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

Future products: GMC looks beyond trucks to compact car

GMC, traditionally a home for rebadged Chevrolet trucks with more content, is preparing to jolt its lineup with a compact car aimed at young urban buyers. General Motors Co. is expected to bring the GMC Granite to market in 2013.

Volkswagen plans 4 million cars from one platform

Volkswagen is pushing the global-platform concept to a level unprecedented in the auto industry, introducing a modular platform this summer that eventually will be the basis of microcars, sedans, crossovers and SUVs for its four largest brands. While automakers now share platforms across brands and sometimes even segments, the VW initiative that starts this summer is far more ambitious than anything seen so far. By 2017, some analysts estimate, the MQB platform that debuts with the Audi A3 eventually will be used in 4 million units a year--close to half of VW's annual production.

New MG: Is this the MG2?

Is this a new mini MG - the MG2? Despite it looking at one point last year as if MG – certainly in the UK – was close to biting the dust, we now know that the SAIC Roewe 550 will be made in the UK and sold throughout Europe as the MG6 in hatchback form and the MG5 as a saloon. But now we’re getting news from China that there is a mini MG in the pipeline – the MG2 – and that this car will be turning up as soon as the Beijing Motor Show as an MG and not – as is usual for SAIC – as a Roewe which then spawns an MG.