Ex Ford, Mazda designer to head styling at Renault

Former Ford Motor and Mazda designer Laurens van den Acker will succeed Patrick le Quement as head of design at French automaker Renault. Van den Acker, 43, quit as head of design at Mazda earlier this month. He will join Renault on May 15 and assume le Quement's full responsibilities starting on Nov.

Honda Civic Ti, Accord Facelift (2011) at Geneva

The Honda Civic Type R might have died, but Honda today released pictures of its stylistic equal: the race-inspired but humdrum-powered Civic Ti. Honda says the new Civic Ti takes design cues from the Honda touring car and adds more than £3700 of extras to the 1.4 and 1.8 i-VTEC SE models. The five-door Civic is fitted with 17-inch 'Pro race' matt black wheels from Honda's BTCC racing partner, Team Dynamics. The broody black bodykit includes front spoiler, rear spoiler side inserts and rear body skirts - all contrasting the white pearl paintjob.

Scott Bailey, Automobile Quarterly founder, dies at 87

Scott Bailey founded Automobile Quarterly in 1962. The hardbound publication became a respected voice on all subjects automotive and an important chronicle of automotive history. While the story of the automobile is often more folkloric than factual, Bailey's belief in scholarship helped forge a solid, reliable record that might otherwise have been lost.