Nissan Wheel 18x 7.5 on 2040-parts.com

Chrysler, Hyundai-Kia, VW lead industry to 14 percent sales gain

U.S. auto sales--led by big gains at Chrysler Group, Hyundai-Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen--rose 14 percent last month for their biggest increase since April. On a seasonally adjusted annual basis, sales reached 13.6 million units last month.

Renault to unveil Alpine-branded concept car at Monaco GP

Renault is set to unveil an Alpine-branded concept car at this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix. The A110-50 – so named to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the oh-so-pretty A110 rally car – is clearly a development of the 2010 DeZir concept car although with only one leaked image to analyze, it's difficult to know by what amount it has changed. Clearly it has been subjected to the addition of a myriad of additional details, surfaces, inlets, outlets and various pieces of racing addenda however that, on the little evidence we have, appear to have added drama to the detriment of the refreshingly non-aggressive nature of the DeZir.

New Images: Mercedes Unimog concept

Mercedes-Benz's Special Trucks unit (MBS) recently revealed a design study celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Unimog at the Daimler plant in Wörth, Germany. Called simply '60 Years Unimog', the concept is said to inform the future form language of Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle design. Developed jointly by the MBS development team, the Daimler commercial vehicle designers in Sindelfingen and a model designing partner, the Unimog concept was inspired by the poison dart frog, a natie of Central and South America.