Centric Parts 400.48000 Front Hub Assembly on 2040-parts.com

GM to slash global vehicle platforms by more than half, to 14, by 2018

General Motors says it will cut the number of vehicle platforms it uses globally by more than half over the next decade, in a bid to reduce complexity and save on product-development costs. “More of our components will be common, and more of our vehicles will be on global architectures,” GM CEO Dan Akerson told analysts on Tuesday. His remarks came as GM kicked off a series of presentations online, billed as its 2011 Global Business Conference.

Choice of UK police cars massively slimmed down

Car enthusiasts will soon be able to relax a little after it was announced that the range of police cars approved for use in Britain is being slashed. Those backward glances in your mirror will now be a simpler mental process. This week’s Government spending review will purge many of the wilder police cars favoured by some constabularies, as they launch a drive to save £3.4 million each year by standardising procurement of patrol cars.

2011 Renault Laguna Facelift gets priced

The 2011 Renault Laguna facelift gets priced We guess it’s easier to get your act together as a car maker to price a facelifted car than an all new car. That said, if any business builds a product without knowing its retail price they are in danger of coming unstuck. Still, we applaud Renault for managing to get UK prices for the 2011 Renault Laguna Facelift sorted in a month since the 2011 Laguna appeared at the Paris Motor Show, especially as it took VW eight months to let UK buyers know how much it wanted for the 2011 Sharan.