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

New car registrations continue to rise – up 6.6% in July 2014

The Ford Fiesta (pictured) topped the UK sales chart again in July 2014 There must come a point (mustn’t there?) when new car sales/registrations slow down in the UK, but there seems little sign of it happening any time soon. For the 29th month in a row, new car registrations in the UK rose again in July 2014, up by 6.6 per cent on the same month in 2013, hitting a total of 172,907. So far in 2014, new car registrations have risen by 10.1 per cent to 1,460,172, with the SMMT predicting that new car registrations for 2014 will end up 8.1 per cent up on 2013 at 2,450,000.

Global Vehicle Architecture opens new fully-equipped 3D Design Studio in Beijing

Global Vehicle Architecture (GVA) – a specialist independent design company encompassing all forms of transportation design – has opened a fully-equipped design studio in Beijing to cater for the growing  demand for design support services. GVA is unique in that it is the first European automotive designer led facility of its kind in China offering complete in-house modeling capabilities. The 2,000 square-meter studio, situated only 10 minutes from the 798 Art district and in close proximity to Beijing's airport, boasts extensive facilities including an 18-meter plate area, and prototype car build capabilities.

Michelin design contest inspires young minds

The College for Creative Studies in Detroit held its 24th Michelin Design challenge, in which Michelin sponsors a design and development project for one of CCS' transportation design classes. The competition works like this: CCS and Michelin get together to develop a theme, then CCS picks which transportation design class will work on the project. The idea, Michelin says, is to celebrate and promote the kind of vehicle design that highlights original thinking and innovation.