Swagman Upright Roof Rack on 2040-parts.com

Hot seats: from design to delivery [sponsored]

As the user demands on car interiors are increasingly influenced by their growing design consciousness, so suppliers like Lear strive to bring better-engineered seating to satisfy. 2013 was another big year for Lear, as Jeanette Puig-Pey, its global fabric & leather design manager, enthuses: "At our ‘Design2Perform' event we celebrated the unveiling of our brand new collection, with special emphasis on color and texture and our TeXstyle Enhance product, perfect for customization. Laser etching is part of this offering, it is exclusive to Lear Corporation and can be used to add refined design elements to cloth and leather." A mix of fabric and leather in seating is not new but is often seen by the consumer as a cheaper alternative to full leather.

2014 Ram 1500 diesel in the works

Chrysler has announced that a diesel-powered Ram 1500 pickup is in the works. It's expected to hit dealer lots -- and presumably, America's family farms -- in the third quarter of 2013. Set to be released as a 2014 model year vehicle, the oil-burning 1500 will get a 3.0-liter V6 wearing Chrysler's new EcoDiesel branding.

Porsche purchases Andial performance brand

Porsche announced on Thursday that it has purchased the legendary Andial name that has become a staple in the realm of Porsche racing and performance tuning. In 1975, the late Arnold Wagner (AN), Dieter Inzenhofer (DI), and former Porsche Motorsport North America president and current consultant Alwin Springer (AL) came together to build Andial (an anagram of the principals names), a successful and respected independent authority on Porsche-performance tuning. Since the last active owner, Inzenhofer, is retiring later this month, timing was ripe for Porsche to jump in and offer to carry the Andial torch.