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Nissan NV200 concept (2007): first official pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 24 July 2007 09:19 Nissan NV200: the lowdown Nissan loves a barmy concept car (remember the Bevel, showcased at Detroit for older bob-a-jobbing builders?). And motor shows don't come much nuttier than Tokyo's bi-annual celebration of technical innovation and limit-pushing design. So it seems natural that the Japanese car maker has saved up a special treat for its domestic show this October.

GM leapfrogs Toyota

By Chris Hope Motor Industry 24 July 2007 10:19 Is General Motors winning the battle, but not the war? GM this week wrestled back its top spot as the world's biggest car maker from Toyota. The Japanese maker was the global number one in the first quarter of 2007 but GM has hit back in the second quarter from April to June to reclaim its 76-year-old crown.

Michelin Challenge Design announces 2008 jury

Michelin Challenge Design, known for enticing some of the world's most talented up and coming designers, has convened its 2008 panel of judges. The eight automotive design experts met July 16-17, 2007, at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, to select the vehicle designs and concepts for special exhibition at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit next January. This year marks the seventh year for the international competition with a record 272 individual designers, teams, studios, and companies from over 50 countries submitting full-size vehicles, scale models and computer-generated renderings in support of the central theme, 'Safer.

College for Creative Studies Student Exhibition 2007

The College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit, Michigan hosted their Annual Student Exhibition in May this year, showing the work of more than 3,500 students. The Transportation Design program - sponsored by Toyota, Nissan and Honda - showed off the work of junior and senior students, each working from individual project briefs set by the automakers. Toyota Motor Sales and the company's Calty Design Center challenged students to create a "bridge" vehicle to pull current Scion customers into the Toyota brand as they mature and experience lifestyle transitions.

Mazda 2's diet regime secrets

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 23 July 2007 02:19 So what’s all the fuss about then? Weight, or in the case of the Mazda 2, a lack of it. CO2 emissions are the biggest issue for the car industry right now, and governments around the globe are seemingly obsessed with one single gas.

Goodwood Revival

By Ben Whitworth Motor Shows 19 July 2007 02:30 The tenth Goodwood Revival, held this year from 31 August to 2 September, looks set to once again establish itself as the world’s finest historic motor racing event. The world’s only sporting event set entirely to a period theme – no vehicles produced after 1966 are allowed on the circuit and its environs throughout the weekend – this year’s Revival will be bigger and better than before, according to Lord March. “The Revival is arguably the most popular historic motor racing event in the world,” Lord March told CAR Online.

Ferrari 430 Scuderia (2007): first official pictures

By George Barrow First Official Pictures 19 July 2007 05:10 Supercar High-performance track focused Ferraris are back on the menu in Maranello. Ferrari announced its return to the rich blokes' track day market today with this road legal F430. Due to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show by Ferrari golden boy Michael Schumacher, the most hardcore F430 yet, named the Scuderia, or 'team' (a reference to the company's racing heritage), is likely to cost around £175,000, £45k more than the standard car.

UPDATED Aston Martin shuts historic factory

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 19 July 2007 05:34 The last Vanquish rolled off the line at Aston Martin's historic Newport Pagnell factory today. Much of the historic site will be sold and turned into offices and homes. It brings to an end a long and distinguished history of car and carriage making at Newport Pagnell - stretching all the way back to the 1820s.

Ford Kuga teaser sketch

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 19 July 2007 07:05 Ford has released a sketch of its new mid-sized 4x4, and a name: Kuga Ford is reviving an old name - but with a new spelling - for its first European 4x4. The Kuga will appear at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, and it's the latest model to feature Ford’s ‘kinetic design’ language. The look has been pioneered by Ford Europe’s executive design director Martin Smith, and it was first seen on the Iosis concept that previewed the current Mondeo.

