Walker 52265 Tail Pipe on 2040-parts.com

Who's Where: Christopher Reitz appointed Director of Design at Alfa Romeo

Christopher Reitz has been appointed to the top job at Alfa Romeo, replacing Frank Stephenson as Director of Design. A relative of Wolfgang Porsche, Christopher Reitz graduated from Art Center Europe in Switzerland and began his career at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg in 1993. Reitz joined Audi in Ingolstadt from 1996 to 1998, where he was in charge of Advance Design.

Autoweek contributor Patrick Paternie dead at age 65

Longtime Autoweek contributor Patrick C. Paternie, who shared his love of cars with readers for 12 years at this publication and for 25 years with other magazines and in his many books, died on March 10 at age 65. Paternie had just finished a race in his Porsche 911 at Willow Springs and pulled into his pit area when he suffered a heart attack.

Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) starts European sales

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (pictured) now on sale in Europe The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV landed officially at the Paris Motor Show in 2012 – preceded by a number of concepts before Mistubishi was happy – as a plug-in hybrid from Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi had promised the Outlander PHEV would go on sale in 2013 so, by the skin of their teeth, they’re starting to roll it out in European markets with the Netherlands up first followed by the Nordic countries – and the UK somewhere down the list. With 12,000 orders for the Outlander PHEV in Europe already, Mitsubishi are assured of a decent level of sales for their PHEV SUV, although those sales are driven by the daft tax breaks on offer for ‘green’ cars more than anything else.