Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

UK car production slumps, state help sought

By Digby Fullam Motor Industry 21 November 2008 14:30 The full effect of the downturn in the global economy is being felt by the UK motor industry, new figures out today reveal. Car production at British factories fell by 29.5% from October 2007's figure.  That makes it the worst October production figures since 1991 which, if you’ll cast your mind back, was the last recession. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders blamed the slump on 'a rapid reduction in demand for motor vehicles.' It’s not just us Brits that aren’t buying cars, either.

2011 Mazda2 Facelift revealed

The Mazda2 gets tweaked for 2011 Well, it’s sort of the 2011 facelift for the Mazda2, but that rather depends on what direction you come at this from. If you look at the UK and Euro offerings for the last year this is definitely a new nose and interior tweaks for the Mazda 2, but if you read our report in October 2009 about Mazda 2s coming off the production line in Thailand you’ll see that our ‘New, Facelift Mazda 2′ looks exactly the same as the Mazda 2 Facelift the Thai car got almost two years ago. But we have to be sensible and look at this from a domestic point of view – even if we do find it off that Mazda has taken two years to give the UK and Europe the updates coming out of Thailand two years ago.

Volkswagen Golf [w/Gallery]

Volkswagen has unveiled the new seventh-generation Golf in Berlin, 36 years after the original model was first released. As expected the Mk7 is a further evolution of the Golf lineage, adding what appears to be an extra layer of precision to its surfacing and graphics. New production techniques helped the design team reduce its weight by 100kg, and at 4,255mm long the new model is 56mm longer than its predecessor, with a 59mm longer wheelbase of 2,637mm and it is also 13mm wider, at 1,799mm, and 28mm lower at 1,452mm.