2011 Porsche Panamera Turbo Luxor Beige Steering Wheel Accessories Wristwatch on 2040-parts.com

PSA Peugeot-Citroen: Factory closures & 8,000 job losses planned

PSA Peugeot Citroen has revealed it is to close one factory, cut job numbers elsewhere and shed a total of 8,000 jobs as demand for its cars dwindles. When we reported last year that Peugeot Citroen were planning to idle their plant in Trnava, Western Slovakia we said that this was just the tip of the iceberg for Peugeot Citroen, and that they would have to take far more drastic action if they were to survive. They must have been listening.

GM looks for new product boss

General Motors is about to get another product boss. The question is, who? Vice chairman Tom Stephens will move to the freshly minted position of chief technology officer for GM on Feb.

Kia Soul EV revealed at the Chicago Motor Show

The new Kia Soul EV (pictured) has been revealed in Chicago The Kia Soul EV is Kia’s first effort at a proper mass production EV, and if you’re looking for an electric car it does look promising. Due to go on sale later in 2014 in the US – initially in California, New York and Oregan because of their charging infrastructure – and, Kia promised, the UK and Europe later in 2014 or early 2015, the Soul EV offers a real world driving range of 80-100 miles from a recharge taking half an hour for 80 per cent on a rapid 50kW charger or up to 5 hours for a full recharge from a UK 240 volt supply. The range is helped by Kia’s third-generation regenerative braking system which manages to capture 12 per cent of the car’s kinetic energy, feeding it back in to the battery as electricity during braking and coasting, with four different regeneration modes.