Today, BMW unveiled the 2021 R 18, a retro-style cruiser that looks nothing like any other BMW motorcycle currently available. Inspired by the BMW R 5 from the ’30s, the bike has an open-running driveshaft, a double-loop frame, and a 1.8-liter horizontally opposed two-cylinder engine that’s called the Big Boxer. With a relaxed seating position, a “no-frills technology” approach, and a frame design prepared for the aftermarket scene, the R 18 strives to please purists and customizers alike.

BMW has been previewing the R 18 throughout the past year with numerous development projects. First came a trio of concept bikes — the Concept R18, the Custom Works Zon Departed, and the Birdcage — that used prototype versions of the modern Big Boxer engine seen in the R 18. Then came the R 18/2, which gave a clearer look at what a modern BMW cruiser could look like. In its final form, the R 18 is so clearly traced to the R 5 that it nearly looks like a replica at a quick glance. 

The R 18 has nearly every design cue the R 5 had to offer. It has a single front headlight, a pear-drop gas tank,

Ventec’s VOCSN multi-function ventilators, which integrate five separate medical devices. / Reuters

Who could have imagined that the coronavirus pandemic would be, in part, an automotive story? More than that: Automakers, in particular GM and Ford but also plenty of others, may wind up being some of the story’s heroes. 

The New York Times had a glimpse inside the GM effort the other day, and now The Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker provides a better sense of the timeline by which General Motors and Ventec Life Systems, of Bothell, Washington, went from perfect strangers to partners in mass-producing Ventec’s innovative multifunction ventilators — devices that might ultimately save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. This is all happening astonishingly fast.

Two weeks ago, the project seemed dead before it had even begun, Baker reports. The Ventec machine has 700 components. But one of them was made in India, in a factory that was in coronavirus lockdown. Without that part, the machine might as well be a doorstop. 

“GM literally sent people there that night to India to get boots on the ground to help us get that factory opened,” Ventec CEO Chris Kiple told The Times. “It

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ top executives and salaried workers around the globe will take pay cuts in an act of “shared sacrifice” brought on by the coronavirus pandemic that has shuttered the automaker’s plants in Europe and North America, according to a company memo seen by Reuters.

Chief Executive Officer Mike Manley said in the memo he will take a 50 percent pay cut for three months starting April 1, while Chairman John Elkann and FCA’s board of directors will forego the remainder of their 2020 compensation. FCA said most global salaried employees will be asked to take a temporary 20 percent pay cut.

“Protecting the financial health of the company is everyone’s responsibility and naturally starts with myself and the leadership of FCA,” Manley wrote.

Members of the automaker’s group executive council will also take a 30 percent pay cut, according to the memo.

Last week, No. 1 U.S. automaker General Motors said it planned to keep its plants closed indefinitely and was reducing the pay of salaried employees and executives and suspending some future product programs to conserve cash.

GM’s chief executive and chief financial officer issued a stark warning to company employees in an internal video, saying that