00-01 Yamaha Yzfr-1 2000-2001 Fairing Yzf-r1 011 F1 on 2040-parts.com

Skoda Octavia vRS (2013) first official pictures

The Skoda Octavia vRS is back, faster and yet more fuel-efficient than ever. Available in booted hatchback or estate 'Combi' bodystyles, the hot Octavia has sports suspension, an electronic locking differential and as before, a choice of petrol or diesel engines. They're more powerful this time round though...

Mercedes-Benz, BMW both post record September sales

Not only are the German horsepower wars still going strong, but if this next bit of news isn't evidence of German sales wars, then we don't know what is. BMW sold 189,675 vehicles worldwide during the month of September, an increase of 6.7 percent over the previous year, which also made it the best September sales month for the automaker. This comes with a small asterisk -- namely, that figure includes Mini and Rolls-Royce sales, though if we're talking just BMW-badged vehicles, the September sales totaled 158,029 (still a 7.6 percent increase over September of 2012).

Obama vows to help rebuild industry to compete, win

President Barack Obama on Tuesday vowed to hold U.S. automakers accountable for "bad practices" but promised to help create a "retooled, re-imagined auto industry." In remarks to a joint session of Congress, Obama gave a sobering assessment of the nation's ills--mainly economic--but said: "We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before." About midway through the speech, the president said: "As for our auto industry, everyone recognizes that years of bad decision-making and a global recession have pushed our automakers to the brink. We should not, and will not, protect them from their own bad practices.