429 Cobra Jet Valve Cover on 2040-parts.com

Volkswagen aims for lofty Beetle sales

The attractive new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle is expected to sell as many as 50,000 to 60,000 units a year in the United States. The car launches this fall. That level will be a big improvement over the latter years of the outgoing model, in which sales dwindled to just 15,000 a year, but it remains lower than the record figure of 83,000 achieved 18 months after the launch of the revised model.

Motown rockers Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. serve up Horse Power

NASCAR fans looking for a new soundtrack to their auto-racing season can trade in their Lynyrd Skynyrd records for an offering from Detroit-based indie-pop duo Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. In a nod to their Motor City roots, band members Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott take the stage wearing racing suits and trucker hats and croon covers of Gil Scott-Heron's “We Almost Lost Detroit.” The band, which is touring the East Coast this week, released an EP titled Horse Power last summer and is coming out with its first full-length album, It's a Corporate World, on June 7.

Honda expands recall for faulty headlights

Honda is expanding a recall launched in March to fix a headlight problem to include the Civic and Pilot. About 820,000 vehicles have been added to the recall, which now covers 2002-2003 Civic sedans and 2004-2005 Pilot SUVs. The problem is with the headlight-wiring system, which could cause the low beams not to work.