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Exclusive: Laurens van den Acker to replace Patrick le Quément at Renault

The wheels of change are continuing to turn within the automotive design industry, with yet another new appointment being made at the director level. According to industry insiders, Laurens van den Acker is set become the new Design Director at Renault when Patrick le Quément retires later this year. One of the most pre-eminent car designers in the world, Patrick le Quément began his design career at Simca, worked at Ford for 17 years and did a brief stint at Volkswagen before taking the top design job at Renault.

New Mercedes ML to be the Mercedes GLE

The Mercedes Concept Coupe (pictured) will arrive as the Mercedes GLE Coupe Car makers’ model ranges have grown massively in recent years and that, in a lot of cases, has left traditional model designations floundering to inform potential buyers. Mercedes has made some moves of late to address the lack of clarity in model designations (the Mercedes CL, for example, has become the new Mercedes S-Class Coupe), and new models have started to arrive with more descriptive names. Models like the CLA (a coupe from the A-Class range) and GLA (an SUV/Crossover from the A-Class range) and that looks set to be extended when the next Mercedes ML and ML Coupe arrive in 2015.

New Dacia Logan II Paris debut

Renault’s cut price brand, Dacia, is continuing to move forward with the second generation Logan due to debut at Paris. Could come to the UK. Renault-owned Romanian budget brand Dacia’s assault on the European car market shows no sign of letting up as the company readies its replacement for the top-selling Logan small-saloon car.