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

Chevrolet Sonic gets $14,495 base price

The new Chevrolet Sonic small car--which replaces the Aveo in Chevy's lineup--carries a base price of $14,495 for the sedan and $15,395 for the hatchback, including shipping charges, when it goes on sale this fall. The 2012 Chevy Sonic sticker price is a jump of $2,249 to $3,005 above the 2011 Aveo, but the Sonic is a new design that includes more standard equipment. It rides on General Motors' new Gamma platform.

CAP call on Renault to include battery in Zoe price – when it would cost £25k

CAP has called on Renault to include the battery cost in the list price of the Renault Zoe EV, otherwise it won’t be able to set residual values. We reported recently on the price of the Renault Zoe EV – which starts at £18k – and were surprised to find that Renault weren’t including battery costs in the purchase price but charging and extra £70-93 a month for leasing them. That leads to a completely misleading headline price for the Zoe and, as used car price experts CAP say, is akin to Ford removing the engine costs from their cars to reduce list price.

Mercedes S-Class Convertible confirmed

The Mercedes S-Class Convertible will be based on the S-Class Coupe (pictured) The new Mercedes S-Class has already arrived, and we’ve also got the new S-Class Coupe (in concept form, at least) with the next variant of the new S-Class now looking likely to be the Mercedes S-Class Convertible. We’ve known since 2011 that Mercedes were planning to chop the top off the S-Class for the first time since the W111 S-Class in the 1960s, but this is the first time anyone from Mercedes has officially confirmed it. Thomas Weber, Mercedes’ product development boss, has told Automotive News that the S-Class Convertible is on the way and will be based on the new S-Class Coupe.