New Fender Front Passenger Right Side Primered S10 Pickup Chevy Olds Rh Hand on 2040-parts.com

Mercedes-Benz to cut production time, halve number of vehicle architectures

Mercedes-Benz is restructuring its global production network to cut the average production time for its models to 30 hours by 2015 from 43 in 2008. "We have increased productivity by 2 percent a year over the last few years. We will be accelerating our productivity efforts," Mercedes production boss Wolfgang Bernhard said during an investor conference that was part of the automaker's plant opening in Kecskemet, Hungary, on Thursday.

Call for reform over road repair funding

FUNDING patterns mean most road maintenance is being carried out in "less-efficient, cold and wet" times, a report from a Government spending watchdog has said. The current pattern of funding, combined with the need to spend money within the financial year, means that most maintenance work goes on between September and March, said the report from the National Audit Office (NAO). It went on: "Although this is less disruptive for road users, it is less efficient than carrying out the work at other times of year because materials can be more difficult to handle in cold and wet conditions, and daylight hours are shorter." The report went on: "As a result of the additional funding for emergency repairs, which is made available at the end of the financial year, almost all highways authorities need extra capacity from the market at the same time, which makes it less likely that they will get value for money." The NAO report said there was a "lack of predictability" over road spending adding that historically, local highway authorities spent more revenue on maintenance, but were now carrying out fewer routine activities such as clearing gullies which are essential to preventing water seeping into roads' sub-structure.

Audi TT goes SUV: offroad concept revealed in Beijing

Audi has revealed a bold TT crossover SUV at the Beijing Motor Show – and the offroad concept looks so complete and production-intent, we wouldn’t bet against this concept becoming a showroom reality sooner than we think. Audi’s technical boss Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg admitted at the big China show that the TT offroad concept was “a glimpse of how we might imagine a new model in a future TT family”, and that last word is crucial: this is the first clear sign that the TT is going to turn from a single model into a range of cars in its own right.