MG Design Centre opens in UK

The opening of MG's new design center this week at the historic production site of Longbridge, Birmingham, England was both an incredible and credible occasion. Incredible, because the brand looked dead in the water after the debacle of MG Rover's collapse in 2005 and even after various Chinese takeovers, its UK operation seemed destined to play no more than a tokenistic bit part. And thankfully credible too, because now all of MG's global design will genuinely be led from this new facility in the epicentre of England's traditional motoring heartland.

Toyota GT86 TRD Griffon heading for Goodwood FoS

The Toyota GT86 TRD Griffon (pictured) will be at the Goodwood FoS We’ve had a road-going version of the Toyota GT86 fettled by TRD and now we’re getting a track-focused version too. Just like the Toyota GT86 TRD, the Griffon version gets a makeover from Toyota Racing Division, and just like the road-going version – which costs £31,495 – the Griffon track version has to make do with the same 197bhp flat four engine the stock road car gets. But the changes to the GT86 Griffon are more extreme than the road-going version, with a focus on shedding weight and sharpening responses.

GM's Henderson: Future rests on Chevy, Cadillac, Buick and GMC

General Motors will go to market with four core brands in the future: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. Pontiac will be shrunk "significantly," a senior GM executive told the Automotive News World Congress. GM COO Fritz Henderson said that GM is conducting a strategic review of its Saab and Hummer brands and that the "status quo" for the Saturn brand will not work.