Bell Racing Jacket Sfi 32a/5 Small on 2040-parts.com

New SEAT Leon goes in to production

The new SEAT Leon (2013) – revealed at the Paris Motor Show – has started production in Spain ahead of first deliveries in March 2013. SEAT has invested heavily in the Martorell plant in recent years – a shining light of success in a sea of Spanish manufacturing despair – with a £650 million investment in new facilities and R&D making Martorell a modern and efficient facility for the new Leon as well as the Ibiza, Altea and Exeo (and the Audi Q3). Not only has the investment in Martorell secured the jobs of 1600 Spanish workers (and four times as many in the supply chain), it promise more jobs too if the Leon turns out to be as appealing as it looks.

Volkswagen to buy Giorgetto Giugiaro’s Italdesign?

The Morris Ital - one of Morris Ital by Giorgetto Giugiaro's greatest (sort of) It’s probably a fair bet – or at least was and has been for some time – that Volkswagen would be in the frame to buy an motoring asset that comes on the market. Especially if that asset is in trouble and an iconic name can be grabbed for a song – or less. Which explains why the names of VW and Giugiaro’s Italdesign are being linked together as the Italian designer appears to seek a car maker to rescue it from the woes of being an independent in these rather troubled times.

Bonkers Renault Twizy EV on sale at £6,690 +video

Renault Twizy EV - now on sale in the UK The Renault Twizy – a four wheel EV Scooter – has gone on sale in the UK this week at £6,990 plus £45 a month battery hire. To try and make electric cars do what conventional cars can do is a pointless task; it’s just not possible, certainly without quantum leaps in battery technology which, despite endless claims to the contrary, seems highly unlikely. But that doesn’t mean electric vehicles don’t have a place – they do.