16 Yamaha Yfz450r Yfz 450 Left Side Cover Panel Fender Plastic on 2040-parts.com

Secrets of bidders: Is this your year to steal a car at the Arizona auctions?

Each January, enthusiasts flock to Arizona for the most exciting events on the auction calendar. Seven companies--Barrett-Jackson, RM Auctions, Gooding & Co., Russo and Steele, Kruse International, ICA Auctions and Silver Auctions--will duke it out, with more than 3,000 collector cars on the block. But with real estate tanking, the economy in a tailspin, consumer confidence at an all-time low, retail car sales bottoming and automakers begging for loans in Washing-ton, is this any time to buy an old car at auction?

Toyota to close Australian design studio

Toyota designers at its Technical Center Asia Pacific Australia (TTCAP-AU) are to lose their jobs as part of Toyota's decision to scale back the facility's activities as well as halting all manufacturing within the country by 2017. The TTCAP-AU, which carries out all its Australian design and evaluation operations, employs 150 designers and modelers and it's possible that its activities with the Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion models could be scrapped, raising doubts over its future. Around 2,500 employees at Toyota's Altona manufacturing plant are expected to lose their jobs, although the effects are likely to be wider ranging.

Now it’s the SEAT Mii’s turn to get an auto ‘box

The SEAT Mii City car has followed in the footsteps of the VW Up! by adding an auto gearbox option, but only on the Mii 1.0 75PS SE. The SEAT Mii is the Spanish version of the VW Up!