Volvo Penta Transom Plate Assembly on 2040-parts.com

Concept Car of the Week: Fiat Ecobasic

This week we're celebrating if not the most glamorous then certainly one of the most relevant concept of the last decade, the Fiat Ecobasic. The car was first shown at the 2004 Geneva motor show as Fiat investigated how to replace Giugiaro's ancient but brilliantly utilitarian Panda. The brief was: cheap to produce, cheap to own and friendly to the environment.

New technology combats drowsy driving

Auto supplier Takata is introducing a new driver-alertness warning system to the commercial trucking industry to keep drivers awake. The SafeTrak electronic vision system sounds an alert if a trucker is driving erratically or unintentionally drifting from a lane. A recent AAA study for traffic safety found that drowsy driving is a contributing factor in 16.5 percent of fatal car crashes in the United States.

Volvo WILL build a luxury car to take on the Mercedes S-Class

Volvo WILL build a luxury car to take on the Mercedes S-Class (Concept You pictured) Volvo has done a lot right – and not much wrong – since Geely took over the reigns from Ford. With new cars like the V40, a new range of 4-cylinder engines and a new design direction – previewed by the stunning Volvo Concept Coupe – the Swedes look to be on a roll. But their strategy of pointing their cars at premium car lovers in the mainstream segment seemed to have taken a left turn with a revelation by Geely and Volvo Chairman, Li Shufu, who has declared Volvo are to build a luxury car to take on the might of the Mercedes S-Class, Audi A8, BMW 7-Series and Jaguar XJ.