New Textar Brake Pad Set, 997 352 949 05 on 2040-parts.com

As the GM world turns: Docherty, Reuss, Lutz get new assignments

Mark Reuss and Susan Docherty just got handed the keys to the General Motors kingdom. Reuss was named president of GM North America. He was vice president of engineering and before that was in charge of GM's Holden in Australia in 2008.

Watch the sad, final moments of a crusher-bound heap

Automotive wrecking yards are good places to reflect on the real-world values of heavily depreciated vehicles versus global current scrap-metal prices, and to see which cars have suddenly had the fix-it-versus-total-it line moved by insurance companies (the early-21st-century Subaru Legacy Outback, for example, appeared in large numbers in high-turnover wrecking yards just during the last year, as fairly minor collision damage on these cars is no longer worth fixing). You'll see the things that a car's last owner does in a desperate attempt to sell (or at least live with) an increasingly decrepit heap (as we learned in "Repo Man," you really will find a Little Tree in every car). During a recent trip to a San Jose, Calif., yard, I encountered this sad yet strangely compelling scene.

Hyundai make it in to UK Top Ten best-selling car makers

Hyundai has become the first Korean car maker to make it in to the top ten best selling car makers in the UK, with sales of 74,000 in 2012. It’s taken a few years to shake off the ‘Cheap Car’ tag, but Hyundai are now offering a range of cars – certainly in the mainstream – that can be compared on ability, design and quality with the best of the competition. That quantum change in perception in the last few years about the desirability of a Hyundai has now translated in to Hyundai becoming one of the top ten best-selling car brands in the UK, a first for a Korean car maker and a real sign that Hyundai is now accepted as a real competitor – not a ‘Budget’ brand.