News watch Jan 2010: today’s auto industry news

Wednesday 20 January 2010• Rolls-Royce has appointed Torsten Mueller as chief exec from the end of March 2010. He is currently BMW's global product management boss and will replace Tom Purves who will retire after 25 years with the BMW Group (Rolls-Royce)• Japan has bowed to pressure and extended its scrappage scheme to include American brand vehicles. Many had been barred from the scheme because they had different fuel economy standards (Automotive News, subscription required)• New GM Europe CEO Nick Reilly has vowed that Opel and Vauxhall will become a global company.

2014 Nissan NV Passenger Van: Here's what it costs

Nissan has just announced pricing for the 2014 NV Cargo Van and NV Passenger Van, which are available at more than 350 Nissan Commercial Vehicle dealers. That's right: In case you haven't noticed, there's a passenger-van version of the NV commercial vans with room for 12 people. So it turns out the Nissan Cube isn't the most boxy passenger offering from the automaker after all.

Olympic cyclist races against Skoda Octavia vRS

OLYMPIC GOLD medallist Ed Clancy took on a challenge of two wheels versus four testing his downhill racing skills against the Skoda Octavia vRS in a race against the clock. Covering a section of the famed Southern Borders Loop, part of the Tour of Britain stage one route, the race centred on a short, but brutally steep, hill climb with five major corners. To even the odds, Ed Clancy raced downhill from a rolling start whilst the new ŠKODA Octavia vRS raced uphill from a standing start.