Harddrive - 17-0967 - Custom Rail Passenger Footpegs, Male on 2040-parts.com

GM to slash global vehicle platforms by more than half, to 14, by 2018

General Motors says it will cut the number of vehicle platforms it uses globally by more than half over the next decade, in a bid to reduce complexity and save on product-development costs. “More of our components will be common, and more of our vehicles will be on global architectures,” GM CEO Dan Akerson told analysts on Tuesday. His remarks came as GM kicked off a series of presentations online, billed as its 2011 Global Business Conference.

Mercedes AMG GT S hits the track in new HD video

The new Mercedes AMG GT S on track at Circuit of Americas The Mercedes AMG GT is the long-awaited replacement in the Mercedes range for the SLS AMG, but even though the new AMG GT (and GT S) offers performance almost the equivalent of the SLS, it’s price tag is a lot lower. In fact, at prices expected to start at around £100,000 – and an extra £10-15k for the GT S version – the new AMG GT is at least a third cheaper than the SLS, and aimed at cars like the Porsche 911 and Jaguar F-Type rather than the stratospheric supercars the SLS had in its sights. That also means Mercedes AMG are going to have to sell a chunk more GTs than they ever did SLS models, so you can expect more promos and more profile for the AMG GT than you’d ever have seen for the modest-run SLS – like the latest Mercedes has just released (below).

Bentley uses 3D printing to prototype new designs [w/Video]

3D printing is changing the way the world makes things by helping people of all disciplines to enhance and refine their ideas cheaply, quickly and effectively.  Bentley is the latest carmaker to utilize the technology to fabricate and prototype different parts to see how they'll look and work on the finished design. Using 3D printers, designers can produce parts from the exterior and interior such as the grille, tires, headlamps and door handles as well as combine different types of contrasting materials, ranging from hard plastics to rubbers of different tensile strengths.  The technology allows the user to create a solid 3D object straight from a digital model by printing layers of material on top of each other. This process rapidly decreases the delivery time, as parts can be printed overnight, and allows designers to be more creative in their ideas because of the reduced cost. Bentley isn't the first carmaker to use 3D printing technology. Audi announced last year it was beginning to prototype vehicle parts using 3D printers.