Airaid 200-180 Airaid Quickfit Intake System 06-07 H3 on 2040-parts.com

Car thieves are putting luxury vehicles in their crosshairs

The National Insurance Crime Bureau database released a report of the top-10 most stolen luxury cars in the United States from 2009 to 2012, and Mercedes-Benz to be most in the line of fire. Three Mercedes models made the list: the Mercedes-Benz C-class, E-class and S-class. At least the thieves have good taste.

Whos Where: Pierre Castinel is Head of Design at Tata

Indian automaker Tata has been front page news often in recent times, first because of the impressive one-lakh Nano, which changes the automotive industry playing field, and most recently because of its acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford's Premiere Automotive Group for the tidy sum of $2.3 billion - less than half what Ford paid for both companies in 1989.  At the helm of Tata's design efforts is Pierre Castinel, Head of Design. Though only officially announced in March this year, Castinel has been active at Tata since he left Renault in summer 2007, a company he worked at for 20 years. Castinel started as a modeler for Peugeot and worked there for three years.

BMW X3 gets a turbo four-cylinder

BMW is expanding the use of its N20 turbocharged four-cylinder engine by making it the base powerplant for the 2013 X3 SUV. The X3 xDrive28 will use the twin-scroll turbocharged 2.0-liter engine that produces 240 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque. Twin-scroll turbocharging means that the exhaust stream of cylinders one and four follow a separate path to the turbine wheel from cylinders two and three.