Auto Meter 6348 Sport-comp; Digital Oil Temperature Gauge on 2040-parts.com

CES: GM to open the dashboard to developers

At last year's Autoweek Design Forum, father of the iPod and Nest Labs co-founder Tony Fadell suggested that automakers concentrate on designing and building cars, leaving handset makers to handle infotainment. The latest announcements from Ford and GM -- in conjunction with the International CES -- suggest that automakers would rather treat the dashboard space as a handset. Yesterday, Dearborn, Mich., announced the Ford Developer Program, which opens up Sync to outside application development; now General Motors has announced a similar initiative.

Ferrari 458 Italias ‘selling for £200k in UK’

The first examples of the new Ferrari 458 Italia supercar are trading for close to £200,000, price guide Glass’s Guide reports today. It claims wealthy enthusiasts are paying a £25,000 premium to jump the queue and get into one of the first 458s in Britain. The Italia lists at £169,545 in the UK, with first deliveries due for summer 2010.

Ford Fiesta SportVan – more car than van

Commercial vehicles is not exactly our stock in trade. We tend not to give you news and info on the latest commercial releases from the like of LDV or Renault, mainly because our readers aren’t really that interested (but if we’re wrong, tell us and we will!). But this is one van we will make an exception for.