2008 Harley Davidson Sportster Rear Fender Guard on 2040-parts.com

'Ford shouldn't sell Jaguar/Land Rover'

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 30 January 2008 15:01 A majority of CAR Magazine Online users reckon that Ford is making a mistake by selling Jaguar and Land Rover. Nearly 60 percent of our website users say the Blue Oval shouldn’t flog its premium-badged crown jewels, according to our exclusive online poll. Ford is poised to announce the sell-off in the next few weeks; a decision is currently tipped for the end of February 2008, according to chief executive Alan Mulally, although deals of this epic scale can sometimes drag on for even longer.

Mercedes R-class facelift (2010) first official pictures

This is the facelifted Mercedes R-class, unveiled today at the 2010 New York auto show.  It lives, and in the UK the new model will only be available as an entry level, rear-drive R300 CDI and a top-spec, long-wheelbase R350 CDI. The R300 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY 2WD (to give this big beast its full name) is 7% more efficient than before but still offers the same power and performance. The more snappily titled R350 CDI 4MATIC is also more economical (its 33.2mpg bettering its predecessor by 2.8mpg) but also more powerful, with outputs of 261bhp and 457ft up from 218bhp and 376lb ft.

Toyota to close Australian design studio

Toyota designers at its Technical Center Asia Pacific Australia (TTCAP-AU) are to lose their jobs as part of Toyota's decision to scale back the facility's activities as well as halting all manufacturing within the country by 2017. The TTCAP-AU, which carries out all its Australian design and evaluation operations, employs 150 designers and modelers and it's possible that its activities with the Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion models could be scrapped, raising doubts over its future. Around 2,500 employees at Toyota's Altona manufacturing plant are expected to lose their jobs, although the effects are likely to be wider ranging.