Federal-mogul Wagner Parking Brake Cable Bc140931 on 2040-parts.com

CES opens with fewer big wheels, including carmakers

There are some grumblings that the annual CES is becoming less relevant in this era of 24-hour news and instant globalization of information on the internet. And you can make a good argument that the relevance of the world's largest consumer electronics show is at least evolving, for carmakers as well as for other industry giants. It has always been an industry only show, with no public -- the “consumers” in "consumer electronics" -- allowed.

Peugeot 208 GTi – the video

Peugeot keep interest in the 208 GTi with a promo video With the Peugeot 208 GTi due to debut at Geneva next week as a concept, Peugeot release the first promo video. There are high hopes for the new Peugeot 208 GTi, with Peugeot desperately hoping a performance halo for the 208 range will evoke memories of the terrific 205 GTi and filter down in to much bigger sales for more prosaic 208s. So to keep interest in the public debut of the 208 GTi next week, Peugeot has been busy cobbling together a promo video to show the new GTi blatting around – in and out of focus – so we don’t have chance to forget the 208 GTI is on its way.

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.