Genuine Mopar Cup Holder Light Ring 68378880ac on 2040-parts.com

Hot seats: from design to delivery [sponsored]

As the user demands on car interiors are increasingly influenced by their growing design consciousness, so suppliers like Lear strive to bring better-engineered seating to satisfy. 2013 was another big year for Lear, as Jeanette Puig-Pey, its global fabric & leather design manager, enthuses: "At our ‘Design2Perform' event we celebrated the unveiling of our brand new collection, with special emphasis on color and texture and our TeXstyle Enhance product, perfect for customization. Laser etching is part of this offering, it is exclusive to Lear Corporation and can be used to add refined design elements to cloth and leather." A mix of fabric and leather in seating is not new but is often seen by the consumer as a cheaper alternative to full leather.

Hidden treasure: Meilenwerk Berlin a low-key look at the past

Standing on Wiebestrasse in suburban Berlin, you'll see an unassuming warehouse. But inside is a unique complex for owners and buyers of classic cars. Branding itself as a forum for car culture, the Meilenwerk has under one roof private storage facilities, restoration workshops, servicing facilities and dealers.

Automakers need love, not just quality, Strategic Vision study shows

Strategic Vision, a company that studies how and why consumers make decisions, released its yearly Total Quality Index on July 12, and the results might be surprising. The study found that love--how much or what part of a car that people like--is more important than the number of problems a car has when choosing a vehicle. For example Ford, which was a quality leader in the study, received a number of complaints about its Sync system.