Volkswagen Beetle Split Bumper Years 1953 on 2040-parts.com

Volvo creates Inflatable Child Seat

Volvo is a brand famously associated with safety, so let’s hope its latest effort doesn’t turn out to be a load of hot air: the Swedish brand has come up with a concept for an inflatable children’s car seat. Called the Volvo Inflatable Child Seat Concept, this does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s a child seat that instead of being made of rigid material can be deflated and folded away for easy carriage when not required. On Bing: see pictures of the Volvo Inflatable Child Seat Concept Find out how much a used Volvo costs on Auto Trader Noting that “children’s car seats are historically bulky, hard to move and tedious to mount,” Volvo says its new rear-facing inflatable alternative weighs just 5kg – half the weight of an equivalent conventional model.

New York auto show 2012 review by Ben Oliver

New York is not a city in love with the automobile. The titans of Wall Street may have the money to buy Ferraris and Lamborghinis but you rarely see them on the street: if the city's appalling roads didn't break them, its appalling driving would. But maybe that's why New York's 112 year-old 'auto show' is still so popular.

Mercedes SL (2012): aluminium saves 8% weight

Mercedes' new 2012 SL will weigh a solid 140kg less than today's SL roadster - a significant saving of some 8%. This crash diet has been enabled by the adoption of aluminium for the new SL. The learnings from the SLS gullwing are now trickling down to the higher-volume SL, which will be revealed in December 2011.