Volkswagen Passat Engine Brain Box Electronic Control Module; 2.8l (v6), Engin on 2040-parts.com

First Sight: Holden VE Commodore and Statesman

GM Holden last week launched its biggest program ever, the $1 billion all-new Holden VE Commodore range. Designed at Holden's Port Melbourne design center, the 4th generation Commodore is the first all-new model of the series to be fully designed and engineered in Australia. Previous generations of Commodore since 1978 have always been based on lengthened and widened Opel large car platforms of the day but since the demise of the European Omega in 2003, GM lacked a suitable rear-wheel-drive donor platform for a new Commodore, hence the clean sheet approach for the latest VE model.

Insurance changes to make shopping around easier

DRIVERS renewing their car insurance could find it easier to shop around or haggle for a discount under new proposals set out by insurers. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said it has written to the City regulator, suggesting that new minimum standards of information should be set across the market. The standards would mean that renewal documents for motor and home buildings and contents insurance would include the premium that the customer started the year paying alongside their renewal quote, so that they could be compared more easily.

Designed in Italy, Engineered in China

"The soul of our designing is in Italy," said Silvio Petro Angori, CEO of Italian design house Pininfarina S.p.A. "We will do all styling in Italy – we will not do that in China." But in order to cater to the growing number of contracts from Chinese automakers, Pininfarina will soon begin engineering and product development in China with a center in Shanghai's suburb of Anting. Pininfarina has been working with Chinese automakers since 1996.