Yamaha Rd80 Mx Rd50mx Tachometer Speedometer on 2040-parts.com

$4 gasoline fuels surge in March sales

It feels counterintuitive. Expensive gasoline not only helped propel new-vehicle sales in the first quarter. It was a key factor in the surge.

Ford Focus redesign revealed ahead of New York auto show

Ford is set to reveal a redesigned 2015 Focus sedan at the New York Auto Show next week, on the heels of the debut of the Focus hatchback in Geneva last month. The automaker will present the whole range of Focus cars, which are due to go on sale later in the year. The Focus sedan will feature a heavily reworked exterior design, adopting the hexagonal corporate grille of the larger models, a redesigned front fascia, and new headlights.

Spy photos: BMW i8 hits Swedish test track

Spy photographers caught the new BMW i8 testing on a secret track wearing the company’s familiar psychedelic camouflage. The test car pictured is a preproduction model rather than a concept BMW i8, similar to what should appear in 2013. As reported earlier, we’re expecting BMW’s 2014 i8 hybrid coupe to get a 1.5-liter, three-cylinder direct-injection gasoline engine--essentially the same unit earmarked to head into the next-generation Mini and the front-wheel-drive BMW 1-series due out in 2014.