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New Ford Kuga: Titanium and Titanium X make up 87% of sales

The new Ford Kuga is now hitting UK showrooms, and Ford has revealed that 87% of buyers are opting for the range-topping Titanium and Titanium X models. But what’s most interesting – in what is supposed to be a cash-strapped economy – is that a full 87 per cent of all the new Kugas ordered so far have been the range-topping Titanium and Titanium X models, and the average up-spend on options is another £1,000 on top of that. That means that although the Ford Kuga range starts at £21,000, 87 per cent of buyers are actually spending between £25-30k on their new compact SUV, which must warm the cockles of Ford’s heart.

BMW i8 production car revealed – costs £99,845: Frankfurt 2013

The new BMW i8 Hybrid (pictured) will cost £100k in the UK The BMW i8 jas finally arrived in production guise at the Frankfurt Motor show, neatly creating the top end of BMW’s new i-brand range after the BMW i3 underlined the starting point. Looking really quite appealing, the i8 uses the same carbon fibre reinforced plastic bodyshell and aluminium chassis construction as the i3, but whereas the i3 is built to be a city car, the i8 is the closest we’re likely to get to a 21st century version of the BMW M1. Similar in size to the Audi R8, the BMW i8 is a 2+2 with a 3-cylinder 1.5 litre engine and generator sitting at the back and driving the rear wheels and an electric motor at the front driving the front wheels, with a petrol tank at the back and the batteries for the electric motor stored in the centre tunnel.

Ford offers $1 million in automotive design scholarships

After the passing of William Clay Ford Sr., Ford has announced that they will honor his memory and his contribution to the automobile with the creation of scholarships for automotive design students. William Clay Ford Sr., the last grandson of Henry Ford, died last week at the age of 88. Ford worked at the company that bears his name for 57 years, serving as chairman of the design committee for 32 of those years.