Donato Coco Appointed Director of Design for Lotus Group

After his non-publicized departure from Ferrari earlier this year, in which Flavio Manzoni was appointed to take his place, Donato Coco has now resurfaced. Lotus has announced Coco's appointment to Director of Design for Group Lotus starting January 4, 2010. In this newly created role, Coco, an Italian national, will lead all Lotus Design activities for Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering.

New small Jaguar (Jaguar XS) caught on video at Nurburgring

The new small Jaguar pictured testing at the Nurburgring. A replacement for the un-loved Jaguar X-type has been on Jaguar’s ‘To Do’ sheet for some time, but a new small Jaguar is now finally on the way, although it is still probably more than a year away from hitting Jaguar showrooms. But a year or so is no time in terms of new car development, so Jaguar are already out playing with prototypes of the new small Jaguar – perhaps the Jaguar XS – although they’re wearing slightly unconvincing XF clothes.

Ford sales show move away from diesel

NEW CAR buyers are moving back towards petrol engines after years of diesel domination, if Ford’s latest sales figures are any guide. The company has revealed that its multi-award-winning 1.0-litre Ecoboost turbocharged petrol engine now powers one in every five cars sold in Europe, totalling 120,000 vehicles from January to the end of June. That figure is an increase from 104,000 1.0-litre Ecoboost-powered cars sold in the same period in 2013.