Wix 33321 Fuel Filter on 2040-parts.com

Domestic brands top latest consumer satisfaction survey

Volkswagen Group and Ford Motor Co. fared well among automakers in an annual study released Monday measuring quality and how deeply consumers feel about a new car or light-truck purchase after several months of ownership. And for the first time in over a decade, domestic automakers, led by GM, topped foreign brands in individual product segments surveyed by Strategic Vision, a California research and consulting firm.

Honda speeds up major changes to the Civic

Honda will bring out a significant mid-cycle change to its embattled Civic compact this fall, just 18 months after it launched, a high-ranking executive told dealers here. The move is a rush to improve the Civic in time for the 2013 model year. The Civic's cheapened interior and other reductions in content got a critical reviews from The Wall Street Journal, and Consumer Reports removed the model from its recommended list.

Aston Martin, AMG ink technical partnership deal

It's hard to remember that the VH-platform Aston Martins were pretty mind-bending when they came out. Since the sports-luxury marque was cut loose from Ford's stewardship six years ago, the British manufacturer has seemed a bit adrift, largely playing with variations on a theme, save for the rather radical One-77. It is, of course, a very pretty theme, but the basic design language begun with the DB9 is now a decade old.