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

Electric cars amped up with £500 million boost

THE GOVERNMENT is to extend the £5,000 grant scheme open to anyone who buys a car with plug-in electric power. It is part of a £500 million move to encourage car owners – and city authorities – to take up the electric car baton and run with it. The initiative will give cities a chance to win government funding to further the sales of electric cars in their areas, for example by allowing them to use bus lanes or park for free.

Beattie joins Fisker as prices climb

Fisker Automotive, maker of the luxury hybrid Fisker Karma, has appointed luxury-brands executive Richard Beattie to the newly created position of chief commercial officer. Beattie will be responsible for sales, marketing and customer service for the brand. Beattie comes from a strong run as executive vice president of sales and marketing for Jaguar North America and, before that, for Jaguar Land Rover North America, positions which followed a career at Ford, where he was most recently president and CEO of Mazda’s North American operations.

Peugeot 208 XY heading for production

It’s been revealed that the luxury concept of the new Peugeot 208 – the 208 XY – will be at the Paris Motor Show in production guise. At this year’s Geneva Motor Show, Peugeot revealed a pair of concept cars based on the new 208 – the 208 GTi and the 208 XY. Yesterday we revealed that the new Peugeot 208 GTi was heading for this month’s Paris Motor Show ready for production, and now it seems it will be joined by its luxury sibling concept, also ready to go in to production – the Peugeot 208 XY.