Mopar Oem 52038686 Rear Suspension-leaf Spring Bushing on 2040-parts.com

Who's Where: Micheal Castiglione joins Ken Okuyama Design

Micheal Castiglione, principal exterior designer on the 2006 Dodge Challenger concept car created at the Chrysler Group's now defunct Pacifica Studio on the west coast, has now joined Ken Okuyama Design. As Chief Designer, Castiglione will be tasked with designing products as well as cars once the company establishes itself in an as yet undisclosed location. "We're really busy with a number of projects that Ken's got going," Castiglione told CDN.

The scramble for scarce tires

North American automakers are struggling with a nagging shortage of tires, caused in part by tire plant closings and rising demand for low-volume specialty tires. Automakers are paying much higher prices -- double-digit percentage increases from a year ago -- as tire makers gain pricing power. "We have been bombarded from every side for additional tires, and we can't keep up," said David O'Donnell, Continental Tire's vice president of original equipment in the Americas.

BMW and Merc to join forces

By Georg Kacher Motor Industry 08 February 2008 13:03 CAR Online today reveals the extent to which BMW and Mercedes are plotting to cooperate on future models. In a wide-ranging plan, the two German premium marques could join forces to take on the might of Audi, with its backing and economies of scale of the whole Volkswagen group and, increasingly, Porsche. BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer and his counterpart at Daimler, Dieter Zetsche, are coming to the conclusion that the two brands – for so long, fierce rivals – should work together rather than fight against each other.