1982 Yamaha Virago Xv920 Carburetor Float Bowl on 2040-parts.com

Back to basics for VW, says Walter de Silva

By Adam Towler Motor Industry 25 June 2008 13:01 It was an odd place for an inside line into what future Volkswagens will look like, but when head of VW Group design Walter de Silva invited CAR to the old Fiat Lingotto factory in Turin - now a conference and shopping centre – we could hardly say no. De Silva described VW as being immersed in a 'process of defining their design language' which could be read as ‘we’re still sucking our designer thumbs to see what happens’. Audi, De Silva said, had already been through that process and its design DNA was ‘understood by everyone in the company, right down to the smallest details'.

BYD F3 Surui

The BYD F3 Surui replaces the outgoing F3 sedan, one of the most popular cars in the Chinese market. Based on the Toyota Corolla platform, the wheelbase of the F3 Surui has increased from 2,600mm to 2,660mm. While many Chinese manufacturers prefer employ well-known foreign design studios, such as Bertone and Giugiaro, BYD has eschewed that practice by relying on its own design team.

Chevrolet six-month global sales highest in a century

Chevrolet saw 2.35 million global sales in the first six months of 2011--its best first-half mark in 100 years. The automaker credits the success of new small-car models for much of the growth, namely the Cruze compact, the Spark minicar, the Aveo/Sonic small car and the Orlando MPV. Chevrolet sales increased 14 percent in the United States from the same half-year period in 2010, with 286,499 more units sold.