Electric Fan Switch With Thermostat, Adjustable on 2040-parts.com

Car insurance premiums 'too high'

CAR INSURANCE premiums are too high and should be reduced through far-reaching reforms, the competition watchdog said today. The Competition Commission believes that too many drivers are footing the bill for unnecessary costs incurred during the claims process following an accident. These costs are initially borne by the insurers of at-fault drivers, but they feed through into increased insurance premiums for all drivers.

New BMW 2 Series M Performance Parts revealed

The new BMW 2 Series (pictured) gets a range of M Performance Parts The opposite side of the coin from debadging your high-end BMW so no one knows you’re packing a big punch is adding M Performance parts to turn your lowly diesel in to something that looks like it will win every traffic light grand prix going. And when the new BMW 2 Series Coupe – the replacement for the 1 Series Coupe – arrives in the UK in March 2014, buyers will have a wide range of options from the BMW M Performance Parts offerings to tweak the interior and exterior looks, suspension and the engine. Power upgrades are available for the 220d Coupe which increase the output of the 4-cylinder diesel by 16bhp and adds an extra 29lb/ft of torque for a new output of 197bhp and 310lb/ft of torque, despite which official economy figures remain unchanged.

Crunch watch October 09: the auto industry in crisis

Tuesday 20 October 2009• Honda's CEO said he would consider launching electric vehicles for sale in Europe, Japan and the USA in a possible change of strategy for the Japanese car manufacturer (Automotive News, subscription required)• Ford 59-plate car sales up by 22% in September ‘09 compared to the same month last year. Ford claims a 14.8% share of total new car sales for the same period (Ford)• Porsche, VW and Daimler all sent top executives to the Shanghai motor show in April, but chose to snub the Tokyo motor show this week. The news comes as China’s automotive market is set to become the world’s largest (Bloomberg)• Toyota enters the Korean car market, challenging the 72% market share owned by Hyundai Motor Co (Bloomberg)  Monday 19 October 2009 • The organisers of the Geneva motor show claim that 'all of the major manufacturers have already confirmed their participation' for the March 2010 event (Geneva Palexpo)• Jaguar is auctioning off the first XJ off the line to raise £1m for the NSPCC children's charity.