05 06 07 Jeep Grand Cherokee Center Console Arm Rest Lid (med Slate) on 2040-parts.com

Beattie joins Fisker as prices climb

Fisker Automotive, maker of the luxury hybrid Fisker Karma, has appointed luxury-brands executive Richard Beattie to the newly created position of chief commercial officer. Beattie will be responsible for sales, marketing and customer service for the brand. Beattie comes from a strong run as executive vice president of sales and marketing for Jaguar North America and, before that, for Jaguar Land Rover North America, positions which followed a career at Ford, where he was most recently president and CEO of Mazda’s North American operations.

Car hire costs branded ‘extortionate’

MORE THAN 45% of hire car users described hidden costs such as insurance and fuel as extortionate, according to a new survey. 200 UK consumers aged over 30 and earning more than £20,000 per annum were quizzed for the survey, conducted on behalf of Carhiremarket.com, with over 45% agreeing that hidden costs for insurance and fuel were extortionate. Users cited greater transparency or an all-inclusive upfront price as a more desirable option.

Magnum MK5 to debut at Boca Raton Concours

New supercar-company releases hit our email inboxes almost as much as news about natural male enhancements does. Mostly, we pay them no mind; the majority of these “upcoming” hyper-hyper cars never make it out of the computer-rendering phase. But when a company claims Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve as one of its first customers, we take notice.