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

How Mercedes sees into the future

Mercedes' crystal ball is named Alexander Mankowsky. At 56, he's dressed for CES in khaki trousers and a leather vest, with thin glasses perched on a round face; his frizzy white hair resembles what Einstein's would if he were caught in a wind tunnel. He might be a long-distant uncle, or he might be Doc Brown, fresh from the DeLorean.

Audi A2 EV won’t make production – but you knew that

Audi has revealed that it’s dropped plans to put the A2 electric concept – first revealed at Frankfurt 2011 - in to production. Back in June 2012 we reported that the Audi A2 EV wouldn’t make production as Audi had decided that the market simply wasn’t there for a £40k electric city runaround. Now that appears to have been confirmed by Audi in conversation with Autocar.

Mercedes-Benz axes Maybach

High ranking Mercedes-Benz sources have confirmed to Autoweek that the underperforming Maybach brand will be officially killed off in 2013. The decision to disband Mercedes-Benz’s upper luxury marque comes after a decade of disappointing sales for the Maybach 57 and 62 and a recent decision from the German car maker’s chairman Dieter Zetsche not to push ahead with the development replacement models – the likes of which were tentatively due out in 2014 – owing to what one insider describes as a “positive move to focus greater attention on the Mercedes-Benz brand” . “We’ve come to the conclusion that it is better to cut our losses with Maybach than to continue into an uncertain future with a brand that has failed to live up to original sales expectations," the insider said.