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GM expands advanced-vehicle-technology center in California

General Motors unveiled a new technical center dedicated to the development, maintenance and testing of alternative-energy vehicles last week in Torrance, Calif. The company has had local digs for years but recently leased the building next to its existing Advanced Technology Center for an alternative-energy research facility. It now employs a dozen scientists, technicians and engineers to advance the electrification of GM vehicles.

Beanz Meanz More Eco-Friendly Future Fords

THE car industry is full of interesting and unusual business partnerships, but this latest tie-up between Ford and Heinz promises to be one of the more intriguing. Far from seeking to produce 57 varieties of any particular new Ford model, the two firms are exploring the use of tomato fibre to develop a sustainable composite materials for use in vehicle manufacturing. For example, boffins believe that dried tomato skins could become the wiring brackets in future Ford vehicles or the storage bin a customer uses to hold coins and other small objects.

No Logbook? No Sale

IT’S EASY to let your head rule your heart when buying a used car, but a leading industry expert is warning buyers not to part with their cash if the vehicle is missing its logbook. Used vehicle data specialists HPI says it has seen a rising number of customers fall prey to sellers passing on vehicles without a logbook, otherwise known as the V5C, leaving them vulnerable to a number of scams. Commenting on the issue, Phil Peace, Operations Director for HPI, said: “We’ve seen a number of buyers going ahead with a vehicle purchase without having seen the logbook for the vehicle.