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Refreshed 2014 Chevrolet Malibu arrives

Just a bit more than a year after launching the 2013 Malibu, Chevrolet took the wraps off its revised 2014 Malibu, saying the car is roomier (1.25 extra inches in the rear seat), more refined and more efficient than the outgoing model. The car gets a fresh face, revised interior, and a new 2.5-liter four standard. The 2.5-liter I-4 is direct injected and has variable valve lift control and start/stop for 196 hp and 186 lb-ft of torque.

Electric Kia Soul planned for 2014

Kia has revealed that they will offer a battery electric version of the next generation Kia Soul when it arrives in 2014. Hyundai may have seen the light and decided the future for cars lies with hydrogen fuel cell cars and not battery electric cars, but sister company Kia thinks differently. It seems an odd polarity for the Korean siblings to take different routes to the future of powertrains for cars, but perhaps it’s just a case of hedging bets rather than an inability by Kia to see how impractical the BEV is as a replacement for a normal ICE car?

Interior Motives Design Awards 2012

At a glamorous awards ceremony at the Espace Clacquesin in Paris earlier this evening, the world's top designers and automotive journalists gathered together to watch sponsors Peugeot and Volkswagen reveal the 2012 Interior Motives Student Design of the Year: ‘Autopool' by Siavash Jafari Jozani and Mina Kasirifar from the University of Tehran. At the end of what was a memorable event, the two Iranian students walked away with one of the most prestigious accolades in the automotive design industry and a cash prize of $5,000. Launched earlier this year and themed ‘What Comes Next?