07 08 Pacifica Alternator 4.0l on 2040-parts.com

Audi planning a version of the VW Up!

Audi planning their own version of the VW Up! (pictured) The German premium car makers – Audi, BMW and Mercedes – are in a battle to see who can sell the most ‘Premium’ cars. And Audi has big plans to stay in the race.

BMW announces DesignWorksUSA studio and ConnectedDrive lab in Shanghai

BMW has opened both a DesignWorks studio and a ConnectedDrive lab in Shanghai, China, as a means of gathering information and insight into the Chinese market as the company looks to increase its presence in Asia. Adrian van Hooydonk, Director BMW Group Design, said, "Creating this foothold for both BMW Group Design and DesignworksUSA in Shanghai is of great importance from both strategic and creative standpoints." President of BMW Group DesignWorksUSA Laurenz Schaffer said, "Our new studio in Shanghai places DesignworksUSA at the epicenter of the most rapidly growing and influential consumer market in the world and provides an indispensable resource for shaping our global perspectives for clients." The new studio will perform functions including product, transportation, automotive, environmental and interaction design; color, material and finish design; design communication, research and strategy as well as sustainability consulting. Designers from DesignworksUSA studio in Los Angeles, Munich and Singapore will supplement a local design team.

Mercedes SL (2012) first official pictures

All-new SLs seem to come around as often as Halley’s Comet, but here are the first Stuttgart-sanctioned shots of Mercedes’ sixth generation premium roadster – the 2012 Mercedes SL. If it looks familiar, that’s because it’s already had more lenses pointed at its disguised bodywork than Pippa Middleton’s derrière – and CAR’s own renderings earlier this year weren’t far wide of the mark. So what’s the big news with the new 2012 Mercedes SL then?