Standard Motor Products Us422 Ignition Switch on 2040-parts.com

Zaha Hadid Z-car concept

Zaha Hadid is an Iraq-born and London-based architect, who became the first female recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004. Her ambitious buildings have earned her much acclaim, and having designed the latest BMW factory, Hadid has now turned her sights on cars with the unveiling of the Z-car concept. Not to be confused with the similarly titled Nissan/Datsun, Hadid?s Z-car is a small plastic-bodied monocoque with a prominent lifting door.

Hyundai i40 saloon – that’s the Euro version – finally arrives

It's the Hyundai i40 Saloon for Europe As we reported last week – after Hyundai had, rather pointlessly, teased us with an image – the European version of the Hyundai i40 saloon is about to launch at the Barcelona Motor Show. So we have details, although much of what we have is what we already know from the Hyundai i40 Estate. What we do know is that the European  i40 – whatever guise it comes in – seems a fine car and a real threat to the sector domination by the Ford Mondeo and VW Passat.

Volkswagen hits back, weighs making a bid for Porsche

Volkswagen is considering an audacious reverse-takeover bid for its majority shareholder, Porsche, in a twist in the drawn-out struggle for control between the two German carmakers. The Volkswagen Group's supervisory board is said to be weighing the possibility of purchasing Porsche AG, in a move that would relieve its holding company, Porsche SE, of massive debt that industry analysts suggest the company may not be able to fund should the world's financial crisis drag on well into 2010--a scenario put forward this week by the International Monetary Fund. The secret plan emerged as shareholders were set to convene at Volkswagen's annual meeting on Thursday, and it comes after Porsche revealed that it is carrying some 9 billion euros ($11.73 billion) in debt, most of it owing to interest on loans taken out to purchase its 50.8 percent stake in VW.