The new Nissan Micra (or March in some markets) will be launched in Thailand at the Bangkok Auto Show on March 26, barely a month after the supermini’s world debut at Geneva. Nissan Motor Thailand (NMT) also announced that production has started and the March will be the first model offered for sale under Thailand’s “eco-car” program, created to encourage the development of energy-efficient vehicles.

Designed as a “world car” for both mature and emerging markets, the Micra sits on a new platform and will come with a new 78 bhp/108 Nm 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder engine. Dealers have opened their order books, and delivery will start in a few weeks for the five-speed manual variant. Those who opt for the CVT will have to wait till June. Local prices range from 375,000 baht to 537,000 baht.

Thailand will join China, India and Mexico as manufacturing hubs for the Micra, and should be the source for Singapore bound cars. NMT will export the March to countries in the Asian and Oceania markets, according to Toshiyuki Shiga, COO of Nissan Motor Co.

Now, what’s this eco car thing all about? To further boost Thailand’s appeal as “Detroit of the East” the government is rewarding eco car manufacturers with a 50% cut in excise duty, no income tax for eight years and zero import duty for factory machinery imports. To qualify, an eco car has to achieve at least 20 km/l and emit less than 120g/km of CO2. Engine capacity must not exceed 1.3 litres for petrols and 1.4 litres for diesels.

For images and a video of the new Micra, check out our previous post here.

Double World Champion Fernando Alonso was the first driver to cross the finish line at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Spaniard completed 49 laps at the Sakhir circuit and finished ahead of his teammate Felipe Massa. The final podium position was taken up by 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton from McLaren.

Sebastian Vettel had to settle for fourth place as he suffered from a mechanical problem. Vettel started from pole and was leading till halfway through the race. Fifth and sixth positions were filled up by both the Mercedes drivers, Nico Rosberg and 7 times World Champion Michael Schumacher who finished about 4 seconds behind Nico.

The rest of the top ten was made up by Jenson Button (McLaren), Mark Webber (Red Bull), Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) and Rubens Barrichello (Williams). Unlike last year, everyone in the top ten were awarded with points due to the bigger field. The top three bags 25, 18 and 15 points and it goes on till the tenth place driver who gets 1 point.

Both Hispania and Virgin Racing proved that they have a long way to go in terms of reliability as all four cars suffered from mechanical issues. Lotus on the other hand successfully completed the race. Heikki Kovalainen finished in 15th position while his Italian teammate Jarno Trulli came home in 17th although it looked like Trulli ran out of fuel at the dying moments of the race. Nevertheless he was including the finisher’s list. The Formula 1 circus now heads to the Australian Grand Prix which takes place on March 28th.

Click here to check out the complete results.

Right after qualifying 20th and 21st during the qualifying session of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir, Lotus has officially announced its return to IndyCar. The company announced a partnership with Cosworth and a current IndyCar team called KV Racing Technology.

The new team will take part in this year’s series which kicks start in Sao Paolo, Brazil on March 14th. The Lotus-Cosworth IndyCar will be piloted by former Formula 1 driver Takumo Sato. Lotus also said that the race car will be treated to the company’s classic green and yellow colour scheme.

KV Racing Technology was established in 2003 and has competed in two IndyCar championships. The team has thus far won two races, first by Cristiano da Matta and second by Will Power. Pictured above is a rendering of the Lotus-Cosworth IndyCar machine.

Kia has officially unveiled the 2011 Magentis (or Optima in other markets) ahead of its world debut at the New York Auto Show this April. This new Magentis which looks really good if you ask me is expected to go on sale in the UK next year while US buyers can expect it this fall.

This new Magentis mid-sized sedan which should go head to head with Ford’s very impressive Mondeo sits on a platform that is being used on the new Hyundai Sonata. Kia claims that the new model is longer, wider and lower compared to the outgoing model.

Unfortunately the company has not revealed technical specifications but you can safely expect 2.0 liter engines from both the petrol and diesel families. A hybrid variant is expected as well. Continue reading to view the images above in high-res glory.

BMW has added a new variant to the all new F10 5-Series which we had a go in earlier. This is the new Touring which is codenamed the F11. As expected with such a wagon, the boot space is huge. With the rear backrests up the space is figured at 560 liters. This figure can go up to 1,670 liters just by folding down the 40:20:40 split rear seats. On top of that the rear seats are also individually inclinable by 11 degrees in 7 stages by the way, nice!

Features like the Electric Power Steering and the 8-speed automatic transmission have been carried over from the sedan variant. The Touring also comes with self-leveling rear air suspension. There are two petrol and two diesel engines two choose from. The diesel family is made up by a 520d model with a 181hp and 380Nm of torque 4-cylinder unit.

