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

Bombardier YouCity design competition launched

Bombardier is sponsoring the YouCity Innovation Competition, seeking design concepts for 'the future of urban mobility'. The online competition, open to design students and professionals, focuses on the evolution of mobility in fast-growing urban areas. With more than two thirds of the world's population expected to live in cities by 2050, the issue of transportation is one that the organizers feel needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.  Bombardier has selected three cities that represent the different markets for urban mobility around the world: London, UK (mature market), Belo Horizonte, Brazil (BRIC market) and Vientiane, Laos (emerging market).

Seven-seater for Cadillac?

Cadillac won’t comment, but it’s all over the Web that General Motors’ luxury division will get a version of the seven-seat sport-utility known internally as Lambda--externally known as the Chevrolet Traverse, the Buick Enclave and the GMC Acadia. No word on the Cadillac’s engine, but the other variants are powered by a 3.6-liter V6 varying in horsepower from 281 hp to 288 hp. Lambdas sell well, with more than 70,000 sold so far this year.

Crunch watch Jan 09: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard, Ben Pulman and Gareth Evans Motor Industry 30 January 2009 12:39 Friday 30 January 2009• Honda is about to close the Swindon factory for four months when Friday's shifts are finished; the shutdown will affect 2500 of the 3700 staff, who will receive full pay for two months and then 60% pay for the next eight weeks (BBC News)• Porsche has announced a sharp drop in sales and likely profits. It forecasts a 27% drop in 911, Boxster, Cayman and Cayenne sales to around 34,000 units in the six months to the end of January 2009 (Financial Times, subscription required)• Ford wants Washington to do more to stimulate car sales, after posting a record loss of nearly $14.6 billion earlier this week (Detroit News)• Honda's quarterly profit has crashed by 90% – forcing the Japanese car maker to halve its annual profit target (Detroit Free Press)Thursday 29 January 2009• Ford of Europe is a bright spot in the Blue Oval's quarterly results today, making $1.06 billion pre-tax profit in 2008 (up from $997m in 2007). It's the first profit of more than $1bn since 1989 (Automotive News Europe, subscription required)• Volvo suffered a 'disastrous 2008' with a pre-tax loss of $1.46bn.