2008 Volkswagen Jetta Tdi Oem 1k6035456a Radio Stereo Powered Amplifier on 2040-parts.com

New car sales soar in 2014

NEW CAR SALES in the UK and most of Europe are up for the first half of 2014 compared to the same period last year. The UK recorded a 10.6% rise in new cars sales against a European average increase of 5.8%. Out of all the countries in the European market, 24 out of 30 showed an upturn in new car sales between January and June 2014.

Ford expands use of inflatable rear seatbelt

Ford Motor Co. is expanding the availability of inflatable rear seatbelts to the Ford Flex wagon and some Lincoln vehicles, starting next summer. The safety technology was first introduced on the redesigned Ford Explorer earlier this year as a $195 option.

2014 BMW X3 Facelift and more efficient engines

The 2014 BMW X3 (pictured) gets a facelift and new engines The current version of the BMW X3 SUV has been with us for more than three years, so BMW are giving it a bit of a mid-cycle facelift and more frugal engines to keep the X3 on top of its – very successful – game. Engines on offer for the 2014 X3 include the 2.0 litre diesel in the sDrive18d which offers 148bhp and 56.8mpg and the 187bhp in the X3 xDrive20d which returns 52.3mpg, the xDrive30d – which gets the 3.0 litre diesel unit – with 254bhp and 47.9mpg and the X3 xDrive35 which has an impressive 309bhp but still manages official economy of 47.1mpg. When it comes to the cosmetic facelift bits, BMW hasn’t really pushed the boat out, but the new X3 does get a new headlight design which is sleeker, new front and rear bumpers and a new surround for the kidney grill, which all contrive to make the new X3 look even more like a baby X5.