(05-07) Kawasaki Brute Force 750 Rear Cargo Rack Mounting Support Bracket B on 2040-parts.com

Mercedes-Benz B-class Electric Drive starts at $42,375

Even though the gas-powered Mercedes-Benz B-class has been out in Canada for a few years now, long enough to receive a facelift, we Americans will be getting the compact MPV in electric form only. Sales of the B-class Electric Drive will start this summer with the BMW i3 in its sights. Here's what buyers can expect when this tall four-door electric hatch silently rolls into dealership showrooms.

Demise of kei cars on the horizon?

The kei car has long been a staple of the Japanese automobile industry and its car culture. Too diminutive for Western markets, the tiny cars and trucks are a strong influencer of design in Japan. Now, as The New York Times reports, the Japanese government has hit kei cars with increases in sales tax, gasoline prices and has reduced the kei car tax break introduced to make the cars popular in the first place by 50 percent.

Studiotorino unveils Porsche Cayman-based Moncenisio

Studiotorino is an Italian coachbuilder, based in the city that its name suggests -- on the banks of the Po River, deep in the heart of Turin. It came to prominence thanks to a smattering of projects: a buttressed, fastback Mercedes-Benz SL, a Fiat 500 named after beloved Italian pulp hero Diabolik and a Maserati Quattroporte wagon that they appropriately renamed "Cinqueporte." But Studiotorino is also infatuated with the Porsche Cayman. To that end, the firm has introduced the Moncenisio, a Rhapsody in Blue rebody of the Typ 981 that aims to do for German sports cars what Figoni et Falaschi did for the Delahaye and what Porcubimmer Motors did for a BMW 3-Series.