Original Volkswagen Muffler on 2040-parts.com

2013 Range Rover Sport revealed

2013 Range Rover Sport Land Rover has revealed a slightly tweaked version of the Range Rover Sport for the 2013 MY. No, this isn’t the ‘New’ Range Rover Sport, the one we expect to be based on a cut-down version of the 2013 Range Rover. Instead, this is the last hurrah for the current Range Rover Sport with its underpinnings stolen from the Land Rover Discovery and weighing the same as one of Jupiter’s middle size moons.

Land Rover Defender to be built in Sri Lanka

The Land Rover Defender is to be built outside the UK in a new plant in Sri Lanka to produce Defenders for the region. Land Rover are assisting and training staff at a new assembly plant in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, run by Sathosa Motors PLC in a 50-50 deal with Land Rover distributors SML Frontier Automotive, with $1 million being invested to get the project up and running this year. It seems clear from the level of investment that this is simply an assembly operation using CKD kits from the UK for the Defender, but Sri Lank’s Daily News is reporting that there are plans to invest $500 million in the project.

NHTSA funds development of alcohol-measuring start button

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration awarded Takata-TruTouch some $2.25 million to continue to develop its In-Vehicle Alcohol Detection test, the company said. Takata, a safety and technology company, and TruTouch have created a vehicle start button with an integrated infrared sensor that can measure your blood-alcohol content. If the reading exceeds legal limits, the system can disable the starter.