Toyota at the Paris motor show 2008

By Gavin Green Motor Shows 02 October 2008 19:16 Toyota showed the latest, third-generation Avensis, a car that typically whips up as much excitement from car enthusiasts as the Eurovision Song Contest does with music aficionados. The Avensis is one of those cars that typically provides loyal service to company car reps before naturally seeing out as its days as a minicab, pine scent dangling from rear-view mirror. The new one though is a much tidier effort in its styling, and the Tourer (estate) version is bordering on the svelte.

2014 MINI Driver Assist Systems revealed

2014 MINI Driver Assist Systems revealed (heads-up display pictured) The 2014 MINI – an all-new MINI – is due to be revealed on 18th November – Sir Alex Issigonis’s 107th birthday – as MINI drives in to a new generation with a car that is all new and rather BMW under the skin. We’ve already seen what the new MINI will look like with the reveal of the MINI Vision Concept, and now we get to see some of the new technology the new MINI will offer, in particular its driver assist systems. MINI say the new driver assist systems will use intelligent networking to transform the new MINI in to a proper driver’s assistant, with technology that aims to inform and assist Making the most of BMW’s technology, the new MINI comes with a heads-up display that puts important information right in the driver’s line of sight, with a small folding screen on the dashboard displaying stuff like speed, Nav instructions, alerts and infotainment information.

Consumer Electronics Show: News and Notes

Here are some more things we saw at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. -- While it came onto the market at the top end, HD Radio is now trickling down to even entry-level cars. To emphasize that, parked in the HD Radio booth at CES was a Jetta, a 2012 Focus and a Forester, all relatively affordable rides that can come with the improved radio reception of HD.