1949 Mercury Owner's Manual Set / Owner's Guide W/ Bonuses / Original Book on 2040-parts.com

Land Rover Defender to be built in Sri Lanka

The Land Rover Defender is to be built outside the UK in a new plant in Sri Lanka to produce Defenders for the region. Land Rover are assisting and training staff at a new assembly plant in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, run by Sathosa Motors PLC in a 50-50 deal with Land Rover distributors SML Frontier Automotive, with $1 million being invested to get the project up and running this year. It seems clear from the level of investment that this is simply an assembly operation using CKD kits from the UK for the Defender, but Sri Lank’s Daily News is reporting that there are plans to invest $500 million in the project.

Audi buys Ducati. Trophy or shrewd investment?

Audi buy Ducati It’s been confirmed that Audi is to buy Ducati, the Italian Super Bike maker, for an undisclosed sum thought to be around £700 million. Last month we reported that Audi has entered in to an exclusive agreement to buy Ducati, pipping Mercedes to the trophy super bike maker and adding a trophy to its cabinet. And the deal is now done.

BRP Design Center Inauguration

On September 10th, Canadian powersports specialist BRP inaugurated its new Design & Innovation Centre in Valcourt, Quebec (one hour south-east of Montreal, near the US border). This new 5000 m2 state-of-the-art building will house BRP's design and advanced concept teams working on all its brands and product families: the Can-Am spyders and ATVs, Lynx and Ski Doo snowmobiles, Sea Doo personal watercrafts and speedboats, and related lifestyle and accessories design. The team of 60 individuals includes transportation designers, product designers, graphic designers, engineers, human factors experts, mechanics, CAD technicians, modelers, molders, painters, and management.