Holley Performance 0-80783c Street Carburetor on 2040-parts.com

Ssangyong getting bullish with the Korando SX

The new Ssangyong Korando SX is to feature in a £1 million TV advertising campaign comparing price and spec with its rivals. It’s almost exactly a year since we reported Ssangyong’s return to the UK market with the Ssangyong Korando, a competitive budget compact SUV they hoped would set them on a path to sales success in the UK. Ssangyong ramped up their Korando offering in June by launching the Korando SX 4×4 at a very reasonable £18,795, although you did have to sacrifice kit – and a lump of power – to achieve the new 4×4 entry price.

GM's top battery executive for the Volt to join California startup

General Motors's top executive in charge of developing batteries for the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid is leaving to take a position with an unnamed startup battery company in California. Denise Gray, 46, global director of rechargeable energy storage systems, will step down March 5 after more than three years in the post. This was “an opportunity that I could just not resist,” Gray said in a phone interview.

Kia Carens MPV (2012) first official pictures

Kia has taken its compact family wagon, the Carens back to the drawing board with the release of the all-new 2012 model, bringing it up-to-date with Kia’s current design direction.   The Carens is the last model in Kia’s line up to receive the ‘tiger nose’ facelift under the direction of chief designer Peter Schreyer, best known for designing the Mk 1 Audi TT.   The revised Carens takes on a sharper, more ‘athletic’ shape than the former chunkier model, offering a more practical, cab-forward take on the sportier looking new Ceed on which it is based.