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

VW to announce Italdesign takeover on Tuesday

Volkswagen will announce Tuesday that it will take a 90 percent stake in Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A, people familiar with the matter told Automotive News Europe. The Giugiaro family will retain 10 percent in the Italian design house that is famous for styling cars such as the first-generation VW Golf. VW plans to acquire control of Italdesign to help reach its goal of becoming the world's largest automaker by 2018 with sales of 10 million vehicles a year.

Fiesta grabs Women's World Car of the Year prize

THE FORD FIESTA 1.0 Ecoboost has been crowned the Women’s World Car of the Year 2013. A panel of 18 women judged the car on factors such as colour, sex appeal and ease of driving. Beating off competition from Audi and Range Rover, the Fiesta was praised by the all-women panel and the awards chairman Sandy Myhre said: ‘It was clear from the outset the Fiesta struck a chord with our panel of women as it has features which clearly chime with the needs of female drivers.’ Barb Samardzich, chief operating officer, Ford of Europe, said: ‘The success of the new Fiesta, both in terms of this award and impressive sales, has been achieved with a car which is sharp looking, better connected and even more fuel efficient and fun-to-drive.’

Next BMW 7-series previewed in Vision Future Luxury concept

BMW has previewed key exterior styling elements, contemporary interior design touches, lightweight carbon fiber construction and innovative lighting systems to be incorporated on next year's sixth-generation 7-series with the unveiling of an arresting new concept car that goes under the name Vision Future Luxury. Revealed at the Beijing auto show, the big new sedan is described as a showcase for future BMW models. But while initial speculation suggested the Vision Future Luxury pointed at a possible 9-series flagship model to be installed at the top of the German car maker's lineup, BMW officials have confirmed the new concept was created more specifically as a pointer to the next 7-series, which is planned to head into North American showrooms late next year.