Brembo, the Italian brake maker, is to join forces with DaimlerChrsyler and set up a Joint Venture to produce ceramic disc brakes. The brakes will initially be for high-performance vehicles such as the Mercedes SLR and the Ferrari Ens. The company will be called Brembo Cermanic Brake Systems, will be based in Bergamo, Italy and produce 15,000 disks by 2006.

Caterpillar has won its fourth consecutive J.D. Power and Associates award for customer satisfaction in an on-highway truck engine category. The C-15 engine earned the highest level of customer satisfaction in the Vocational Class 8 trucks category. The company has won the distinction every year since J.D. Power began recognizing heavy-duty engines in 2000. The results were based on interviews with 2,700 owners of two year old Class 8 trucks.

Ferrari and Maseratiplan to open a dealership in the lobby of Wynn Resorts Ltd.'s new $US 2.4 bn, 2,700-room casino hotel being built in Las Vegas. Visitors will be able to admire half a dozen or more new Ferraris and Maseratis on display, buy Ferrari-branded merchandise or have a meal at the Ferrari cafe. Ferrari owners who decide to drive to Las Vegas will also be able to have their vehicles serviced at the hotel.

Fiat have won the 2004 European Car of the Year (COTY) award with their new Fiat Panda. The international jury of 58 senior motoring journalists from 22 European countries awarded the Panda 281 votes. Equal second was the Mazda3 and Volkswagen Golf (241 votes), followed by the Toyota Avensis (219), Opel Meriva (213), BMW 5 Series (144) and the Nissan Micra (111). It is the 11th time Fiat group have won the award since COTY started in 1964.

Ford is being sued by its former President Martin Leach who claims the automaker fired him in August, then prevented him from taking another executive position in the auto industry. Leach said he had an offer to become CEO of Fiat but that Ford blocked him from the job by claiming he would be violating the company's noncompetitive clause. Leach says the clause in his contract applies only if the executive quits but not if he is fired.

Ford forecasts a huge growth in Asia. David Snyder, who heads business development for Ford in Asia Pacific, says between now and 2010, 60% of the global auto industry's growth will occur in Asia, and half of that will be in China. He says the region's recent growth rate surpasses that of North America and Europe since 1985, and by the end of the decade it will become the world's largest auto market.

Ford is to build a new joint venture high-performance V6 diesel engine at its Dagenham plant in the UK. Ford says the state-of-the-art 2.7 litre, common-rail, direct injection V6 engine is the third stage of the agreement between Ford Motor Company and PSA Peugeot Citroen. It will make its debut in 2004 in the Jaguar S-TYPE.

GM has signed a massive deal with Avis Europe to supply the rental car firm with 350,000 vehicles over the next 5 years. It is the largest fleet sale in European history. Under the agreement, which includes Opel, Vauxhall and Saab brands, GM will help Avis sell its used vehicles and Avis will promote GM brands in Europe.

GM is adding a clause in contracts with suppliers that gives companies 30 days to match a rival's lower price or face losing GM's business. Suppliers complain that the new clause means GM can cut them off without penalty before they can recoup any investment for new programs. GM denies it will use the clause to squeeze suppliers but says it will drop suppliers that are no longer competitive.

Honda says Europe is a low-profit market and it will concentrate future growth efforts in Asia and the USA. Honda has reset its European goals from high growth to sustainable profitability. Honda is the No. 3 brand in Japan, the No.2 Japanese brand in the USA, but only the No. 4 Japanese brand in Europe where it may soon be overtaken by No. 5 Suzuki.

International Truck has confirmed plans to re-enter the Class 3-5 truck market in early 2005. Plans for the introduction of a low-cab-forward vehicle, which the company will market as the International CF Series, were discussed with dealers at the company's annual dealer meetings in Chicago. The CF Series will be sourced through the company's Blue Diamond joint venture with Ford.

Porshe is to offer a version of its Cayenne Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) with a V6 engine from Volkswagen. Some analysts say that the vehicle will tarnish Porsche's image since 'it would be plainly apparent that it contained a VW engine.' Aston Martin's CEO, Ulrich Bez says 'Porsche is no longer a sports car brand because they are making light trucks, and with sales of 100,000 units a year, they are no longer exclusive.'

