Shimmy Damper 1442112-495 on 2040-parts.com

New 2012 Audi A3 arrives early

New 2012 Audi A3 Photos of the 2012 Audi A3 hatchback have leaked out ahead of its official debut. The new A3 will arrive at Geneva officially in March. The leaks continue apace with the 2012 Geneva Motor Show just round the corner, and now we have photos of the new Audi A3 (2012 – 2013) in 3-door hatchback guise ahead of the official release.

Design Contest: Stile Italiano Giovani 2004

One of the sad things about being editor of a motoring magazine is turning down all the enthusiastic young job applicants who know exactly how to test Ferraris against Lamborghinis, using Porsches as benchmarks...exactly the kind of people I don't need. I imagine it might be the same with judging a design competition. There will be masses of young people who love drawing cars submitting their sketches - and there it all ends.

Aston Martin LOST £24.6 million in 2012

The Aston Martin Vanquish (pictured) launch in 2012 contributed to AML’s losses We reported just the other day that Aston Martin had axed the Cygnet after woeful sales, and it’s not just the Cygnet that hasn’t been selling well. In fact, Aston Martin sales in 2012 – 67,500 units – was still 42,500 down on its pre-recession sales levels of 110,000 cars in 2007 and that lead to yet another loss. Aston Martin has posted pre-tax losses for 2012 of £24,6 million on sales of £461.2 million for 2012, a worsening position over 2011 which saw losses of £21.2 million.