Opel Astra H Furgon L70 Instrument Cluster 13225980 1.90 Diesel 110kw 26626731- on 2040-parts.com

Demise of kei cars on the horizon?

The kei car has long been a staple of the Japanese automobile industry and its car culture. Too diminutive for Western markets, the tiny cars and trucks are a strong influencer of design in Japan. Now, as The New York Times reports, the Japanese government has hit kei cars with increases in sales tax, gasoline prices and has reduced the kei car tax break introduced to make the cars popular in the first place by 50 percent.

Lotus takes the top off Exige S

Lotus is adding an Exige S Roadster to its lineup, based on the new Exige we saw at the Frankfurt auto show. Unfortunately the road-car version will not come to the United States. The Roaster is powered by the same 345-hp V6 as in the hardtop Exige, as well as in the bigger Evora.

Saab shutdown would doom new 9-5, 9-3 models

The new Saab 9-5 sedan and a proposed replacement for the 9-3 will be killed off if General Motors Co. winds down its Swedish subsidiary, AutoWeek has learned. The new 9-5, a longer-wheelbase version of the Opel Insignia and the Buick Regal, is poised to go down in the annals of automotive history as a major rarity--a design that was fully tooled for production yet never got built.