There is also the 530d that features a 6-cylinder units which can crank out 242hp and 540Nm of torque. A more powerful 535d version is expected to join the line-up later on as well. Petrol wise, there is the 523i that makes 201hp and 270Nm of torque while the top of the line spot is taken up by a 302hp force-inducted 535i that can also produce 400Nm of torque. These engines come standard with the a 6-speed manual transmission.

Optional equipment includes Dynamic Drive Control with Normal, Comfort, Sport and Sport+ modes, Integral Active Steering and more. The tail gate also opens up separately. With this who needs a 5-Series GT? As always more images can be found after the jump. There is also a video for your enjoyment.

Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull will start tomorrow’s 49-lap Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position after the German set 1:54.101 which was just 0.1 seconds quicker than Felipe Massa. Massa’s teammate Fernando Alonso managed to secure third place. It looks as though both Red Bull and Ferrari are leading the front running pack which is also made up by Mercedes and McLaren.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton ended the session with his fourth place ahead of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and followed by Red Bull’s Mark Webber. Formula 1’s most successful driver with 7 championships under his belt, Michael Schumacher will start the Middle Eastern race from seventh place. It was revealed previously that Schumacher isn’t too happy with his car’s tendency to understeer.

McLaren’s other British and World Champion driver Jenson Button secured eight in front of Renault’s Robert Kubica. Adrian Sutil surprised everyone with his 10th place finish for Force India. As expected Formula 1’s latest entrants made up the final six grid positions. Virgin Racing’s Timo Glock was the quickest of all with his 19th place finish. Lotus Racing’s Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen settled for 20th and 21st while Virgin’s Di Grassi was 22nd.

Hispania Racing was the slowest of all as Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok were about 4 seconds slower than the times set by Virgin’s and Lotus’ drivers. The extremely slow pace was also due to the fact that the team did not take part in any pre-season testing. Virgin and Lotus are still about 5 seconds slower than the leaders who can probably lap these slower cars after about 20 laps. Please click here to view the full results.

The leaked design illustration you above is said to belong to the facelifted Maybach that is scheduled for a reveal in April. According to the source the Maybach’s facelift is just limited to visual upgrades and upgrading the engines to fit with Euro V standards. Power output will remain the same.

Visual upgrades are expected to be made up by a new front bumper, revised grille, redesigned hood and LED daytime running lights. The Maybach is expected to make its debut at the Beijing Auto Show happening next month. Continue reading to view two more images.

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Little known German tuner VÄTH has come up with this monster of a small roadster. Called the VÄTH V58, it’s based on the Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG but with its 355 bhp/510 Nm naturally aspirated V8 bored out to displace 5.8-litres. That, plus a supercharger results in 565 bhp and 770 Nm of torque.

New engine parts include sports pistons, sports distribution shafts, exhaust manifolds, high-grade steel catalysts, sports exhaust silencers, polished cylinder heads, a sports air filter and a long-stroke crankshaft. Combined with some ECU twaks, this mad SLK can reach 310 km/h. All the performance comes at a price though – 30,785 euros is not cheap. On the options list is a locking differential a “home-produced and patented” fuel cooler.

To harness all that extra grunt, VÄTH throws in a sports suspension which lowers the car from 20 mm to 65 mm (user adjustable), while brake upgrades introduce six-piston calipers with 378 mm discs to the mix. The V58 rides on 19-inch wheels wrapped with 235/35 front rubber and 275/30 rears.

The exterior mods don’t look too outrageous, although the missing three pointed star leaves a big empty round hole up front, while the LED strips look like they’re there just for the sake of it. Unsurprisingly, VÄTH has fed its SLK with a carbon rich diet – the lightweight stuff can be found around the car’s lower body and in the cabin in generous portions.

More pictures after the jump.

Pagani has released a 2 minute 6 second-long promotional footage of the track-ready Zonda R. It features two Zonda R’s being driven on the race track in both dry and wet conditions. The Zonda R is motivated by an AMG-sourced 6.0 liter M120 V12 that can crank out 740hp and 710Nm of torque which gives the €1,460,000 Zonda R a Formula 1 like engine note. Continue reading to check out the video.

Reports are also suggesting the Geely will maintain Volvo’s production hub in Sweden however some are saying the the Chinese company will shift production to China. If this happens about 16,000 workers in Sweden may lose their jobs. As for setting up production in China, a 300,000-unit production is expected annually. This number is almost double Volvo’s current output worldwide.

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