Blog on 2040Parts

Presidential pickup to hit the auction block

Former President George W. Bush will put his 2009 Ford F-150 King Ranch 4x4 Super Crew up for auction at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale sale on Jan. 19.

Ram heavy-duty pickup gets higher towing rating

Ram has fired the latest salvo in the ongoing pickup war between the domestic automakers, releasing what the brand claims is now best-in-class towing capacity for its 2013 heavy-duty pickups. The 2013 Ram 3500 is rated to tow a 30,000-pound trailer, up from a maximum towing capacity of 22,750 pounds for the same vehicle and powertrain setup in 2012. According to their respective Web sites, similarly equipped heavy-duty 3500 pickups from General Motors are rated at a towing capacity of 23,100 pounds, while Ford's F-350 similarly equipped is rated at 22,800 pounds.

Dodge Dart SRT photo leaked on Neon forum

On Tuesday, Dodge revealed the specs and equipment of the 2013 Dart GT ahead of its official unveiling at the Detroit auto show. For the moment it's the top Dart trim to be officially confirmed, although the automaker said it was looking into an R/T version. What we didn't know then is that a leaked picture of what looks to be the Dart SRT had been floating around a Neon internet forum for a few days.

Day 2 at the International CES

If you have never seen a 110-inch, ultra-high-definition TV screen, where every molecule of digital delirium dances across the screen in pulses of pixelated promiscuity, well, you're really missing out. Samsung had one such monster screen at the corner of its booth, sporting 4000 pixels per square inch and the techno geeks swooned in front of it like the truly faithful in the front row of a Celine Dion concert at Caesars Palace. For our part, we sat transfixed before it more like the monkeys in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Toyota charity puts boots on the ground in Detroit

For the second year in a row, Toyota has chosen to celebrate the opening of the Detroit auto show with a philanthropic gesture. In order to help homeless women and children in the Detroit area, Toyota's “Walk in my Boots” community project will partner with Moosejaw, a Michigan-based outdoor retailer, to donate new boots to residents of The Salvation Army Denby Center for Children and Family Services in Detroit. Toyota will also be providing a luncheon buffet for the residents when they deliver the boots and donating $10,000 to the facility to help with operations' costs.

New (2013) Lexus IS: Official Photos revealed

Lexus has revealed the first official photos of the new Lexus IS which will debut at the Detroit Auto Show next week. What we see is a much more dynamic looking IS, borrowing visibly from the LF-CC Concept we saw at Frankfurt last year, and promising to be the best effort yet by Lexus to put a dent in the BMW 3 Series. Prominent is the new Lexus spindle grill with a set of mean looking headlights with arrow shape LED running lights, with the cabin looking further back than the current IS, a coupe-like profile and a swoopy crease running back from the sills to the tail.

Kia turn to consumer reviews to drive the brand

Kia is launching a brand awareness campaign in the UK with the main focus being on over 3000 consumer reviews on the Kia website. It looks like Korean twins Hyundai and Kia are both going to be concentrating on building the value of their brand in 2013. Yesterday we learnt that Hyundai are to focus on brand building in 2013 rather than chasing big sales increases, and today Kia has revealed it is following a similar path with a new marketing campaign built round consumer reviews of Kia cars.

Peugeot 208 Intuitive Special Edition launched

A special edition of the new Peugeot 208 – the Peugeot 208 Intuitive – has been launched with extra equipment. Price from £14,245. It’s over a year since the new Peugeot 208 was rolled out in the hope that it could revive Peugeot’s sales and bring back to the ailing French car maker some of the sales gloss they enjoyed with the 205.

2013 Mercedes E63 AMG revealed in new E Class family photo

Mercedes has revealed the new E63 AMG in an official photo of the 2013 E Class family ahead of a Detroit Auto Show debut. We’ve already had the reveal of the facelift for the Mercedes E Class Saloon and Estate in December, followed by news earlier this month on the new E-Class Coupe and Convertible. But one facelift for the 2013 Mercedes E Class range was missing – the facelift for the mighty E63 AMG.

Hyundai's record year – can it continue? (2013)

Hyundai’s metamorphosis is complete – it’s now one of the ten most popular car brands in the UK, and the first Korean manufacturer ever to crack into the Premier League of UK car buying habits. Sales in 2012 soared by 18.1% to 74,000 units, while its Kia sister brand scored 66,000 registrations last year, according to the new SMMT figures out this week. The Korean double-act isn’t just a thorn in the side of the established French mainstream brands: it’s killing them off completely.

