00-03 Toyota Celica - Interior Carbon Fiber Dash Trim Kit - Eln219 on 2040-parts.com

Corvette-powered Karmas coming in 2014

VL Automotive, a Detroit venture backed by former General Motors' vice chairman Bob Lutz, is moving ahead with plans to convert Fisker Karma from hybrid power to Corvette power. Lutz told Automotive News on Thursday that the company has bought 25 unsold Karmas and has settled a dispute with an Asian investor that prevented VL from accessing the codes that operate the Karma's infotainment system. "Without getting those codes, it was close to impossible to get a working car," Lutz said.

Carlos Ghosn's automaker mantra: Go big or you'll go away

Size matters in auto company survival, Renault and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn told an audience in Detroit on Tuesday. To cope with the escalating costs and scope of a global industry, successful automakers must complete a trifecta--be able to compete in every technology, every market and every segment, Ghosn said during a luncheon speech at the Detroit Economic Club “No 3 million-unit carmaker can make it,” Ghosn said, explaining why his Renault-Nissan alliance forged an alliance with Germany's Daimler AG. Competency in one or two of the three skills is not enough, and only very large companies can afford all three, he said.

Schreyer: Cross GT is a sign of things to come

Peter Schreyer, Kia's president and global design boss, makes no bones about it--the Cross GT is a harbinger of future style for the Korean company's large crossovers. "You'll certainly see things showing up," he told me at the Chicago auto show, where the concept was revealed. It's a large ute, measuring 192.8 inches, which is 8.4 inches longer than the Sorento.