2003 To 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis Overhead Compass on 2040-parts.com

Can't afford a supercar? Rent one

ALONGSIDE more mainstream offerings such as Fiestas and Astras, rental company Hertz is now offering a taste of the high life across Europe by adding a selection of high performance and luxury cars to its fleet. Arguably the most eye-catching additions are the McLaren 12C and the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, two cars costing in excess of £175,000 to purchase new and both capable of over 205mph. Other additions to the fleet include the Porsche Cayman sports coupe and the Cayenne SUV, plus luxury cars such as BMW X6 and Range Rover Sport.

New Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive goes in to production

The first Mercedes B-Class ED (pictured) rolls off the production line in Rastatt With the BMW i3 grabbing headlines – and flying out of showrooms – as BMW’s first electric car, Mercedes need to play catch-up with a convincing EV of their own, and that’s the new B-Class Electric Drive – an EV version of the regular B-Class – which has now gone in to production in Germany. Built alongside regular ICE versions of the B-Class at Mercedes’ Rastatt Plant, the B-Class ED (Electric Drive) looks practically the same as its more conventionally powered siblings – although the front bumper does look a bit different – and has an electric motor good for 177 bhp and 250 lb/ft of torque, can manage a scoot to 62 mph in 7.9 seconds and has a range of up to 124 miles. The range – at least the quoted range – is a chunk better than the BMW i3′s and on a par with the latest Nissan LEAF, thanks to EV technology provided by Tesla, and the wrapping of an EV drivetrain in a conventional series production car could appeal to more buyers than the ‘statement’ design of the BMW i3.

Webinars: 3D sketching technology with CATIA for Creative Designers

Adding to our successful series, Car Design News today hosted a new webinar in collaboration with Dassault Systèmes. Today's webinar presented the latest workflows available in CATIA V6 for Creative Designers - a unified industrial design workflow solution to imagine, create, share and experience virtual product design - and introduced the program's new 3D sketching technology, CATIA Natural Sketch. Presented by Xavier Melkonian, Director of CATIA Shape at Dassault Systèmes, and Pierre Maheut, Creative Designer and Product Expert, the complimentary webinar showcased the wealth of possibilities available to creative designers and outlined innovative workflows based on 3D sketching, virtual clay modeling and visualization with interactive raytracing. The software aims to appeal to those looking to boost their design innovation, creativity and expression of 3D sketching and sculpting.