‘Peak Car’ will be reached within a decade

• The world will reach "Peak Car" — a point at which annual global sales growth will top out — in the next decade, several auto-industry analysts predict. Researchers at IHS Automotive see annual sales cresting at 100 million within that time. Peak Car is at odds with the ambitious expansion plans of global automakers, which IHS says are gearing up to produce more than 120 million vehicles by 2016 — almost 50 percent more than last year's worldwide sales mark of 82 million. The scenario also threatens the business plans of parts producers, suppliers of raw material and oil companies. What the experts do see is a reckoning for car companies, which may have to adapt to a world with less car-buying and more car-sharing, more cars that drive themselves and fewer drivers on the highway.

• THIS year marks 10th anniversary of Aston Martin Racing and marks the luxury sports carmaker’s most extensive motor sport campaign in its 101-year history. The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) will once again be the highlight of the calendar, as the team fields four V8 Vantage GTEs in the full season, and as many as seven cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This campaign will be complemented by some of the toughest endurance races in the world; Nürburgring 24 Hours (N24) and Spa 24 Hours in the V12 Vantage GT3. The success of the Vantage GT3, launched at the start of 2012, has encouraged Aston Martin to increase its factory team’s focus on GT3 racing. Now in its third year of a five-year plan to win the ADAC Nürburgring 24, the works team will once again field its Bilstein-liveried Vantage GT3. The V12 charger will be piloted by long-standing works driver Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke, who will be joined by five-times N24-winner Pedro Lamy.

• THE AUDI A6 gained a maximum rating of five stars for crash safety, awarded by the American NCAP. The results for adult protection in frontal and side impact collisions, as well as in a rollover situation, make the current Audi A6 one of the safest cars in its category. Audi also places maximum value on integral safety, going above and beyond the measures assessed by the institution. A core element of that strategy is the automatic distance control system adaptive cruise control (ACC) with stop & go function, which can automatically bring the car to a complete standstill. After a brief stop, at a traffic signal for instance, the car automatically accelerates again and maintains the chosen distance from the vehicle in front. Other assistance systems include Audi active lane assist and the Audi lane change assist.
• THE new second-generation 2014 Renault Safrane has arrived in Saudi Arabia. The new Safrane comes with a 3.5 aluminum engine V6, 240 HP, front side and curtains air bags, front and rear parking sensors with rear camera , 3-flash side indicator, LED side repeaters, Leather upholstery and chrome door handles for a finishing touch. The ride is both smooth and accommodating with a new state of the art air-purifier and air-freshener dashboard, Tom-Tom GPS Navigation system and an impressive Bose radio sound system for those drivers who like access to quality sounding entertainment on the road.