Moose Racing Side Case Mounts Klr650 on 2040-parts.com

Grab a ‘VAT Free’ Skoda Octavia

In yet another ‘Sign of the times’ Skoda has announced that they are now offering ‘VAT Free Octavias’ until the end of the year. No, this is not a tie-up between Alistair Darling and VW, it’s just Skoda’s way of offering a headline price decrease of a bit over 13% (less expensive to Skoda than last week for the same headline, to be fair, and there is a new model due in January!). Grab a VAT free Skoda Octavia I’m pretty sure that there will be a raft of these ‘VAT Free’ offers floating around on everything from cars to washing machines, capitalising on the fact the VAT is in the headlines.

BMW 4-Series Coupe concept [w/Gallery]

The BMW 4 Series Coupe concept will make its debut at next month's NAIAS in Detroit, when it will become the first model to wear the new 4er badge as it distances itself from the 3 Series sedan. While billed as a concept it is believed to be virtually production-ready. It offers little in the way of surprises in the wake of the F10 3 Series and larger 6 Series with traditional short front and long rear overhang proportions.

Mercedes SL (2012): aluminium saves 8% weight

Mercedes' new 2012 SL will weigh a solid 140kg less than today's SL roadster - a significant saving of some 8%. This crash diet has been enabled by the adoption of aluminium for the new SL. The learnings from the SLS gullwing are now trickling down to the higher-volume SL, which will be revealed in December 2011.