1969 1970 Ford Mustang Drum Brake Proportioning Valve on 2040-parts.com

New SEAT Leon goes in to production

The new SEAT Leon (2013) – revealed at the Paris Motor Show – has started production in Spain ahead of first deliveries in March 2013. SEAT has invested heavily in the Martorell plant in recent years – a shining light of success in a sea of Spanish manufacturing despair – with a £650 million investment in new facilities and R&D making Martorell a modern and efficient facility for the new Leon as well as the Ibiza, Altea and Exeo (and the Audi Q3). Not only has the investment in Martorell secured the jobs of 1600 Spanish workers (and four times as many in the supply chain), it promise more jobs too if the Leon turns out to be as appealing as it looks.

MG3 Trophy Championship Concept previews MG Hot Hatch

MG3 Trophy Championship Concept (pictured) previews a future MG Hot Hatch The revival of MG so far has been about delivering rather prosaic Chinese cars given a gloss of credibility with and MG badge. But if MG are to succeed they really need to use some of the heritage of MG to grab buyers attention. That probably means a credible hot hatch rather than a traditional MG Roadster, so the arrival of the MG3 Trophy Championship Concept at MG’s 90th birthday celebrations at the weekend is perhaps a good pointer of the sort of direction we could see from MG in the coming years.

Center stack is new high-stakes battleground; showdown with safety regulators looms

For auto suppliers and gadget companies eager to get a piece of the auto industry, the hottest chunk of vehicle real estate now is the center stack. That corridor of interior space, running from the driver's right hip up through the center of the cockpit to the bottom of the windshield, has become a California gold rush of opportunity. But it is less so for traditional suppliers of molded plastics, cables, levers, buttons and radios.