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CAR tech: Britain's £1bn auto-industry revolution

By Damion Smy Motor Industry 21 October 2013 09:30 BMW, Jaguar-Land Rover and Nissan are just a handul of the car companies to have seen the potential in British design and engineering. Read on to find out just how they're actually helping Britian fight Germany as the car world's most pivotal auto-industry R&D hub. More than £1billion will be invested in the UK over the next decade to build a hub of design, engineering and manufacturing nous in the automotive equivalent of California’s Silicon Valley.

Who's Where: Kevin Rice becomes Mazda Europe’s design director as Peter Birtwhistle retires

Mazda Europe has a new design director. Effective 1 September, Kevin Rice will succeed Peter Birtwhistle, who retires from the post of chief designer, bringing to an end a 26-year career with Mazda. Following graduation from Coventry University's transport design course, Rice, 50, began his professional career at Opel in 1986.

Revealed: tech secrets of new 2014 BMW M3 and M4 Coupe

BMW has spent the past four years developing the new M4 Coupe and newly-announced M3 saloon from scratch – all with the intention of making its road-racer range more focused, more able and more relevant to modern motorists. They are faster, sharper and more dynamic, promises the firm, but also greener, smarter and more flexible than ever. The result, believe the engines, is a duo that’s without rival on the market – no other four-seat coupe or five-seat saloon offers this much high performance sports car ability for the money.