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

Mini Vision concept: what does it say about the brand's future?

The sight of Mini design head Anders Warming presenting a holographic, 3D projection of the Mini Vision concept as if appearing in his own cartoon was certainly a new one on us, but it captured the quirky, slightly left-field image the subsidiary of BMW Group has cultivated since its relaunch 13 years ago. As the 'Vision' tag suggests, this is billed as a marker of intent for the brand's future design direction rather than a pre-production teaser of the new Mini hatchback (Cooper in most markets) we'll see later this year. However if the third-generation 'new' Mini doesn't look remarkably similar we'd be amazed, such is the level of productionized detailing on this purely digital model.

Honda Accord hybrid unintended-acceleration claim under review

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a preliminary investigation into whether some Honda hybrid vehicles are prone to unintended acceleration. The federal auto safety regulator said Monday it had agreed to look into a complaint stemming from a fatal July 2005 crash. The driver of a 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid said she was driving over rumble strips on the side of a freeway when she tried to apply the brakes.

GM gets behind Vauxhall & Opel by dropping Chevrolet in Europe

Cars like the Chevrolet Trax (pictured) will disappear from the UK in 2015 GM has seemed to be fighting a battle with itself in the UK and Europe by marketing a broadly similar range of cars under the Vauxhall and Opel badges in the UK and Opel and Chevrolet in Europe. But unlike the VW Group, which manages to offer very similar cars from VW, SEAT and Skoda and create a different customer base, GM seems to have failed to make the marketplace work with Opel and Vauxhall competing with Chevrolet. So Chevrolet are on their way out in Europe.