2001 Ford F150 Left Side Headlight Headlamp Lens With Bulb 44zh-1362 on 2040-parts.com

Hyundai ix35 Facelift goes further in Korea – and looks better for it

Last year we had spy shots of the Hyundai ix35 facelift floating round Korea – Hyundai’s home market – which showed a much more convincing nose than the, then, ix35 in Europe, but they eventually turned out to be photos of the ix35 FCEV which Hyundai had given a nose much more like the new Santa Fe and which we thought pointed at the 2013 facelift for the ix35. But when the Hyundai ix35 did turn up at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show with a bit of a titivate, it was exactly that – some very minor tweaking which kept the 2013 ix35 looking very similar to the 2012 model. But that’s not happening in Korea.

Mercedes launch new 9G-Tronic gearbox on E350 BlueTec

New Mercedes E350 BlueTec (pictured) gets 9-speed 9G-TRONIC auto It’s not exactly a million years ago that automatic gearboxes offered poorer performance and economy than manual gearboxes, and came as standard with just three gears. But now, automatic gearboxes are so good they can  change quicker than any driver and, with the proliferation of eight-speed auto ‘boxes, offer improved economy and performance too. The next logical step is even more ratios in an auto ‘box, and Land Rover has already revealed they’ll be fitting the Evoque with a 9-speed ZF ‘box from 2014, and the new Jeep Grand Cherokee gets a nine-speed auto ‘box too.

Kia KV7 concept

Kia is clearly keen to grab the last of 2010's headlines by releasing this teaser render of its upcoming concept, the KV7, due to be unveiled at the Detroit auto show. The large crossover appears to preview a replacement for the Korean manufacturer's Borrego. While the exterior's clamshell tailgate, muscular wheelarches and Ford Explorer-aping lamp graphics (from this view, at least) may be directly relative to a production model, it's unlikely that the rear gullwing door openings will make the transition.