car Technology Doesn't Come Cheap
6 Dec 2010, 18:35 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Everything sounds simple in theory. Imposing higher average gas mileage standards on the auto industry will force automakers to build more fuel efficient vehicles. Consumers save money on gas, the US rids itself of its oil dependency, so it seems l...
Dita Von Teese's '39 Chrysler New Yorker Up for Grabs
6 Dec 2010, 17:50 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / The Queen of Burlesque, glamour and fetish model Dita Von Teese is auctioning her '39 Chrysler New Yorker on eBay. The car was the brand's flagship model for several years and helped define the company as a maker of upscale models. Von...
GAZ Ceases Production of Volga Siber
6 Dec 2010, 16:41 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / The Russian version of the Chrysler Sebring, dubbed Volga Siber, has ended production, according reports from the local media. The prior generation Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Stratus platform had been licensed to Russian manufacturer GAZ Group for ...
Fiat Favors Natural Gas to Hybrids or EVs
6 Dec 2010, 15:57 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne doesn't want to produce electric cars or hybrids as they present too many obstacles, with long recharge time for batteries being one of them. Instead, he'd rather put his money on natural gas-powered cars which ...
Mazda Plans to Open Factory, Eyes Emerging Countries
6 Dec 2010, 15:24 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Mazda hasn't yet confirmed rumors it will open a plant in Mexico, but the company's president Takashi Yamanouchi suggested the automaker is looking to open plants in emerging markets, having already dispatched research teams in Brazil, In...
Nissan Spain Won't Give Up the New Pick-Up Without a Fight
6 Dec 2010, 14:22 UTC · By: Andrei Costea / Unions at Nissan Spain's manufacturing plant in Barcelona would give up their salary to have a job. At least that's what they seem to be doing, asking the company for a renegotiation of their wage cuts so that the plant could win the Euro...