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MINI Countryman Cooper & Paceman Cooper get ALL4 4WD

The MINI Countryman Cooper (pictured) & Paceman Cooper get ALL4 4WD We always find it astonishing that car makers ‘ration’ the availability of four wheel drive platforms in their cars, usually citing a ‘lack of demand’. But that lack of demand is usually predicated on the lack of supply, and increasing the supply of 4WD cars would see more sold, especially after a series of harsh winters where many motorists struggled to keep their cars in a straight line. So the decision by BMW to extend the availability of their ALL4 4WD setup to a wider range of MINIs is welcome, with the petrol Countryman Cooper and Paceman Cooper now getting the ALL4 option too.

GM reveals new, highly modular Ecotec engine family

GM introduced its new modular family of Ecotec engines on Wednesday at its powertrain headquarters in Pontiac, Mich. The new, reduced-in-size three- and four-cylinder mills will replace three of GM's current engine families, eventually making their way into five of the company's brands. The Ecotec family will eventually spawn 11 engines in total, ranging in displacement from 1.0 liter to 1.5 liters.

European car sales crash

Renault saw its sales fall 23.7 per cent in February Car sales across Europe have fallen nearly 10 per cent in the economic gloom, with Renault, Peugeot Citroen, Fiat and Opel the big losers. There’s been a big decline in new car sales across Europe in February, with monthly sales down almost ten per cent compared to 2011, and it’s the mainstream car makers who are suffering the most. Sales for Renault are down by a massive 23.7 per cent to 86,402, Peugeot Citroen did almost as badly with a drop of 16.5 per cent to 118,381 and Fiat suffered the same percentage drop with sales of 66,249 (Alfa Romeo sales actually fell by 28.5 per cent).