Motion Pro Cr Comp Throttle Kit 01-2675 on 2040-parts.com

Design For the Real China contest seeks innovative solutions to everyday issues

The ‘Design for the Real China' contest has launched, challenging designers across all disciplines to develop innovative solutions to everyday problems that arise in China. Delivering a brief of ‘Show us a solution to a China-located problem or opportunity you have identified', the competition organizers want to see entries that address localized problems or opportunities. Participants have to submit a short video explaining both the problem they've identified and how they'll solve it.

Fiat 500 – kind to animals and the environment!

Not just a Fiat 500 crash - a Fiat Panda crash too! But Fiat is really on a roll at the moment, and has obviously taken as much care with its Ad Agency as it has with its strategy to take over the car world. The result is a set of adverts that promote the safety of the little Fiat 500 and the environmental impact of the Fiat range, in a set of creative ads featuring a Fiat 500 crash test involving a Giant Panda, a Walrus and a Penguin.

Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid: Production underway

The world’s first production plug-in diesel hybrid – the Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid – has gone in to production ahead of customer deliveries. Volvo are producing just 1,000 2013 V60 plug-ins, but are aiming to up production to between 4-6,000 a year from the 2014 model year and, despite the problems of integrating the V60′s complicated electric stuff in to a production car, the V60 plug-in is rolling down the same production line as the regular V60, V70, S80 and XC90. That complicated stuff includes two different powertrains and a battery pack – enough for up to 32 miles as an EV only – and a total of 300 additional parts compared to a regular ICE V60.