Hedman Street Hedders Full-length Painted 1 5/8" Primaries 88320 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.

Mini Crossover at the Paris motor show 2008

By Ben Barry Motor Shows 02 October 2008 15:46 We’ve already seen it in the November 2008 issue of CAR, but Paris marked the motor show debut of the Mini Crossover Concept – a pumped-up four-wheel drive Mini that goes on sale in 2009. As journalists crammed together in what looked like a trendy nightclub, a video of two Chemical Brother-style hipsters driving the Crossover through a warehouse played behind the covered over concept before – ta-da! – some heavily tattooed type swung down from the rafters to remove the covers and reveal the actual pair inside the actual car.

Chevrolet to add the Sonic name, drop Aveo on its next subcompact

Chevrolet will drop Aveo and adopt a new name - Sonic - when its remodeled entry-level subcompact debuts next year. Chevrolet and General Motors Co, officials have been considering a name change for the subcompact sedan since October. GM North America President Mark Reuss said confusion over how to pronounce “Aveo” had sparked the desire for a change.