Mercedes E63 AMG (2013) first pictures leaked

This is the first image of the facelifted Mercedes E63 AMG super-saloon. Shown here leading the pack in a parade of tweaked E-classes, the E63 will be way out in front on performance too, with Audi RS-challenging all-wheel drive a possibility. What do we know about the new 2013 Mercedes E63 AMG?

Lotus's glimmer of hope: Proton stands by Hethel

After another painful year of sales for Lotus in the UK – down 58% on 2011 - Norfolk's beleagured sports car brand has kicked off the New Year with the grand unveiling of its new flagship Malaysian showroom, and the thumbs-up from senior Proton company suits that Lotus isn't on its last legs. The announcement comes in the same week Lotus’s sales figures were released for 2012. Showing a substantial 58% decrease in sales and selling just 137 vehicles, Lotus Cars was the worst performer in the UK with a woeful 0.01% share of the market.  Are Lotus's Malaysian owners sticking by the company?

Imre Molnar memorial service announced

Imre Molnar will be honored in a memorial service this month, the College for Creative Studies (CCS) has confirmed. CCS President Richard Rogers has announced that on 20 January at 3.00pm (EST) all who knew Molnar are welcome to attend the service and share with his family in a remembrance of his life. Molnar, who was the college provost, passed away during the holiday season after riding his bicycle in California and suffering a fatal heart attack on the afternoon of 28 December.

Renault teases new Captur crossover

Renault has teased its Captur crossover ahead of its full unveiling on Friday. The image shows the front-end design of the car, which flags up many of the same cues as the latest Clio, unveiled in Paris last year. The tapering headlamps across the corners are instantly recognizable, for example.

Who's Where: Maximilian Missoni joins Volvo as exterior design chief

Maximilian Missoni has been appointed exterior design chief at Volvo Cars. He will report to exterior design director Fedde Talsma and to Thomas Ingenlath, vice president design. 34-year-old Austrian-born Missoni joins the Swedish carmaker from Volkswagen where he worked from 2002, first working in Wolfsburg as a designer before being appointed senior exterior designer at the company's Advanced Design Center in Potsdam.

CES: Welcome to the four-ringed, self-driving future

According to Ricky Hudi, the head of electronics development at Audi, "Ninety percent of automotive innovations today are due to electronics." He should know. He's working on that final piece of the puzzle that elevates our Traffic Assist and Lane Assist and Park Assist and Whiz-Bang Assist into a cohesive package that, yes, gives us the self-driving cars our commuters and slackers have always wanted. Audi believes that we will be saved by technology.

Ford opens up Sync to app developers

Think you can make a killer app for Ford Sync? Ford just made it a whole lot easier. On the day before the International CES opened in Las Vegas, Ford introduced the Ford Developer Program, which makes the Sync platform available to any and all comers who want to take a whack at it, including other carmakers.

Digital experience gets the electronics going before International CES

The night before the International CES opens, there's something like a mini consumer-electronics show held in a hotel on the Vegas strip. True, there are many, many CES-related events held in hotels on the Vegas strip. Even the 2 million square feet of floorspace in the Las Vegas Convention Center can't accommodate every widget- and gizmo-maker that wants to show off a product.

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.

Hyundai make it in to UK Top Ten best-selling car makers

Hyundai has become the first Korean car maker to make it in to the top ten best selling car makers in the UK, with sales of 74,000 in 2012. It’s taken a few years to shake off the ‘Cheap Car’ tag, but Hyundai are now offering a range of cars – certainly in the mainstream – that can be compared on ability, design and quality with the best of the competition. That quantum change in perception in the last few years about the desirability of a Hyundai has now translated in to Hyundai becoming one of the top ten best-selling car brands in the UK, a first for a Korean car maker and a real sign that Hyundai is now accepted as a real competitor – not a ‘Budget’ brand.

Renault Captur Compact SUV production version teased

Renault has started the tease for their Clio Crossover – likely the Renault Captur – ahead of a debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March. The booming market for compact crossovers to blat round our congested urban landscape sees car maker scrabbling to offer up a product that can take the fight to cars like the Nissan Juke, and Renault’s offering in the market will arrive at the Geneva Motor Show in March – the Renault Captur. Before you get too excited, the production version of the Renault Captur appears to have little in common with the Captur Concept we saw at Geneva in 2011 – except for the name – and looks likely to be nothing more than a high-riding Clio 4 with added butchness.

