2008-2012 Honda Accord Driver Airbag on 2040-parts.com

Smart car inventor Nicolas Hayek dies

Nicolas Hayek, the engineer and industrialist who founded the Swiss watch company Swatch and brought the world the Smart car, died on June 28 of heart failure at his office in Switzerland. He was 82. Hayek saved the Swiss watch industry from lower-priced Asian competition in the early 1980s by offering colorful, inexpensive Swatch timepieces that he backed with equally colorful marketing.

Alias announces StudioTools 12, ImageStudio 2 and Portfolio Wall 2

 Alias has announced that it will release the latest versions of its leading industrial design software Alias StudioTools 12, Alias ImageStudio 2, and Alias PortfolioWall 2 in November. The new releases are aimed at accelerating the automotive design process and improve concept design, model evaluation, design review, and production modeling. The StudioTools family, which includes DesignStudio, Studio, AutoStudio and SurfaceStudio, delivers a full digital design workflow in a single package, from 2D concept sketching to production surface modeling.

Lexus to launch new IS at 2013 Detroit motor show

Lexus will launch the new IS saloon earlier than expected, showing the new BMW 3-series and Mercedes C-class rival off at the Detroit motor show in January 2013. It had previpusly been understood the new Lexus was slated for a Geneva show reveal in March 2013. What do we know about the 2013 Lexus IS range?