Gas Spring Trunk Lid Stabilus 031327- on 2040-parts.com

Volkswagen Up (2012): first photos of VW's mini

Almost four years to the day after we first saw the VW Up concept car, Volkswagen is unveiling the real thing: this is the new VW Up city car, on sale in UK dealers in spring 2012. Forget the official, trendily informal name 'up!'. I'm afraid CAR's going to overrule the grammatical violations and call it the good old Volkswagen Up.

GM cuts Facebook ad spending, but Ford steps on the gas

On the eve of Facebook's wildly anticipated initial public stock offering, General Motors said May 15 that it will stop buying advertisements on Facebook--about $10 million a year--but "remains committed" to the social network as part of "an aggressive content strategy with all our products and brands." In other words, GM will not pay Facebook for ads but will continue to maintain content, for which Facebook doesn't collect revenue. News of the decision was reported in The Wall Street Journal. But GM's position is far from universal.

Fiat 500L Trekking goes on sale: Price from £17,095

The Fiat 500L Trekkiing (pictured) is now on sale in the UK The Fiat 500L – Fiat’s 500 on steroids – went on sale back in December (and we’ve also had the 7-seat 500L MPW revealed), and now we get the rufty-tufty version of the 500L – the Fiat 500L Trekking – arriving in the UK, and costing from £17,095, just £700 more than the equivalent 500L without the butch bits. The 500L Trekking comes with Fiat’s Traction+, a clever traction technology that gives the 500L more grip on slippery surfaces, more rugged front and back treatments, bits of black plastic cladding and a set of 17″ alloys to make it look more suited to the boot sale car park than the regular 500L. Specification is based on the 500L Lounge – which means stuff like 5″ Touchscreen, Bluetooth, Hil Hold, electric door mirrors, Cruise, Climate, auto lights and wipers, electric windows and front fogs all come in the price.