Jeep Wrangler Tj Transmission Housing 97 Ax5 on 2040-parts.com

Henrik Fisker leaves his eponymous company

Henrik Fisker, co-founder of Fisker Automotive, has resigned from the company as Fisker seeks funding to move forward. But Henrik Fisker managed to convince the car world his Fisker Karma was credible, even if its gestation has been plagued by problems,  the latest of which has been the demise of its battery supplier – A123 Systems – and the wrecking of a dock full of seemingly uninsured Karmas by Hurricane Sandy. The current problems at Fisker has seen them seeking a new investor, with two Chinese companies – Geely and Dohnfeng – vying to take a majority stake in Fisker Automotive and help Fisker recover sales of the Karma and move on with Project Nina, the smaller Fisker Atlantic.

BMW 9-series concept expected to debut in Beijing

BMW will be previewing the upcoming 9-series sedan at the 2014 China Auto Show, according to German magazine Auto Motor und Sport. The extra-long-wheelbase 9-series will take on the 2015 Mercedes-Benz S600 Maybach, which itself is production ready and is set to debut in a matter of months. The 9-series will be positioned alongside the Rolls-Royce Ghost in BMW's global lineup, and is expected to feature packaging and interior appointments similar to that of the S600 Maybach while building upon the design language recently seen in the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe.

Ford is developing a virtual child to improve safety research

Researchers at Ford have started constructing a "virtual" six-year-old child that will help them research future safety devices. It will take years to build the complex, multilayer digital dummy, Ford said on Thursday. And the finished computer model won't be used for vehicle validation or crash testing.