Beck/arnley 072-9655 Clutch Master Cylinder on 2040-parts.com

Who's Where: Peter Arcadipane appointed BAIC's design director

Peter Arcadipane has joined BAIC as its new design director. Based at its new hi-tech design facility in Beijing, China, he oversees a team of around 130 designers. The Australian designer, formerly of Mercedes-Benz, has been challenged to steer state-owned BAIC towards a more coherent and strategic position within China, with its chairman wanting to take the carmaker more upmarket.

Nissan at the London motor show 2008

By Ben Whitworth Motor Shows 22 July 2008 14:12 Nissan pulled off a cornucopia of intriguing new models at the London show – with some pretty weird extremes, as practical family cars jostled for attention with supercars and tallboy square city cars. What's new on Nissan's London motor show stand? Proudly displaying its patriotism, Nissan pulled the covers of its Sunderland-built Qashqai+2 – one of the few real global debuts at the show.

Cash for clunkers plan revives trade fight

Import brand automakers and dealers warned on Thursday that a vehicle scrappage proposal before the Senate would violate trade agreements and could weaken the economy. The Senate could vote on the plan on Thursday, which would offer $10,000 to any moderate- or low-income consumer who trades in a car or truck that is at least 10 years old and buys a new one that is more fuel-efficient and "assembled in the United States." The trade-ins would be scrapped rather than resold. The U.S.-made mandate "smacks of the protectionism that led to the Great Depression," said Barbara Nocera, the top Washington lobbyist for Mazda North American Operations.