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

Will Volvo need a JV in China with itself?

Western car makers wanting to operate in China need a joint venture with a Chinese partner. And it looks like Volvo is going to have to partner with itself to keep officials happy. The Chinese authorities are keen to make sure that Western car makers can’t just rock up on their doorstep, open up a factory or three and flog cars in the most populous nation on earth.

Lotus CEO Dany Bahar on the crisis at Lotus Cars

Lotus chief executive Dany Bahar has laid bare the business position at Lotus Cars since the takeover of parent company Proton by Malaysia's DRB-Hicom. Norfolk's sports car maker has been buffeted by rumours of financial crisis and looming collapse since development was frozen by the new owners (click here for our coverage of the crisis at Lotus. CAR scored an interview with Bahar at the Hethel headquarters yesterday afternoon. He was abroad at the time of last week's media maelstrom, when rumours and slurs flew around about the state of Lotus's finances.

BAC Mono wins Supercar Class at Cholmondeley

The BAC Mono has won the Supercar Class at the 2012 Cholmondeley Pageant of Power, just a year from the Mono’s launch and in its first competitive event. The cynical might have imagined that the debut of the BAC Mono as yet another racer for the road from a  company most have never heard of would be another two minute wonder – loads of promise and little reality. But as we said when the BAC Mono burst on the scene in March 2011, ‘This is the real deal; a superbly engineered and beautifully built single-seat racer that just happens to be road-legal’.