1965 Lincoln Continental Steering Wheel Center Cap on 2040-parts.com

Mercedes-Benz hooks up with Europcar for its courtesy cars

Mercedes partner with Europcar for courtesy cars Providing courtesy cars for customers is something of a pain for car makers. Customers expect a courtesy car when they come in for repair or service or after an accident, and that’s not easy to manage. So car makers partner with car hire firms to make the whole thing work and, usually, know they can put a customer in a courtesy car whenever it’s needed.

Lotus to invest £500 million to build Esprit, Eterne, Elite & Elan. 1900 new jobs

The new Lotus Esprit Dany Bahar – Lotus boss – revealed plans at last year’s Paris Motor Show to turn Lotus in to an East Anglian Aston Martin. Those plans included one car we knew about – the new Lotus Esprit – and a number we didn’t – the Lotus Eterne, Lotus Elite, Lotus Elan and a new Lotus Elite. But the plans seemed to be nothing more than a wish list, and although it was intimated that Lotus owners Proton were going to provide a war chest of £770 million to fund the development, that later appeared to be an intent to provide Lotus with funds to develop a new range of cars, rather than an actual commitment.

Cadillac to update logo?

Cadillac is working on the first major change to its logo in more than a decade, pruning away the classic laurel wreaths that surround its crest, several sources told Automotive News. The modified emblem is likely to appear on a concept vehicle that Cadillac plans to show next month at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California. The redesigned badge would appear on production cars no earlier than the 2015 model year, and the plans could change, the sources said.