1997 1998 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse Gs-t Oem console Door Lid Arm on 2040-parts.com

Fisker Automotive lays off some workers as government reworks loan

Work on the Fisker Nina family sedan has temporarily halted at the Fisker Automotive plant in Wilmington, Del., while the carmaker and the federal government hash out details of the company's $529 million Department of Energy loan. The interruption has resulted in the layoff of 26 people at its Delaware plant and a number of contract engineers at Fisker's Anaheim, Calif., headquarters. Fisker Automotive said some of the engineering-staff reductions in Anaheim were already planned to occur in between development of the Karma and the Nina.

Could Michelin’s Active Wheel truly transform the car?

Cars today have evolved and been refined to an extraordinary degree, but carmakers – and car designers – are still always looking for ‘the next big thing'. Yet despite a myriad of recent technical innovations, ask the man on the street what is the problem with cars of today, and he'll likely reply along the lines of "they all look the same". Mass production processes, packaging requirements and safety and regulatory constraints are just a few of the reasons why it is hard to make a car that looks truly different.

Chris Bangle, Peter Stevens and Tom Matano speak out about Google's driverless car

Google's driverless car technology took a major step on 27 May. The tech firm unveiled its self-designed autonomous car prototype, which will supplement the fleet of modified Toyota Prius and Lexus RX SUVs that have been used thus far. But what do some of the best-know car designers think of Google's foray into the automotive world?