64-67 Chevelle Cowel Vent on 2040-parts.com

Ford warms up new era of car-guy leaders

A minor temblor shook Dearborn, Mich., today with the announcement that Mark Fields, president of the Americas, climbed the golden corporate ladder to grab the chief operating officer ring, setting him up to succeed Alan Mulally in a couple of years. The move did not come as a shock-it only confirmed the whispers of auto industry Royal Watchers. The biggest news for those who care about cars, however, is two-fold: Jim Farley, Ford's global marketing boss, also takes the helm of Lincoln.

Toyota Prius plug-in hits UK

The Toyota Prius plug-in arrives in the UK The next step in the Toyota Prius story is the plug-in Prius, which adds some Lithium-Ion batteries to the mix and the ability to plug the Prius in to the mains to get a usable kick-start to your day’s motoring, with an electric only range of up to 12.5 miles – around double the range a regular Prius can manage when fully charged. Toyota announced plans to get 500 Prius Plug-in Hybrids on the roads in 2010 back in September last year to evaluate their real-world performance before the plug-in gets a proper release – probably in 2012. Toyota are leasing 20 of the Prius plug-ins to a handful of public and private businesses in London as part of their plan to develop the Prius plug-in, and reduce the company’s overall CO2 levels – something which is sadly required by legislation.

Kia Ray concept car (2010) first news and photos

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 11 February 2010 09:00 Kia Motors has picked the 2010 Chicago motor show to unveil its new Ray plug-in hybrid concept car. It's a futuristic look at what a 4.4m-long Kia family car of tomorrow could look like. It's based on the Kia Forte platform, but boosted by a plug-in hybrid system mixing a 151bhp direct-injection 1.4-litre petrol with the latest lithium-polymer batteries.