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Start up mobility van maker VPG shuts down

Van maker Vehicle Production Group -- recipient of a $50 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy -- has suspended operations and is in the process of being sold, its former CEO said Wednesday. The Allen Park, Mich., company, which made MV-1 vans for the disabled, terminated about 100 workers and closed its offices in February.

McLaren P1 supercar (2012) first official pictures

Forget the abstract fluorescent light show teaser released earlier this month, because we’ve got official pictures of McLaren's latest supercar challenger. It's called the P1 and it certainly gives food for thought to those who were disappointed by the MP4-12C's styling. The F1 successor was formally codenamed the P12 ahead of its official release, but it seems McLaren is confident the P1 will put it in pole position among the super sports cars on the way from Ferrari and Porsche.

Nissan opens new design studio in Beijing

Delayed by the deadly earthquake that hit Japan earlier this year, Nissan Motor Co.'s new design center in Beijing finally received a proper opening this week, when global design chief Shiro Nakamura showed off the studio as a new source of ideas for Nissan and Infiniti. Nissan Design China, as the Beijing-based center is known, "is not a studio to just generate ideas for China," Nakamura said in an interview with Car Design News. It's equipped to handle designs of show cars and production cars for both Nissan and Infiniti brands, aimed at customers in China, as well as around the world.