2008 08 Kawasaki Bayou 250 Must See on 2040-parts.com

New car sales up by 3% on 2013

ANOTHER RISE in new car sales in February has meant purchases have increased every month for two years. A total of 68,736 vehicles were registered last month - a 3% rise on the total for February 2013, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. Sales for the first two months of this year have totalled 223,298 - a 6.1% rise on the total for the first two months of 2013 SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said the two years of continuous growth was "a real endorsement of consumer confidence and the attractiveness of the new car market".

MINI Clubman Bond Street: It’s another MINI Special Edition

The MINI Clubman Bond Street, named after London’s Bond Street Shopping district, has been revealed ahead of a Geneva 2013 debut. As has been MINI’s strategy for a while, all MINI Special Editions are named after London districts, this time one of London’s shopping areas – Bond Street – and nothing to do with James Bond (much as MINI might have liked to find a 007 connection). The MINI Clubman Bond Street gets the usual special edition fare of custom paint job – this time Midnight Black with Cool Champagne highlights – a set of stripes, black twin-spoke alloys with Champagne centres and ‘Bond Street’ on the side indicator surrounds and sills.

GM's top battery executive for the Volt to join California startup

General Motors's top executive in charge of developing batteries for the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid is leaving to take a position with an unnamed startup battery company in California. Denise Gray, 46, global director of rechargeable energy storage systems, will step down March 5 after more than three years in the post. This was “an opportunity that I could just not resist,” Gray said in a phone interview.