Ram Mounts Cradle Spot Satellite Personal Tracker, Ram-hol-sp, 12-9477 on 2040-parts.com

Scion considers moving upscale

Toyota's struggling Scion brand may move upscale to challenge entry-level luxury models coming from European automakers. The new lower-luxury niche includes Mini, the front-wheel-drive Mercedes-Benz CLA arriving this fall and Audi's compact A3 sedan shown last week on the eve of the New York auto show. Scion has gone after young entry-level buyers since its inception 10 years ago but has lost its early momentum.

Fuel Injection Pioneer Stuart Hilborn 1917-2013

Stuart Hilborn, the dry lakes hot rodder whose racing fuel injection systems powered almost the entire field at Indianapolis some years, died Monday at the age of 96. Hilborn first went to the dry lakes in 1938 and was amazed to see engine builders and racers who hadn't gone to college producing twice the horsepower of a stock setup. “I was very impressed that they had doubled the horsepower of the cars as they came out of Detroit with virtually no money at all, just work,” Hilborn told the American Hot Rod Foundation.

German new car sales drop 11 per cent – pre-reg accounts for 33.5 per cent

New car sales in Germany dropped by 11 per cent in September with pre-reg cars accounting for over a third of all sales. That drop of 11 per cent in Germany is despite deep discount offers – an average of 12.2 per cent in September – with even the previously invincible Mercedes and VW having to offer discounts of up to €3k, despite which VW’s sales fell by 20 per cent in Germany and Mercedes by 12 per cent. What’s perhaps most interesting about the decline in car sales in Germany is the number of pre-reg cars sold (pre reg cars are cars registered by dealers to hit sales targets and then sold at a discount of up to 25 per cent).