If you haven’t noticed already, we’re not to big here on reporting F1 news. But when that F1 news is this big, we have to set aside some time and give you an inside on what’s going on the world of motorsports. BMW announced today that it will be reviving the M1 Procar series for one last run at Hockenheim during the F1 German Gran Prix.

30 years ago the M1 was unveiled as the first independently built car by the BMW Motorsport GmbH. It was then created into a production model, the BMW M1 which allowed customers and enthusiasts to take the ‘M’ power to the road. At the time, it was the hottest thing since sliced bread in the automotive industry.

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Audi announced today that it handed over two 420-hp mid-engine R8s two the German Motorsport Association for the ‘Norisring Speed Weekend.’ The two Audi R8s were prepared specifically for use as the official DTM safety car for the first time by quattro GmbH.

 ”There were not many modifications required, though, because the R8 possesses the genes of a perfect sports car,” says Werner Frowein, managing director of quattro GmbH.

Audi also offered another R8 for use as a racing taxi.

It was reported last month that Pontiac is down to 10 names after asking the public to vote on the name for the new 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck. Spokesman Brian Shipman at the time said that ‘El Camino’ is most likely axed from the options due to internal conflict between Chevrolet and Pontiac over the badge.

However, according to G8 Nation, the ‘El Camino’ nameplate may be back on the table. Pontiac Communication Manager, Jim Hopson dropped the G8 focused site an email stating that the ‘El Camino is definitely one of the fan favorite’ and ‘is being considered’ once again.

Honestly we don’t see the big deal; if people like it, just give it to them. Why go back and forth on the name of the car?

2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck:

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Popular hybrids sold in the U.S. either no longer qualify for tax breaks or are about to see them cut very sharply. Starting tomorrow, the Honda Civic Hybrid will see a cut in tax credit from $1,050 to $525. Toyota Prius and the Camry Hybrid saw their $3,150 tax credits disappear last fall. The Prius and Civic rank first and second in terms of fuel-economy followed by the Camry Hybrid at no.3.

Why would the government make such a move when gas-prices are at an all time high? Well, according to the 2005 federal law that started the hybrid tax credits, the tax break begins to phase out after an automaker sells 60,000 qualifying vehicles.

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Chrysler announced today that it is indefinitely halting production at its St. Louis South minivan plant starting October 31. Also, beginning September 2nd, Chrysler will also cut production at its St. Louis North truck plant to one shift. Chrysler’s Tom LaSorda also said that it is not likely that the plants will repoen.

“We see no intent to rerun this plant. We’re idling it and it will likely be fully closed,” said LaSorda.

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We can just imagine Ford spokesmen getting calls with reporters on the other end going “Hey, we hear you guys are selling Volvo. Is it true?” After which the spokesman takes a heavy breath and goes “No damn it! We’ve told you all about a thousand times that we’re focused on improving the Volvo brand; not going to sell it!”

Well, those calls are probably making their way to Ford spokesmen today as Reuters reports that FoMoCo is once again talking to Renault SA to sell Volvo. Sources said that both companies had spoken on the matter in the past but due to price differences, talks were broken.

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Alright - let’s go back-to-back Tesla here. Just right now we told you that Tesla Motors has confirmed plans to build an electric-sedan dubbed the Tesla Model S. Pricing expected to be around $60,000, which is much cheaper than the $109,000 Tesla Roadster.

Nonetheless, that may still be a little steep for those looking to go electric. According to Elon Musk, Chairman of Tesla Motors (not to mention co-founder of PayPal) the company is working on its development of electric-car technology that should allow it to offer future models under $30,000.

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California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger helped Tesla Motors announce today that the company has chosen to build a manufacturing plant in the Bay Area for its new electric sedan, the Tesla Model S. Schwarzenegger currently owns the $109,00 Tesla Roadster which gets 227 miles on one charge with a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 125mph.

Tesla said that the Tesla Model S will go into production in late 2010 and will cost about $60,000. The sedan is expected to get 225 miles on a full charge. More details on the 5-seater sedan will be released at later date.

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We’ve seen numerous spy shots of the new Bond movie “Quantum of Solace,” and now Sony Pictures has revealed the first official trailer.

A lot went into making “Quantum of Solace” including three Aston Martin DBS’s that we’ve counted; one that plunged into a lake in northern Italy, one during a car chase scene that left the stunt driver critically injured and another where Daniel Craig crashes it into a quarry (on purpose).

“Quantum of Solace” will hit the big screen on November 7, 2008.

Click through for the trailer.

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Some are calling these pictures ‘photo renderings’ while some are saying these are ‘official’ pictures from Mazda that have been leaked over the internet. Nonetheless. these Mazda3 concept pictures or renderings are supposed to give us a hint of what the next-generation compact Mazda is supposed to look like.

Design seems to be very much in line with Mazda’s new Nagare design theme taking major hints from the new 2009 Mazda6.

What we know so far is that Mazda is set to show two new concept cars this year including what is known as the Mazda1 city car and a new crossover concept that we saw earlier this month.

Click through for more images.

Mazda3 Concept or Photo Renderings:

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According to an in-house research done by Mitsubishi, the brand’s Lancer Evolution X is stealing new customers from luxury Japanese and German brands. Why? Mitsubishi says the Lancer Evolution X offers a ’strong value proposition and excellent driving characteristics.’

The study showed that 38 percent of new customers opting for the Twin Clutch SST have been from luxury German brands while 31 percent have been from luxury Japanese brands. As for the manual transmission, 40 percent were returning Evo owners while 19 percent were from German brands and 20 percent from Japanese.

If that wasn’t surprising enough for you, Mitsubishi says that several supercars have been traded for the new Lancer Evolution X. One dealer handed over a Lancer Evolution X FQ-300 SST and a check for £90,000 ($179,320 USD) for a Ferrari F430.

Click through for the press release.

2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X:

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There seems to be a lot of teasing going on this morning. The next-generation BMW 7-Series won’t make its official debut until next week, but BMW was already teasing and ‘advertising’ the car at the European Tour’s BMW International Open, in Munich. Basically, whoever got a hole-in-one on the par 3 17th hole would win the 2010 BMW 7-Series. Not too shabby.

BMW teased the crowd with a backdrop placed behind the 17th whole giving everyone a sneak peek at the next-generation 7-Series. Looks very much like the BMW CS Concept to us.

Some of the things we’ve learned about the next-generation model in the past couple of months is that it will get a new twin-turbo V12 and twin-turbo V8 engine mated to an automatic 8-speed transmission. The V8 model will get two square exhaust pipes while the V12 will get four square exhaust pipes. Four-wheel steering and all-wheel-drive will be optional features.

Click through for more pictures.

Spy Shots: 2009 BMW 7-Series:

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It’s too early to say whether or not GMC, a brand based on SUVs and trucks, will soon see future like HUMMER, but according to the insiders of GM news, GM is cutting two product programs. On the list is an upgrade to the GMC Acadia and a GMC Lambda SUT program based on the GMC Denali XT Hybrid Concept.

Along with another Lambda based crossover, the Saturn Outlook, GM will no longer upgrade the GMC Acadia. That means you’ll be left with the new Chevrolet Traverse and the Buick Enclave. Not so bad considering those two are the best looking Lambda crossovers anyway.

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