Mazda Rx-8 2007 Front Window Glass [0111200] on 2040-parts.com

European Car of The Year 2012 to be announced at Geneva

The European Car of the Year 2012 will be revealed at next month's Geneva motor show, drawn from a shortlist of seven cars. In the first stage of voting judges selected their seven favorite cars from a list of 35 candidates that were put on sale in Europe in 2011, with January seeing the declaration of the seven finalists. The second stage of voting will find the European Car of the Year 2012, with the winning car announced on 5 March at the Geneva motor show.

Fiat 500L launches

The Fiat 500L – a larger Fiat 500 based on the Punto – has launched in Italy ahead of going on sale in the UK in early 2013. We had the official arrival of the Fiat 500L at the Geneva Motor Show in March, and now we get the 500L’s official launch in Turin – together with lots of new photos and a video – before the 500L goes on sale around the world. The 500L is actually based on the underpinnings of the Punto to create a 500 MPV and, sensibly, Fiat has done with the 500L  what MINI did with the Countryman and slapped an iconic badge on even though the 500L bears scant resemblance to its cute little sibling.

T-Mobile offers service to block cell calls, text messages while driving

The next step in the effort to keep people from using cell phones for calls and text messages while driving has arrived--a service that senses when the phone is moving at carlike speeds and automatically handles calls and messages. T-Mobile is providing the service, called DriveSmart, for its customers who use the LG Optimus T, a mobile phone that runs the Android operating system. T-Mobile says it will make the service available on other handsets soon.