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Mark Vaughn: We’ll always have Vegas

There were a few bare spots on the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show this year, spots that in previous years had been jammed sardine-like with myriad Taiwanese makers of Hello Kitty knockoff cell phone cozies and electronic barking dogs, but the show this year was nonetheless pretty well attended. Besides, for those working their way upstream through the aisles like so many digitally trained trout, the empty spots left by exhibitors that pulled out were like refreshing mountain meadows or little piazzas in crowded Italian cities. Show management stocked the open spots with cushy couches, too, on which many a jet-lagged showgoer snoozed.

Mini wins 'Car of the Year' award

THE BRITS finally enjoyed some success this summer as the latest Mini was named Auto Express magazine's Car of the Year 2014 at a lavish ceremony in London’s West End. This third-generation version of the Mini is built in Oxford, with engines made in Hams Hall near Birmingham and body panels coming from Swindon. As well as winning the overall Car of the Year Award, the Mini was also named Best Premium Small Car.

Nissan X-Trail (2013) at Frankfurt motor show

This is the new Nissan X-Trail, which goes on UK sale in 2014. By offering a seven-seater option and an adaptive four-wheel-drive powertrain, Nissan is sounding the death-knell for its Qashqai+2 model: there’s to be a new, five-seater Qashqai next year. So, it better be good, the new X-Trail.