Trimark Baggage Door Lock, 60-475, 1-point, Black 19583-02 on 2040-parts.com

Fire sale continues: Ford cuts stake in Mazda

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 18 November 2008 16:09 Yesterday GM sold its stake in Suzuki; today Ford announced plans to slash its shareholding in Mazda. Previously the Blue Oval held a third of Mazda’s stock, but it has cut that to just 13%. Ford admitted the sale was purely to boost its balance sheet, as the Big Three continue to struggle with cashflow.

Volkswagen Scirocco R revealed

The new Volkswagen Scirocco R revealed today Despite dropping the 6 cylinder engines previously used, this is the hottest and fastest Scirocco VW has ever made. Power comes from a 2.0 litre, four-cylinder turbocharged engine, offering 265bhp. But there is no four-wheel drive on this Scirocco, instead VW has opted to offer the car as a front-wheel drive only, but benefiting from XDS (an electronic cross-axle traction control system).

MG3: Shanghai Motor Show

The MG3 SuperMini for Europe is a titivated version of the MG3 the Chinese market gets, complete with a decent dose of flair and additional equipment and cosmetic enhancements to make it more appealing to Western tastes. That means hockey stick shaped LED running lights across the range, black A-pillars, mesh grill (well, mesh slit at the front), dual colour side skirts, dual colour alloys and a rear valance MG say was inspired by generations of MG sports cars. Although only 4 metres long, MG say the MG3 offer space inside that matches or beats all competition (room for  four six-footers they reckon) and gets a ‘rolled and raised’ dash that accentuates the space on offer and sculpted backs to the front seats to help space in the rear.