Tag: tells

Video: 1955 Belgian GP movie tells the story of Spa

Filed under: Motorsports, Classics, Europe, Videos, Ferrari, Racing

With the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix happening this weekend, Shell reminded a few guests what the Spa-Francorchamps track and Belgian countryside were like in 1955. That year the petroleum company made a 30-minute movie about the grand prix – this is back when the track was called the Francorchamps National Circuit, near the town of Spa, and a list of its important corners didn’t include a mention of Eau Rouge – where it was doing the same thing it still does today: working on fuels and lubricants via its technical partnership with Ferrari.

To create the mood, journalists were invited to a vintage cinema where they mingled with Ferrari F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa and other extras in period fifties gear, and watched a screening of 1955 Belgian Grand Prix. You can scroll down for a screening of your own, as well as the press release, minus the petits-fours and pinups.

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1955 Belgian GP movie tells the story of Spa originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 25 Aug 2013 20:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: China tells foreign automakers they must build low-cost local brands

Filed under: China, Plants/Manufacturing

Chinese flagIf you want to do business in the Chinese market, you have to play by the rules set out by the Chinese government… and those rules are subject to change. Such is the case in the automotive segment, where officials from China are reportedly set to add some requirements for automakers that wish to update any contracts in an effort to build more vehicles in China.

Apparently, as much as 30 percent of any additional production capacity over what has already been agreed upon will be earmarked for the Chinese market, and that percentage of vehicles would have to be sold under a new Chinese brand name at a “low cost.”

It’s not necessarily more brands China wants, it’s intellectual property. “During 10 years of trying, China has become a big factory for foreign companies, and their Chinese partners didn’t get advanced technology. Through this industrial policy they would like Chinese carmakers to get IP in order to own this market,” said Lang Xuehong, automotive analyst with Sinotrust, quoted by Financial Times.

Will the scales fall in favor of more access to the lucrative Chinese market or will the desire to keep valuable intellectual property under the roof of the company that actually earned it through actual research and development triumph? We’ll see.

[Source: Financial Times – sub. req.]

Report: China tells foreign automakers they must build low-cost local brands originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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