G Vintage Gm Delco Car Radio / Stereo on 2040-parts.com

CES: New cars and communists

The first day of the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show featured one new Ford, two new Kias and a plug for communism from the head of Mercedes-Benz. So, yeah, it was an eventful first day. After its new 2013 Fusion plug-in hybrid was named Car of the Show--following previous such distinctions for the Focus electric and the Taurus--Ford CEO Alan Mulally pulled the cover off the Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Peugeot puts RCZ designer on Twitter

Like many automakers, Peugeot is now making conspicuous use of social media platforms as a component in its new car launch campaigns and in order to manage customer relations online. For its new RCZ coupe, Peugeot in the UK has been running a social media campaign under the strap line "It chooses you", with associated Twitter and Facebook accounts – which culminated with a member of the public winning an RCZ last week. For auto designers, there was little interest in the campaign up until last week, when Peugeot put RCZ designer Boris Reinmöller behind a computer terminal and opened him up to a public Q+A session through its Twitter account.

Rude roads hit house prices

STREETS with rude-sounding names like Crotch Crescent, Turkey Cock Lane, Bell End and The Knob could turn out to be a haven for property hunters looking to snap up a bargain, research suggests. The study for website NeedaProperty.com looked for evidence of what impact living in a street with a suggestive name could have on the value of your home. Properties on streets with innuendo-laden names were found to be around one fifth or £84,000 cheaper on average than other homes situated nearby.