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

Who's Where: John Puskar and Liz Wetzel appointed to new roles at GM Design

As part of an ongoing strategy at General Motors, this past month has seen a series of moves taking place within the company's design organization in Europe and the US. Two of the key changes have been the appointment of John Puskar to the role of Director of Cross-Brand Strategy, C&T and Components in North America, and that of Liz Wetzel, who has been named Director of GME Design Interior – effectively filling Puskar's role. Puskar, who until recently headed the Opel/Vauxhall Interior Design at the European Design Center in Russelsheim, Germany, majored in Industrial Design at the Cleveland Institute of Art and worked at Ford in both the USA and Germany before joining General Motors as a creative designer at the GMC Brand Center in 1999.

Yet another Kia Compact Crossover Concept heading for Frankfurt 2013

Yet another Kia Compact Crossover Concept (pictured) heading for Frankfurt We do seem to have had something of a run of concepts from Kia lately – particularly Compact SUV/Crossover Concepts – but none seem to be heading for production. Already in 2013 we’ve had the Kia Provo Concept, which looked like a suitably funky urban warrior to take on the market the Nissan Juke made its own, even if the ‘Provo’ name caused publicity-seeking politicians to spit and stomp. Following close on the heels of the Provo came the Kia CUB for the Seoul Motor Show (note the cuddly name – Kia didn’t want to shoot themselves in the foot again) which, although entirely convincing, just looked like yet another urban warrior compact crossover/SUV.

Inside the Lexus LFA Centre of Excellence

Inside the Lexus LFA Centre of Excellence The Lexus LFA is like no other Lexus – and, in many ways, unlike any other supercar – so Lexus make sure the 38 LFAs in Europe get the specialist care they need. Lexus has established a Centre of Excellence for the LFA in Cologne where a team of LFA experts make sure that every LFA in the UK and Europe gets treated just like a Le Mans car when it comes in for servicing. That means removing body panels to get access to the suspension, steering and subframe, every nut and bolt double checked, fingertip inspection of the discs and pads, x-rays to check for wear and detailed inspection of the CFRP bodyshell as well as normal stuff like oil and filter changes.