Vintage Original Oem Ford Mustang 1964-1965-1966 Heater Core C5de-18476-a on 2040-parts.com

Automakers trail in the great gizmo race

A customer at Rockland Toyota in suburban New York recently asked why he couldn't recharge his cell phone through the USB port built into the otherwise sophisticated Toyota Venza crossover. Evan Kuperman, the dealership's assistant general manager, took a deep breath. He shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

First Sight: Holden VE Commodore and Statesman

GM Holden last week launched its biggest program ever, the $1 billion all-new Holden VE Commodore range. Designed at Holden's Port Melbourne design center, the 4th generation Commodore is the first all-new model of the series to be fully designed and engineered in Australia. Previous generations of Commodore since 1978 have always been based on lengthened and widened Opel large car platforms of the day but since the demise of the European Omega in 2003, GM lacked a suitable rear-wheel-drive donor platform for a new Commodore, hence the clean sheet approach for the latest VE model.

Renault unveils R-Link tablet

Renault is aiming to take its in-vehicle user interface modules to the next level with the new R-Link tablet system announced at LeWeb 2011 today, December 7.  R-Link features a seven-inch tactile screen, steering wheel-mounted controls and voice recognition systems. It is simultaneously connected to the vehicle's information and data center, the user's mobile phone and to the Cloud. The company claims that the bespoke UI features interactive and intuitive menus, which enable users to access all the car's functions and data easily.