The worst rally driver you've ever seen

Fast cars and excellent driving skills might be the easy answers when asking how to succeed in rally racing, but after watching this video, a good teammate is obviously an important aspect of this sport, too. During the 2013 Rally of Coimbatore in India, driver Samir Thapar and his co-driver, Vivek Ponnusamy, didn't seem to be on the same page as the two attempted to navigate the course in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

We'd probably hear drastically different stories if we talked to Thapar and Ponnusamy about this particular event, but you know things are bad when "stay on road" and "turn the wheel" are commands given by the co-driver (and yes, that's a man running for his life in the screen shot shown above). As it turned out, though, it seems like the Ponnusamy was justified in his concerns to take care of the racecar. Race results show that despite winning three of the seven stages, this team ultimately ended the race with a DNF.

Scroll down to watch the video, and even though it's been edited down from almost 40 minutes to less than four, we get the idea that it wasn't a pleasant experience for driver or co-driver.

View the original article here

Harman CEO says worst over for European car market

By Harro Ten Wolde

BERLIN | Fri Sep 6, 2013 8:44am EDT

BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. audio systems maker Harman International Industries Inc said that Europe's automotive industry, which accounts for most of its sales, has already bottomed out and may show modest recovery in the current fiscal year.

There are indications that the European car market, where sales dropped to a two-decade low, might be turning the corner, with the region's two top carmakers — Daimler and Volkswagen —reporting healthy profits for the second quarter.

"The rate of decline has slowed down and is close to zero now," Chief Executive Dinesh Paliwal told Reuters on the sidelines of IFA, Europe's largest consumer electronics trade show, which opened its doors on Friday.

"For the current fiscal year we assume in our planning for the European auto sector a flat to 1 percent decline from last year. We hope it will be zero to 1 percent plus."

Harman, whose brands include JBL and Harman Kardon, is the largest player in the in-car entertainment market, which accounts for more than half its sales. It caters to luxury carmakers such as Daimler AG, Fiat SpA's Ferrari sports cars and Volkswagen's Audi brand.

Harman's sales to German carmakers accounted for 43 percent of its revenue for the year ended June 2012, with carmakers in the rest of Europe bringing in another 20 percent.

The global automotive audio market is expected to grow to $14.4 billion in 2016 at a compound annual growth rate of about 12 percent, according to research firm Markets & Markets.

Paliwal said its European consumer electronics division, which sells headphones and Bluetooth speakers, was also doing better.

"Nobody is saying they are going to have a huge growth rate. But the worst is behind us, we have bottomed out."

Harman, whose main competitors include Japan's Pioneer, JVC-Kenwood and Denso, has received orders totaling $19 billion for the next four to five years. In its 2012/13 fiscal year, Harman added $5 billion in new orders.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based company said last month it expected sales of around $4.7 billion and earnings per share around $3.85 for the fiscal year from July 2013 to end-June 2014 up from $4.3 billion and $3.07, respectively, the previous year.

(editing by Jane Baird)

View the original article here

The worst rally driver you've ever seen

Fast cars and excellent driving skills might be the easy answers when asking how to succeed in rally racing, but after watching this video, a good teammate is obviously an important aspect of this sport, too. During the 2013 Rally of Coimbatore in India, driver Samir Thapar and his co-driver, Vivek Ponnusamy, didn't seem to be on the same page as the two attempted to navigate the course in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

We'd probably hear drastically different stories if we talked to Thapar and Ponnusamy about this particular event, but you know things are bad when "stay on road" and "turn the wheel" are commands given by the co-driver (and yes, that's a man running for his life in the screen shot shown above). As it turned out, though, it seems like the Ponnusamy was justified in his concerns to take care of the racecar. Race results show that despite winning three of the seven stages, this team ultimately ended the race with a DNF.

Scroll down to watch the video, and even though it's been edited down from almost 40 minutes to less than four, we get the idea that it wasn't a pleasant experience for driver or co-driver.

View the original article here