Kimpex - 04-184-11 - Colored Slide, Style 10m - 68in. L - White on 2040-parts.com

BMW axes B-class rival

By Georg Kacher Motor Industry 07 August 2006 09:26 BMW has put on ice plans for a mini-MPV based on the 3-series, to rival the Mercedes B-class. Instead, it will focus on a bigger, Mercedes R-class challenger, due in 2009. 'Originally, we looked at two different space-functional concepts: one was based on the 3-series, the other one on the 5-series,' said a source.

Ford-designed Santa’s sleigh

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 17 December 2008 14:30 Blue Oval designers at Dunton in Essex, UK, penned this trio of Ford-inspired sleighs to help fashion Santa’s just-in-time delivery system. It’s a job they’re familiar with, working on successive series of Transit vans in the past – and they’ve put their practical skills to good use on their Ford sleighs. These sledges are seen through the prism of Ford’s latest ‘kinetic design’ mantra.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda recall 3.4 million cars over Airbag fault

As recalls go, 3.4 million cars around the globe is a big number, but it’s that big because a parts supplier - Takata Corp – supplied the same airbag part to Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda, so the recall involves all four Japanese car makers. The part at fault could cause the airbag inflator to rupture and deploy the airbag abnormally, although there have been no reports of injuries due to the potentially faulty part and just five reports of the fault existing – three in the US and two in Japan. In the UK the number of cars affected – and do note the recall only affects cars sold between 2000 and 2004 – appears to be about 75,000 for Toyota, 60,000 for Nissan, 15,000 for Honda and 2.000 for Mazda, and all four car makers will be getting in touch with owners during the next month to book their cars in for free replacement of the part.