Honda 08718-0004 Hondabond Ht on 2040-parts.com

Now the Germans say no to Volvo

As we’ve reported in the last few weeks, Ford has been trying its best to offload Volvo, the last of its ‘Prestige’ Euro marques. The Chinese looked to be the best bet, but it seems that that is going nowhere at the moment (the Chinese are probably waiting for Ford to get in to an even deeper mess with the hope of picking up Volvo for peanuts) and now its seems that Ford’s fire-sale has drawn more blanks. Now the Germans turn down the chance to own Volvo Der Spiegel reports that Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) boss Dieter Zetsche has revealed that Daimler has turned down the chance to buy Volvo, and has also revealed that BMW has had a good look, and reached the same decision.

Bentley posts big sales jump for 2011

Luxury-car maker Bentley says 2011 was a banner year, with global sales of 7,003 cars, up 37 percent from the year before. Bentley capped the year with a strong December, selling 1,059 cars--the second-best month for sales in its history. Sales in December were up 69 percent from the same month a year earlier.

Mullin Museum to open next month

What promises to be one of the most significant automotive-museum openings in decades will take place next month when collector Peter Mullin opens the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, Calif. Mullin is known for his love of French cars, and the museum will have more than 100 of them. Graceful and elegant Delahayes, Delages, Talbot-Lagos, Voisins, Hispano-Suizas and Bugattis will all be on hand, wrapped in voluptuous forms from coachbuilders Chapron, Figoni et Falaschi, Gangloff, Vanvooren, Labourdette, Letourneur et Marchand and Saoutchik, among others.