2014 Scion Fr-s Cargo Tote Pt427-00120 on 2040-parts.com

European car sales down 9.6% Jan 2013. VW Golf sales down 17.8%

Car sales in Europe continue to decline with sales down 9.6% in January 2013 and the top-selling VW Golf down by 17.8%. In fact, the UK was the only top five market to increase sales, with Germany down 8.6 per cent, France down 15.1 per cent, Italy down 17.6 per cent and Spain 9.2 per cent. Other notable drops included the Netherlands which saw a huge drop of 30.4 per cent, partly driven by tighter emission boundaries on company car taxation.

Maybach, or not Maybach? That is the question.

Maybach - off to Gaydon? Actually, whether to keep Maybach on the Daimler life support system is a question that has taxed the brains of many a Mercedes exec,  almost since the Maybach brand got its revival under Mercedes and turned in to a cross between a stretched old S-Class, a Playstation and a glitterball. Because despite the efforts of Mercedes to position the Maybach above the S-Class – and in to competition with Rolls Royce and Bentley – the Maybach has somehow conspired to be less desirable than the S-Class.

Porsche Panamera revealed at Shanghai Motor Show

Porsche has finally officially revealed the Porsche Panamera at the Shanghai Motor Show As we’ve said before, the Panamera is not the most stunning looking of cars, and is left in the wake of the Aston Martin Rapide in the style department. But it would seem to us that Porsche is going to have another Cayenne-like success on its hands with the Panamera. As with the Cayenne, its looks are criticised, but it does everything else so remarkably well, and has the kudos of the Porsche badge, and it’s hard to see how it will fail.