Beck/arnley 089-1781 Rear Original Equipment Brake Pads on 2040-parts.com

New techniques cut cost of carbon fiber

Carbon fiber, once so costly that it was the preferred material only for fighter planes and supercars, is catching the attention of weight-conscious automakers. Carbon fiber's cost is falling dramatically, thanks to production advances that let suppliers speed the material's finicky, and costly, curing process. One technological breakthrough that makes carbon-fiber auto parts more affordable may come from a process used to make carbon-fiber golf clubs.

Peugeot 2008 Crossover already selling well in UK – and half are White

More than half of UK sales of the new Peugeot 2008 (pictured) are white cars The Peugeot 2008 – the crossover/SUV take on the new 208 – arrived in production guise at the Geneva Motor Show in March and looked a properly credible effort from the beleaguered French car maker. In fact, when Peugeot announced prices for the 2008 and their UK target sales of 8,000 a year, we thought they were being conservative with their projections, especially as the 2008 starts at a very reasonable £13k. That soon proved to be right when Peugeot announced it was having to double production of the 2008 as sales were much stronger across Europe than they’d anticipated, and it seems the same is happening in the UK.

Tata Nano (2008): first official pictures

By John Sootheran First Official Pictures 10 January 2008 09:33 Shove over a bit Henry Ford, Ferry Porsche and Alec Issigonis, because as of this morning there's a new entrant for the People's Car Hall of Fame. The first day of the Indian Auto Expo 2008 in Delhi, saw Ratan N Tata (yes, the fella who's leading the bid for Jaguar and Land Rover) reveal his much vaunted 'one lakh' car (that's 100,000 rupees or a measly £1300). Despite being the Chairman and CEO of one of the world's biggest corporations, Ratan Tata admits to being a nervous presenter, so much so, that the initial information was presented by his hologram! When he did appear, it was behind the wheel of one of three 'one lakh' cars being driven onto the stage. The 3000-strong audience of press and VIPs went beserk amid scenes of euphoria last witnessed at the Clinton comeback in New Hampshire.