Bertram Navy With Gold Logo Embroidery Gunwale Boarding Mat 24"x36" on 2040-parts.com

2014 Subaru XV – less choice, more refinement

The 2014 Subaru XV (pictured) gets a bit of a tweak The Subaru XV arrived in the UK in 2012, and it’s a perfectly able and reasonably-priced compact crossover from Subaru. But within a year of launching the XV Subaru decided to inject a bit more appeal in to the XV with a price cut of £2,300 across the range and now, not more than six months later, they’re fiddling with the XV range again. The 2.0 litre petrol XV gets new valve-train components to cut engine noise and revised suspension, with extra soundproofing improving NVH levels across the range, a revised power steering system for added stability and feel  and thicker and reshaped suspension lower arm and extra reinforcement around the base of the A-Pillar for better crash performance.

Changan opens new European Designing Center in Turin

Changan celebrated the opening of its European Designing Center in Turin, Italy, last week as part of its celebration of the historic company's 150th anniversary. An audience of VIP guests and press were given grand tour of the new facility located in Rivoli near Turin after an opening ceremony filled with the pomp and pageantry we've come to expect from the Chinese car industry. The new 11,000 square meter European Designing Center is Changan's latest move to grow its business globally, having already established research and development centers at five Chinese locations as well as in Detroit USA, Nottingham UK, and Yokohama Japan.

Nissan to show GT-R crossover in Sao Paulo?

Nissan has teased a concept car to be unveiled later this month at the Sao Paulo motor show in Brazil with two renders. It's hard to tell what format the car is, but these obscured images could show a GT-R-branded coupe/SUV crossover designed specifically for the Brazilian market. This would make sense in a market where rugged SUVs with high ground clearance for sub-standard roads are so commonplace.