The good oil: South Island roads 'among the best'

Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne borrowed a line from Al Gore when describing the task he faced of getting the American carmaker back on track: "I feel like Zsa Zsa Gabor's fifth husband - I know what I have to do but I don't know how to make it interesting."

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Australian car club Classic Throttle Shop describes roads in the South Island as "among the best on the planet". It is running a two-week, self-drive adventure of the South Island next February for CTS members across the ditch and says of the roads: "All sealed, they carry little traffic through breathtaking scenery with corners that are frequent and entertaining." The cost, says the CTS newsletter Pitlane, is A$2995 ($3776) per person. Members are told they can ship their own cars or hire something suitable when they get here.

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Spy photographers have caught Audi testing its new premium A8 sedan. Word is it is based on an extended version of the A4 platform and will make more use of materials like aluminium and magnesium to keep weight down. The spy images show cameras in the foglight housings that analysts believe point to a new self-drive safety system. The cameras will feed images to an on-board computer which will automatically steer the car around objects on the road. Honda developed a similar system, but Audi apparently intends to have it play a greater role in the everyday driving experience. The engine line-up is expected to mirror current offerings, although the 6-litre W12 petrol unit is likely to be dropped because of its high costs and emissions and replaced by a 6-litre V12 diesel.

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Foreign brands are losing market share in Japan, but as a group they still outclass the far larger local carmakers when it comes to customer satisfaction at dealerships. Import brands on average scored a satisfaction rating of 609 on a 1000-point scale, beating the domestic average of 598, according to J.D. Power and Associates' Japanese study. Lexus led the list with 780 points, outpacing runner-up BMW's score of 645. It was the third straight year that Lexus ranked No. 1 in the survey. Next, in order, were Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. This year's average score was 596. Sales of import brands in Japan tumbled 23 per cent in the first nine months of 2009, while the overall light-vehicle market fell 15 per cent.

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Toyota Motorsport chairman Tadashi Yamashina burst into tears at the news conference to confirm the company was pulling out of Formula One racing. Toyota will pull out at the end of this season. The world's largest carmaker is forecasting a US$7.85 billion ($9.9 billion) operating loss in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, and is targeting US$9.4 billion in cost cuts during that period. "This was a difficult but ultimately unavoidable decision," President Akio Toyoda said. "We stressed our commitment to F1 last year, and we have done our best over the past season, but it was no longer viable to continue," said Toyoda, himself an avid racing fan. Honda earlier pulled out of Formula One, saying it would save nearly US$1 billion. The departure of the No. 1 and No. 2 carmakers continues the drain of Japanese companies from motorsports: Subaru and Suzuki withdrew from the world rally championship, and tyremaker Bridgestone won't renew its supply contract with Formula One after the 2010 season.

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Denver man Zach Schultz was driving down Colorado Boulevard when he tossed a cigarette out the window - but it landed in the back seat and set the car on fire. Schultz wasn't able to save it.

alastair.sloane@nzherald.co.nz