Pontiac V-8 Automobile Car Dealer Logo Signs Garage Man Cave Indian Firebird on 2040-parts.com

BMW X4 confirmed – one more time

It was always going to be on the cards after the unexpected success of the X6, but the birth of the BMW X4 – a coupé version of the new X3 – has been the subject of endless rumours, almost since the X6 started to sell in unexpected numbers. We reported as far back as April 2010 that BMW were close to deciding an X4 was a no brainer; after all, with a lot of the world ‘downsizing’ their transport, a smaller X6 should be a seller. By this time last year we heard that BMW had already made the decision and we had it on good authority that the X4 was confirmed and signed-off and would be heading to showrooms by 2013.

Fuel-tank probe rekindles old issue

The placement of fuel tanks on passenger vehicles has changed over the past three decades, and for good reason. Automakers gradually have repositioned the tank to an area in front of the rear axle, generally below the rear passenger seat. Statistically speaking, the tank in that location is less vulnerable in a high-speed, rear-end crash than in the previous location--between the rear bumper and axle.

GM to slash global vehicle platforms by more than half, to 14, by 2018

General Motors says it will cut the number of vehicle platforms it uses globally by more than half over the next decade, in a bid to reduce complexity and save on product-development costs. “More of our components will be common, and more of our vehicles will be on global architectures,” GM CEO Dan Akerson told analysts on Tuesday. His remarks came as GM kicked off a series of presentations online, billed as its 2011 Global Business Conference.