K&n Oil Filter (black) Kn-111 on 2040-parts.com

Shake-up at Tesla; a dozen UK orders

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 16 October 2008 11:22 Electric car start-up Tesla is restructuring its US operation and laying off around 100 staff, as the credit crunch continues to make life difficult for car companies big and small. It’s now on its fourth CEO in 12 months, as founder Elon Musk takes over from Ze’ev Drori. In an announcement on the chief exec’s blog, Tesla Motors said it would be ‘cash-flow positive’ within six to nine months – but only by increasing production and cutting operating costs.

Toyota and Mercedes-Benz are top global car brands

Toyota & Mercedes-Benz are the Top Global Automotive Brands 2011 Interbrand, a branding consultancy, delivers a report on the world’s brands every year, and in 2011, despite recall woes and the devastation of the Japanese Tsunami, Toyota leads the automotive brands, with luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz just behind. Interbrand uses three measures to gauge how effective a brand is – performance of branded product, the brands ability to secure earnings and the role of the brand in purchasing decisions – to come up with a chart of the top 100 world brands. At the top of the tree are companies like Coca Cola, IBM, Microsoft and Google, but car brands do well with Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Honda, VW, and Ford all making it in to the top 50.

Dakar Rally 2012 Day 3 update

American Robby Gordon continues to hold second place overall at the completion of day three of the 2012 Dakar. Hummer driver Gordon, vying to make up for the delays suffered on Monday, completed the 129 competitive miles between San Rafael and San Juan in the Argentine Andes with the fifth-fastest time. His teammate and defending Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah was third-quickest and moves into sixth position overall, having dropped precious time on day one with a loss of oil pressure.