Porsche 911 GT2 (2007): first official pictures

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 18 July 2007 01:02 Porsche 911 GT2: the lowdown Earlier today the web was abuzz with leaked pictures of Porsche’s hottest car of the year. An American brochure was doing the rounds with all the juicy details of the hardcore GT2 revealed. Porsche responded to the leak and released the first official details and pictures weeks early, revealed here for the first time.

Mazda CX-7 (2007): first official pictures

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 18 July 2007 02:13 Haven’t we seen this car before? We have, as CAR Online first drove the US-spec CX-7 back in August 2006. Now Mazda has released more details for the European model.

Kia sports coupe concept

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 18 July 2007 09:15 Kia sports coupe concept: the first glimpse Do you detect hints of Audi TT about this low-slung sports car concept? Maybe you should, because it’s the shape of Kias to come and was designed by Peter Schreyer, the Koreans’ new design director and former head of design at Audi. It’s being hailed as a landmark car for Kia, and we’d say that for once the PR puff is spot-on.

Cameras to snoop on UK motorists

By George Barrow Motoring Issues 18 July 2007 12:04 The British are already the most watched nation on Earth, with some 4.2 million CCTV cameras monitoring our every move. Now it looks as though the same cameras could be used to log journey details. Leaked Downing Street papers have revealed Metropolitan Police plans to use real-time access to London’s Congestion Charge automatic number plate recognition data.

Rolls launches first used-car scheme

By George Barrow Motor Industry 17 July 2007 03:56 Want to save £75,000 on a Rolls-Royce? The company has just launched its first approved used-car scheme at its six UK dealers, called the Rolls-Royce Provenance programme. It’s basically a carbon copy of mainstream approved used schemes, and cars have to meet such stringent standards that Rolls claims selected cars are ‘virtually faultless’.

Scuola Politecnica di Design Milan 2007

Milan, Italy is well known for being a style center, so it's fairly apt that there is a design school based in one of the most fashionable and creative areas of the city. Scuola Politecnica di Design has been molding new designers for over 50 years and has a program specifically devised for students seeking to master the art of transportation design. On June 29th the school held its annual degree show, and Car Design News went to Milan to see what the students in the Masters Course had dreamt up. This year marked the second time that Audi sponsored the course, giving students a brief that consisted of creating "a sporty, small lifestyle car for the 'Generation Mobile'": a small car for young customers living in urban areas that would also be accustomed to using iPods.

Who's Where: Gordon Murray launches own design company

Famed Formula One designer Gordon Murray has launched his own design company, with its first project currently underway. But it's not quite what you might expect from someone who's made a name for himself building such aerodynamic performers like the McLaren F1 and Camparo T1 supercars. Murray's new project is to build an economical small car for the masses: one that would be both cheap to buy and to run.

Jaguar/Land Rover sale 'deadline set for July 2007'

By Jamie Butler Motor Industry 09 July 2007 11:28 Potential buyers circling Jaguar and Land Rover have until 19 July to table a bid, it was revealed at the weekend. Ford is preparing to sell both luxury car makers together, although it may consider bids to buy them separately. It is thought that the most likely buyers are private equity investors, as several car manufacturers have already publicly declined the offer to buy the historic brands.

College Exhibition: Strate College Degree Show 2007

Strate College hosted its annual Degree Show on June 21st, displaying the assorted works from students graduating from the Industrial Design programs.The celebrations began on the eve of the graduation ceremony at a chic venue in the heart of Paris's Champs Elysees, where montages of the students work played in a slideshow projected behind the bar. At the school the next day, all fifteen students from the Transportation Design program presented their work in an exhibit that spanned two rooms. Frederic Corazza created 'Searth', a vehicle to connect the sprawling artificial islands currently being built around the city of Dubai.

Gordon Murray launches car company

By Ben Oliver Motor Industry 05 July 2007 08:11 Gordon Murray has launched his own car company. Forget million-pound price tags; his first effort will be a radical new small car so frugal you’ll recoup its £5000 cost in four years of ownership. Gordon Murray Design describes it as 'a new class of vehicle.

