59f-800-125 8" Dynaflex Exhaust Flange on 2040-parts.com

Pioneer App Radio officially unveiled

Pioneer has officially unveiled the App Radio that AutoWeek told you about earlier this month. Now that it's willing to talk, Pioneer claims that the radio and audio system is "the first in-vehicle product designed to utilize the processing power, storage capacity, network connectivity and apps of the iPhone and iPod Touch as the primary source for its information and entertainment capabilities." That does sound a lot like what Mini Connected and, in a more platform-agnostic sense, Ford Sync are doing. Pioneer said it couldn't speak to the similarity of those systems, but Ted Cardenas, director of marketing for Pioneer's car-electronics division, briefed us on installation of the device and what Pioneer is doing to minimize driver distraction.

Mercedes AMG changes leaders

There’s a changing of the guard at Mercedes AMG. Volker Morninweg is leaving to become head of the company’s van division on April 1. He’ll be replaced by Ola Kaellenius, who was most recently in charge of the Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

College Exhibition: RCA/GM - Fast Forward 2049

First year students at the Royal College of Art recently held an exhibition at the London Transport Museum commemorating the 40th anniversary of the school's vehicle design course. Sponsored by GM's Opel/Vauxhall division, 19 students responded to a brief that called for them to ‘Fast Forward into the Future'. Divided into three groups - Inside Out, Urban Flow and Automark - the students devised their own notions of vehicles for the year 2049, and in some cases entirely reinvented Opel brand values and aesthetics.