2011 Opel Astra J Sports Tourer Combi 1.4 16v Ecoflex (a14xer) Anlasser- on 2040-parts.com

Tesla pays off its government loans

Tesla paid off the last of its $465 million government loans May 22, nine years ahead of schedule, thus outperforming most U.S. college graduates and the vast majority of American homeowners. Tesla used funds from a stock offering to finish the loan with a whopping bank transfer of $451.8 million Wednesday, pointing out that it was “…the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.” Apparently no one at Tesla was even born when Lee Iacocca paid off Chrysler's $1.2-billion government bailout ahead of schedule back in 1983.

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.

Nissan design chief Shiro Nakamura meets Jay Leno, talks about new 240Z

Nissan Design's Chief Creative Officer Shiro Nakamura met talk-show host Jay Leno in the latest of the ‘Jay Leno's Garage' YouTube series, chatting candidly about the possibility of a new 240Z within the next two years. Next year will be the 80th anniversary of Nissan and the new model would be a celebration of the occasion, taking the spirit of the 240Z while refreshing the original design and shape into what Nakamura hopes will be an exciting new product. Speaking at the Nissan Technical Center in Japan, Nakamura said: "I don't regulate everything, I don't come too often.