06 07 08 09 10 Hyundai Sonata L. Lower Control Arm Fr 9241849 on 2040-parts.com

2013 Honda CR-Z Facelift

The Honda CR-Z – Honda’s ‘Sporty’ hybrid – is getting a bit of a facelift for 2013 and will debut at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. It’s more than two years since the Honda CR-Z Hybrid arrived in the UK as the ‘sporty’ face of the Honda Insight, so Honda has decided it’s time for a bit of a facelift. But actually, the styling tweaks play second fiddle to the changes Honda are making under the bonnet, where they’ve upped the output of the 1.5 litre i-VTEC engine and electric motor from a combined 122bhp in the current model to…more.

Ford Focus is the best selling car…in the world

It’s a big feather in Ford’s cap and vindication of their ‘One Ford’ global product strategy, which has finally seen Ford realise that the world wants the cars it makes and designs in Europe. Focus sales rose in the US by 40 per cent in 2012 (a market Ford would have declared completely unsuitable for a relatively compact European hatch a decade ago) and China accounted for a massive one in four of all Focus sold, a rise of 51 per cent, making the Focus the best-selling passenger car in China. Not only did the Focus take the best selling car (actually, best selling nameplate), the Ford Fiesta did well to, coming in sixth on Polk’s list with a not insignificant 723,130 registrations around the world.

GM stops Chevy Volt production to trim inventory

General Motors will idle the Detroit-area assembly plant that builds the Chevrolet Volt for more than a month to curb rising inventories of the plug-in hybrid. On March 1, GM told 1,300 workers at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant in Michigan that it will shut down production for five weeks, starting the week of March 19. GM plans to resume production on April 23, spokesman Chris Lee said.