Raybestos 9622 Rear Brake Drum-pg Plus Drum on 2040-parts.com

Who's Where: Fabio Filippini appointed Design Director at Pininfarina

Famed Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina will soon welcome a new Design Director into the fold. Fabio Filippini, an Italian who has worked in France, Japan and Spain, will join the design house from April 1 2011, filling the roll previously vacated by Lowie Vermeersch late last year. Fabio Filippini joins Pininfarina from his previous role as Vice President of Interiors at Renault Design.

General Motors to keep green car technology in house

For the first time in its 100-year history, General Motors plans to design, develop and manufacture electric motors for its growing array of gasoline-electric hybrids and electric vehicles. The electric motors used in GM's current lineup of hybrids are made to GM specifications by outside vendors. GM wants to bring the design and manufacturing in-house to save money and to apply its own technology to boost performance, lower weight and reduce power consumption, said Larry Nitz, GM's chief hybrid powertrain engineer.

Fiat makes bid to buy Opel

The proposed partnership between Fiat and Chrysler has been thrown into a tailspin with revelations that the Italian carmaker has made a secret offer to purchase a majority stake in Opel. Klaus Franz, chairman of Opel's works council, on Thursday confirmed Fiat's interest in a takeover of General Motors' European subsidiary, suggesting that officials have cleared the way for the signing of a letter of intent as early as April 28. Opel has been in talks with parts supplier Magna International on a possible partnership over the past month.