(Source: 9to5Mac via Gizmodo)

Image Courtesy: Gizmodo

Here comes a crazy holiday story from Texas, but this one has a good ending .  Thanks to Apple’s “Find My iPhone” tracking technology, the crooks were nailed and the stolen (and badly damaged) vehicle was retrieved by the cops.  Here is the story in the words of the victim who lost his Land Rover to the crooks on Christmas.

Pretty amazing Christmas Story! Early this morning my 2005 Land Rover was stolen from the Marriott in Wichita Falls TX. The local police put me on hold, transferred me around and did nothing. My iPhone was in the car in between the seats and turned on. I tracked it using MobileMe Find My Phone to HWY 287 on the way to Decatur. When they exited the highway and headed on a Farm road for Justin TX a few miles away, I contacted the Justin Police and with the help of a very savvy operator we pinpointed the car at a Sonic. While I was on the phone with her, she said the officer sees your car and is going to make the arrest. A few minutes later she frantically calls me to start tracking the car again. The officer had handcuffed the suspects, sat one down on the curb while putting the other in the back seat. When he got back, the guy had Houdini’d the cuffs from behind his back to the front, fought with the officer and jumped in my car, dragged him and ran over him. I followed the car on the iPhone and directed the Highway Patrol to where he was – high speed chase ending with him flipping the Land Rover several times. The policeman is going to be fine – he is at the hospital with multiple bruises etc. The screenshot is where the car thieves ran over the policeman and escaped. I am just so thankful the policeman was not seriously hurt – I could care less about the car or the crook.

(Source: Retuters India & Autoblog)

The family owners of Italian car designer and niche manufacturer Pininfarina SpA have hired Italy’s Banca Leonardo to sell their majority stake in the company, a company source said on Friday.

The decision was taken at the company’s board meeting on Wednesday, the source said. The sale of the 50.7 percent stake held by Pincar, the Pininfarina family company, was foreseen as part of a debt agreement with banks at end of 2008.

“It is a commitment Pincar made with the banks. The family has no intention of leaving completely,” the source said, adding Pincar will no longer be a majority shareholder.

Images via Apture: Multiple flavors of Pininfarina Designed Ferraris

Sure, but who will buy controlling interest of such a storied company? Have you met our Indian friend Tata? Rumors are swirling that Indian giant Tata, new owner of both Jaguar and Land Rover, is reportedly in the hunt to purchase the Pininfarina family’s shares.

Various other companies have been touted as possible partners for Pininfarina, which has designed stylish cars for Ferrari. Pininfarina is working with French financier Vincent Bollore on developing an electric car.

Earlier this week, Pininfarina said Pincar had subscribed its 50.7 percent share of a 70 million euros capital increase. The increase attracted overall 55.6 percent take-up.   The Pincar subscription to the rights issue was also part of the end-2008 agreement with banks, the source said.

However, the reports are painting the pending deal as a partnership rather than a takeover and Tata already has dealings with Fiat, so they’re familiar with the Italian way of doing things.  If a rival took more than a third of Pininfarina’s shares, it could put at risk its contract to April 2011 with Ford Motor Co. Pininfarinia builds the Ford Focus Coupe-Cabriolet at its plant in Bairo, near Turin, Italy. It also has a joint venture with Ford subsidiary Volvo Car Corp. to make the Volvo C70 at a plant in Uddevalla, Sweden.

Let’s see how it all shakes out!

(Source: Autoblog & Autoweek)

Americans may have the opportunity to welcome the Tata Nano to their shores in just over two years, according to a confirmation from David Good, a U.S. rep for the Indian automaker. Before it arrives, Tata assures that the ultra-cheap compact with a base price of just $2500 will be configured to meet all emission and crash standards. If successful, we could see see versions of the Indian microcars running on biofuel and diesel.  This begs the question whether the price point will continue to stay around $2500 even after meeting such stringent safety and emissions requirements? Probably not! It is safe to say that the price would be a little less than $5000  – the expected price of the Euro version.

But who will distribute the teensy Tatas? Well, that’s up in the air right now. A brand-new dealer network for the brand has been discussed. Another option would be selling the Nano through Jaguar and Land Rover dealerships — the Indian automaker owns both, after all.  But this option seems highly unlikely,  according to Stuart Schorr, a spokesman for Jaguar Land Rover, who dismissed the rumours.

A larger European version is slated to debut in 2011, and has an upgraded engine that could get 67 mpg. That car is still expected to come in at less than $5,000.  Tata would be the second Indian company with cars on U.S. streets. Global Vehicles U.S.A. Inc. of suburban Atlanta plans to introduce pickups made by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. later this year.

 (Source: Autoblog)