Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

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.

Who's Where: Gert Hildebrand appointed Head of Design at Qoros Auto

Gert Hildebrand, former General Manager of Mini Design, was appointed Head of Design at Qoros Auto in January this year. In his new role, Hildebrand is responsible for overseeing a regeneration of the existing design and styling processes at the joint venture company, a collaboration between Qoros and Israel Corporation, which was founded in 2007. One of many high level designers making the transition to China, Hildebrand is is currently tasked with leading the creation of the new Qoros brand, which was unveiled at a presentation in Shanghai last week.

New Qoros at Geneva 2014 – looks like a Crossover/SUV

New Qoros at Geneva 2014 – looks like a Crossover/SUV Chinese car maker Qoros – hoping to make inroads in to the European market with its Qoros 3 saloon – is heading for the Geneva Motor Show in March with a new model, teased today in a pair of photos. Qoros’s first production model – the Qoros 3 – arrived in production guise at Geneva this year as a convincing – if generic -looking – four-door saloon, which we did think an odd route to go to break in to Europe. But the next Qoros – previewed here in a couple of teaser photos – looks to be a production version of the Qoros Cross Hybrid Concept Qoros showed at Geneva and a much better route to grabbing a slice of Europe’s car sales.