Proton Motors, Malaysia's largest car producer and owner of the British Lotus marque, has announced that it will buy a 50% share in MV Augusta Spa - the Italian motorcycle manufacturer. One plan is that MV Augusta, which owns Cagiva and Husqvarna, will develop with Proton motorcycles for the Asian market, another plan is military vehicles for the Pacific Rim countries.

Renault says it will create a joint venture with an Iranian consortium called AID to build and sell its cut-price X90 car in the fast-growing market. The venture would be launched in early 2004 and production would start in 2006, with an initial capacity of 200,000 cars per year. Renault expects annual production of the model to top 500,000 units worldwide by 2010.

Toyota will consolidate its truck production operations at its Hino Motors unit by the end of 2004. Toyota currently manufactures 0.75- to 2.0-ton trucks at 4 company plants and it will integrate these operations into Hino, which specializes in making trucks. Toyota has consigned most production of its Dyna and Toyace small truck models to Hino since 1999.

Toyota has, for the first time in its history, beaten Ford in worldwide sales. In the 3rd quarter of 2003, Toyota outpaced the American giant by 166,000 with a total of 1,576,000 units. The milestone for Toyota comes only a few months after it passed Chrysler in monthly U.S. sales for the first time. The Financial Times says that if operating profit were the ranking criterion, Toyota would already be considered number one, but in sales, GM is still by far the world leader.

Volvo AB, the world's second largest truck maker, plans to outsource axle production to ArvinMeritor. "A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the two companies. Final agreements are planned to be made during first quarter 2004," Volvo said in a statement but did not give a value for the accord. The deal involves the transfer of 943 jobs from three Volvo facilities to ArvinMeritor. The Volvo group employs 75,400.

On the lighter side .... some strange but true stories.

Part time taxi driver Jerome Oswald Jones, 27, was convicted at Canterbury court, England, of drink-driving and dangerous driving. In his defense he claimed he would never have driven that night, but green body paint he had covered himself in for a fancy dress party had caused him to be disoriented. He was banned from driving for 30 months.

Otto Beck of Stuttgartwas so upset with his wife he smashed up her car with a sledge hammer. However, the car actually belonged to a complete stranger and a court ordered Mr Beck to pay $1000 in compensation.

Fernando Fabio of Spain was fined $200 for leaving his baby son's pushchair in a no parking zone. The no parking zone was outside a church in Madrid where the baby was being christened.

Mrs Joanna James, 28, of Port Talbot, South Wales, has received a speeding ticket claiming she was 'clocked' by a speed camera traveling at 480 mph. Mrs James drives an old Austin Maestro which she purchased recently for $150. The South Wales police blamed a clerical error, and her husband Kenneth said 'I am expecting Nasa to call at any time to ask about the engine details.'

A driver in Bremen, Germany received a call from his cousin warning him that the police were operating a speed trap in the town. The police spotted the driver and fined him for using a mobile phone while in charge of a vehicle.

Two police officers have been suspended in New York for fighting over who should be the first to drive their new patrol car.

A thief in Berlin, Germany was arrested after the owner of a car he was trying to steal trapped him inside by using the cars remote infra-red locking device.

A family in Lille, France reported their BMW had been stolen to the police. Later that day the police found the car 200 miles away, complete with the families pet Labrador dog sitting patiently on the back seat.

Firemen in Milan, Italy had to chip a man free from his car after he crashed into a lorry carrying quick drying cement which poured all over him.

Raymond Maze, 36 from Dublin, Ireland, promised to buy his wife Brenda a car if she passed her driving test. He kept his vow even though they divorced the week before she passed her test.

A 42 stone man in Milan, Italy had to be lifted with a crane onto the back of a lorry to take him to hospital after he suffered a heart attack. There was no ambulance wide enough for him to fit inside.

A fireman in Belgium has been arrested for stealing car parts worth thousands of dollars from a Volkswagen car factory. He spent the money on a new home in Albania and a BMW.

Jules Dulier of Paris, France was so upset when his BMW was stolen that he painted its replacement bright pink. He said there was no way a joyrider would want to be seen in such a car.

A lady in Berlin opened the boot of her Mercedes to find a tramp asleep inside. He was wearing all the old clothes she was taking to a charity shop.

A fireman in Houston, Texas helped 2 teenagers from a wreck only to find the car was his, stolen the night before. It had been in a police chase and then a pile-up.

Convicted car thieves in Bergen, Norway are giving motorists lessons on how to protect their vehicles, as part of their community service orders.