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

Jaguar Land Rover profits up 34 per cent to £1.5 billion

Just four years after Tata took over what looked like a basket case in Jaguar Land Rover, profits have hit £1.5 billion. It’s become the norm for Jaguar Land Rover to report ever improving profits and sales, but the news that JLR made profits of £1.5 billion in the year to end of March 2012 is still amazing. Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata four years ago as it unwound its faltering luxury car brands, and as recently as 2009 JLR were almost begging for government help to keep going.

VW diesel cars to get misfueling protection mods

Volkswagen plans to refit more than a quarter million 2009-12 diesel cars to prevent North American customers from mistakenly pumping gasoline into the fuel tanks. The service action covers 209,500 cars in the United States and 51,600 in Canada. Affected models are the TDI versions of the 2009-12 Jetta, 2010-12 Golf and 2009-12 Jetta Sportwagen, called the Golf Wagon in Canada.

Videos: Chris Bangle shares his views on design and the future of car design

Chris Bangle is a man that needs no introduction on these pages. Both revered and castigated, Bangle's work has undoubtedly been influential for a generation of designers. His unconventional practices – employed at a time when design was still largely segregated from other departments during the development process – yielded many avantgarde and contentious designs, but Bangle's fundamental understanding of the design process, creative vision and desire for change can never be cast in doubt. While Bangle shares his views on the future of the car in the video to the right, the video to the left provides an insight into the former BMW design chief's thought processes and gives us a glimpse into his home and studio in the Piedmont region of northern Italy.