Dodge Hornet is go

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 04 July 2007 12:30 The newly independent Chrysler Group has saved its deal with Chinese maker Chery - which means that the Dodge Hornet is a step closer to production. Dodge needs a partner with which to develop new smaller cars, like the Hornet, as it's too cash-strapped to fund them solo. The deal signed last night means that the two car makers will 'work together to develop, manufacture and distribute Chery-made small and sub-compact cars in North America, Europe and other major automotive markets under the Chrsyler Group brands.' No mention was made of the Hornet, but Chyrsler’s international director for sales and marketing, has previously told CAR Online that the firm would produce the butch supermini.

Mercedes C63 AMG (2007): first official pictures

By Jack Carfrae First Official Pictures 04 July 2007 12:54 Mercedes C63 AMG: the lowdown Mercedes has a penchant for extremely powerful saloons and sports cars, in case you hadn't noticed. We've been inundated with the likes of the CL65 AMG, the CLK Black AMG and the McMerc SLR Roadster. Not content with these tyre-shredding giants, Mercedes has now shown the C63 AMG just 48 hours before the launch of the BMW M3.

Starting Out: CDN launches Car Design Glossary

Drawing is the basic language of designers, and is the time-honoured way in which a designer will communicate an idea. However, designers are often required to describe or explain their designs - and the work of others - in words, and for this, they need a vocabulary. The vocabulary they use is one whose origins stretch back to another era and to different disciplines, and which, with the now multi-cultural nature of the profession and advances in computer technology, is still growing.

MG and 'Rover' set to re-join forces

By Keith Adams Motor Industry 03 July 2007 01:29 Reports in China suggest that Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) is once again in talks with Nanjing Automobile Corp (NAC), the owners of the MG marque and the Longbridge factory. The deal is being backed by Chinese government, which wants to see more cars sold in export markets. Are we looking at the creation of a latter day MG Rover based in the Far East?

GM's next eco-concept car

By Ben Oliver Motor Industry 03 July 2007 06:17 General Motors will unveil a European concept car built on its radical new E-Flex platform at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show. The concept will feature radical styling, with a diesel engine acting as a generator for the concept’s electric motor. And General Motors is believed to be collaborating with urban electric scooter manufacturer Segway; the unnamed concept may be able to carry one or more of the £4000, gyroscope-controlled devices for use in town once you’ve parked.

Toyota Verso (2007): first official pictures

By Jack Carfrae First Official Pictures 03 July 2007 10:47 A new Toyota Verso? It looks just like the old one! Yes, it does.

BMW 1 Series Coupe

Details of BMW's latest addition have been officially released. The new 1 Series Coupe - which will be available as both a 128i and a 135i  when it goes on sale in North America - is a modern interpretation of the classic 2002, with a front-engine and rear-drive configuration. As expected, the new car looks a lot like a 1 Series hatch; the biggest difference being the newly created rear end.

Peugeot 308 (2007): first official pictures

By Ben Whitworth First Official Pictures 02 July 2007 01:53 This can only be a Peugeot… You eagled eyed car spotter, you… Yes, it’s the new 308 that arrives here in October after first making its public debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September. Known internally at T7, it’s taken four years and 4000 people to develop, and in a bid to compact its reliability record, each car will undergo an 1800-point quality check on the production line. Not really.

BMW 1-series Coupe (2007): first official pictures

By Ben Whitworth First Official Pictures 02 July 2007 10:50 So, is this the 1 that I want? You betcha. When it arrives at the end of November, the 1-series Coupe - re-engineered from the ground up, powered a twin turbo engines and packing plenty of energy-saving technology – will install itself at the top of the 1-series tree.

BMW 635d (2007): first official pictures

By Ben Whitworth First Official Pictures 02 July 2007 11:08 A diesel GT. Are they mad? Nope, quite brilliant.

Volkswagen Tiguan unmasked

By Jack Carfrae First Official Pictures 29 June 2007 02:47 Volkswagen Tiguan. We’ve seen this before, haven’t we? We have indeed.