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Chrysler to close Pacifica Advanced Design Studios

The 20 designers at Chrysler's Pacifica Advanced Design Studios in Carlsbad, California will soon be finding themselves out of a job. The struggling North American automaker announced the closure of the facility on Friday, stating that the company is ‘leveraging resources worldwide, forming new joint ventures and alliances and consolidating operations in order to better achieve global balance.' Responsible for many of the more successful designs hailing from Chrysler in recent times, including the Chrysler 300 sedan and the new Dodge Challenger musclecar, the Pacifica Advanced Product Design Center also yielded the Nassau concept car and the Pacifica crossover – bearing the same name as the west coast studios in which it was created. The work done at the Pacifica Advanced Design Center will be consolidated into the Advance Design function in Auburn Hills and continue to be led by Senior Vice President of Design, Trevor Creed.

Apple Carplay integrates iPhone in to cars: Geneva Motor Show

Apple CarPlay arrives to take over your car’s Infotainment Apple’s bid to take a major slice of the Automotive integration with Smartphones market moves on with the arrival of Apple CarPlay at the Geneva Motor Show this week It looks like Apple have stolen a march on Android with deep integration in to the Infotainment systems of a number of car makers – with more to come – as the lines start to be blurred between Smartphones and car systems. CarPlay lets drivers with the right phone – iPhone 5 or better – access messages, play music, use Apple Maps and make calls, all hands-free and using Siri commands. Functionality with the right make of car – starting with Ferrari, Mercedes and Volvo but reaching out in to Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, Hyundai Kia, Honda, PSA, Toyota, Ford and more before long – means you’ll be able to do much of what you can already do on your iPhone but do it through your car’s Infotainment interface with familiar commands and screen layouts.

Cadillac CTS-V priced to undercut M5, XFR

By Gareth Evans Motor Industry 21 January 2009 10:17 Cadillac’s new CTS-V supersaloon – claimed to be the be the most powerful Cadillac ever built – will undercut its European competition by several thousand pounds. Prices will start at £56,495, positioning the new Cadillac CTS-V just below the new Jaguar XF-R (£59,900) and comfortably undercutting German rivals such as the BMW M5 (£63,325) and Audi RS6 (a fulsome £74,550). Performance figures for the CTS-V make interesting reading, with 60mph being dispatched in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 191mph for the manual car (175mph for the automatic).