Attwood 660743 Attwood Deck Fill Replacement Cap / Replacement C on 2040-parts.com

Ford invents agile, low-cost solution for prototyping, customization and limited production [w/video]

A new metal forming technique pioneered by Ford that drastically reduces the time and cost of producing low-volume and one-off body parts may lead to cost-effective customization, redesigns, one-offs and limited production runs. Ford Freeform Fabrication Technology (F3T) forms sheets of metal by two stylus-like tools, one on each side of the surface. Using CAD data they form the part to the exacting strength and finish tolerances usually associated with stamping dies.

McLaren plans three models, including £60k sports car

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 28 October 2008 14:36 McLaren Automotive is readying a family of sports cars to sell alongside its hardcore P11 supercar – including a bargain-basement, £60,000 sports car.  We’re following developments at McLaren’s Woking HQ with interest and – weeks after we published world-exclusive pictures of the P11 styling buck (above) – today we can reveal that McLaren is readying three separate model ranges. McLaren Automotive, the car-building arm of the McLaren Group, is plotting a three-tier range of sports cars, CAR understands. Under the McLaren Development Plan, Ron Dennis and the other directors plan to expand the manufacturing base dramatically.

Infiniti EV put on hold to concentrate on volume sales

An Infiniti EV based on the Nissan LEAF (previewed by the LE Concept above) have been put on hold Nissan’s luxury arm, Infiniti, is on a global push to try and make inroads in to the dominance of Lexus in the luxury Japanese car arena, and has ambitious plans to be selling 500,000 cars a year by 2017. But Infiniti sold only a third of that total in 2012, so any chance of hitting the lofty target of 500k cars in the next five years means they must concentrate on volume cars, not niche cars like a Nissan LEAF based EV. That means the LEAF-based Infiniti LE EV Concept we saw at the New York Auto Show in 2012 will stay as a concept for the foreseeable future as Infiniti boss, Johan de Nysschen, seeks volume cars that will push the brand forward and bring proper sales numbers.