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

Saab go back for another Chinese

Saab are saved (?) by Pang Da Auto There can’t be many companies in China who haven’t had Victor Muller banging on their door armed with a chunk of Saab stock in exchange for a hat full of Chinese currency. A couple of weeks ago we had the news that Saab had signed a deal with Chinese car Maker Hawtai for €120 million in exchange for a big chunk of Saab stock and lots of ‘joint’ venture. But that fell apart last week even before Victor Muller could get to consummate the marriage.

Crunch watch Feb 09: the auto industry in crisis

By Tim Pollard, Ben Pulman and Ben Whitworth Motor Industry 02 March 2009 18:11 Monday 2 March• The Volkswagen Group announces a 5% rise in sales revenues in the 2008 tax year and a 3% increase in operating profits, up to €6.3 billion. Chairman Martin Winterkorn said the group's multi-brand strategy and low CO2 cars had helped sustain sales, although he admitted that 2009 would see a fall in demand and revenues (Volkswagen) Friday 27 February• Jaguar Land Rover announces a significant order for 13,000 cars from a Chinese business. It's a morale boost for JLR which has been hit by a slump in demand with the global slowdown (BBC News)• Opel this afternoon agreed to a restructuring plan designed to save as many jobs and factories as possible – but it needs a €3.3 billion lifeline from the state.

Car makers to be forced to disclaim ‘Official’ economy figures

We’ve banged on for a long time about the futility of official economy figures, especially as car makers get better and better at ‘gaming’ the official economy tests to produce the results they want. Much of the impetus to create the best headline economy figure for a car is driven by taxation, with car makers well aware that the better the official economy results are, the lower their CO2 will be (CO2 isn’t tested for – it’s just extrapolated from the official mpg) and the more appealing the car will be to buyers, particularly fleet buyers. But a ruling by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) against Audi could at least see car makers having to admit in their adverts that the ‘official’ economy figure bears no relation to what owners can expect to achieve in the real world.