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Renault designers on their interpretation of luxury [w/Video]

Renault's design chief Laurens van den Acker and his design team have stressed how the Initiale Paris concept previews how Renault design's tactics will help steer clear of its rivals within the premium segment.  The concept – the sixth to be developed in the design strategy inspired by the cycle of life, now in the Wisdom stage – heralds Renault's return to the high-end market after a number of years. It was, therefore, important that the design be a positive rejection of traditional ideas of luxury, design director of concept cars Axel Breun believes. Designer Choung Sun Oh goes to great pains to stress how the design team worked towards developing a highly original design to set them apart from rivaling brands upon re-entry.

Maserati GranCabrio UK debut

Jodie Kidd at the UK launch of the Maserati GranCabrio We have no problems with how it looks. It doesn’t disappoint in the way so many cabrios do – it’s still elegant and stylish even if a four-seat cabrio from Maserati seems a bit incongruous. But now the 175mph cabrio is here, Maserati are rolling out what they can in the way of publicity.

West Hollywood hires a robo-valet

West Hollywood, Calif.--where the valet guy can be just as much of a power broker as some big-shot producer--is going high-tech with its new parking garage. The Southern California city has enlisted Israeli company Unitronics to build a 200-car garage on Santa Monica Boulevard that will automatically park and retrieve cars. Think RoboValet.