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VW CEO Winterkorn happy with rebounding Seat, Skoda

Martin Winterkorn is a happy man: Volkswagen is putting up big numbers in North America, its latest field of dreams, Audi, is breaking records every month, there are exciting cars in the pipeline - from Bugatti down to the XL1, Porsche's digestion continues, and now Skoda and especially Seat are turning in no-questions performance.
It seems Skoda has been on the ups for years, making the most of keen pricing and modern redesigns of the chassis and tech it gets handed down from big brothers VW and Audi. Winterkorn predicts the Czech brand will just about double its 2010 sales by 2018, going from 762,000 to 1.5 million.
Seat, on the other hand, wasn't just on the hotseat a year-and-a-half ago, phrases like "uncertain future" - code for "possible demise" - were rumbling in the background. A new CEO was brought in, new money and new models were thrown against the wall, and the efforts have stuck. The Spanish brand has hit three strong chords with Winterkorn, with increased sales, strong performance in China and anticipated models due. If this keeps up there won't be much left for him to do but, a la Alexander the Great, break down and cry with no worlds left to conquer.

Will this McLaren F1 sell for over $12 million at Pebble Beach?

Decades ago, a dominant Formula One team made a few dozen examples of a sports car that was as devastating on the track as it was on the road, and as such, it has become highly sought-after by collectors willing to pay millions – even tens of millions – for the privilege of ownership. We have to be talking about the Ferrari 250 GTO, right? We very well could be, but in this case, no: we're talking about the McLaren F1 – a legendary supercar whose values seem to be skyrocketing in the footsteps of its arch-rival's most iconic classic. And if this latest pre-auction estimate is anything to go by, it will only continue to climb as quickly as it accelerates. The past couple of McLaren F1s on whose sales we've reported traded hands for over $5 million apiece and we thought that was pretty spectacular, but this latest example consigned to Gooding & Company for its upcoming sale at Pebble Beach has an expected selling price of between $12 million and $14 million. Chassis No. 031, a 1995 model, is a bit of a rarity in that it's one of only a handful of McLaren F1s painted in white, and the only one in this particular shade of Marlboro White, adopting the color of the grand prix team's title sponsor at the time. It's had only three owners who've put barely over 1,000 miles on the odometer, starting in Japan, where it resided with collector Shin Okamoto for 15 years before he sold it to a collector in Chicago, who in turn sold it to its current owner who's putting it up for auction. The 27th example built, it's said to be in "highly original" condition, was extensively serviced at the McLaren factory as recently as 2008, and comes with all its original manuals, tools and fitted luggage. Is all of that enough to make this 1995 McLaren F1 worth more than twice what they've been going for? If someone pays it, we suppose it will. But the McLaren isn't even the most expensive lot consigned for the auction. Little surprise, it'll have to compete with a number of much older Ferrari models for that honor: a 250 GT SWB California Spider is estimated to fetch $13-15 million, the estimate for a similar coupe has not even been released, and a rare three-seater 1966 Ferrari 365 P Berlinetta Speciale could go for over $20 million. 1995 McLaren F1 Estimate: $12,000,000 - $14,000,000 Chassis: VIN. SA9AB5AC7S1048031 McLaren Chassis No. 031 *Please see additional note at end of text.

Jenson Button expected to announce F1 retirement

One of the biggest question marks looming over the Formula One paddock has been over what will become of Jenson Button. The former world champion has struggled to perform of late, and as one of the oldest drivers on the grid, is nearing the end of his career. And according to the Daily Telegraph, he's about to announce his retirement. Button has been on the grid every season since his debut with Williams in 2000. But as his current team McLaren has fallen off pace, so has Button – particularly as both struggle to work out the kinks in the new Honda engine package. And unlike Benjamin Button, he's not getting any younger. With the benefit of his own considerable experience, Button won out over his previous teammate Kevin Magnussen to keep his race seat after Fernando Alonso arrived in Woking. But while he's enjoyed Honda's support, team principal Ron Dennis has reportedly turned sour on Button's staying with the team, preferring to promote a younger driver in Button's place. Rather than leave it up to the team to decide, however – or seeking a drive with another team – word has it that Jenson is preparing to go out on his own terms, and is set to announce his retirement at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend. Button's departure would leave two questions open: For one, what will he do next? And for another, who will McLaren hire to fill his racing shoes? For Jenson's part, he could end up combining a drive at Le Mans with a television career. He's been linked to talks with Porsche, where other experienced F1 drivers like Mark Webber and Nico Hulkenberg have found success. But sources also point towards a potential Rallycross drive, and we wouldn't be terribly surprised to see him compete in GT racing for McLaren or the Super GT series for Honda. Affable and skilled in working behind the camera, Button has also been linked with potentially joining Chris Evans on the new cast of a rebooted Top Gear. As for McLaren, it has two emerging talents in reserve. One is the aforementioned Danish driver Kevin Magnussen, who raced for the team last season but was told to wait in the wings. After winning the pivotal Formula Renault 3.5 title in 2013, Magnussen impressed with a second-place finish on his F1 race debut in Australia last year. He could, however, accept a race seat with another team for next season rather than wait (as Button had to) for McLaren to make its decision.