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Top Gear names BMW i8 Car of the Year, Corvette, Ferrari, Mercedes also win big

The lads at Top Gear have released their listing of the finest cars of the past year, handing the ultimate honor to BMW's revolutionary i8 plug-in-hybrid supercar. "The i8 is a milestone in the annals of automotive history and a glorious statement for an exciting and positive future. The i8 delivers - and then some," the British mag wrote. The i8, though, was far from the only hybridized car to take victories. James May and Richard Hammond both highlighted hybrids as their personal cars of the year, with May saluting the Ferrari LaFerrari and the Hamster, unsurprisingly, heaping praise on the Porsche 918 Spyder. Jeremy Clarkson, meanwhile, opted to shock many by selecting not only an American car as his best of 2014, but giving the honor to of all things, a Corvette. Clarkson wasn't the only person to honor the USA's iconic sports car, with the new, 650-horsepower Z06 variant being named TG's Muscle Car of the Year. Other big winners include Mercedes-Benz, which TG honored for S-Class Coupe (Luxury Car of the Year), the new AMG GT (Sports Car of the Year) and the not-for-US C-Class Estate (Family Car of the Year). The 458 Italia Speciale A snagged a second win for Ferrari. The best of the rest include the Citroen C4 Cactus, Renault Twingo, Volkswagen Golf R, Lamborghini Huracan and Audi TT. Take a look below for the celebratory press blast from BMW. The BMW i8 wins Top Gear Car of the Year The BMW i8 has been named as Top Gear magazine's global Car of the Year 2014. The plug-in hybrid performance vehicle beat off some stiff competition from a host of other premium and luxury manufacturers to win the overall award. The editorial team of Top Gear commended the BMW i8 for its breadth of abilities. Its 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine combined with an electric motor gives searing acceleration and driver enjoyment but all wrapped in a package that takes BMW's EfficientDynamics philosophy to the extreme courtesy of CO2 emissions less than 49g/km and a 135mpg combined cycle figure. Charlie Turner, Editor in Chief at Top Gear magazine, said: "The BMW is a milestone in the annals of automotive history and a glorious statement for an exciting and positive future. The i8 delivers – and then some. It's the kind of car we should celebrate, a beautiful vision of the future, delivered now.

Lamborghini has been developing an IPO strategy 'for a long time'

Porsche AG isn’t the only Volkswagen AG brand that has been quietly preparing for a potential initial public offering. Italian luxury-car maker Lamborghini has been developing a strategy how to present itself to stock-market investors since well before Volkswagen asked each of its brands to come up with virtual equity stories, according to the unitÂ’s Chief Executive Officer Stephan Winkelmann. “WeÂ’ve been working on this with other agencies in order to create clarity,” Winkelmann said. “As a brand, weÂ’ve done so for a long time, to show what worth, what value we have. Up until a little while ago, it wasnÂ’t so well known.” Porsche became EuropeÂ’s most valuable automaker last month, when its market capitalization overtook that of VW a week after its IPO in Frankfurt. The debut of the 911 maker was a bold move into public markets, which have been largely shut for most of the year. VW CEO Oliver Blume has said he sees the listing as a blueprint to unlock more value from the groupÂ’s brands that also include Audi and Bentley. “An IPO drill is exactly what you do to show the public how solid you are and what is in progress for the future,” Winkelmann said. “We have a clear story and strategy for that.” Audi, which oversees VWÂ’s premium brands, said last month there are no concrete plans for an IPO of Lamborghini. A previous push to potentially spin off the carmaker and motorcycle brand Ducati ran into opposition from labor leaders. Still, LamborghiniÂ’s recent profit gains -- including a 31.9% operating margin in the first half of this year -- make a solid case for a stock-market listing, said Michael Dean, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “An IPO is something that could potentially happen in the next 18 months, depending on market conditions,” Dean said. “A ˆ15 billion valuation is entirely justifiable and could be even higher, given the margin metrics.” LamborghiniÂ’s deliveries rose 8% to 7,430 vehicles in the first nine months of the year. Operating profit climbed 69% to ˆ570 million ($567 million). Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Lamborghini teases Huracan Sterrato tackling terrain

In some Italian cities, even fast cars can no longer go fast

There’s so much to love about Italy: spaghetti carbonara, Ferraris, tiramisu, Michelangelo, high speed limitsÂ…. Wait. About those speed limits. In Bologna, a town with enormous character and exceptional cuisine, the city fathers only last month imposed a speed limit in the town of 30 kilometers per hour — about 20 mph — to make it safer and “more livable.” Critics of the measure are not contento. According to a recent story in The New York Times, drivers there argue that Bologna is “slowing to a standstill since it became the first major Italian city” to join a growing group of European municipalities that in the past few years have adjusted speed limits downward by half. The new rules, in place in Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen and cities across Spain, mark an effort to cut pollution, reduce energy use, and disincentivize car use. As reported by the Times, BolognaÂ’s mayor, Matteo Lepore, included the new speed limit among the campaign promises that helped to get him elected in 2021. Referring to the lower limit, he said, “Driving at 30 is part of a vision of a more democratic and more sustainable use of public space,” where neighborhoods put children and older people first, and investments favor bike paths and public transportation to work toward carbon neutrality. Adding fuel to the smolder, Bologna is the capital of a region that is home to Ferrari, Lamborghini and Pagani. The action in Italy has spurred protests, and petitions from some commuters that their daily travels to and from the city have grown substantially longer. And recently, the Times reported, a gathering attracted dozens of cranky citizens and cabbies to the streets, where they drove at a snailÂ’s pace in a makeshift parade, loudly honking horns and snarling traffic. The new speed limit “is impossible” to drive at, said Giorgio Gorza, who heads a citizenÂ’s group. “ItÂ’s like standing still, and no one takes a car if youÂ’re going to stay still, if it takes longer than walking. ItÂ’s illogical.” In 2021, according to the story, Olbia, in Sardinia, became the first Italian city to set a broad limit of 30 klicks an hour.