Continental Elite Timing Belt 40174 on 2040-parts.com

The fall and rise of the budget car

Twenty years ago, the classic bargain brands like Lada seemed to be going the same way as the Soviet empire that spawned them. Woefully dated and badly made, only a weirdo would have bought a new Lada rather than a second-hand model from Ford, Vauxhall or VW. However, one of the big trends in the car industry today is the re-emergence of bargain cars.

General Motors will prep plants in 2012 for next-generation pickups

General Motors will begin retooling assembly plants next year to build the next generation of its full-sized pickups, GM's U.S. sales chief Don Johnson said. "We have some scheduled plant downtime in 2012 as we convert to the next generation of our pickups," he said.

Audi A1 prices start at £13,145 in UK

Audi’s new A1 supermini has gone on UK sale today, priced from £13,145 for a 1.2 TFSI SE trim model to £18,280 for a range-topping 1.4 TFSI auto. That pitches the A1 slightly above the Mini, whose boggo First three-door kicks off at £12,620. But study the two rival supermini ranges from Audi and  BMW more closely and you’ll see they’re quite evenly matched.