Beck/arnley 032-2708 Head Set on 2040-parts.com

Center stack is new high-stakes battleground; showdown with safety regulators looms

For auto suppliers and gadget companies eager to get a piece of the auto industry, the hottest chunk of vehicle real estate now is the center stack. That corridor of interior space, running from the driver's right hip up through the center of the cockpit to the bottom of the windshield, has become a California gold rush of opportunity. But it is less so for traditional suppliers of molded plastics, cables, levers, buttons and radios.

Citroen C3 Picasso (2008): first official pictures

By Phil McNamara First Official Pictures 08 July 2008 10:52 Citroen today announces the C3 Picasso, a supermini-MPV it claims has the innovative magic of the company’s DS masterpiece, the ‘useful and beautiful’ approach of Apple’s iPhone and the unblinking practicality needed to wound the market-leading Vauxhall/Opel Meriva. The spacious, eye-catching MPV goes on UK sale in summer 2009. It’s based on the next-generation C3 supermini, and runs four-cylinder engines turning the front wheels.

BMW 3-series convertible (2006): first official pictures

By Phil McNamara First Official Pictures 24 October 2006 10:03 BMW 3-series convertible: the lowdown Here's the car BMW said it wouldn't develop: a 3-series convertible with a folding hard-top. Although condemned by the R&D team for being too heavy, raising the centre of gravity and sapping dynamic ability, BMW has been forced to listen to the market and introduce a glass and steel-roofed cabrio. With a large boot and easy access for luggage, the 3-series convertible promises to be practical, and the extra glass compared with a fabric cabrio should make it airy too.