Throttle/idle Cable Set, Black, Diamond, 38954-09 on 2040-parts.com

Future products: Kia seeks lively, upscale look

Kia's redesigned Optima sedan and the Cadenza replacement for the Amanti, both due next year, reflect an emphasis on creating a livelier and more upscale look for the once-bland brand. Indeed, styling has been a crucial element of Kia's new-product push in the past 18 months. The team at Kia Design Center America near Los Angeles--part of the automaker's global design network led by onetime Audi design chief Peter Schreyer--has helped set the new styling direction.

The 2011 Volkswagen Touareg rolls out with a new hybrid powertrain

Volkswagen is banking on the fuel-saving properties of a new gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain and what it describes as a wholesale improvement in quality levels to bolster North American sales of its second-generation Touareg. This new Touareg represents VW's first foray into the premium-hybrid-SUV market, which includes gasoline-electric entries from BMW, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Cadillac, among others. Further competition will come from a similarly powered version of the new Porsche Cayenne, alongside which the new Touareg was developed.

AA urges private parking regulation

PRIVATE LAND parking enforcers are "free to reap any and every parking infringement," despite recent legislation, according to the AA. Highlighting findings of the new Parking on Private Land Appeals (Popla) body, the AA said the requirements of the 2102 Protection of Freedoms Act were not always being observed. Popla's report for 2013/14 said some private parking operators were acting outside some statutory provisions of the Act in their pursuit of those who they think have offended.