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

Hyundai makes Kia’s Peter Schreyer Hyundai design guru too

The newly appointed Kia President, Peter Schreyer, has now been made Hyundai President in charge of design too. Peter Schreyer’s success in making Kia a real design force led to him being appointed a Kia President at the end of 2012, handsome reward for the changes he’s wrought at Kia since leaving VW, turning Kia’s range of cars from stodgy to convincing in a few short years. But Kia is the junior partner in the Hyundai-Kia business, so Hyundai are obviously not totally thrilled that Kia managed to snaffle a designer who’s eye manages to so convincingly hit the Zeitgeist firmly on the head.

New Alfa Romeo MiTo & Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde price & spec – costs from £20,210 & £28,120

The new Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde (pictured) costs from £28,120 Alfa Romeo doesn’t have a huge amount to play with at the moment with its range in flux and plans to boost sales with new models. But although range-topping cars are not big sellers, they are good to shine a performance glow on the brand, which is why the Alfa Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde and MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde (that’s the MiTo and Giulietta Cloverleaf to you an me) arrived at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Now both are about to go on sale in the UK, so we get prices and specs.

Cadillac may get future rear-drive hybrids

General Motors' two mode hybrid powertrain, used only in trucks, will migrate to rear-drive cars in the next generation, said Tom Stephens, GM's vice chairman of global product operations. Two likely candidates: Cadillacs, says consultant Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics in suburban Detroit. Last month, GM said it is developing an electric motor that is 25 percent smaller and 20 percent more powerful than the motor used in today's two mode hybrid full-sized trucks.