Mercruiser 27-99757 99757 Gasket, Exhaust Manifild V-6 on 2040-parts.com

GM to slash global vehicle platforms by more than half, to 14, by 2018

General Motors says it will cut the number of vehicle platforms it uses globally by more than half over the next decade, in a bid to reduce complexity and save on product-development costs. “More of our components will be common, and more of our vehicles will be on global architectures,” GM CEO Dan Akerson told analysts on Tuesday. His remarks came as GM kicked off a series of presentations online, billed as its 2011 Global Business Conference.

Porsche boss Mueller: A launch every year, 200,000 sales by 2018

By 2018, Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller, 57, aims to boost annual global sales to more than 200,000 units, up from 97,000 in 2010. To do so, he will introduce at least one new Porsche every year. Mueller, a former executive at Volkswagen AG, replaced Michael Macht as Porsche AG CEO in October.

Aston Martin V12 Zagato ready to rock at the Nurburgring

Aston Martin V12 Zagato at Nurburgring - Zag at play We’ve had plenty to look at with the Aston Martin V12 Zagato in the last few weeks, especially when it turned up, resplendent in red, at Villa d’Este and walked away with 2011 Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes. But it’s an Aston Martin, so beauty is a given. But what about performance?