Beck Arnley 101-5825 Tie Rod-steering Tie Rod End on 2040-parts.com

Seat Mii (2012): the Spanish VW Up city car

We’ve seen the German and Czech versions of the Volkswagen Up – and today it’s the turn of the Spanish to showcase their new Seat Mii. The Mii is the new city car for VW’s Mediterranean outpost, and launches Seat back into a segment it deserted when the Arosa walked off choice lists. Seat Mii (2012): the lowdown Seat will launch the Mii in the Spanish market in winter 2011, but UK buyers will have to wait until spring 2012 before they can order the city car.

Lada launches new design competition

Lada and Russian social network community VKontakte have announced a competition calling for amateur designers to express their visions for future Lada models. Designs can be submitted as hand-drawn sketches or created using computer programs, and there's no limit on style, class or models. The only condition is the design has to have the brand's logo on the grille.

Volvo picks up Red Dot Design Award for new connectivity system

Volvo's Sensus Connected Touch connectivity system with the world's first voice-activated integrated Spotify connection has been awarded a 2013 Red Dot Design Award. The Sensus Connected Touch accessory turns the integrated 7-inch display into an infrared, beam-scanned touch screen that can be used even when wearing gloves. The system can be controlled using the touchscreen, the steering wheel or the center stack, while you can also voice-activate all music sources. Alain Visser, senior vice president of marketing, sales and customer service at Volvo, says, "The Red Dot Design Award confirms that this approach to an intuitive, human-centric user experience fulfils modern car owners' desire to remain constantly connected also when driving." The WiFi connection can be made using either a car-mounted 3G/4G-dongle or the driver's mobile phone, and the data is transferred by the WiFi between the phone and the Sensus Connected Touch.