S80 2010 Engine Mounts 89101 on 2040-parts.com

Can Horn get US Volkswagen sales back on track?

Volkswagen AG's German executives readily admit they are a bit baffled by America, where, despite decades of exertion, Volkswagen's namesake VW brand still doesn't rank as a marquee marque. So why would the automaker choose a German native and Wolfsburg veteran, Michael Horn, as the new CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, to succeed Jonathan Browning, 54, who is leaving at the end of the year? To VW insiders and U.S.

Mini Vision concept: what does it say about the brand's future?

The sight of Mini design head Anders Warming presenting a holographic, 3D projection of the Mini Vision concept as if appearing in his own cartoon was certainly a new one on us, but it captured the quirky, slightly left-field image the subsidiary of BMW Group has cultivated since its relaunch 13 years ago. As the 'Vision' tag suggests, this is billed as a marker of intent for the brand's future design direction rather than a pre-production teaser of the new Mini hatchback (Cooper in most markets) we'll see later this year. However if the third-generation 'new' Mini doesn't look remarkably similar we'd be amazed, such is the level of productionized detailing on this purely digital model.

Seat celebrates 60 years of production

SPANISH car maker Seat has this week celebrated its 60th anniversary, releasing pictures dating back to its very first model, the 1400. Six decades have now passed since the first 1400 rolled off the production line, when the brand new company was inundated with 10,000 orders following the end of petrol rationing in Spain. With so much production demand Seat was able to drop the initial price of 121,875 to a more reasonable 117,000 pesetas, or what would have been about £590 at the time.