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Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'

The Consumer Reports Annual Auto Reliability Survey (right) is out, and the top two spots look much the same as last year's list with Lexus and Toyota in first and second place, respectively. However, there are some major shakeups for 2014, with Acura plunging eight spots from third in 2013 to 11th this year, and Mazda replaces it on the lowest step of the podium. Honda and Audi round out the top five. This year's list includes six Japanese brands in the top 10, two Europeans, one America and one Korean.
Acura isn't the only one taking a tumble, though. Infiniti is the biggest loser this year by dropping 14 spots to 20th place. Other big losses come from Mercedes-Benz with an 11-place fall to 24th, and GMC, which declines 10 positions to 19th.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's not traditional mechanical bugs hauling down these automaker's reliability scores. Instead, pesky problems with infotainment systems are taking a series toll on the rankings. According to Consumer Reports, complaints about "in-car electronics" were the most grumbled about element in new cars. Problem areas included things like unresponsive touchscreens, issues pairing phones and multi-use controllers that refused to work right.

Porsche celebrates Le Mans return with Martini edition 911

If we've said it once, we've said it a hundred times - but we'll gladly say it again: there are few racing liveries as iconic as Martini. And while those stripes have adorned countless Lancia and Ford rally cars, grand prix racers (like the latest Williams) and even speedboats, they remain inexorably tied to Porsche. Fortunately that point is not lost on Porsche itself, which has lately put them on its own 918 Spyder, race-spec 911 and all manner of merchandise. And this is the latest.
To celebrate its return to Le Mans this year, Porsche Exclusive is offering this special Martini Racing Edition. It's based on the 911 Carrera S, which means the more potent 3.8-liter flat six with 400 horsepower, but upgrades, as you might have guessed, with a whole mess of Martini Racing stripes and logos, along with the Aerokit Cup front and rear spoilers. The badges and stripes abound inside as well, where you'll also find such optional extras as the Porsche Communication Management system, Bose audio and black leather electric sport seats.
Porsche is offering the 911 Carrera S Martini Racing Edition in either white or black, but unfortunately not in our market - just in Europe, China and Latin America. Those who miss out will (in certain markets anyway) be able to order the decal set separately though. Feel free to read more in the press release below.

Winterkorn will leave remaining VW posts by end of the month

After stepping down as chief executive of the Volkswagen Group last month, Martin Winterkorn still retains a few key positions within and related to the German automaker. According to the latest reports, he's set to resign from those positions as well in the coming days. Aside from his former position as chairman of VW's executive board, Winterkorn has also served (and continues to serve at present) as chairman of the supervisory boards of Audi, truck manufacturer Scania (which is owned by VW), and the group's Truck & Bus division (of which Scania is part alongside Man). He's also the chief executive of Volkswagen's largest stakeholder Porsche SE, having taken up the position after the Porsche/Piech family enterprise acquired its majority stake in the group that also subsumed the sports car manufacturer. In what could prove a strong indicator of things to come, and according to the report from Reuters, Winterkorn was not present at a recent meeting of Audi's board. In his place, the meeting was presided over by deputy chairman Berthold Huber. The former labor leader also served as interim chairman of the VW board after Ferdinand Piech's departure but before CFO Hans Dieter Potsch was named to the post. The companies in question have yet to make any announcements regarding Winterkorn's remaining positions, or confirm the reports regarding his future. However parties close to the automaker and its owners reportedly expect the resignations from those positions to come as well before the end of the month, if not before the week is out. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: JOERG KOCH/AFP/Getty Green Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Porsche Volkswagen Diesel Vehicles vw diesel scandal martin winterkorn Scania truck and bus gmbh