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Ford speeds up effort to cut vehicle platforms

Ford Motor Co. is accelerating its One Ford global product development plan by reducing its target for vehicle platforms worldwide to nine from 11 previously, and by moving the target date up to 2013 from 2014, global marketing chief Jim Farley said Wednesday. "It won't be 11 platforms" as earlier planned, Farley said at the Automotive News World Congress.

Volvo picks up Red Dot Design Award for new connectivity system

Volvo's Sensus Connected Touch connectivity system with the world's first voice-activated integrated Spotify connection has been awarded a 2013 Red Dot Design Award. The Sensus Connected Touch accessory turns the integrated 7-inch display into an infrared, beam-scanned touch screen that can be used even when wearing gloves. The system can be controlled using the touchscreen, the steering wheel or the center stack, while you can also voice-activate all music sources. Alain Visser, senior vice president of marketing, sales and customer service at Volvo, says, "The Red Dot Design Award confirms that this approach to an intuitive, human-centric user experience fulfils modern car owners' desire to remain constantly connected also when driving." The WiFi connection can be made using either a car-mounted 3G/4G-dongle or the driver's mobile phone, and the data is transferred by the WiFi between the phone and the Sensus Connected Touch.

Jaguar F-Type R: Coupe or Roadster?

With the new Jaguar F-Type arriving in showrooms in spring 2013, will the follow-on performance F-Type R be a coupe or Roadster? But it’s clear that the new V8 F-Type S isn’t going to be the pinnacle of the F-Type range – far from it. With Jaguar seeking to hang the whole brand identity on their first real roadster since the E-Type, a range-topping variant in the guise of an F-Type R is a certainty.