Spod Universal 8 Circuit Se- Special Edition System With Touchscreen 8-700-ts-u on 2040-parts.com

Kia promotes design chief Schreyer

Kia Motors Corp. has promoted design chief Peter Schreyer to president. He's the first non-Korean to attain the position at Kia.

New Mercedes SL 400 replaces SL 350

The new Mercedes SL 400 (pictured) replaces the old SL 350 It’s a little over two years since the latest Mercedes SL arrived, and Mercedes has now decided to add a little zest to sales by dropping the old SL 350 and replacing it with a new Mercedes SL 400. The new SL 400 gets its power from the new E400 which means a twin-turbo 3.0 litre V6 with 328bhp and 354 lb/ft of torque – 26bhp and 81 lb/ft more than the old SL 350 – enough to let the SL 400 scoot to 62 mph in 5.2 seconds – 0.7s better than the 350 -= and on to a limited top speed of 155 mph. The new SL 400 has to make do with Mercedes tried and tested 7-speed auto – despite a new 9-speed now being available in Mercedes’ arsenal – which gives the SL 400 official economy of 38.6 mpg and emissions of 172g/km – not that you’ll come close in the real world.

Suzuki X-Lander concept stars at the Tokyo Motor Show 2013

Anyone out there remember the Smart Crossblade – a bizarre roofless version of the first generation Smart Fortwo with very little in the way of doors. Well, whatever the designers of that were taking, Suzuki’s been having a go on it, too. Meet the X-Lander hybrid concept.