Buick Park Avenue Cadillac Deville Center Console Cup Holder Arm Rest Gray on 2040-parts.com

2012 Mercedes A-Class revealed in patent filings

The slightly drab 2012 Mercedes A-Class Car makers must hate filing for patents on new cars, because it means trusting images of their new and secret car to a third party. Basic images, admittedly, but the real-deal nonetheless. So Mercedes must be spitting feathers today as the images they sent with their patent applications on the 2012 A-Class leak out of every open window, door and PC and straight on to the interweb.

Lexus offers coupons for F-Sport accessories in July

Lexus is offering a 20 percent discount coupon for use on all F-Sport accessories in July that's worth up to $2,000. Lexus recently added the IS C and the GS to the accessory line, which includes forged alloy wheels, brake upgrades, a sway bar kit and other items. The discount is valid at Lexus dealerships, and it's limited to one per customer.

Video: Chris Bangle delivers “Empowerment: Design without Designers” talk at Creative Mornings/London

Chris Bangle – the undisputed front man of car design – needs little introduction, so the prospect of the former BMW Design Director and now founder of Chris Bangle Associates giving a talk in our home town of London was too good to pass up. His presentation (which you can watch in full in the video to the left) touched on his time at BMW, but was more focused on the idea of empowering others to create: "design without you in the middle", as Bangle says. From the story of the co-creation of the staircase in his Italian studio to the idea of encouraging people to think about their culture when designing, his philosophies transcend disciplines.