Airstream Vintage Lamp on 2040-parts.com

Land Rover Defender X-Tech launch

Land Rover Defender X-Tech The world’s full of SUVs. Everything from the might Range Rover all the way down to the new MINI Countryman. In between you’ll find endless levels of ability, from shopping trolley soft-roaders to highly competent mud-pluggers.

Porsche uses phone-formatted bar codes to connect with customers

Porsche is harnessing the power of smartphones, using Microsoft Tag bar codes to provide dealership customers with unique information about the cars they're looking at. Buyers can scan the square stickers with a properly equipped phone, and the application will take them to dedicated microsites where they can see stats, videos and pictures of the car, along with audio clips of a flat-six engine revving up. Through the microsite, buyers can provide contact info for a follow-up call from Porsche salespeople.

General Motors board recommends selling Opel to Magna-led group

General Motors Co.'s board has decided to support selling a majority stake in Opel to a group led by Canadian auto parts giant Magna. The move caps weeks of high-stakes maneuvering on both sides of the Atlantic that saw nationalism, labor issues and--perhaps most critical to GM, the use of its technology--all come into play. Magna and Russian lender Sberbank will get a 55 percent interest in Opel, the linchpin of GM's European operations for 80 years, as well as its British sister brand Vauxhall.