Volvo Kad44 Bracket on 2040-parts.com

Audi rolls out A3 lineup at the Los Angeles auto show

There's something about German automakers and model proliferation—it seems that if there is a niche to be filled, no matter how vanishingly small, a vehicle will be devised to fill it. If no niche is extant, they'll simply invent one, which is how we wound up with the unprompted X6. Audi's new A3 lineup, which debuted at the Los Angeles auto show and will begin its 18 month-long North American rollout spring 2014, seems incredibly rational by comparison.

Diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee coming in 2013

Chrysler Group will offer a diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee in North America in 2013, and add a third shift at a Detroit SUV plant next year. The diesel Grand Cherokee will return to the North America market for the first time since 2008, spokesman Todd Goyer said. Jeep has continued to sell diesel versions of its SUV lineup elsewhere.

First Dacia Duster SUVs leave India bound for the UK

The first Dacia Duster SUVs built in RHD for the UK market left India this morning to help satisfy Renault’s growing order book for the Duster. With the sort of response the Duster has received in the UK – with prices for the entry-level Duster starting at just £9k – Renault are no doubt wishing they’d brought the Duster to the UK sooner. But such was the demand for the Duster in mainland Europe and emerging markets that they just couldn’t get production of RHD Dusters organised for the UK until now, when Renault’s plant at Oragadam, near Chennai in India, finally managed to satisfy its home market demand sufficiently to leave enough capacity for RHD cars bound for the UK and Ireland to roll off the production line.