Volvo 240 260 Taillight Assemb;y (driver) 1372441 on 2040-parts.com

Man-made Modern Luxury Materials in Cars

Luxury, within the context of a car interior, has been closely related to the use of wood and leather for over a century. These natural materials have a familiar organic, tactile quality that are intrinsically desirable attributes for most people and, in today's mass manufactured plastic world, they also assume a luxury or premium quality. Throughout the last century, metal, leather and wood have also been progressively supplanted by bakelite, vinyl and then polymer-based plastic materials in car interiors as well.

Audi Q3 coming in 2011

Audi will build the new Audi Q3 at a SEAT plant in Spain starting in 2011 Despite the late arrival on the scene of the Audi Q7, the 4×4 behemoth from Audi has certainly made its mark. Followed recently by the Q5, it has carved a niche for Audi that is standing up remarkably well in the current climate. But Audi are intent on capitalising on their 4×4 success story, and have today revealed that the next instalment – The Audi Q3 - will start production in 2011 at a SEAT plant in Martorell in Spain.

125th Anniversary of the Automobile: Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler put the world on wheels

The world marks the 125th anniversary of the invention of the automobile on Jan. 29. Karl Benz filed a patent for a three-wheeled vehicle driven by a gasoline engine in Mannheim, Germany, on that day in 1886, the same year Gottlieb Daimler completed his motorized carriage in Cannstatt, Germany.