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

Fiat to spend big, dump the Punto & revive flagging fortunes by going upmarket

Fiat Punto to be axed as Fiat moves upmarket Fiat are having a very rocky ride as the Italian economy lurchges from one crisis to another. But Sergio Marchionne has a plan to put Fiat back on track. Spending of €9 billion over the next three years is planned to revive production in Italy, rationalise the Fiat range and continue to push upmarket with Maserati and Alfa Romeo.

SEMA 2008 show report: Volkswagen Passat CC

By Ben Whitworth Motor Shows 07 November 2008 09:00 Volkswagen’s sobriety took a back seat at the SEMA show in Las Vegas this week – it pulled the covers off a pair of muscle-bound Passat CCs, a racy 295bhp Tiguan and a grunty diesel Jetta aimed at cajoling the American market into turning its back on gasoline. The unambiguously named Performance CC – designed by Volkswagen’s California-based design centre – gets a shot in the arm from a three-stage turbo boost to its 2.0-litre TSI engine. In Eco mode you get a modest 222bhp and 236 lb ft of torque, GT mode hikes those outputs to 252bhp and 268 lbs ft, while the Full Power stage unleashes 311bhp and 313 lb ft.

Mercedes-Benz hits 100,000 UK sales for first time

FOR THE first time in its history Mercedes-Benz UK has sold more than 100,000 cars in a year. The milestone car, an A 180 CDI Sport bought at Mercedes-Benz of Bristol, now belongs to Jamie Leigh Arndell, who works as Transport Manager at Bristol and Avon Group. “It was a lovely surprise to pick up my new car and be told I was the company’s 100,000th customer [this year],” she said at the handover of the car.