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

Chevrolet Volt production halted – again

General Motors has revealed that they are to halt production of the Chevrolet Volt for four weeks as sales stay low. Back in March, we revealed that GM were to stop production of the Chevrolet Volt range extender EV as actual sales fell well behind projected sales. At that time – with a production target of 45,000 Chevy Volts in 2012 – GM had managed to flog just 1.626 Volts in the first two months of 2012 so they decided to halt production for a moth as they had 6,300 Volts stockpiled.

First Sight: Mini

The first 'New' Mini was launched just five years ago, replacing the original Mini that had changed only in detail since its 1959 debut. Designed by Frank Stephenson, now head of design at Fiat, the current design has been a sales success and most significantly has been very influential in demonstrating how small cars need not be explicitly functionalist, smaller versions of larger car types or feel cheap. The new 'New' Mini, designed under the direction of Gert Hildebrand at Mini, is announced today with exterior design by Marcus Syring, interior design by Marc Girard and colour and trim design by Annette Baumeister.

Jaguar XJ 3.0 TDV6 Long Term Test (2010): The Intro

Our long-term XJ joins last week's review car - the XF S We moaned about the tease that was the introduction to the new Jaguar XJ, but we dutifully went off to the press launch at the Saatchi Gallery in July 2009 and declared the design a triumph. We looked forward to the promised press cars by Christmas 2009, but they never happened as Jaguar worked to make the new XJ as bullet-proof as a car can be. But by the end of May 2010 the first press cars started to arrive and the first customer cars escaped in to the wild.