Wheels: Wheelies: The Joint-Venture Edition

Toyota/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Akio Toyoda, left, the president of Toyota, shaking hands with Norbert Reithofer, the BMW chairman, after they announced a partnership in January.

In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:

• Something is brewing between Toyota and BMW, in the form of a four-part joint venture aimed at using lightweight materials, fuel-cell technology and batteries to bolster vehicle efficiency. The companies announced their intentions to collaborate in January, but had apparently come closer to agreeing upon what they would like to do with their pooled resources. Motor Trend reported that a joint concept vehicle might be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show this year. At this point, what that vehicle will be is pure speculation, but Motor Trend surmises that it may be a hybrid sports car. Whatever it is, Toyota and BMW have already engaged in feasibility studies, all very hush hush. (Motor Trend)

• Three former Saab executives have been arrested by Swedish authorities for fraud and tax evasion. Although Olof Sahlgren, a Swedish prosecutor, would not name the executives, he said that they had been accused of falsifying the company’s financial records from 2010 to 2011. Skypker, the automaker, had bought Saab from General Motors in 2010, filing for bankruptcy in December 2011. It is now owned by a consortium of Chinese and Japanese investors who plan to build electric cars under the Saab brand. The three Spyker-era executives face four years behind bars if convicted. (The Boston Globe)

• Don’t expect to see too many Renaults for sale in America soon, but if there were a dealership in the neighborhood, the driving enthusiast might consider taking the new Renault Mégane RB8 for a spin. Production of the hot hatch, the styling of which was inspired by Renault’s Formula One partnership with Red Bull Racing, will be limited. Mechanically, the RB8 is the same as the Mégane 265 Cup, sporting a 265-horsepower, 2-liter 4-cylinder engine. But it will have 19-inch wheels, Recaro seats and a few other goodies the other car does not have. But again, we will have to watch the fun unfold from afar on this side of the Atlantic. (Piston Heads)

• Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler and Fiat’s Italian chief executive, came under fire from an Italian-American anti-bias advocacy group in New Jersey for comments he made at the Detroit auto show in January. He had told reporters there that if a new Alfa Romeo model was sold in the United States, it needed to have a “wop” engine. Although putting an Italian-designed engine in an Italian car may sound fine to most, using the word “wop,” a pejorative for Italian-American, attracted the attention of the the Italian-American One Voice Coalition, which pursued Mr. Marchionne until he issued a public apology for the slur. (The Detroit Free Press)

• A 20-year-old woman was killed Saturday when a Jeep demonstration in Edmonton, Alberta, went awry. Two Jeeps were parked in such a way that one Jeep had its front tire on top of the front tire of the other Jeep, ostensibly to show off the S.U.V.’s climbing prowess. When the top Jeep’s driver got out to pose for pictures, his vehicle moved forward, rolling to its side. A young woman standing nearby was knocked down by the tumbling Jeep and later pronounced dead at the hospital. (CTV News)

• Audi is now India’s top luxury brand, having outstripped BMW of the title. Sales of BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars in India fell by 9.5 and 5.4 percent, respectively, while Audi sales there rose by 43 percent over the last year – a total of 9,350 vehicles. Audi said it owed its success to focusing outside of the city centers typically aimed at by top carmakers in India. The automaker expanded its sales outside urban areas. S.U.V.’s are the company’s primary focus in the country, particularly in smaller cities that tend to have more rough roads. (Automotive News Europe)

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Categories: Edition, JointVenture, Wheelies, Wheels