Audi SQ5 gets 349bhp 3.0 litre TSI – but not for the UK

Audi has revealed a petrol-engined version of the SQ5 with a 349bhp 3.0 litre petrol engine, but not for the UK or Europe. But the SQ5 was aimed at markets that ‘got’ the idea of a powerful and sporty diesel.leaving petrolheads in parts of the world where the powerful diesel hasn’t yet struck a chord feeling shortchanged. But now Audi has the answer – the Audi SQ5 TSI.

2013 Toyota Yaris Trend launches from £14,570 & new Yaris Appearance Packs

The 2013 Toyota Yaris Trend has been launched with styling tweaks and the Yaris TR and SR get new Appearance Packs. Toyota are aiming the Yaris Tend at ‘younger, design-conscious consumers’, so they’ve been busy giving the Trend a tweak or three to make it more appealing to their target demographic. That means keeping the chrome bits round the nose from the previous Yaris Trend, with versions optioned in white getting matching covers in the headlamp units, chrome door sills and mirrors and blacked-out B and C Pillars for a ‘floating roof’ effect.

Take your driving test – at Halfords

Plans have been announced to extend practical driving test centres in to Halfords stores, starting with Wellingborough on February 5th. At the moment, there are around 400 driving test centres in the UK where you can take the practical part of your driving test, but that’s about to change with the news that Halfords – the car accessories chain – is to start offering driving tests. Halfords stores around the UK are expected to start offering test facilities after Road Safety Minister, Stephen Hammond, gave the go ahead for to extend driving test in to local stores to give learners more choice.

Renault teases 'Captur' SUV - a baby Juke rival

After a pitiful year of sales for Renault in the UK in 2012 (they plummeted 40% in figures out yesterday), the French are fighting back with a baby SUV designed to repeat the success of inhouse rival the Nissan Juke. It comes a day after local rival Peugeot announced its new 2008 crossover, another rival in this shrunken crossover/SUV contest. What's the Renault Captur based on?  Renault has so far issued only this solitary shady teaser image.

Hyundai HCD-14 Concept teased ahead of Detroit. The new Hyundai Genesis saloon?

Hyundai are teasing a new concept – the Hyundai HCD-14 Concept – which looks to be a tease for the next generation Hyundai Genesis. With the Detroit Auto Show looming, we’re going to be seeing more than a few teases and leaks for new models and new cars, and this afternoon Hyundai has come up with their first tease for the Detroit show. On offer is the Hyundai HCD-14 Concept which looks to us as if its the first official look at what will be the next generation Hyundai Genesis.

New Car Sales 2012: Big winners – and big losers

Car sales in the UK hit a four year high in 2012 with over 2 million registrations. But which were the big winners and losers? Despite the Eurozone being on the verge of imploding – and the economic outlook on the gloomy side just about everywhere – 2012 has turned in to the best year for new car registrations in the UK since 2008.

Nissan Qashqai 360 replaces Qashqai n-tec+ – costs from £19,945

Nissan is replacing the Qashqai n-tec+ with the Nissan Qashqai 360 Edition complete with more equipment including a 360 degree view camera. In fact, the best-selling Qashqai – the Qashqai n-tec+, which accounted for 60 per cent of Qashqai sales in 2012 – managed to out-sell the Ford Mondeo all on its own and sold more than the Hyundai ix35 and Kia Sportage combined. A fact Nissan are keen you know.

Peugeot 2008 crossover (2013) first pictures of new Juke rival

Should Nissan's Juke, Vauxhall's new Mokka and the upcoming Ford Ecosport be worried about a French revolution? This is the new Peugeot 2008, the latest so-called 'compact crossover' to take supermini genes and add an extra helping of ride height and ruggedness. First previewed as a lurid green concept at the 2012 Paris motor show, the production 2008 tones down the show car's angular lights and massive wheels, but sticks true to the idea of a taller, roomier 208 supermini.

UK 2012 car sales analysis: winners and losers

New UK car registrations in 2012 rose to a four-year high, figures released today confirm. Sales jumped 5.3% in the Olympic year compared with 2011 – to 2,044,609 new cars, the largest percentage increase since 2001. Retail sales drove the demand in 2012, growing 12.9% on the previous year.