Vertically Driven Products 792201 Textured Sound Bar on 2040-parts.com

Toyota talks powertrain plans

After trailing many of its competitors in the recent engine- and transmission-technology wars, Toyota Motor Corp. will launch a swath of powertrains in the next several years, a top powertrain r&d executive said. Koei Saga, senior managing officer in charge of drivetrain r&d, said that Toyota is investing heavily in turbocharged engines, larger displacement Atkinson cycle engines, continuously variable and fixed-gear automatic transmissions, and new hybrid and fuel cell technologies.

New Mercedes A Class #YOUDRIVE advert plugs in to X Factor

Mercedes are continuing some innovative marketing for the new A Class with the #YOUDRIVE campaign launching during X Factor. That must have worked to a degree – certainly as far as the Twitter aspect goes – as Mercedes is having another outing with another hashtag – #YouDrive – and a new marketing campaign for the A Class where viewers ’control’ the advert they’re seeing. Mercedes is kicking off the #YouDrive campaign during X Factor next Saturday (5th October) with a three part story featuring the tale of a young music star trying to get to a secret gig the authorities want to close down (Germans advocating the defying of authority?

Autonomous cars on British roads by January 2015 – Vince Cable

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 30 July 2014 09:18 The British government today announced new laws to allow autonomous cars on UK roads by 2015, prompting a review of the Highway Code and new legal measures to make sure driverless cars comply with current motoring law. Business secretary Vince Cable attended an event at the motor industry test facility at MIRA in the Midlands to unveil the measures, which include a £10 million regional fund for cities to apply to become a driverless car test area. Up to three cities will be selected to share the funding for trials that are expected to last between 18-36 months.