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

Don't miss CDNLive, reporting on the best from Paris Motor Show 2014

As ever the Car Design News team will be reporting live from the halls of the Paris Motor Show. After the long summer break we're in the French capital for what promises to be a great event. CDNLive from the Paris Motor Show We're looking forward to turning our attention to a promising list of production-car debuts of all shapes and sizes, from the new Smart ForTwo and Opel Corsa to the Volvo XC90 and Renault Espace, via Mazda's new MX-5, the Fiat 500X and Jaguar XE.

Mercedes-Benz sells 1000,000 cars in a year in the UK for the first time

Mercedes Bristol hands over the 100,000th Mercedes old in the UK in 2013 It looks like Mercedes move in to a more convincing compact car with the new A-Class is already paying dividends, with Mercedes announcing it has already broken the 100,000 car sales in the UK for this year with a full month still to go. The 100,000th car is, appropriately, a white Mercedes  A 180 CDI Sport – perhaps the best-selling A-Class – which has been collected by its new owner from Mercedes-Benz of Bristol. This is the first full year the new A-Class has been on sale (although the first customer cars didn’t start arriving until well in to the new year) and augers well for sales numbers in 2014.

VW Beetle Cabriolet (2012) first official pictures

Volkswagen has taken a can-opener to the Beetle, just as the nights draw in and the weather turns even less summery. Still, the new 2012 VW Beetle Cabriolet is said to be improved over the old version, with a retro look that VW claims is the most akin to the 1940s original yet. What's different about the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet?