Ignition Starter Switch Beck/arnley 201-1808 on 2040-parts.com

Lotus announces 100 new jobs

Lotus Lotus is on a recruitment drive - prompting confidence that the iconic British sportscar firm’s future looks brighter than it has for years. The company has suffered a rollercoaster ride since relaunching in 2010 with a bold promise to build five new sportscars and a supermini. But the architect of that plan, CEO Dany Bahar, was fired by the company's Malaysian owners and the expansion has since been wound down.

Gemballa Mistrale Porsche Panamera revealed

Gemballa has released information on the Porsche Panamera Gemballa Mistrale But there might be an answer to that quandary – turn your attention to the Porsche Panamera. Gemballa has just released preliminary details on the Gemballa Mistrale, a Porsche Panamera conversion which throws a bit of Gemballa madness at Stuttgart’s latest offering. Details are still a bit limited – and we don’t have any info yet on what Gemballa has done with the oily bits – but we do have the picture you see here, which shows the cosmetic stuff.

Ford B-Max set for Geneva 2011

The Ford B-Max crossover, based on the Iosis Concept (pictured), will debut at Geneva 2011 The Ford Fusion arrived in 2002 as a stretched version of the Ford Fiesta – a mini MPV. And for a while it did pretty well in the sales charts, reaching a peak in 2007 as second only to Vauxhall’s Meriva. But its slide since then has been significant and last year it languished in fifth place with sales of 30,000.