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

Audi to buy Ducati 'next week' - Reuters

Audi looks set to complete its purchase of superbike maker Ducati as early as next week, according to Reuters. The news wire reports the deal could be finalised by 18 April 2012, the day before VW's annual shareholders meeting in Hamburg. Audi has been undertaking due diligence on the purchase of Ducati and the bean counters are reporting no obstacles to the deal.     Why is Audi interested in buying Ducati?

First Sight: Volkswagen Iroc concept

The Iroc is a show car preview of a production coupe to be launched next year that will fill a gap in the Volkswagen model line up left by the demise of the Corrado 11 years ago. Volkswagen describe the Iroc as "transferring the globally successful Scirocco idea into the future" - the Scirocco Mk1 by Giugiaro being produced from 1974-1982, the Mk2 from 1982-1992. Like the Scirocco, the Iroc is a front wheel drive coupe with four seats - as opposed to the 2+2 seating arrangement of the only other sports coupe from Volkswagen Group: the Audi TT.

Porsche Macan will sell 75,000 a year

The Porsche Macan – Porsche’s more compact SUV, based on the Audi Q5 – looks set to sell at a rate of 75,000 cars a year. The new Porsche Macan - the Porsche Cajun as was -  already looked set to take Porsche sales to another level with projected sales of 45,000 a year from 2013, but it looks like that ambitious target is going to be exceeded. German weekly WirtschaftsWoche is reporting that Porsche’s procurement boss, Uwe-Karsten Staedter, has put Porsche suppliers on notice that they are expecting to sell 75,000 Macans a year by the end of 2013 – an increase of 2/3rds on the original sales predictions.