2011 Porsche Cayenne Awd 4dr Turbo on 2040-cars

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2015 24 Hours of Le Mans live race report

Check back regularly for more race updates every few hours. No, you don't need to stay up for the entire 24 Hours of Le Mans, but if you want to catch any of the action, Autoblog friend Reilly Brennan has a handy guide. And to keep you up to speed on the latest race events, we'll be posting live from Le Mans with regular race reports.Hour 1: Five laps in, Audi breaks up the three Porsches at the front, with the #19 919 Hybrid, driven by Nico Hulkenburg, passed by all three R18s. Hulkenburg eventually took back fifth position only to fall back again after the first pit stop. Meanwhile, clutch trouble kept the #23 Nissan GTR-LM in the pits until 15 minutes into the race. The other two Nissans were forced to start at the back of the grid after failing to the meet the 110 percent qualifying speed regulation. At the end of the first hour, just 7.5 seconds separated the first six cars. Then the factory team #92 Porsche GTE car caught fire, with the the #13 Rebellion P1 car taking frontal damage in the ensuing carnage. With the safety car out, the field is once again bunched up.Hour 2: The slugfest between Audi and Porsche continues, with neither side backing off. Halfway through the second hour the #7 R18 passes both leading Porsches for the top position. After another round of pits stops Porsche regains the lead until lap 30, when the Audi overtake once again and quickly pulls out a three-second gap. Nico Hulkenburg passes the other two Audis to join his Porsche teammates. At the beginning of the third hour it's Audi #7, Porsche #17, #18, and #19, followed by Audi #8 and #9. 33 seconds separates this group, with Toyota a minute back from the front car.Hour 3: On track the action refuses to stop. Although it's early, Audi is looking strong with the overall lead in the #7. What's more is that the Audis run four stints per set of tires, while the Porsche cars have to change rubber every third stop. But after a quick refueling, the lead R18 gets a tire puncture and comes back in 3 laps later, allowing Porsche to take over the top two spots. Then as the hour closes out a yellow flag causes traffic to bunch up and the #8 Audi gets stuck with nowhere to slow down. Driver Loic Duval dives for the side of the road but hits the guard rail and careens across the track, damaging the front and rear bodywork. The rest of the car is still intact, though, and once in the pits Audi replaces the entire front and rear of that in only three minutes.

Porsche production will stay in Germany, says sales chief

At Porsche's recent opening of its new North American headquarters in Atlanta, we had a chance to chat with Bernhard Maier, the brand's head of sales and marketing. In our interview Maier opens up about Porsche's global growth, relationship with other Volkswagen Group products, and some of Porsche's future video. Read on for more. Autoblog: You're on a smooth trajectory of increasing sales in the US. Do you think there's an ultimate cap for Porsche in terms of volume? Bernhard Maier: If you look at the last couple of years, we have really seen a rapid growth in US, as we have seen in many other countries as well. Put that in perspective with our strategy for 2018. When we released that in early 2011, we said there are opportunities to grow for the brand in a number of ways. We are growing by entering new markets where we are not yet in, by taking part in the overall development of individual mobility, and in going in new segments where we are not yet in or that we were not yet in, such as the B SUV segment. And the Macan is, I think, a through-and-through success story. Let's take the US. Out of 1,000 inhabitants compare that with 700 cars on the marketplace. If we go to China, there are only 70 cars out of 1,000 inhabitants. So this is a huge potential, which we still have for the entire automotive industry and, again, we are in China now for 14 years. We started off in 2001, selling 226 cars. Last year, we did more than 27,000 units. With the economic recovery of the United States, we saw a tremendous comeback of the entire economy and also for the car industry. We took advantage of that as well in handling new segments like the Macan and in bringing more varieties in our already existing cars, so it gave us the opportunity to grow in America as well. AB: In terms of the portfolio, and speaking of Macan, are there other segments that Porsche will be expanding? Are any segments off limits? BM: We do have the number of ideas I can tell you, but we are not decided on what level [and] we are not talking about them. Let's look at our current model line-up. I think it's the most interesting one we've ever had in the history of the company. We do have a lot of derivatives in the 911 model lineup, we do have some derivatives in the Boxster and Cayman segment. There are some new ideas, which, as I've mentioned already, have not been decided yet. AB: Right. Is there any potential that we'd see something from the group MQB platform?

Sunday Drive: An automotive flavor for every taste

Last week was flush with interesting new vehicle debuts, led by the new 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe. This crossover is entering straight into the heart of one of the world's most competitive automotive segments, and it's doing so with a fresh sense of style and a brace of new technologies. Our readers are clearly intrigued – the Santa Fe was the biggest news story of the last week on these online pages. It's fitting that a crossover generated a lot more interest than a traditional wagon, though we don't really have to be happy about it. Still, the completely new, fully redesigned Volvo V60 is worth taking another look at. First of all, it's pretty, in a traditionally Scandinavian way. Second, it's quick, with a 0-60 time of as little as 4.8 seconds. And finally, it's practical, with all kinds of room for cargo without the dynamic penalties of an unnecessary lift kit. Moving on from new vehicle debuts, we took another long look at the Honda Ridgeline. It's definitely a non-conformist pickup truck, based not on a body-on-frame platform but on a more carlike unibody design. That means it can't tow as much as some other trucks, but it also means the Ridgeline drives better than any of its more truckish competitors. It's the Swiss army knife of pickup trucks. Rounding out our coverage from last week are three sets of spy photos, each showing the interior of a hotly anticipated new model. One is a truck, one is a crossover, and the last is a sportscar. All of them are worth another look. As always, stay tuned to Autoblog this week for all the most important news in the automotive world. 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe unveiled 2019 Volvo V60 | Sleek, swift new twist on the Swedish wagon 2018 Honda Ridgeline | Pocketknife pickup is up for anything 2019 GMC Sierra interior looks just like the Silverado's 2019 Cadillac XT4 interior has actual buttons, no more touch-sensitive panel 2020 Porsche 911 992 spy shots show interior and manual transmission Cadillac GMC Honda Hyundai Porsche Volvo Truck Crossover Wagon Luxury Performance Sedan hyundai santa fe