Turbo Stainless Steel 14.5x21- 15 Spline on 2040-parts.com

Uber smartphone app to take over taxi market?

A new smartphone app called Uber is threatening to put the traditional taxi out of business. The smartphone software allows users to ‘order’ a private car, connecting passengers with regular drivers willing to hire out their vehicles. However, these aren’t taxis… On Bing: see pictures of Uber Wifi hotspots for London’s black cabs Uber originally began in San Francisco in 2009, with users able to book and reserve a car driven by a regular member of the public for journeys via text message or the dedicated smartphone app.

Car production increases again

THE SOCIETY of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said UK manufacturers built 91,282 cars in August, up 16.2%, or 12,705, on the same period in 2012, leaving year-to-date volumes 3.1% ahead of 2012, at 984,545. The figures showed 20,298 cars were made for the home market this year, up 21.1%, while 70,984 were for export, up 14.8%. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: "The past 12-months has been one of the most productive since late 2008." Samuel Tombs, of consultancy Capital Economics, said the CBI figures showed the manufacturing sector "continuing to go from strength to strength".

Who's Where: Craig Metros heads back to Michigan to become Ford's exterior design director of The Americas

Craig Metros is heading back to his native Michigan to take up a new position as Ford's exterior design director of The Americas. Metros leaves his current role as design director of Ford Asia Pacific in the company's Melbourne studio in Australia, where his team led the Everest, Falcon and Ranger programs. During Ford's PAG (Premier Auto Group) era, the CCS graduate was the first American designer to work in the Jaguar design studio in the UK before returning to America to lead the interior and exterior design themes of the 2004 Ford F-150.