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

Official: Aston Martin gets its hands on Mercedes AMG engines & Electronic Architecture

Aston Martin & AMG confirm they’re getting in bed together Back in December we reported that Aston Martin had new investment from Investindustrial and wondered if that would mean – thanks to an existing relationship between Investindustrial and AMG – if we’d see Aston Martin finally getting access to AMG’s engines and platforms. By May, things had moved on and it was clear that Aston Martin and AMG were in talks for Aston Martin to get access to their engines for the next generation of AML’s cars. Now those talks have borne fruit and AMG and AML have signed a letter of intent for Aston Martin to “access significant Mercedes-AMG GmbH and Mercedes-Benz Cars’ resources, allowing the development of bespoke V8 powertrains and the use of certain components of electric/electronic (e/e) architecture.” Interestingly, there’s no talk of V12 engines – which could mean Aston Martin are going to move from the current Ford V12 for the DB9 and Vanquish to a powerful V8 from AMG – and nor is there talk of sharing platforms.

Nissan moves Europe design chief to U.S., Campbell to retire

Bruce Campbell, Nissan's U.S. design chief, will retire at the end of March after 31 years with the automaker and will be replaced by Alfonso Albaisa, who currently is Nissan's European design chief. This will be the second tour of duty in the United States for Albaisa.

Nissan teases all-new 2014 Qashqai crossover

Nissan has revealed a teaser image of the next Qashqai, the all-new second-generation version of its ground-breaking crossover, which is due to go on sale in 2014. The real thing is set to be unveiled on Thursday 7 November 2013, and Nissan is promising the new Qashqai will “redefine the crossover sector and set new standard across the board.” On Bing: see pictures of the Nissan Qashqai Find out how much a used Nissan Qashqai costs on Auto Trader This is no small matter for Nissan – in fact, the firm describes the new Qashqai as the most significant car in its modern history, the original version having defined an entirely new sector of the marketplace. If the Qashqai didn’t strictly invent the crossover concept, it certainly made it popular beyond even Nissan’s wildest dreams, offering buyers an SUV-style image with the running costs and driving dynamics of a conventional family hatchback and the practicality of a people carrier.