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.

Rohan Saparamadu appointed Chief Designer at Maruti-Suzuki

Rohan Saparamadu has been appointed Chief Designer and Advisor to Styling at Delhi, India-based Maruti-Suzuki. Saparamadu, a veteran of GM Design for the last 23 years, was offered the position after he accepted an early retirement from the automotive giant late last year. "The company was good and that's what kept me there all those years," Saparamadu told CDN of his career at General Motors.

2014 Audi R8 to drop manual gearbox

2014 Audi R8 to lose manual gearbox It’s reported that the new Audi R8 – due in 2104 after a facelift in 2012 – will lose the manual gearbox option. It’s at least two years before the next generation Audi R8 arrives in 2014, but if reports from CAR are right then Audi’s next sporting flagship will do without a manual gearbox altogether. With all that’s on offer in the current R8 apart from the manual ‘box being the rather poor R-Tronic ‘box, that may seem like a recipe for sales disaster for the R8.