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

Honda speeds up major changes to the Civic

Honda will bring out a significant mid-cycle change to its embattled Civic compact this fall, just 18 months after it launched, a high-ranking executive told dealers here. The move is a rush to improve the Civic in time for the 2013 model year. The Civic's cheapened interior and other reductions in content got a critical reviews from The Wall Street Journal, and Consumer Reports removed the model from its recommended list.

Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) starts European sales

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (pictured) now on sale in Europe The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV landed officially at the Paris Motor Show in 2012 – preceded by a number of concepts before Mistubishi was happy – as a plug-in hybrid from Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi had promised the Outlander PHEV would go on sale in 2013 so, by the skin of their teeth, they’re starting to roll it out in European markets with the Netherlands up first followed by the Nordic countries – and the UK somewhere down the list. With 12,000 orders for the Outlander PHEV in Europe already, Mitsubishi are assured of a decent level of sales for their PHEV SUV, although those sales are driven by the daft tax breaks on offer for ‘green’ cars more than anything else.

Mandelson to announce help for car makers

Lord Mandelson is the man charged with finding ways to fund UK Car purchases (yes, he of the dodgy mortgage debacle – at least he should know a few tricks!) as the credit crunch has dried up funding, leading to an unprecedented drop in new car sales in the UK. Mandelson is due to make a statement in the Lords just after 3pm today, outlining the help the government is going to offer to ailing car makers. Central to this package is expected to be a funding channel directly from the Bank of England to inject liquidity in to the car financing sector.